17. we're on!

We are less than two weeks away from closing, and we finally (FINALLY!!!) got through the last of the big hurdles. We had a general inspection back in June, then a special solar inspection, then a special well inspection, plus a survey. The last big hurdle was getting the appraisal... and it took 17 days (not that we were anxiously awaiting the results or anything) to get the final report. When it finally (FINALLY!!!) arrived today, it was such a relief! We could start sharing our new address without worrying about "jinxing" the process!

We actually had to start sharing the address a couple weeks ago (like to cancel our cable, switch the utility bills to the new owners, etc.), and it just killed me to tell anyone where we were planning to live, as if saying the address would make the whole deal fall apart. Every time Husband would mention our future home, I would force him to knock on some wood. I wished on lucky stars, I wished on heads up pennies I found on the ground, and I would knock on some extra wood just for good measure - anything to help the deal go through!

I know it's completely irrational, and I never would have thought of myself as a superstitious person before all this. (It's not like I haven't taken my lucky underwear off, or anything like that!) But this process has made me realize that I am a lot more superstitious that I realized. And it made me think back to my pregnancy with Kid (after two previous miscarriages) - it wasn't until I was at least 36 weeks along that I said to Husband "I think we might actually have a baby this time!" It was like I was afraid that getting my hopes up would cause the good thing not to happen, so it was safer to just to be anxious and not to say anything that might alter the outcome.

(As an aside, in mythology, there were three women ("the Fates") who determined the destiny of all mortals. The Greeks believed that if you got too cocky about good things ("tempting the Fates"), they would respond by showing you who was really in charge and bringing some bad into your life. I must have more Greek ancestry than I realized!)

I'm realizing now that it's all in good fun to be superstitious, up until the time that very superstition prevents you from enjoying the entire process. (You know, the whole "it's the journey, not the destination" yada yada.) Bad things can happen - pregnancies end, house closings fall through, terrible accidents and tragedies happen every day - but silly things like knocking on wood aren't going to actually make a difference.

So today, after finally hearing back about the appraisal (and while technically still waiting for the underwriting process to commence, which should take three more business days), I decided to prevent my superstitious nature from impeding my enjoyment as we embark on this new adventure: I shared the address with several people, told my friends that our house closing is a done deal, and I reveled in my excitement for our new house.

And to top it all off, I wrote a blog post titled "we're on!"  Take that, Fates!