The Borrowers Aloft

Published on Tuesday June 27th, 2006

Eep, we did it! We closed on the house! I signed my initials to countless pages of hoodoo legal jabber ensuring that I’ll wind up in debtor’s prison if I don’t bestow vast chunks of my net worth on the bank each month. My signature now appears above the words “Borrower #1” on a tome of documents thick enough to stun an ox. Mr. Garter’s “Borrower #2.” We are the borrowers, and we drifted through the rest of the afternoon in a bubble of ether heady enough to fend off the Dear-Lord, what-have-we-done panic, at least for the moment. We even managed to open five new bank accounts along the way. (Our new bank is adorable. They gave us t-shirts designed to welcome us to the city and to promote local pride. Mr. Garter’s is egg-yolk yellow and says “Portlander”. Mine is sky blue and says “PDXIST”, which sounds vaguely illicit in a pleasing sort of way.)

Most importantly, we caught the last ten minutes of the France v. Spain match at a bar near the title company’s office. I have a long-standing affection for Les Bleus, having been in France during their victorious ’98 World Cup ride, and having been educated about the players and their merits by a lot of enthusiastic little schoolboys. (I was nearly run over by the Team Austria bus while riding my bicycle near their training center, by the by.) So I was happy to see them go through to the quarterfinals, and delighted that Zizou made that beautiful final goal.

I’ve turned the heel and worked the gusset of Pomatomus, and I’m swooning over the perfection of this yarn and this pattern in company. Pictures tomorrow, if there’s time between taking Mr. Garter to the dentist and both of us to the chiropractor and back to the bank and over to help my aunt move some of her things… And if I can catch my breath after all that, I’ll relate to you a most marvelous Sockapaloooza story.

8 Comments to “The Borrowers Aloft”

  1. carrie m Comment Says:

    congratulations! you must be so thrilled. we’re signing a lease tomorrow — not quite as exciting, but still cool.

  2. gleek Comment Says:

    holy moses!!! you’re a homeowner! scary, right? you sign your name to a hundred documents and boom! debt. but it’s all worth it. you’ll love having your own house.

    congratulations!

  3. Robyn Comment Says:

    Congratulations! It’s a beautiful home. Hopefully the heady feeling lasts for a while. :0) I, too, was glad to see France win. His name is Zidane, though. Of course, despite having played soccer for a long while when I was younger, I know very little about the professional players. The only reason I know his name is because he is my little brother’s favorite player, and my brother follows these things almost religiously.

  4. Lisa Comment Says:

    Happy day! Congrats on closing on the house….I know you’ll love it. V and I also signed our lives away, but alas, we’re only renting…

  5. Becky Comment Says:

    This is wonderful news! Congratulations!

  6. Katie Comment Says:

    Congratulations! I know well that crazy feeling your talking about, after the papers are signed and there’s no going back and you’re both so excited yet so scared at the same time. It’s wonderful! Enjoy it ~ you’ve made a great decision.
    It’s your house now!
    Now tell Mr. Garter to have fun at the dentist (yikes!)

  7. Stephanie Comment Says:

    Happy homeowning! You will have it looking great in no time!

  8. Katherine Comment Says:

    Congratulations! I just moved to Oregon, too, though the other end of the state. I’m loving it so far!