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You’ll note that there’s not been a house-related update since we put our house on the market in May.  Suffice it to say that we’ve been disappointed with progress toward selling our home in Newburyport, which culminated this week in hiring a new realtor and adjusting the price substantially.  We are hopeful that we’re now in the right ballpark for pricing.  It was a good sign when our new realtor had a showing scheduled the day after being on the job, did an open house on Sunday, and called us right afterwards to let us know 6 people came through in an hour and two seemed reasonably serious.  Much improved.  We are still keeping our fingers crossed that we can sell the place this year.

Our move to Chelmsford has progressed slowly but steadily.  We’ve taken weekly trips back a forth for church or other meetings, bringing boxes back each time.  We’ve settled into a routine in the new house, which includes a MUCH better commute for me and plenty of trail running.  As expected we spend a lot of time in the kitchen and have enjoyed the hot tub.  It’s great to get up and get ready for work without waking up Brian, and to have all my clothes in one [big closet!] place.  We also like that Brian has his own office, with a new desk and chair, a much more comfortable place to spend his time.  I traveled a lot in October, which slowed unpacking progress, but we caught up this weekend, and the kitchen is basically done.

The movers arrive tomorrow to move our furniture, another big step.  Our new coffee table arrived this week, and the sectional is scheduled to arrive on Thursday.  There will definitely be another round of unpacking, but frankly at this point we’re down to the attic and items we rarely use, so there will likely be as much culling of “stuff” as there will be putting things away.

We’ve traded the ability to walk to dinner for being closer to friends and work.  We’ve traded well-known running and biking paths for the extensive trails at the state park, and we’ll have to learn new roads to run and bike.  On the plus side, it’s a pleasure to cook together and we actually get to do so more often, so I expect more of our entertaining to be based around home.

I find myself now saying that I live in Chelmsford, and while we don’t get the same “OH I love Newburyport!” level response,  it’s definitely the right choice to move on to another phase in our lives.