an inspection, a painting, and swimming (in that order)

After Steve the Home Inspector crawled out of the attic to tell us that the house was completely free of mold and any major issues, Karl the Realtor managed to snap a photo of me, the hub, and Britton and our overjoyed reactions.

 Not really. Britton wasn't there. That's some random neighborhood kid trying to get in on our elation. 

We are full steam ahead, folks! Once I can get myself to Target and Pier 1 and Lowe's and load up my car with pillows, throws, curtains, curtain rods, vodka, we will be set! Of course, there's the issue of where to store all this stuff until we close, but I'm choosing to ignore that.

And my beautiful painting by Melissa Riker (see it at her blog The Happier Homemaker) arrived this evening!  I didn't get a picture of it myself because as soon as I unwrapped it to drool over it, I wrapped it right back up.  Britton and Sadie Dog cannot be trusted around nice things, and I was not going to have anything happen to it!  I'm dropping it off at Jo-Ann's for framing (coupon in hand) and it will hang in our new foyer.

Let me tell you the story of this painting - the hub and I took a Disney cruise about five years ago.  We saw a painting hanging in the gallery, for an art auction they were having on the ship.  We asked the art director how much the bidding was starting at, and when he replied it was starting at $3,000, we lost all hope and left.  But before getting too far, I turned around and quickly took a picture of the painting.  When I saw that Melissa had an Etsy shop full of beautiful paintings (see for yourself), I instantly thought of this one.  I sent her an email with the picture of the painting and she said she could do it.  Let me tell you, she did it.

Photo from The Happier Homemaker

In non-house-related news, we finally figured out that for Britton to truly enjoy the hotel pool, she needed independence.  The hub bought her a life vest, and yesterday Britton swam in the pool all by herself.  Yes, we are ignoring the fact that we could have been doing this for all five weeks we've been here!  Today she did it again and some older gents swimming laps complimented her on her doggy paddle.  She was so proud of herself, and we are so proud she took that leap.