I decided, when my family was here last week, that it was time to move. Our house is too small, I tell you. 1400 square feet is just not enough space to entertain properly! For a bigger house I decided I would use more gas to heat it, take more time to clean it, and pick a more undesirable neighborhood to live in it. (Because we just can't afford to live in Old Town and have a bigger house. Even disgusting, unkempt, no yard, cracks all over the wood floors, cigarette butts ground into the black and white vinyl kitchen floors, 1600 square foot homes in Old Town cost around $279K.) So I called my old realtor with the amazingly long hair that reaches her bum, and is fabulous at what she does, to show me what the heck is out there.
I picked 7 homes, only 1 in Old Town (mentioned above) and I liked none of them. (The one mentioned above being the absolute worst of them all-but hey! It's Old Town, perhaps we can buy it, tear it down, and rebuild for another, oh, I don't know? Say...$350K? No thank you.) Most were 1970's homes that had been partially remodeled. For instance, the kitchen had warm, lovely tile floors and a sparkling new fridge with an ice dispenser. However downstairs, through the dark wood paneled hallway were 3 small bedrooms with closets the sizes of w/c's on an airplane-except you couldn't actually go inside them. They had a small window in each and one small overhead light shaped like a globe. There was a border in one with baseball gloves, basketball hoops, and football helmets (or something of the like) that reminded me of my doctor's office.
Now, I realize there is potential for making these houses mine. I realized that we could change some of the things that bothered me. These houses WERE bigger after all. Although, you can't change the neighborhood.
The thing that struck me is that I really love my house. I fell in love with it the minute I saw it (kind of like when I saw hubby for the first time-when you know, you know!) It is a bit small, in that there's not a guest bedroom, no desk for our lap-top, and a small kitchen table is right next to the TV. But I love the way it feels inside. I love the wood floors and how light and airy it is. I love that I have a huge walk-in closet that probably takes up about 9 of the 14 hundred square feet of our house! I love our neighborhood on a hidden street with houses from the 1950's. I love that we can walk to the grocery store and that there is a park right behind us. And for crying out loud, who wants to clean a bigger house anyway? I can hardly stay on top of the little house, what am I thinking?? I haven't even mentioned the market! Holy Canoli! Who wants to sell a house in this age of declining prices? Am I even being realistic about it? Why am I even thinking about moving again?
Oh yeah, the space thing. Then it hit me just like that volleyball flying over the net in the 7th grade that got me SMACK in the face. I can change some of these things that bother me about MY house! We can move the TV out of the TV room so it's NOT right next to the table. Then put a little desk in the niche where the TV was. We could buy an armoire for the TV so we can actually close the doors on it and not have to see it if we don't want to. We can extend (or buy?!) our table so it's bigger and more folks can fit around it. Because when visitors visit, we often end up visiting around the table. Then there's our nasty couch that's looking worse everyday. We can buy a new couch and put it in the other room so the room where the table is, is just the dining room with the desk! Yes, Yes, YES!!! Oh, I feel like I've had a great vision! My head is so clear it's like a swimming pool inside!
Now to get hubby up to speed....we just need to get "economically stimulated" (in the words of my bike friend who just got stimulated economically) and it's a done deal!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Bumblebee and Darth Vader
The six year old turned seven this last weekend. My lovely parents came as did my sister and her (sort-of?) boyfriend. It was super fun, had a lovely time, good conversations, and was so glad to all be together. We laughed and joked and took walks, played a new board game, ate lots of sweet things like Cinnamon rolls from Vern's (the best in the world) and drank lots of yummy alcoholic beverages like coconut rum and Cabernet-Merlot mixes.
I did, of course, get stressed before everyone came. Cleaning, baking, cooking, and party organization can take up some time for doing and space for thinking. But once everyone was here it really was great.
The kiddos went bowling and it was so cute to see 3-7 year-olds shoving a big yellow ball down a ramp to the lane with the bumpers and then get a strike! They would high-five each other and say "YEAH!"
