House-iversary

Ten years ago today, I became a homeowner for the first time. I bought a cute little two-bedroom townhouse condo in a leafy suburb of Rochester NY.

The closing was scheduled for the afternoon, and I took the whole day off from work. I loaded boxes and bags in my car and drove to the closing with a full SUV, ready to head over immediately after I signed away my fiscal life. I didn't sleep there that first night; I couldn't manage moving my futon mattress on my own, and didn't see the point of sleeping on the floor when I had a nice comfy bed 6 miles away.

The next day was Friday, and I got a friend to help me move the futon that afternoon. I took Boo (who was about 8 months old at the time and Not Impressed that Momma had been taking stuff away for 2 days - I think he thought I was going to take it all and leave him in the apartment!) with me and we stayed for the night, sleeping on the futon mattress on the floor.

On Saturday, I rented a UHaul truck and a bunch of the guys from work met me at my apartment, loaded up the truck, and moved me into my new place. I look back at pictures from right after I moved in, and it's amazing how empty it was compared to three and a half years later when I moved to NH! And even that was empty compared to my place now.

Thanksgiving was the week after I moved in, and my parents came out with a small UHaul trailer with some hand-me-down family furniture. That helped the emptiness of the place. They also helped me do a bit of decorating and home improvements - as I recall, we painted the bathroom and kitchen, put up some shelves in the basement, and hung a bunch of stuff on the walls.

I can't believe it's been ten years!