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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Back and Forth

The cable guy came today and hooked us up. For the past few days I've been crossing the county hauling boxes and considering if I had the fortitude to post from my iPhone. All that thumbing, forget it.

Meg, if you're still tuning in, I'm thinking the original gray house will be the permanent home, even though I'm very happily and comfortably nestled into the beige house (in spite of it's too cheery interior paint job, ultra-touchy thermostat, uneven cooling, and critters -- I'm going with squirrels again, thinking positive) because 1) It's bigger; and 2) It's the house I fell in love with nearly a year ago when I came across it unexpectedly while checking out another house a few doors down. The historical society was having an open house there and while I was not prepared to join any tours (I had cranky kids and dogs in the car with me), I spotted a tiny "For Sale" sign and stopped to inquire. The women were packing up for the day but suggested I come on in and have a peek gratis. I was charmed, not blinded exactly, I could plainly see its faults, but I could also clearly see its potential.

A dangerous word, that.

In my younger school days, that word was bandied about frequently during parent-teacher meetings, invariably followed by a sigh and an ellipse. But not only do Jorge and I have the ability to see beyond the dreck, we have the ability to actually get it done; push it past "potential" into reality. Sometimes it takes a little longer than originally anticipated. Sometimes it takes moving out and putting it on the market because "Nobody will buy a house in this condition."

As it stands, Sarabelle suggested she move into one of the houses on her own when she gets back, as the beige house lacks a third bedroom and the gray's third bedroom is really more of a porch. A friend suggested her daughter, Sarabelle's best friend, who started college this year, join her and rent a room. An interesting proposition. Otherwise, Maureen, one of them will be a guesthouse, and I fully expect you to come for a visit.

Just to complicate things a little, because, so far things have pretty much fallen into place, the renter/possible purchaser of our previous home, the Green House, resurfaced. We had decided against renting it at this point as the house needs work ("Nobody will buy a house in this condition") and we have plans to travel down to Australia coming up very soon, but our broker is pretty sure this guy could be a serious buyer and it would be worth our while to get him in there. Too bad we already took out much of the furniture because he needs it, so we are now re-moving some of the furnishings out of the new place and back to the old.

1 comment:

Meg_L said...

hmmm, well, I'd still like to borrow your husband for some small construction projects on our new house.

I envy having skills like that. Hubby doesn't have them, and so I either take it on myself or have to hire someone.