If Patience Is a Virtue, Then I Am One Virtuous Chicklet

Before I get to the topic of this post, I first want to thank everyone for their continued prayers, phone calls and support. My Dad is doing fantastically well. After the two heart attacks that he had in 1995 he was just worn out and it took a very long time for him to recover. We were expecting worse than that given his medical history this year. Within a day or two you would not have believed that my Dad had just been in the hospital at all! He has much more energy than he had before the heart attack. In fact, he looks better than I have seen him look all year! The only theory that we can come up with is that perhaps due to the stents that they put in that he has more oxygen than he has had in a long time. In any case, we are so grateful!

While my Dad is doing great, Vinnie could use a few prayers right now. He is in the hospital yet again with a virus. Not only did he have to miss Halloween in his neighborhood, but his doctor said that he was not even well enough to go on the trick or treat outing in the hospital. (And of course where did they gather all of the kids? Right outside of his window where he could see them!) He was understandably upset. Anyway, if you could keep those prayers coming, we sure would appreciate it. A week without visiting the hospital sure would be a treat for my family.

Now on to the main event: Condo Craziness!

Yes, 4 months later, we are still waiting on this to happen and living with my parents in the meantime. I think that one thing that we have believed all along is that once we were at the point that we were ready to close, we would just do it. We knew right off the bat that we weren't going to have a ton of say in when it would happen as we were instructed that they would assign us the closing time. Naturally, we assumed that when it came time to close, that they would be ready to go (given that they were dictating the timeline). How silly of us.

Keep in mind that the closing has been delayed from week to week or month to month, but here is what happened this week alone: We are told that we are required to close on Saturday, October, 24th. We don't believe them at first, but finally Friday night, we allow ourselves to get excited as we have not heard anything to the contrary. I get up on Saturday morning in a great mood! My great mood is ruined the second that Mick checks his e-mail only to discover that we have been delayed until Monday. (I have a migraine Saturday and Sunday). Monday we are delayed until Tuesday at 11 am. On Tuesday we are walking in to the closing at 10:45 and Mick's cell phone rings. Yep. Delayed again. We talk to the CEO who declares that he can close us that day at 4:00. At 2:00 we receive a call delaying us until Wednesday morning. At 6:00 we get a call delaying us until Saturday, October 31st. Saturday, we get a call delaying us until Monday at 6pm.

So, that is where we are now. Do I think that we will actually close tomorrow? Um. No. I won't allow myself to get excited until we put our last signature on the documents.

"So, why is this happening?" you ask. Well, I am sure that you are able to determine on your own that to achieve this level of frustration that there are going to be a large number of idiots involved. But to be fair, the situation would be difficult for anyone to manage. Long story, short: These are co-ops that are converting into condos. We cannot move in until they are condos (because that is what we are financing it as), but the conversion is actually what has been delayed over and over again. This week, there are 422 units closing, so it is understandable that there are going to be errors. But really? Moving us 6 times in one week? How on Earth is this acceptable?

The one saving grace comes in the form of a co-worker of mine. She already lives in the complex and has for 10 years, but has to go through the entire conversion process as well. After they moved her several times, she finally did close last Wednesday. There is hope!

The funny thing is that you must be thinking that what we have been waiting for is a fancy, large and grandiose condo. It isn't. We love this complex. The location is just amazing, the grounds are beautiful and the condos themselves are so charming! (Honestly, they look like Snow White's cottage!) The truth is that they are also smallish and older (which if you know me at all, you know that I consider old an asset.). They are not fancy, they are not large, but they are perfect for us.

This condo is just what we need. It is not too big, it is not too small, but it is just where we want it, and just how we want it. After all of the frustration that we have experienced, we were reminded of this when our sellers real estate attorney took pity on us and gave us the code to the lock box so that we could go visit yesterday. It was really what we needed and it reminded us of what will come with patience.

So cross your fingers and say a prayer that this happens tomorrow. It is what we need and more importantly, what I am sure that my parents need right now. As an added incentive, there is likely to be a celebratory gathering at the new place once this is all over. While I am not much of a drinker, at this point it is also likely that this party will include large quantities of alcohol.

UPDATE: Vinnie got to come home from the hospital! Hooray! He told my sister that he was actually a little sad to be leaving and that she must be too since it "is kind of like a little vacation for her" Uh... right, kid. (Though it is very thoughtful of him to consider that she doesn't have to cook, clean, etc. while they are in the hospital.)

Condo: Delayed again. No surprise.