Well, the deed is done, so to speak. After spending the better part of an hour signing forms that a lawyer basically paraphrased for us (though we'd seen a few of them before anyway), the wife and I are now homeowners.

I'd intended to put together a bit of a virtual tour from photos we took at the start of the buying process, but can't as I'm currently unable to locate the USB drive that has the pictures. Part of me thinks it's still in the back of the in-laws computer in Maine, but I could have sworn I grabbed it before we left from our last visit.

That might not be a bad thing. The pictures show the house with the previous owner's stuff in it, and the decorating style is something I've dubbed Old Lady Classique. Lots of fake wood paneling and such.

We spent a little time at the house this afternoon, where we cleaned the front porch, and in doing so determined that we need a new vacuum. Which we bought and then spent a fair amount of time putting together, delayed by having a screwdriver that was too fat to fit in a couple of the holes. When we finally did get it to the point where we could use it, we made the further discovery that most of the rooms don't have overhead lights, so we'd be vacuuming in the dark. OK, we knew that the rooms didn't have lights, so I suppose it was more a timing thing.

I made my first run to the hardware store, and couldn't find what I needed. I have a feeling that's not going to be the last time, either.

The neighborhood is OK; the houses are pretty close, but most of the folks who live there are long-term residents, unlike our current location. So there'll be some scrutiny in the short term (such as from a guy across the street who seemed to spend most of the afternoon by his house just looking around; I've dubbed him Boo Radley, which I know isn't really accurate to the character, but it seems to fit), which is understandable given that the previous owner has been in the house since 1968.

A bigger problem is that we live about 5 houses down from a bakery. Thankfully, it's a commercial bakery, so we won't be stopping in every other hour, but we are going to be jonesing for rolls more often, I think.

More updates to come as we figure out what the hell we're doing. If ever.