Today took a very unexpected, but very happy turn. When I wrote last night, Jeff and I were due to sign the papers on our house today. The original closing date had been set for Wednesday and everyone on our side (led by our amazing realtor, Mike Hensley) who has been rooting for us throughout our bad luck streak was making miracles happen (that was the main news of last week…more on that story also later) to stay on track so that we could have a new house by Thanksgiving.

Unfortunately, the seller had a different idea. We were told on Friday that she had no interest in signing before the last possible moment on Wednesday, though she was informed by the people around her that she would need to sign earlier in the week in order for the sale to be recorded by the agreed-upon date in the contract of this Wednesday. There was a plan in place of escalating calls from the title company, etc. to urge a signing by Tuesday but honestly, we were doubtful.

This morning I headed into an all-day meeting at work. Mid-morning, with one check of email, this whole real estate saga of the past nine months suddenly appeared to come to an end. The seller, without telling anyone, showed up at the title office reception desk that morning to sign her papers. We arrived shortly afterward and even saw proof of a signature. And just like that, we became homeowners again. (Well, we will be once it officially records either late tomorrow or sometime on Wednesday.) Which truly means that this seemingly never-ending adventure is over. Let me say on behalf of both of us that we never imagined being this happy to take on a large debt.

Are we celebrating tonight and breathing a million sighs of relief? Absolutely. Has the reality hit us that this sell/buy housing adventure has finally come to close? Absolutely not. But it’s slowly sinking in.

We officially move in on Saturday (the movers have been scheduled since we moved out of our old house, though we feared even as of last night that we’d have to switch the date). I suspect that before then we’ll be over there on the floor with a bottle of wine on Thanksgiving day before we head to some friends’ who have graciously taken us in for Thanksgiving dinner. I can’t think of a better way to spend our day of thanks.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.