Closing
Yesterday was thoroughly anticlimactic. I'd been anticipating "closing on the house" for weeks. I took the day off work, since I envisioned half a day of signing contract after contract & writing a flurry of checks.

The lender got our paperwork out a little late, so the title company had less than a day to prepare. When I phoned at 10am, the escrow officer tried to push us off until Monday. I balked. Uh-uh. No-way, no-how. Today was Closing Day, and a closing was gonna happen.

Oh, by the way, the escrow officer mentioned, was the termite treatment finished. Um, what? Termite treatment? We didn't know anything about termites, or the treatment thereof.

Jason here when the termite inspector looked the house over. The inspector found "evidence" of old termites, and a few minor problem areas. Jason quizzed him on what it all meant, and the inspector played it down. A few hundred dollars, "if" we wanted to get it fixed. It all sounded so optional, so we didn't think much more about it. Unfortunately, the termite inspection came back with boxes checked and lines drawn that made a more serious impression on the lender. Looks like termites will be treated.

I'm a tad frustrated that no one seemed to know about this until yesterday. We have just a few days to get the treatment done so that escrow can close according to the papers we signed yesterday. If, for some reason, we can't get it done in that time, we have to sign all over again. Ugh.

So, we're 80% homeowners.... Feels pretty good.