With the 10 minutes I have before LOST

...more house hunting woes. Or not. Only time will tell!

Had a long talk with my parents today. They are the ones with the money trouble I've been hinting at, and they are no longer able to afford their home (condo). They'll have to short sale at the very least. I'm sharing this A) no one reads my blog anyway and anyone that does most likely won't meet my parents, B) 99% of my readers are really good people and even if they did meet my parents they wouldn't judge them for bad money skills, and C) I'm not saying anything bad about them. In fact, I'm done talking about them and on to the real subject of this post, which is about ME, LOL, and only sort of about them.

So dh and I have been talking about what this means for us and our house hunting. My parents *could* move into an apartment somewhere, but seriously, all the local affordable apts would make them miserable...small, old, have to climb steps (hard for my mom), crazy apartment life, etc etc. So it looks like we (dh and I) have a few options. Since we are not rolling in the dough either, helping them would mean quite the sacrifice on our parts. We could stay here (which might kill me, lol) and buy their condo, charging them rent. We may not even be allowed to do this as it is an over-55 place and we don't know if we can buy it, being the spring chickens we are (cough, cough). OR, we could find a place with an in-law apartment downstairs. Which might kill me, LOL. Seriously, I'm losing my mind here, and I don't know which is worse, staying here in a 1200ft/small yard/no garage/4 girls in one 9x11 room place, or living with my parents under me!

If we pick plan B (in-law), we did find a potential nice place online. There are so many good things about it. Strange thing is, it's right next door to dh's boss!!! We both like him and his wife, but isn't that weird? What are the odds that that would happen?

It's funny, every time I pray a novena to St. Joseph strange things like that happen. I'm sure it's a God thing. :)

Well, lost is almost on, so I'm outta here. See ya!

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T minus 27.5

This morning my realtor's husband called.  Our realtor was sick and sleeping, but she told her husband to call me first thing in the AM to give me a warning - she wanted to bring some people over at 6 PM tomorrow. She knows us well, and knows we need more than 24 hours notice to make the house nicey-nicey!  Especially when we are not on the market yet. :)

This may really be the answer to prayer, as we have found another house we want to see - nice town, not *too* far from work, 5 bedrooms ... and a little stream and a weeping willow in the back yard. We haven't seen the house yet, but soon.  It's move-in ready...

So I'm taking a little break from cleaning to rest, snack, blog,  and ask for prayers!   If this works out, all glory goes to God because there is no way things could just "fall together" like this.

Thinking "contented thoughts" either way...

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Weed, marigold, whatever!

After weeding all morning and not making half as much headway as I need to, I think I've come up with a new collective noun:

an evil of weeds

*********************

I think I'll put up a sign on our new chalkboard for the people coming to see our house tomorrow (!) ... "my toddler helped me weed."

Yours in dirt and cleanliness,

Amy

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After all these months and years...

...of wondering whether we should move or stay

...of serious house hunting only to find every affordable house had something either drastically wrong with it or it was sold before we even had a chance to see it

...we are finally going to MAKE AN OFFER. We found a house that fits us, that we can afford, in a good neighborhood.

It looks nothing like we thought it would, but we feel it's right.

Here's the hitch with this one - it's a short sale. Sooooo, they may be accepting several different offers right now. There is no guarantee they will want ours. We don't want to pay much more than we are offering, so we need to be ready to happily (!) walk away from this.

Please pray that we are doing the right thing, and if we are not, that God closes those doors. Thanks! The prayers will benefit you, my dear readers, because if we finally move you will be spared my moaning and carrying on about house hunting. ;-)

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Thinking out loud

Boring post #4,285 about house hunting - run along to the next blog post on your reader if you've had enough. ;-)

We're investigating a new-to-us area. It's a similar commute for dh to the areas we are already searching, but in a different direction. I'm having a horrible time figuring out what we should do...dh thinks that where ever a good-for-us house comes up, that was meant to be and we should get it, no matter what town it's in -- I'm wondering if we shouldn't just *wait* for a good house to come in whatever area we deem the best. I'm praying and seaking that peace -- more on that later. Here are the thoughts on each area

Area 1:
-the current area we've been searching in
-it feels "known" because we've been looking in it and living nearer to it for awhile
-it's closer to my parents than area #2 (like 15 min vs an hour)
-there *is* a homeschooling group or two but I believe many of their events are on the far side of their covered area, and I've met many in the secular group at least and...well...ehhhh. Didn't really hit it off. The Catholic group, at least years ago when I met some of the people, seemed good.
-dh's commute will be similar length for both areas but on more tree lined, windy roads for this area (this is a minus)
-probably both about same distance from shopping
-I could maintain a few friendships from our current town - it's far but not as far as area #2
-house prices are similar, land you get is similar for both areas
-both have rec centers and activities
-more foresty here, I seem to be craving that "shade"

