We aren't looking for a new house. In fact, we both agree that we're just now getting this one to where we want it. We bought this house 5 years ago in January, and we've slowly but steadily fixed it up and tried to make it exactly what we need without going into debtors' prison. And though I still think that I might want to start a class action lawsuit against HGTV for fraud--they make remodeling look so...fun--we've been able to accomplish a lot.
Our house isn't big. It certainly isn't new. And it certainly doesn't have bells and whistles and a fancy driveway. I haven't had overhead lights in my kitchen for coming up on 3 years now. A breaker blew, we replaced it, we replaced switches and outlets, and nope. I cook using a floor lamp, because we're both afraid an electrician is going to come in and tell us we're hosed. This house is 115 years old--that's 115 years of idiots like us cobbling together what we could.
But I enjoy real estate. And of course I dream. Witness my post about the Dream Farm. We've always said we wanted a house in the country, something with some acreage. And you know, 18 bedrooms and 20 bathrooms. Your basic McMansion. The New American Dream. Nothing to fix, everyone with their own little wing. PERFECT. Then my life would be perfect. PERFECT. So we drove around, looked at some lots, dug into blueprints...it was going to be PERFECT.
And then I saw this.
Doesn't look like much, does it? Broken siding, junked up rocky landscaping, brown roof...it screams "money pit", right? But hey. The price is right and it has lots of acreage. Why not drive by?
I cried on the front porch.
No McMansion. Less square feet than the house we live in now. No perfectly manicured yard. In fact, I googled the address and found that one of the former owners was citing for public nuisance, because of all the junk left in the yard. That's all gone now, because the house was foreclosed on and so I'm sure the bank moved it all. But I cried, on the front porch. Because I could see it. This was a place that could be our home. Not just this house, which we love dearly and will always have the front door we brought Caroline home through. It will always be the first house we owned.
This little house, in the middle of nowhere with its four sad outbuildings and broken glass in the driveway. This little house with its eviction notice on the door. This little house, where I cried on the front porch.
So, maybe we are looking for a house. Or maybe we're looking for a home. The PERFECT one.
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