We haven't moved... yet

Still waiting on all the paperwork stuff, argh. I want to close before Dad gets here so he has something to do besides sit in the apartment with boxes and watch tv.

Anyway, despite all the terror of, "Oh, my God, we're buying a house," and that change-aversion part of me that's all, "But we've lived here ten years," there are more than a few things I'm looking forward to.

• Never again having to scrape frost off my car in the morning. We'll have a garage.
• Storage space. Closets can again be for clothes, and all the computer parts/stuff from my childhood/random boxes can go in the attic. Woo, attic.
• Never again having to vacuum. Well, nothing big. The whole place is hardwood and tile. Dustmops are so much easier on the back.
• Being able to plant stuff without worrying about the lawn service killing it. I'm good enough at killing plants on my own; I don't need help doing it.
• Getting the books out of the bedroom. I had one 6' bookcase when I moved up here. I have 4 now, plus the one my husband had. I need about 4 more. After a while they start to loom, and become inaccessible with all the stuff in front of them. Dining room? No, no... Library.
• The cats will never see the upholstery again. There's a door on the kitchen that will confine them to the back half of the house. (Hopefully this will also provide some relief for the cat-allergic friends and family.)
• Apple tree. OMG, apple tree.
• Windows that actually let in light! I can retire the plant light to starting seeds in the spring and let my geranium and unidentified plant from work have real light.
• There will actually be a guest room, so Mom & Dad will have the option to stay with us when they visit.
• Sidewalks! It will be so much easier to start walking/running when it will be possible to just go out the front door and do so, rather than driving to a path. (Not that I'm terribly confident in my exercise discipline, but still.)
• No more carrying groceries up a story's worth of stairs.

The negatives, of course, are things like, say, paying property taxes, and probably higher gas & electric bills for heating & cooling a larger space than our apartment. And all the eventual home maintenance costs. But compared to living with paint colors you're not entirely fond of, carpet I'm fairly sure is as old as me, and so forth, it's a pretty good trade off.

Hurry up, paperwork! Darn it.