Area #2:
-dh's commute on major highways (he likes that) even though it may be a touch longer here (traffic, etc)
-the church here is apparently awesome - large, good priests... every priest that I've liked has wound up going here for a time.
-there are a few homeschooling groups and co-ops, one in particular seems RIGHT up my alley and a friend is part of it. It's a co-op, but it's SO large that if you have to bow out for a season, it is fine, you just come right back. And there is much more to pick and choose from both in terms of classes for the kids (up to high school) and ways to volunteer to get your "co-op" helping covered. I don't like teaching (I wind up being SO anxiety filled) but I don't mind child care or room monitor or whatever...and a few hours a month and you are DONE! (boy that was long winded, LOL)
-10 minutes to any store you could ever want, but you still feel like you're in the country
-most houses seem to be out in the open, a very windswept feel, although some areas are wooded.

Looking at both areas, I *want* area #2. I want a clean break from where we are, I want new friends for me and the kids, new homeschooling groups, a great church, a large, well run co-op. So why do I feel no PEACE?? Area #1 offers nothing better than #2, except being closer to my parents which can be both a blessing and a curse.

So I'm searching for that peace, and wondering what to do next. Thinking about putting a fleece out on a dewy night and seeing what happens, LOL.

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If this is so funny, why am I not laughing?

We toured the PERFECT house today. Colonial on an acre, fenced and level backyard, large kitchen with an island that would seat 5 kids, lots of rooms on the main floor to hang out, do school, etc. From the kitchen sink you could see into the sunrooom and out into the nice backyard. Out in the peaceful little town in the country we've been looking at. A little over our price range but we were going to offer low and see what happened. This was the one! We came home to do our typical google research...

...when lo and behold we find out that the man living directly across the street had an 8 hour standoff with police last month - right there at his house! The whole street was blocked off and it made the city news. Did I mention he was armed, and has a long criminal record?? No? Neither did the realtor! :-O

I think I need to take a break from house hunting. This is ridiculous.

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Maybe this will be my new homeschooling room

In a few days we have an appointment to see another house...5 decent sized bedrooms (I think there are 3 upstairs, one on main floor, one in basement? Four(!) full bathrooms (a good thing with four teenage daughters at the same time, no?), fenced yard, a quiet looking street that even ends in a trail (I think) to a state park/stream. Biggest problem we can see, (without having seen it I mean)? It's horribly overpriced for what it is. *If* we like it, hopefully the sellers will see reason and accept a low offer. Really low. It doesn't look that big either, from the outside. It might be all bedrooms! And a sunroom, I suppose. ;-)

We're still on a break from school, which is good because we seem inundated with doctor and orthodontist visits, house visits, research to try to help my dad deal with my elderly, and now broke, grandmother...

I'm itching to get started again, but at the same time, so NOT READY. I want this to be a creative, beautiful, and healing year for all of us. But I feel like I don't know HOW to make that happen - it feels like a matter of not being able to teach it because I'm not emotionally there myself, YKWIM? I wish I could go back in time and do this curriculum (in a cabin, ALONE, LOL, for at least a year) and learn how to be at peace, and to love, and to do needle felting. ;-)

I need to run and hug my kids, they are almost done with their snack and I've wasted enough time here. Not than any of you dear readers are a waste of my time! But talking to you doesn't get my laundry folded, or the mess that just prompted a big UH OH from my 4yo cleaned up. :-P

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Have I said "Thank Heaven for St. DH" lately?

St. DH is going to bring dinner home so I can be lazy recover after a long day and long drive to a friends house ... on the kind of day I'd rather curl up in a ball with a blanket over my head, LOL. It was a "work visit" - I helped her with her yearly homeschool review, so I couldn't keep putting it off.

Anyway - THANK YOU St. DH for dinner. So I can sit here and blog, LOL! The kids unearthed a Monopoly CD for the computer and are checking it out. I can 'dish' here about the house we saw last night.

I'm glad I didn't get my hopes up. At least I can honestly say it's the best house we've seen so far that we can afford. But they are asking too much, I don't think I can get over the fact that it's right next to a busy road (safety wise), the place is covered with this weird fabric type wallpaper that has totally absorbed the smells and dander of their many cats and dogs, and their fifth bedroom is smaller and more awkwardly shaped than the master bedroom's walk in closet! Now, there were plenty of great things about it, like the large lot and the horse farm you could see from the backyard!

