Today was a big, big day, the eleventh of the eleventh. A day we will always remember. Today, we signed the documents at the notary and officially got the keys to our new home.
For me, it's the first house that I own. For Mandy, it's a big new chapter. She saw her previous house as temporary. This house will be our home, maybe until we are old and wrinkly. It will be the house where Ollie will bring his friends. The place where he'll do his homework. A home we can grow in as a family.
It's unreal that we own this house. It feels a bit as if this house is a little bit out of our league. We realize that we are very lucky that a lot of moving parts and all the stars in the universe aligned in the right direction. Yet, at the same time, it's not a house for everyone.
It's a spacious house with possibilities and character. It's also a house that needs a lot of renovation work. We know about the leaks in the top floor's ceilings. All the interior is outdated. The walls and roof are not insulated. But everything works. There's running water, the heating works, the toilet flushes, and the kitchen is equipped.
What also gives a surreal feeling is the fact that the heir left a lot of interior that belonged to his late mother. This was as discussed, so that we can quickly move into the house without having to buy a lot of new furniture. But now we're here, staying over for our first night; it feels as if we're in an Airbnb. This is our house, but not our home yet. We still feel like guests and sleep on someone else's bed and use someone's kitchen and toilet.
In the next couple of days, we will start with the first (of possibly a 5- to 10-year) renovation. The plan is to take a couple of weeks to transform the living room and kitchen so that it feels more like ours. In the meantime, we will move our belongings and furniture from our current house. And I think next year, we'll start renovating the top floor. It's big, and we'll go room by room. I'm sure sometimes progress will seem slow. But year to year, we'll make big leaps. This is the way.