Buying a house has felt very much like this so far. One day, we're walking around a big, empty house, throwing around numbers, mentally putting furniture in its rooms, and the next day, I'm navigating my way to a huge building where our mortgage guy works, toting my heavy baby in her car seat, diaper bag full of toys and papers that display our income and credit rating. Somehow, I have gotten married, had a baby, and have participated in the purchase of a house. It's unreal. We have a mortgage guy. His name is Chad. We have a real estate agent. His name is Phil. We bought a house. We saved up money for a couple of years and are writing a check for a down payment. We will have a mortgage. My god. It's surreal. It's amazing.
Our real estate agent, Phil, has been fantastic. He has actually been a part of my life for several years now, in a weird way. So, right after I graduated from college and was working at the adoption agency, I had a really long commute. One rainy day during this commute, I rear-ended a Mercedes driven by Phil and caused about $900 of damage. Phil was very nice about the whole thing. He didn't get out of his Mercedes and look at the damage--he came over to me first and asked how I was. When he learned that the damage done would cause my insurance rates to rise, he said he wouldn't rent a car, which would keep the price of the damage low enough that I wouldn't see a price increase in my policy. Being incredibly grateful but having nothing to offer, I thanked him and said if there was anything I could do for him, I'd be happy to do it. He said that he was a real estate agent, and when I was ready to buy my first home, I could look him up. I think he said it in a kind of offhand way, but I mentally filed away his name. Seven years later, I looked him up. He was surprised I had remembered him, and I was happy he didn't think that it was weird that I had remembered him. He's been amazing--so kind, so effective, and very thorough. Chris and I are both glad that, seven years ago, the roads were wet, and that if I had to hit a luxury car, at least it contained someone as nice as Phil.
Anyway, that's what we're up to these days. The baby is good, Chris is loving his new job, and I could not be happier now that I'm home with the baby. She is smiley and giggly, and I think every day that she is the most amazing creature ever to exist on the planet. She's amazing.
Hope you're well!
xo