Today I found out that another place we had our eye on has drastically dropped their price - this place is actually TWO houses on one 1+ acre lot. Weird maybe, but functional for an in-law house or my parents perhaps? Their are many downsides to it, but maybe enough upsides to make it work? I don't know - we haven't gone in, only driven by. Now the price is low enough that we could get a mortgage on our own, and get help actually paying it through rent. Because while we could technically afford the mortgage for it, we wouldn't be able to put any money into retirement or education, and would have to nickle and dime everything else. With rent we'd have a cushion again, I think!

Well, enough silly chit-chat from me. The Monopoly game appears to be deteriorating into a Monopoly fight. I'd better help them work out some nasty energy setting the table.

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Taking a Cleaning Breather

Well, I've got a house bee in my bonnet again, so I'm busy packing and cleaning today. Things are looking better.

I showed St. DH a 100-year-old renovated farmhouse on over 2 acres last night and much to my surprise, he liked it! So we are hopefully going to see it in the next few days. Upsides - the 2+ acres, 5 bedrooms are all upstairs, house has been added on to (in late 1980's) and renovated at least to some extent, the family room is full of windows. Downsides - 2+ acres is a lot to care for, it's a corner lot and street that goes alongside the lot is quite busy and fast (there are evergreens/trees almost all along that side, however, and we hope to fence at least a portion), it's OLD and we don't know what is possibly wrong with it or how much has been changed/updated - I'm guessing we'll learn more when we see it. It's also at the upper end of our comfortable price range.

Anyway, I'm NOT getting my hopes up this time. I'm looking forward to seeing it, though. I figure if I stay emotionally non-commital right now, I'll know if I get that "Wow this house HAS to be ours!" feeling when I see it.

Back to my packing-cleaning-decluttering. I'm working on a box of junk that I packed away months ago in a quick-my-parents-are-coming-over tidy. Finally!!

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Dare I hope? Dare I?

The last few weeks have seen lots of stress and exasperated tears here, as I fell in love with houses, only to...feel no peace, realize that if we bought *that* house our kids wouldn't go to college, have one go off the market like lightning. I kept wondering if we should just stay here in our too small house and somehow make do. How I don't know, LOL, I'm just not good at being in a poorly laid out house with 5 intense personalities and all their stuff ON me all the time. But slowly I lost even all peace about the neighborhood I wanted to move to. Yeah, it's peacful and safer out there, but it's also twice the commute for dh, and a whole new set of *everything* from stores to friends to activities. I think dh felt it too, and through some not so sly questioning on my part I'm thinking he would be perfectly happy here in our current town.

Except that "perfect" house is apparently non-existent. It's either RIGHT off a main road (not safe in my mind), or is a huge expensive home on a tiny lot, or is a too small home on a tiny lot w/o any privacy. Oh and that doesn't include those that back right to a huge 10 lane interstate and are STILL expensive (what's up with THAT? LOL) I'm not just thinking of homes currently on the market, either, I look around at ALL the houses and wonder. We currently back-to-trees and so at least in the summer, we have a nice sense of privacy.

Like I said, I felt no peace about moving to the new town, I felt no peace about staying. How, I asked myself, can I reconcile that? And by peace I mean I prayerfully thought about all the options I could see - I was looking for that elusive "Holy Spirit peace" when a decision is right. So when NOTHING felt right, it really bugged me. How can no options be right, including staying?

Sooooo...fast forward to last night. We got a card in the mail introducing a new subdivision being built. A somewhat AFFORDABLE subdivision. On street names like Brook Crossing Drive and _____ Spring Court (SPRING? Did someone say SPRING?) and ____ Creek Way. The roads seem close to stores/library, etc but just far enough away to not be "in town" - just far enough to seem secluded. There are trees, and fields, and I think even a brook somewhere (hence all the Brook/Spring references). I looked up the homes on their website and felt the first sense of peace I have felt in a LONG time about all this. It's not perfect - and I especially never saw myself buying brand new with all that entails - but it seems *right*. Of course I haven't actually been out there, or talked to anyone. ;-)

Dare I hope that this is it? I should take my own advice...hope springs eternal.

