A little past 1:00 this afternoon, the lawyer/notary public arrived at my condo building. About 20 minutes later, he handed me the last piece of paper for my signature, from the two large stacks with which we’d begun, and I commented on how easy it was–and almost scarily so–to recommit myself to owing such a large sum of money.

So the refinance is done, the papers are on their way for processing, and I should have my cash-out check by the end of next week or early the week after. And as the first payment really is included as part of the financing process, I’ll now skip a month, so I won’t have to make another mortgage payment until January, which will give me a little extra cash for the holidays.