The 3 year old (who, from now on, I have decided to re-name (only in the blog of course!) "Darth Vader" because he LOVES Star Wars and Anakin/Darth Vader so darned much. He sings little songs on bike rides about Anakin turning to the dark side to the tune of the Darth Vader music. He knows which little "lightsaver" belongs to which action figure. "Oh no, Mama, that's the green one with stripes around the handle so it belongs to Luke. The green one with just one stripe belongs to General Grievous.") did a great job with the seven year old's birthday. I think it was a little hard for him to understand that he didn't get presents too. But he just played and sang and did his little Darth Vader thing and got more than 100 points bowling!
Bumblebee (formerly-known-as-the-six/seven-year-old who is as nuts about Transformers as the 3 year old is about Star Wars. He just loves the yellow camaro autobot who is as sweet in the movie as the seven year old is in real life. Might as well call him Bumblebee, right?) seemed to have a great time and enjoyed the festivities. He even told me he was thankful to me for putting it together!
I just can't believe he's seven. Darth Vader will be four in June. I thought I was the one who had the babies. I don't understand how they grow up so fast. Everyone tells you that too. It sounds like a no-brainer. In fact, one would think that a child growing up IS a no-brainer. But it freaks me out. It seems life picks up speed everyday. I don't believe I want more babies. The baby stage is hard but wonderful--there is nothing better than holding a sweet newborn. (Speaking of, my bed-rest friend is now infant-mom-friend with a week old beautiful baby boy. I got to hold him and it felt vaguely familiar holding such a small little guy, as if I was looking at a photo of myself 3 1/2 years ago with a newborn. But it also felt strangely odd, as though my boys were never that small. I felt a little awkward. How doest that happen so fast?) I guess one must really, really try to be in the moment. That moment disappears so quickly as if it were a fleeting dream in the early morning. I feel like this is just something I'm beginning to understand.
I did, of course, get stressed before everyone came. Cleaning, baking, cooking, and party organization can take up some time for doing and space for thinking. But once everyone was here it really was great.
The kiddos went bowling and it was so cute to see 3-7 year-olds shoving a big yellow ball down a ramp to the lane with the bumpers and then get a strike! They would high-five each other and say "YEAH!"
The 3 year old (who, from now on, I have decided to re-name (only in the blog of course!) "Darth Vader" because he LOVES Star Wars and Anakin/Darth Vader so darned much. He sings little songs on bike rides about Anakin turning to the dark side to the tune of the Darth Vader music. He knows which little "lightsaver" belongs to which action figure. "Oh no, Mama, that's the green one with stripes around the handle so it belongs to Luke. The green one with just one stripe belongs to General Grievous.") did a great job with the seven year old's birthday. I think it was a little hard for him to understand that he didn't get presents too. But he just played and sang and did his little Darth Vader thing and got more than 100 points bowling!
Bumblebee (formerly-known-as-the-six/seven-year-old who is as nuts about Transformers as the 3 year old is about Star Wars. He just loves the yellow camaro autobot who is as sweet in the movie as the seven year old is in real life. Might as well call him Bumblebee, right?) seemed to have a great time and enjoyed the festivities. He even told me he was thankful to me for putting it together!
I just can't believe he's seven. Darth Vader will be four in June. I thought I was the one who had the babies. I don't understand how they grow up so fast. Everyone tells you that too. It sounds like a no-brainer. In fact, one would think that a child growing up IS a no-brainer. But it freaks me out. It seems life picks up speed everyday. I don't believe I want more babies. The baby stage is hard but wonderful--there is nothing better than holding a sweet newborn. (Speaking of, my bed-rest friend is now infant-mom-friend with a week old beautiful baby boy. I got to hold him and it felt vaguely familiar holding such a small little guy, as if I was looking at a photo of myself 3 1/2 years ago with a newborn. But it also felt strangely odd, as though my boys were never that small. I felt a little awkward. How doest that happen so fast?) I guess one must really, really try to be in the moment. That moment disappears so quickly as if it were a fleeting dream in the early morning. I feel like this is just something I'm beginning to understand.
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