Okay, this entry is all about the new house, so feel free to skip on by if real estate bores ya to tears. I probably won't go on about the new house much more until we close, partially because we'll be so busy with fixing up and selling our current house, but mostly because I don't want to jinx ourselves by talking about it too much. Nothing's set in stone yet...

But some people were interested in photos, so here's a shot of the front of the house from Sunday, when we signed the initial paperwork and plopped down our earnest money:



The house itself is in a new neighborhood called Stonegate, which is actually connected to a couple other neighborhoods (all of which contain houses WAY more expensive than our new Love Shack). The neighborhood is about 3 miles south of Wake Forest, and about 5 miles northeast of Raleigh. It's in a cool, rural area that probably won't remain rural for much longer, unfortunately.

Here we are slapping on the Under Contract sticker to the house sign:



Be sure to notice the slightly dazed expression on my face... Just ignore the port-a-potty (I don't think that's part of the package!).

Right now there are about 8 houses in our neigborhood, in varying states of completion. We may be the very first people to move into our neighborhood, which would be crazy, but kind of cool.

What we really like about this neighborhood is that it's very kid-friendly -- lots of sidewalks, a pool, a park, and other amenities that I hope will draw in a lot of the parents of Drew's future playmates.

Oh, and did I mention the kick-ass study I'll have downstairs? No more tiptoeing around in the early morning on my way to do some writing, scared to death I'll wake everyone up. Sweet.

So that's the new house. Whew. Now, I've gotta get back to work on fixing up the old Love Shack... Later!