Red Light, Green Light

You remember that childhood game, don’t you?  The one where you run as fast as you can towards the finish line until the one in charge yells, “STOP!” and you come to a screeching halt.  You wait on anxious tippy toes until you hear “GO!” so you can once again race forward.   

That is about how life has been for us lately.  We are running several different races right now. 

Race #1:  Ronnie and I had been casually looking at houses in search of something that would fit our growing needs.  We were in no rush as our current home offers the right amount of space for now.  Several weeks ago, we found a home that seemed to fill most of our must have list while staying within our budget AND was located in our current neighborhood.  After touring the house, we knew we needed to make an offer.  We listed our house that evening and two days later made an offer on the new house.  Our offer was accepted and our house sold on the same day!  We were ecstatic!  We were racing forward at lightning speed! 

But then we halted.  Our buyers for our home backed out as we waited for the new house to be inspected.  It was a standstill; the nail biting kind.  But another race was starting so we didn’t have time to think about that.

Race #2:  It had been a dream since we had met; to travel to Panama together so Ronnie could meet my extended family and visit my Grandparents’ house in Chiriqui.  We finally took the plunge, talked my cousin into joining us, and bought tickets back in December (well before the house race took off).  But the trip was coming up and we had to start packing. 

Race #3:  In the midst of the packing and house “stuff,” Ronnie started his job at the Indy VA.  That was a full on marathon to get to that point (see previous post). 

Race #1:  Before we could leave for Panama, we had to make a few purchases for the house.  We ordered new carpet for the upstairs and set up a time for it to be installed after the closing date but before our move date.  We needed to order our bed and make sure it could be delivered on the right date as well; before move, but after carpet.  Then there was the mountain of paper work for the loan that had to be sent in before we went off the grid. 

Race #2: We had adventure after adventure in Panama.  It was a trip of a lifetime.  But more on that later.  We enjoyed every moment, but deep inside we were still playing the waiting game; waiting for our house to sell, waiting for the loan to come through, and waiting for the big move.  Finally Sunday arrived and, after a week of pretending the rest of the world did not exist, we were ripped from our tropical paradise back to Indy and work life. 

Race #1:  No sooner did we fall into a groggy, jetlagged sleep, did our wonderful Realtor call to let us know we had a showing.  We had twenty minutes to re-contain our traveling items, scoop up the pups, and get out the door.  But it was worth it.  Later that evening, we got an offer on our house.  We were in full motion again, signing papers, setting appointments, and making phone calls. 

It is well into our work week now and we are balancing the demands of work, family, friends, packing, signing, planning, and calling.  We are in a full sprint.  For now.  We know once everything is wrapped up it will be a short wait until we close next week.  At least, we hope. 

UPDATE 3-27:

We hit another Red Light this week when our loan processor informed us that our loan would NOT be ready for closing on Friday.  In fact , he said it wouldn't be ready for THREE WEEKS.  We were angry.  Very angry.  But we decided to RUN this red light.  Ronnie spent hours and hours on the phone with different departments, banks, and realtors.  Soon, he had our wait time down to just 4 days.  So.... HOPEFULLY we will be closing on April 31st.  We will see.  *fingers crossed*