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Answered Prayers

I went to see another house yesterday after dropping the girls off at a class. It was only a few minutes from St. DH's job, had 4 big bedrooms, an OK neighborhood, updated kitchens/floors/baths, and --get this-- it backed to a Carmelite Monastery. Did I ever mention that I want to be a 3rd Order Carmelite someday?

So, on "paper" the house looked great. I drove there asking God fervently for a clear sign if the house was to be "the one." My mind is cluttered with many things lately, and I didn't want to miss this opportunity if it was God's answer to our prayers for a new house.

I tried taking back roads to the house, and wound up being a bit late due to many bicyclists and school busses clogging up the thin roads. I got a little grumbly but tried to remember that it was God's will that I get there whenever I get there.

I arrived just in time to see our realtor talking to a young lady, and they drove away as I was getting Jeffrey out of the car. I smiled as the lady and her daughter drove by, thinking it must be the current owner of the house, leaving so we could see the inside.

Turns out it WAS the owner of the house, but not the first owner, it was the lady who just put an accepted offer on it! God certainly answered my prayers of a "sign" as to whether the house should be ours or not! LOL The realtor told me later that the house actually had FOUR offers after being on the market only 6 days. Remarkable! It wasn't cheap, either.

Sooooo...back to house hunting. But I am thankful on behalf of those people that their house sold so quickly, and thankful that God made it clear I don't have to hem and haw over that property anymore.

Guess I'll go declutter some more! :)

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Tuesday's Epiphany

Thinking over what the realtor said last week ("OMG you have a lot of STUFF" lol), and mulling over what we had already considered doing about it, namely -- renting a storage unit until the house sells, I realized something.

98% of the things I would be storing I bought at yard sales, consignment sales, library sales. In other words, for pennies on the dollar. Or they were gifts. The local storage facilities charge about $60 per month for a climate controlled 5x10' space, and upwards of $80-90 for a 10x10 space (necessary if we are storing any furniture to make the house look nicer. Our furniture has definitely seen better days). The fact that they give a "$1 first month" special is irrelevant since if I do my calculations based on 2 months of needed storage it could just as easily be 3, or 5, or 8 before the house is sold. Revelation: I could give away most of the stuff we would store, and buy back what we *need* for less than what it would cost to store it. Plus, the thrill of the chase, trying to find something at Goodwill/Craigslist/yardsale is FUN for me.

We certainly DO have *some* room for storage, so I can make this situation work even better by giving away what is easily gotten again (i.e. kids clothes) and use that space to store things that are more expensive or I wouldn't buy used (curriculum, extra towels, etc.). Heck, even buying 30 rubbermaid bins to stack floor to ceiling in the basement room would be cheaper than 3 months of storage at a storage place. No, we can't put our old but still used kitchen table in a rubbermaid bin, but with everything else out of the way maybe we could deal with that a different way.

Thinking, thinking...

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"OMG you have a lot of STUFF"

Gee, thanks Ms. Realtor Lady.

She was nice overall, but that line did not win her points in my RRS (Realtor Ranking System. Which I just invented on the spot to mark her down 50 points for that line.)

Semi-Nice Realtor Lady cold-called me last week to tell me about a local open house. I take any serendipitous events like that, when I'm in the middle of a multi-novena to St. Joseph for house concerns, seriously. So after chatting for a few minutes we agreed to get together yesterday. She looked around our house, gave us some advice, and begged us on bended knee to become our realtor left her card and asked us to think over contracting for her services.

But that's not why I started this post. When she opened the door to the unfinshed side of our downstairs (raised ranch/split foyer remember: upstairs is all finished, downstairs is part finished part butt-ugly unfinished), she walked in to the "basement," wide-eyed, and said "Oh my GOSH you have a lot of STUFF!!" To which I replied, "No, not really, we just have no where to keep everything!"

Which is for the most part true. 95% of the kids clothes are in that room on racks (Family Closet). Our file cabinets are down there. A big table for messy crafts. Our pantry on open shelves. Another open shelf with games, toys, and pool stuff. File cabinets. A few book cases. Dress ups.

I guess compared to the average world citizen, we have way too much, but compared to the average American family, we really, really don't. There is just no place to put it all in this house with tiny closets.

But I probably STILL have too much. Things I don't need. I'm going to challenge myself to get rid of another 27 things today (my Flylady roots are showing). Anyone with me?

