Operation Househunt Update

We did it! We found a house! And just as I predicted, we drove up to the house I knew it was going to be something special (take that, realtor!). As we walked through the house I was so afraid that my husband would not feel the same, but he did (I guess that is why he's my husband, eh?). On Friday we should close and finally move in. I think banks are guilty of cruel and unusual punishment for making people wait 30-45 days to close on a house. Once you make that offer and it gets accepted you are so eager to move in. You commit to spending thousands (and thousands...and thousands) of dollars with nothing to show for it. Enough whining because the wait is almost over!

As you progress on the journey called life your interests may continually change. In high school I spent endless hours talking about boys (I don't think you could pay me to spend as much time on the phone as I did then, what were we talking about?!? Men are so predictable.). Eventually discussion moves weddings and dissecting the differences between Gerber daisies versus mums, ivory dresses versus white, buttercream frosting versus fondant, and so forth. I never even realized I knew what some of those things were until the ring hit my finger. Now my life is all about houses. Sometimes when I am talking to a friend I think, "Wow, are we really talking about flooring options this seriously? I feel like a mom, wait... I am old enough to be a mom. OMG next it will be exersaucers. My life is over."

So whether you decide to proceed reading my exhaustive description of my new home or not (perhaps you yourself have moved on past houses to babies or even grandbabies, gasp!), here it comes. The biggest selling point of our house is that it is on 7.63 acres. It is nice to know that I have the option of doing outdoor yoga or topless sunbathing if I want to, even though I doubt I will ever engage in these activities. Also, I am embarrassingly clumsy, so mowing the lawn or shoveling snow at our old house on a busy street required a hardcore pep talk to convince myself I don't really care what random strangers think of me. Because, sadly, I do care. The house itself is a bright red Cape Cod-esque one and a half story. The front door leads right into the south-facing living room. It is filled with light and has a bay window for my plants (they are really my husband's, I kill plants.). Down the hall is the kitchen and dinette. There are stainless steel appliances and even granite countertops, hooray! The patio is right off the kitchen. The first floor is finished off by two bedrooms and a full bath. Upstairs is the master suite. To the left is the bedroom and to the right is the bathroom with a jacuzzi tub (I will remove this because after doing an unofficial study of relatives they are mostly used for random storage rather than baths with soothing music, glasses of wine, and essential oils as I imagined.), a shower, and a walk-in closet. Here is the shocker... the whole second floor is carpeted, and I mean the whole floor. Who puts carpet in a bathroom? I must really like this house because that is truly unacceptable. Mark my words: that carpet is out of there within the first three days of my occupancy! After hours of pinterest surfing (does anyone use that word in that context anymore?) I have decreed that the bedroom with either be done in a laminate or hardwood handscraped hickory and the bathroom will have a smaller tub in addition to a tiled walk-in shower (I desire a double-headed shower, despite the fact I question the practicality of such an extravagance). I am thinking earth-toned slate tiling. A girl has to have dreams, right?

So if you had the good sense to skip or skim the previous paragraph, let me put it succinctly- we are excited to move into our new house. Despite the hospitality of my parents, in-laws, and the Comfort Suites of Oshkosh for the past 69 days, I am ready to live out of a house as opposed to a suitcase. "Home sweet home" never sounded so good.