One year as a homeowner, this friday

This Friday marks the one year anniversary of our closing, otherwise known as The Day My Hand Fell Off From Signing So Many Papers. Hurrah!

I thought I'd do a little retrospective and include never-before-seen-on-the-internet photographs of the house. The scenes and spaces may look familiar but I've a soft spot for the kind of light you get with film, especially with a well-used and known camera (click the photos for bigger versions).

Another telephone wire and sky shot, this one taken from the kitchen window.

This year we've made the following repairs/improvements to the houses: new porch roof, new siding on the back of the house, two new furnaces, one new boiler, some chimney work, a new back door, a new drop ceiling in the rented house, multiple toilet repairs, new paint throughout both houses, electrical work, security lighting, and probably other stuff I'm forgetting.

We survived two incidents of overflowing toilets and crumbled ceilings (including one tonight!), a couple flooded basements, mice infestation, broken toilets, clogged tubs and sinks, and lengthy discussions with CitiMortgage customer service reps.

My office with nice light. Still messy, as always.

Steve and I have both been through job changes and most recently an intra-house move/rearrange. Our mortgage payment--taxes escrowed--has changed three times, and will hopefully stay static for a while. Friends moved in to the apartment next door and a vacant house across the street was bought at the City's IN-REM auction.

Also, I planted tulip bulbs.