BTW, my favorite house (with the big closet) has been put under contract. My second favorite house (the one with the stream) has been taken off the market or sold (not sure which). There is not much else out there that is affordable, with big enough rooms for our family (i.e. if we want to be cramming kids in tiny rooms we might as well just stay where we are). The realtor made it sound so easy: "You just sell your home and then pick one of the homes available, there are so many!" But the "so many" are not what we want. We don't want the beautfiul house on the nasty street where a chemical spill happened 5 years ago, or the too expensive home on the even more expensive street, or the just right house next to the future gang memebers. Or too big, or too small, or too hilly, or too...I don't know...totally boring. I am hoping that my multi-novenas to St. Joseph will be fruitful and something perfect for us will come on the market just when we need it.

St. Joseph, pray for us all.

ETA: I was shocked how easy it was to hit 27 things to give away this time. 10 items from my closet (just how *does* one gather three different black turtlenecks?) 10 from the girls/boy, and another 7 manuals to things we no longer own. :) And by easy I mean it was all there for me to gather *easily*. It is not necessarily easy to give away that nice light blue shirt I bought with my hard earned money that never sits right on me and always needs ironing, or the L.L. Bean black turtleneck that dh always compliments (even though I now have a new one almost exactly like it given as a Christmas present). That's hard.

I think that's going to be my new decluttering motto.

It's hard.
Do it anyway.

:)

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One track mind

Here's a Wordle image using the URL of my blog. Can you tell what's been on my mind lately? :)

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Taking a few moments

to sort out some thoughts here.


Thank you to all who wished me a happy birthday yesterday! Yes, the big 4-0! LOL


(interrupting myself to share that my just-turned-6yo came in and said, "Mom, I'm looking for some other finery!" She's making a costume for a play they are putting on. Her working vocabulary always astounds me. Anyway...)


I got a wonderful gift from St. DH yesterday: a card that said I get to pick which house we move into. WOW! And...YIKES.


I currently have EIGHTY homes saved on Realtor.com. In all manner of place, cost, age, etc. They really run the gamut of possibilities around here - and this is just in the small range we can afford! Can you tell we live in big suburb?


Right now I have two clear favorites from what I've seen (about 70% of the list is things I have not seen, that are in a new area we are considering) and another house that has caught my attention. Each has REAL drawbacks and REAL benefits. We are having a hard time deciding just *what* is most important to us - affordable vs. big mortgage? good commute so I see dh once in a while? (good meaning 20 min vs 45+ ...there is nothing closer that is affordable and still in a safe-ish neighborhood). Relatively safe? Must this be our "forever house?" Each house appeals to me in totally different ways.



So I'm going to bore you all by thinking out loud about the three top houses I've seen (well, two we've been in and one I've only seen online). You'll see the great things and issues.

HOUSE #1

• probably 40+ minute commute. Commuting roads are either good but totally crowded and slow (so longer than 40min) or they are tree lined and wildly hilly. Cost of gas an issue
• has septic/well/oil heat when we are spoiled on city water, city sewer, and gas heat. We know nothing about their use/maintenance. Cost of oil an issue
• stairs galore, house is built into a hill so you've got some just to get to the main floor (thinking grocery carrying, my aging parents). Even the stairs inside seem a bit thin and steep
• the master bedroom is HUGE. We could probably divide it into two rooms (it was an add on over the garage). That bedroom's bathroom, however, is extremely tiny.
• There is a second master bedroom upstairs, with a decent bathroom (good for teenage girls! LOL) - except the sinks are out in the bedroom...weird. We could probably wall it off, somehow...
• It's nicely decorated, even the kitchen is new, we'd have little to do in that regard.
• It's probably twice the size of our current house. This is good and bad. Lots to clean, but lots of places to BE and places for our stuff. We'd need more furniture or the place would be barren.
• Two car garage! We don't have one at all now
• The main way to get to house#1 is through a street with huge mansions on it. You drive through with eyes wide with the grandeur...then hit our little street. Dh is afraid we'll either grow to covet or despise the homes. Neither is good.
• It's got two acres. Again with the good and bad: the owner said it took him 3hrs a week to mow/etc and that's time better spent around here. But the kids would certainly have space to run and play
• Their asking price is $130K *more* than I think we'll get for this house. That's a mortgage I'm wondering if we really want? Is it worth it? We worked so hard and scrimped and saved and made sacrifices to pay off our current home. We talk a lot about not living with debt. Was it all just talk?
• The place is like a nature preserve. It's like a nature-lover-homeschooling-mom's dream come true, if it weren't for the allll the drawbacks I mentioned above. Look!
  

That picture doesn't do it justice. It's a stream, that is that small in places and larger in others (not too big). There is a small pond, that we are thinking of trying to empty into the brook because it makes me nervous with little children. We drove by the other day and there were geese in it!

