On Saturday morning (6/7), Stephanie and went out to cruise a handful of garage sales. We’re looking for furniture, as we have nearly none. We’re looking for beds for everyone, and a couch for the living room. We found a pressure cooker and a frame that can be used for a sofa, with some work.

We’re also collecting a few pieces from Fairbanks FreeCycle. We discovered the service in the last few weeks, and we’ve been able to unload a few good items that we’d never need. We’ve also picked up a free sofa, a free queen sized mattress set, and a dresser. Of course everything is of the quality you might expect of something that won’t even sell at a garage sale and is being given away only as a last measure before taking it to the dump.

We got an email from our lender on Saturday. The appraisal on the new house came in sooner than expected, and everything looks good there. The lender told us we might be able to close as soon as the end of next week and be in by the weekend. That was great news.

As excited as we are to be in the new house, I’m not really ready to leave this UAF apartment. I feel like we’re at family summer camp, and I’m not ready to leave it. This is our fourth summer in UAF’s Hess Village. It’s a great space, and we have some great family memories built here. Summer of ’05, Stephanie and I were here alone until Jacob was born. Summer of ’06, we relived the experience with Tobias. Summer of ’07, we were joined by Jamiee and we enjoyed our time getting to know her. This summer, of course, baby girl is on the way. But I know it will be good to be in our own house.  

We left a message for the seller last night. We tried to contact him because he didn’t seem to be moving as fast as we’d hoped on his end of the deal. The seller called us back this morning and explained why he had been out of touch for the last couple of days. He asked Stephanie, “Have you read the paper? Because I’m on the front page.” Never a good sign.

So he’ll need a couple more days to finish up his end of the paperwork and get everything moved out. We’re still hoping to be closed on the house and moving in by Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. In the meantime, we’re still collecting free furniture. At least we’ll have a place to sit, but I’m worried our collection of cast off furniture from the greater Fairbanks area will look like Sanford and Son’s living room when assembled in our new home.