House Update - Good News!

We thought we had hit a big snag when our home loan specialist asked to see a copy of our home inspection report. The inspection was very thorough and listed multiple things that should be addressed over time, but not necessarily right away - the house was built in the 70's after all, so it has some wear and tear. We just knew that the bank would take one look at that report and add all of those fixes to its own list of things for us to fix before getting the loan and closing on the house. However, the list only increased by ONE, and it's another minor thing - leaky faucets! Last night Stephen and his dad went over to "the new house" (as Mary calls it) to fix as much as they could before Stephen's dad leaves for the weekend. They got a big portion of the repairs completed (thanks, guys!), and they'll finish up Monday when Tom comes back. Stephen's hoping to the get the final inspection scheduled for next Tuesday, which (if things go smoothly from here on out) would put us at the closing table next Thursday or Friday. It's still kind of a stretch to hope to close next week, but it could happen. At least progress is being made, people at the big bank are paying attention to us now, and it looks like this will really happen! I lost hope for a little bit, but now I'm starting to get excited again!

On a different note, we're thinking of getting a family membership to Early Works in the fall. Is there anyone reading this who also has a membership? Any thoughts, like it, not worth it, etc? We're also thinking about a botanical gardens membership for next spring. If you've got a membership, is it worth it, like it, not like it, etc.? Thanks for the input! Mary's just hitting the age where she can start enjoying things like these, and we want her to experience as much as she can and learn, learn, learn!

Happy Friday, everyone!