Who Says You Can't Go Back

Been all around the world and as a matter of fact

There's only one place left I want to go

Who says you can't go home?

Yesterday I mentioned that Kenny and I are buying a home.  We are, and we are VERY excited! 

When we initially moved to London on Halloween 2009, I made Kenny promise that we would leave in two years.  His contract was for two years, and I thought that would be more than enough time living overseas.  Kenny had never liked London (he had done frequent business here in his former role), and my mom and I are too proudly Irish to think that anything good could ever come of living anywhere near the queen (lack of caps done for emphasis).  I moved to London with great hesitancy, and Kenny thought for a while that I would likely live at mom's for two years and just fly over to see him on occasion.  But I was a good wife.  I packed up my stuff and moved- more like I had corporate movers come to our condo while pointed at everything and told them A. air shipment, B. boat shipment, or C. storage, but you get the idea. 

Two years came and went, but we didn't.  It just made sense to stay here for professional reasons.  We are now in our third year and have decided that it is time to move back to the States.  If we stay here any longer, we will really have to commit to living here for a minimum of 5 years.  We need to start focusing on having children after all, and I don't want to be disrupting a small child's routine if it can be avoided.  I also want the support of my family, mostly my mother, with the whole baby thing.  Kenny works obscene hours, and I would be stuck in our flat alone. 

Enter- stage left- house hunting... we still don't know when we will be moving, but Kenny suggested that I schedule time out with my realtor during my March trip home.  He had initially said that we would not consider purchasing anything until September, so I had no interest in bothering my realtor.  I already receive daily MLS emails from her listing all homes in our price range, so I know the market.  I also know what I like.  I told him that I would go out with her when we were closer. 

Clearly that changed.  Interest rates are very low, and the town we want to live in has very little on the market.  Towards the end of February, Kenny told me again that I should go out with the realtor and said that we should buy something if I find something wonderful.  Music to my little ears.  So I had my realtor book some appointments, and I started my house hunting extravaganza.  I found a home I liked on the first day (mom came to see it with me), and the following day I brought in my builder to give me an estimate of what it would cost to make some very necessary changes to the structure.  I put a bid in, a bidding war ensued and we lost out to a cash buyer (damn you people with that much cash).  I found out that we lost the home the day before we went to the Maldives, and I was very bummed.  Luckily two other homes came on the market one week into the Maldives trip.  Mom went out to see them with the realtor; she then gave me a report and told me to fly in to see them both.  This is what precipitated my one day trip home between the Maldives and Portugal. 

I have typed A LOT and have written absolutely NOTHING about our soon-to-be home.  The structure is somewhere between an expanded ranch and a cape (I might post a picture after we close, but I feel that doing so now is a bit premature).  It is just over 4,100 square feet.  It has 5 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, a formal living room, formal dining room, great room (kitchen and family room area), a sun room, a large office for Kenny, a multi-colored slate patio, and a two-car garage.  The master bedroom suite is downstairs, as is a second bedroom with its own bathroom.  The office is also downstairs.  The seller's realtor kept telling me how we could convert the office into a bedroom (it was originally a bedroom) if we were so inclined, and I reminded her that I am 33 and have yet to have an occupied uterus.  Unless I wind up needing in vitro and give birth to a litter, I am pretty confident that 5 bedrooms will be more than sufficient.  The house will wind up needing a lot of work in the next few years, but it is in move in condition.  The kitchen is dated for my taste, as are most of the bathrooms.  These are just cosmetic changes though, so I am not going to let them worry me.

As for the location, we will be back in New Jersey!!!  I know that poor NJ is the butt of many a joke, but I still love it.  My area looks nothing like the NJ Turnpike or Newark-- and Tony Soprano is nowhere in sight.  Our home will be 5 minutes from my beach club, and Kenny will be just a bit over an hour from work.  It is one town over from where I grew up and shares the same zip code.  My private elementary and public high schools are located in this town, so there is a good chance that our child/ren will attend the same schools that I attended.  I will consider going the public route for elementary school-- we have years to figure that out.  We will be 15 minutes from my mom and just about 10 minutes from my office (assuming I go back to work).  And for the BIGGEST news of the day, we are set to close on May 29!  Kenny is scheduled to fly back to London that evening, so I do hope we can close on time.   

Now that this is actually right over the horizon, I am having anxiety (not bad anxiety, just anxiety over making such big changes).  I will save that for another post.