our family happenings: AGAIN WITH THE HOUSE

The house, oh my stinking heck, the house!

I brought two friends over to see it. Both agreed that it needed a crazy amount of work, but also that they could see our family living there. Gary and I are in total panic.

We both really like (LOVE!) the house and want to live there. The emotional side of me is romanticizing how wonderful things would be…the space, the 6” wide hallway filled with sunshine, the storage room, the EIGHT big bedrooms, a room for sewing, another for scrapbooking, an office, a craft room just for the kids, a guest suite…oh my gosh…this is so my house!

Then the practical (scared) side thinks about the heating bill, the tax bill, the need for a new roof, vinyl siding, fencing, paint, contractors, new kitchen, new walls…oh my gosh, we will drown in this house. What if the tax bill goes even higher and we don’t have the money to pay it? What if fuel rises to $4 a gallon and we freeze to death? Holy crap. I already feel like we are in over our head.

How do people make rational decisions about such emotional issues?

If we do buy this house, I already told Gary that I am not going to mess around when I put in the new kitchen. When we did this kitchen I gave up a lot that I really wanted because this was a temporary house (and how sad is it that we have lived here longer than any other house?!) but in the new house, this is THE HOUSE. This is the place where I will plan to raise my children, welcome grandchildren, and host huge holiday gatherings. The house where I will grow old…THE HOUSE. So, that means I will need a double convection wall oven, granite or corian counter tops, hardwood floors, a butlers pantry…you get the idea...cha ching cha ching cha ching. However the second floor needs only carpets ripped, floors finished, paint, and bleach (lots of bleach!) and I will be very comfortable there.

And…in the back yard, the most beautiful maple tree I have ever seen, on a lot exactly twice the size of what we have now.