HOUSE #2

• #2 is in the same town as #1, but in an even more remote area (think small country-ish town on the outskirts of a suburb...you have to drive to the next town to shop, etc) It's about 20 minutes from where we currently live...so we could see friends but not as often. We'd make new friends as it's a very family friendly little town. It's a low crime area. I'm having trouble weighing expensive/very low crime vs. cheap/higher but not horrible crime
• remote means more hilly driving for dh, just a bit more than house #1. You avoid Millionaire Alley though, LOL
• It's about as big as #1, and their asking price is a little higher. It's been empty awhile though and is owned by a relocation company now, so we're thinking they'd accept a lower offer
• Two car garage like house #1, plus a lovely flat driveway for bike riding, etc.
• On a cul-de-sac, so kids could play everywhere, which makes up for the loss of an acre (this lot is just shy of one acre). Still room for a garden of some sort.
• The bedrooms may be a tad on the small side for a family of 7 (there are 4BR). What if we have more kids? We are moving to AVOID the room stuffing we are doing now, I'd hate to spend so much money just to be cramming kids into rooms again.
• There are so many places to just BE in this house. A sunroom, the kitchen, a small living room, a family room, your bedrooms, the basement, and THIS. This is what sells me this house like the stream sells me #1:

This is a HUGE, HUGE walk-in closet off the master bedroom. Now, before you think I'm a clothes horse that needs this room-like closet...no. When we saw it, it was empty, and my mind immediately flashed HOMESCHOOL QUIET ROOM. There are all sorts of nooks and crannies for sitting with a good book, we could put books and manipulatives on the many shelves, and a slab of wood over the clothes bars for a desk (or two...or four). There are three windows, heat, and a fan! And if we do have another child, this could be (*sniff*) turned into another sort-of bedroom...of course then we'd lose the cool school room that is what is selling me the house! LOL

HOUSE #3

This is the house I haven't gone into yet, haven't even driven by, although I've driven that road any number of times... I just don't know which house it is (I only saw the listing on realtor.com yesterday). This house is *completely* different from the other two. Isn't it cute?

• It's a cape cod. I'm not sure where they are fitting them all, but it says there are 5 relatively large bedrooms! I think the whole house is finished and they are claiming 2700 sq ft. That's more than we have now. No garage.
• It's about 1/3 acre on a busier street than we currently live on. Less for dh/I to do but only the backyard to play in. No stream, no cool school room, in our higher crime neighborhood. It was built in the 60's. Why do I like it, you ask?
• We could most likely buy it outright after we sell our own house. We can afford to buy the house and move into it while continuing to fix up our current house - a worry of mine since we are squished in here and it doesn't present well at all that way. If I'm a debt free proponent, shouldn't I *live* like one??
• It's modest. Do I really want to be all about big? Can't I get over having kids underfoot and no where to go? It looks like it would be *enough*. Isn't that what I'm always saying I'm all about??
• Even though the thousands of new homes around here LOOK nice, I've heard countless tales of how they were quickly and poorly built. This one and those will probably fall apart at the same time.
• It's CUTE! :) From the pictures, it also looks like a blank slate inside, I could use the money we aren't spending on mortgage to decorate, fence the yard, build a little deck, garden, maybe even a sunroom or something, and still be debt free.
• We'd know the town, the people, our friends/coaches/businesses. Shopping is right here. Not that I necessarily LIKE that, but I know dh really does, and I'm scared of something new. :-P
• We wouldn't have to stay there, we could pretty it up and move if we wanted, unless the housing market totally dives again.

Sigh. I wish I knew what was RIGHT. I want God to just drop out of the sky and say "This is it!" And this doesn't even *touch* the other 77 homes I have saved, LOL. Those are all in a town that's an even longer commute, most likely, than the first two houses, although they are in a busier town with city utilities (two big plusses for dh)

Thanks for reading this far. I'd love to know everyone's thoughts. Unless you are thinking, "What a Whiny Wilma, why don't you worry about something that's a PROBLEM??" ;-) 'Cause I'm not really whining, just thinking out loud, weighing pros and cons. Even though it *looks* like I'm whining. :)

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"I feel like I killed your cat"

That's what my dh said to me this morning after a brief but deep discussion on the House That Most Likely Would Not Be Ours. You make me laugh, dear. I love you.

He brought up some very valid points, not the least of which was that house prices are PLUMMETING around here. Some $5,000 in the last 30 days on average. That means if we buy House A, and don't sell ours quickly, the difference in prices will be too great.

