PERMIT IS CLOSED!!!!!

Oh my God! I cannot believe it. I am freaking out, don't know what to do with myself. It's been a year and 5 months of having that thing hanging over my head. It still hasn't sunk in. I can't believe it's really over. I think I'll go down to the building office and just check to make sure..... maybe I pinch myself in case this is a good dream. I'll be really bummed if I wake up and that nasty permit is still hanging on my door. I have that song from the Wizard of Oz in my head "Ding, dong the witch is dead, the wicked old witch is dead." (Sorry if you now have it in your head from reading this.)

So, after doing a few last minute things this weekend, all that was left to do was wait. I called a little after 8:00 this morning and found out my inspection time was 1-4 p.m. I was bummed I would have to sit and stress out all day, but nothing you can do. Fortunately the guy that came out was pretty cool. He has never been here for an inspection, but I had met him a few mornings when I went down to see a specific inspector who wasn't in he answered my questions for me. He was very reasonable - there were in fact a few small things like some missing caulk and handrails on the two outside steps, but he let it go. Technically, he could have held me up pending exterior painting, but he called his boss and got the okay to close us out. Even I was shocked by that one! We weren't even going to think about paint or stucco until this permit was closed. What a relief.

So, I am going to take a few days off of blogging while I regroup and get ready for the next step. Over the last few months, as I have told people about being close to closing this permit, people have asked me "So you're almost done?" The answer is no, we're not, but this is a HUGE milestone.