Last night I was lucky to meet one of the sellers of our new house, and she was really sweet. Jen and I have a ton of questions to ask her about the history of the house, and she was delighted to hear that—it seemed to make her very happy. We were also able to meet the next-door neighbor, who is an attorney and retired judge of Catonsville (gulp) but who seems extremely amiable and friendly. (He took me aside, pointed about halfway up the driveway of the new house, and said, completely deadpan, “this is where my property line ends…” before smiling and slapping me on the back. It took me a few minutes to breathe again, but after he said, “just kidding!” I was able to relax. I have some kind of genetic fear of lawyers.)

Luckily, after mixing and laying about 240 lbs. of concrete on the sidewalks of the house I don’t own, the insurance company agreed to cover the place. Whew. Also, the sellers are kind enough to leave us with a beautiful oak desk, a church pew, a handmade rug, and the exam table from the doctor’s office—after I explained that we have a friend who knows a tattoo artist who’s interested in it.

Meanwhile, we close on my house tonight, and I officially become a tenant for the next three days.

It’s looking like this may be one of the last times I see broadband connectivity for the next three or four days, so if you need to get in touch with me, use my cellphone number. If you don’t have that, you’ll have to wait until Wednesday or so. Wish us luck!