Totally understandable. Yes, but my cat is still dead, LOL. I do have the strange feeling that God is preparing me for something MORE, although after all these years I'm finding it increasingly hard to be patient. God's tactic lately has been to pour on more difficult things, not better/happier/nicer ones, so it's hard to get my hopes up that pretty birdies will soon be tweeting joyfully around my head. ;-)

Also, if we aren't going to move now, or in the very near future, *something* has got to give. I try and try and try to work on increasing virtue with the children and nothing helps. I won't give the laundry list of things but we are all just stressed from each other and the associated problems. I can't live like this anymore. I just wish I knew WHAT to change. I think of things (some new furniture so we all have a place to sit in the living room, for example) and then I can think of 1,001 reasons why I shouldn't do that. Oh well.

I'm off to measure our house. I looked on Zillow and it's said our house was several hundred square feet smaller than I thought it was. If that is true, it's no wonder we want to throttle each other on a regular basis, LOL.

I hope all my readers have a wonderful, restful weekend.

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7 Quick Takes Friday

*1*

I'm loving Jen's new Official 7 Quick Takes Logo. I feel so professional now. :)


**2**

I'd forgotten what a good ab workout having bronchitis is. I haven't had this good a workout since...well, since the LAST time I had bronchitis. I won't say how long ago that was, LOL. But wow, what a burn!


***3***

I'm still in love with the house I mentioned the other day. Dh, not so much. I keep trying to fall out of love with it, reminding myself of it's shortfalls. All that does is help me come up with ways to get around those. The place has soul.


****4****

That being said, dh found a number from our old mailbox this morning on his way out to work, and brought it in to throw away. I burst into tears and said, "Don't throw that out!!" He gave it to me and a minute later as he was leaving for real, I said "Don't laugh at me. What else can I bring with me from this house that has been so monumental in our lives? [first house, all kids grew up here, etc] Ummm, but now, good riddance (house). I'm ready!" LOL I *want* the memento of this house, but I also REALLY want to move into something a little bigger and better laid out. I've got the faded old house number, now get me out of here. ;-)


*****5*****

I'm still trying to climb out under the deluge of toys/stuff from three birthdays and Christmas. People went nuts with Jeffrey. I hate to get rid of stuff so soon, but tell me does he really need TWO walk behind toys/scooters, TWO play phones on a string and one of those doggies you lead around? (and that's just the beginning) Not ONE of my children has ever dragged anything around by a string. Maybe our first boy will, but I can tie one of his other toys to a string if he wants, LOL. Just like all our other kids, this child barely plays with toys, he just wanders around getting in trouble opening drawers and getting into his sisters' stuff. Now, if we were in a bigger home, I could hide it all in the basement and I really wouldn't care HALF as much, but right now this stuff is all under my feet all the time.

Of course with Jane's birthday coming up, it will start all over again anyway (Mom, I reaaaaaallly want the So Hip Cruise Ship, a Ty Girl....) Sigh.

For my 4oth birthday I want either a dumpster or a bigger house. ;-)


******6******

Back to the "I want the house, dh doesn't," I'm wondering what my readers do when you and your spouse are on different sides of important issues. What about when it's a dream of yours? I mean, this is not just "What shall we watch on TV" or "Where shall we go on vacation" which if I give in to is over in an hour or a week, so it's easy to always give in. This seems different. But maybe I just really CARE this time. Dh knows, though, that my degree of obsession over something is often not in direct relation to its true worth. I'm having trouble deciding whether he's right (I'm just obsessed and blind to oh so obvious flaws) or I'm right (It's a dream come true - at least for me - and every affordable house will have *real* downsides)


*******7*******

Just call this the "house obsession edition" of 7 Quick Takes. See what I mean about obsession? Hey, it's a dreary and cold January, I'm about to turn 40, we've all been sick nonstop for weeks and weeks. I need something to dream about. So sue me. ;-)


Join Jen at Conversion Diary for more 7 Quick Takes!

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A few delirious and sleep deprived ramblings

Jeffrey and I have taken this cold virus to new heights (or is it depths?). I enjoy many hours surfing the internet at 1AM because I'm coughing so loud I don't want to wake the baby, and he has stuff coming out of every orifice and is alternately miserable and energizer-bunny. We'll be calling the doctors offices as soon as they open to try to get this taken care of. I believe we've hit the point where antibiotics will do more good than harm. I may miss my midnight Twitter checks though. ;-)

Hopefully we can also have a plumber out soon. Our kitchen drain is completely backed up. We've been nursing a slow drain for weeks, and it finally bit the dust. You just haven't lived until you've washed dishes in the bathroom tub with bronchitis and a sinus infection.

