Fantasy Meets Reality

In my haste to close the deal there was no way for the Jersey Girl to visit the place until after the closing. Our beloved dog Petey was sick with cancer and she had to stay home with him in case he took a sudden turn for the worse.  Buying the place unseen by her was a risk, but she professed faith in me (something unfamiliar after 25 years of marriage.) I took her at her word and did what I thought was right and dove in. But now it was time for her to visit our new place.

So about 6 weeks after the closing we flew out to Denver and drove up to the house. (Sadly, Petey died in the interim.) I made sure we had dinner reservations at a nice restaurant on the way and we stopped into the grocery store to pick up some provisions for the weekend. I asked our neighbor to make sure the heat was comfortable and the hot water heater was turned on and to please leave some lights on so it didn’t seem to isolated and remote when we arrived in the dark. Late February was a better time to visit than the frigid early January of the closing anyway.

The plan was to meet with the architect on Friday to go over the schematic plans for the first time and make sure that they were proceeding on the right track. We would meet and spend some time getting to know our new neighbors.  Then on Saturday and Sunday explore the house, the property, and the area. Saturday night we would have dinner with Agent 007’s husband and daughter, as 007 would be out of town visiting her mother. Sunday we go back to reality in NJ.

This is an excellent opportunity to reveal the secret agent 007’s true identity. Throughout the process she was patient and super professional and I could never have found the place or purchased it without her professional help. She listened to me and advised me gently and guided me through what could have been a stressful process. But it was nearly painless and it was pleasant, even fun thanks to Agent 007 AKA Amy Dunkelman, an agent with Coldwell Banker in Evergreen, CO. Besides being a superb real estate professional, she is an expert horsewoman, trainer and runs a large facility for horses in Evergreen. I know that we will remain friends now that the transaction is complete. She earned every cent of her fee, and more.  I enthusiastically recommend Amy to anyone looking to buy or sell real estate in the Denver and Front Range area.

Our flight to Colorado was uneventful, the drive up was easy, the dinner was wonderful, even romantic! And the arrival at the house went smoothly. The Jersey Girl settled in after a long day to get some rest.

Friday morning I woke up early, as usual, and fixed coffee – some tasty coffee and fresh eggs from their own hens had been left by our new neighbors. Another good sign. I brought the Jersey Girl coffee in bed, made sure the fireplace was burning brightly and made breakfast for her. It was a gorgeous morning. We got dressed and headed out to explore the property.

First stop: the barn, which is an old run-in shed with all sorts of add-ons like a garage and a chicken coop and storage rooms, all in a state of charming disrepair. We checked out the multiple abandoned outhouses, always good to know what is available if the plumbing stops working or the septic system malfunctions.

We even found a horse that someone abandoned on the place.

We had an excellent meeting with the architects and then headed back to get better acquainted with the house. After poking around and exploring – it doesn’t take long in 2000+ square feet – The Jersey Girl decided that the place was filthy and she had to do something about it. I tried to dissuade her from expending a lot of energy on cleaning a place that will be unoccupied until the renovations are done, but her inner ciocia prevailed. What is a “ciocia?” you might ask. Pronounced “choochee” that is Polish for “auntie” and refers to how the archetypal Polish aunt compulsively cleans. So the half Polish and half Italian JG starts with the cordless vacuum cleaner and vacuums until the battery is  exhausted. Then she grabs the Swiffer and starts mopping everything in sight. I am drafted to run around with swiffer pads and wipe off all the non-floor horizontal surfaces. It is probably safer to be cleaning than to be cleaned. I might even get nominated to ciocia husband status. Before you know it a couple of hours have passed and the place is a lot cleaner.

Friday night our friends from Castle Rock overwhelmed us by bringing dinner to enjoy at our new cabin. They had prepared everything back at their home and drove it up.  Such amazing friends! We shared wine and laughs and guacamole and chips. We set the folding table for dinner, unfolded the two chairs, used a suitcase as a third chair and the stepladder as a fourth chair. We are so fortunate to have great friends. With a fire in the fireplace, friends and food and wine it was beginning to feel like home.

Saturday was another beautiful day, and we had time for a short walk down the road, then lunch with the neighbors and were delighted to find out we had a lot in common. Troy is a physical therapist and Melody is an emergency first responder for a hospital in Denver. They had moved to the neighborhood a few years earlier and shared all sorts of wonderful information about the property, the history, and the neighborhood. We are looking forward to a long friendship. And a big bonus is that they will be our “caretakers” to keep an eye on the place when we are not there and need something taken care of.

Saturday evening the Jersey Girl attended mass at the nearby “Our Lady of the Pines” and met me and Amy’s husband Jeff and daughter Katie at a nearby Italian restaurant. This would be important – coming from Essex County NJ where Italian food is a specialty, I was desperately hoping that this would be good. The JG is always telling me “you can’t get a good mutz” out in Colorado (translation: “mutz” = mozzarella.) And it was good. The food was good, the service was great, and the companionship of Jeff and Katie made us feel like this was working out!

Sunday morning we packed up and headed down to the airport, back to the real world, leaving fantasy-land behind. When fantasy collides with reality and is mixed with great friends, good food, and the comforts of home it makes an exciting future.