We! are! selling! our! old! house! today! All the exclamation points!!!
Yes, today we officially bid farewell to Chinaberry Park Lane. It’s a bittersweet moment — despite the sales process taking longer and being more stressful than we anticipated, I say goodbye to our first home with nothing but fond memories. Jose and I built this house while engaged, moved in as newlyweds, and brought both of our girls home for the first time here. It was the perfect house for 7+ years of our lives, and now I know it will be a great home to the new owners.
Last night I made everyone trek over to the old place one more time to take a family photo out front. The traffic getting there after work was horrendous, which yet again justified a major factor in our decision to move last summer. But it was worth it for the photo. I plan to get this one printed out and hang it up somewhere in our new place.
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In other news, I’m in denial that tomorrow is April already. This year is really flying past! Spring is all around — our yard has suddenly burst into bloom again and I swear the trees sprouted bushels of leaves practically overnight.
There’s also this guy — a cardinal who seems to have taken up residence in our general vicinity. He’s quite a singer too. I hear him first thing in the morning, before the sun is officially up but when the sky has started to lighten enough to know that day is on its way. I’ve always had a soft spot for cardinals. I hope he sticks around for a while.
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I got new running shoes this week after realizing my old pair had more than a year of wear on them. I’ve been wearing the Brooks PureCadence for several years now (and the Brooks Adrenaline for many years before that) but I decided to try the PureFlow this time around. The biggest news, however, is that I was able to order size 11.5! I’ve NEVER seen a size 11.5 in ANY shoe, much less a running shoe, so this was a huge deal to me.
See, I wear a size 11. Conventional running wisdom recommends sizing up by a half or whole size but that’s never really been an option since 11 is often the largest size anyone stocks. Fortunately I’ve never had a significant issue with pain or black toenails or anything like that — but I’m also ridiculously excited to finally have a pair of running shoes with just a bit more breathing room.
I’ve also discovered that running shoes are one of the only places that having an odd size can be a benefit. I’ve been able to get my past few purchases on sale when all they have left in a soon-to-be-retired model is under size 6 and above size 10. $55 for a pair that usually costs $120? Sold!
(Also: thank goodness my feet didn’t grow with either pregnancy. Whew.)
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This week in my archives:
Two years ago…my brother-in-law got married.
Three years ago…I made my road trip case, which I still use for storing cross stitch stuff.
Four years ago…baby Emma started scooting!
Seven years ago…I wrote a surprising amount of words about the post office. (Ha!)
Eight years ago…Jose took me to Les Mis for my birthday!
Ten years ago…I did a half ironman!! (Oh man. This makes me miss doing triathlons. Maybe this summer I can do a short one…)
Eleven years ago…I’d just gotten back from a vacation skiing in Lake Tahoe.
Thirteen years ago…I taught someone what planets look like from here.
Becca says
That Tahoe trip was awesome!
Gretchen says
Gold star to you for making one last trip to the old house! I often get ideas like that and then the grumbling begins and causes me to abandon my plan…and then later I regret it. So I am happy that you persevered even through bad traffic.