Yesterday we went driving through a nearby town. I showed dh a house I had my eye on. Well, the owner saw us parked in front of his house for five minutes checking it out, and he invited us in! He and his girlfriend were very nice. The land is to die for - it's about 2 acres, just enough for us. It has a little babbling brook running along one side, and a teeny pond fed by a spring. A spring? Remember way back when, I was trying to name our little home here, hoping that *some* day I would have my dream home and take the name with me? Remember all of a few weeks ago when this blog had "Epiphany SPRINGS" up top instead of Epiphany Prep School? (you feed reader people probably haven't seen a difference, LOL). Does that sound prophetic? Hmmm?

Along one corner of the yard there is an electric fence visited by a few cows. The owner says that sometimes there are fish in the little pond, but that a heron often comes by and eats them up. Trees, but not TOO many, and a few good for climbing. I think dh is thinking it's all a little more work than he was bargining for, but I'm thinking the girls need more chores to keep out of each others hair.

Here are the pros and cons about the house, particularly the inside:

Pros -

• quirky layout (this is both a pro and a con - I like "quirky" but I need functional)
• woodstove insert in family room
• the owner will probably leave the riding mower as they are going to rent next
• nicely decorated without a lot to redo
• 2 master bedrooms - the older girls could have a bathroom to themselves which will be helpful when they get older
• 3 full bathrooms (again with the house of 4 teenage girls thing)
• the whole "back to nature" thing with the yard. Ahhhhhhh....
• a deep two car garage (we don't have one now)
• a small pantry right in the kitchen (we use shelves in the basement now)

Cons -

• the "quirky" layout is that the second master bedroom is off of the dining room. It just seems...weird. I think it would make a GREAT "bonus" room or homeschooling room, but then there aren't enough bedrooms.
• the bathroom in that bedroom is teeny. I'm used to teeny, but still...
• the current dining room looks like it will be too small for our family of 7. We would need to either use the living room as a dining room and/or break down the bit of wall that connects the living room to the dining room so that we can walk around our dining room table, and the table would probably jut out into the living room (it sounds worse than I think it would look)
• the kitchen has a breakfast nook that doesn't look like it could fit us all either. Although I think with a rectangular table and benches...maybe. It would be CROWDED then.
• stairs. Lots of stairs. There are a bunch of steps to get up to the front door. You can go in through the basement or the garage but then there are still stairs to get to the main floor, and then more stairs up to the top floor. We are not used to this, LOL. All the girls were like "whoaaaa, steep stairs!" It really wasn't that bad. We just have a raised ranch right now and our only stairs are two, short, 6 step ones.

The problem with all these cons, though, is that I don't think we can get much BETTER for this price. This affordable price. Definitely not with a spring out back! :) It seems rare to find a house with a huge dining room or a huge breakfast nook, YKWIM?

Thanks for listening to me ramble this morning. I'm off to figure out how to wash the dishes that are piling up. Maybe I can hide them all in the tub until after the plumber shows up??

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No wonder I like our new color coded bookshelves so much

Apparently it's a good technique for right brainers!

And I thought it was just a chic home staging thing.

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I'm packing

I'm packing.

No, we are not moving. Yet.

No, we don't really know *when* we're moving.

And we're not sure *where* we're moving.

But something has gotten into me.

For years now, dh and I have been going back and forth about whether to move or just fix up this house. We always say "move" and then a week later something will happen and we will change our minds and be thankful we are staying put. ("We" meaning "me" most of the time. Often, dh just wants me to be happy and he would be happy here, happy there, happy anywhere, as long as it was where *I* wanted to be). As of a few months ago, we had this "five year plan" where we were going to fix up the house and continue to save for something bigger. We (most likely meaning me again) always felt sort of wishy washy about it all. "What do you want to do?" I'd ask dh. "I don't know, what do YOU want to do?" he'd say back to me. Mr. and Mrs. Indecision.

But now, all of a sudden, something has changed. Something's spurring me on from inside. It's like a compulsion to pack. I *must* pack. I am giddy with joy when I find another empty box to put things in. Right now I'm packing our books by category (I could hardly lift "Catholicism" LOL). This may take awhile. ;-)

I feel like Noah building the ark. I'm not sure what I'm doing or why, but when it happens, I'll be ready!

Whatever "it" is.

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