AKA: “Make all our dreams come true…” If you are a short-story kind of person, here it is: we put an offer on a house in Plymouth today and are awaiting the results. If you’d like to know the background, read on.
Doug and I have been restless for some time. At turns irritated with each other, at turns irritated with Roman, at other turns irritated with the house, the neighborhood, local construction, or the way people drive around here. But, always the underlying feeling that something wasn’t “right.” I was more verbal, of course – I’m just not content. Our pastor preached on the 10th commandment, Do Not Covet, and I got the message… but still.
So when I went on my scrapbooking retreat a few weeks ago, I had time in the car (6 hours round trip!) to reflect. When I got home Sunday night, we settled in for The Talk. What came out of it is what I like to call Operation: Laverne and Shirley. We have made short (6-8 months) and mid (2-3 years) term goals, and acknowledged long (5+ years) term goals that will make both Doug and I feel content with our family life. We both have acquiesced to sacrifices we must make, financial and geographical, to attain these goals. I could go on, paragraph after paragraph, but I won’t. Essential to the family happiness, however, is a roomier house and a second child from Russia.
Funny enough, while infinitely more expensive, a roomier house is easier to obtain than a child from Russia - so that’s where we decided to start. We settled on Plymouth for a variety of reasons as well, and actually well-thought-out reasons. Doug and I just don’t mess around – once something is verbalized, we do tend to move on it (see: engagement, first house, camper, cars). In typical “let’s just look at what our money gets us” fashion, we found a house to bid on within two weeks. We’ve “cased” a couple different neighborhoods and this house is a DEAL.
The details: colonial, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, attached 2 car garage, basement partially finished (it does have old paneling, berber carpet, and an old drop ceiling in half of it). Built in 1972 and many parts look it (basement, master bathroom). Living & family room on 1st floor, kitchen opens to family room. Two doorwalls to backyard (dining and family room). Larger lot, deck and patio in backyard, in neighborhood with evidence of many children (sandboxes, swing sets, Cozy Coupes to be seen just from the driveway). Two miles from my work, equally distant compared to current drive for Doug’s work.
The people who previously owned it bought it 2 years ago and then were transferred this past August; the company bought out their mortgage and is selling it. So that’s why we’ll be waiting awhile (we figure) & are expecting a counter-offer; we’re dealing with accountants & their bosses, not another couple. There have been no other offers on it and the price has been dropped once already.
So fingers crossed…. and of course our own house isn’t on the market yet. That would be planning ahead, something Doug and I don’t do very well. And if this one doesn’t work out, I do have 4 other houses earmarked to take a look at, but after imagining ourselves in a colonial it will be hard to go smaller. And meanwhile, Roman is begging for the Christmas decorations to be put up but I don’t want to decorate too much if I have to get the house “prepped” to sell in the next couple weeks. So the tree and an advent calendar will go up for now...
Doug and I have been restless for some time. At turns irritated with each other, at turns irritated with Roman, at other turns irritated with the house, the neighborhood, local construction, or the way people drive around here. But, always the underlying feeling that something wasn’t “right.” I was more verbal, of course – I’m just not content. Our pastor preached on the 10th commandment, Do Not Covet, and I got the message… but still.
So when I went on my scrapbooking retreat a few weeks ago, I had time in the car (6 hours round trip!) to reflect. When I got home Sunday night, we settled in for The Talk. What came out of it is what I like to call Operation: Laverne and Shirley. We have made short (6-8 months) and mid (2-3 years) term goals, and acknowledged long (5+ years) term goals that will make both Doug and I feel content with our family life. We both have acquiesced to sacrifices we must make, financial and geographical, to attain these goals. I could go on, paragraph after paragraph, but I won’t. Essential to the family happiness, however, is a roomier house and a second child from Russia.
Funny enough, while infinitely more expensive, a roomier house is easier to obtain than a child from Russia - so that’s where we decided to start. We settled on Plymouth for a variety of reasons as well, and actually well-thought-out reasons. Doug and I just don’t mess around – once something is verbalized, we do tend to move on it (see: engagement, first house, camper, cars). In typical “let’s just look at what our money gets us” fashion, we found a house to bid on within two weeks. We’ve “cased” a couple different neighborhoods and this house is a DEAL.
The details: colonial, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, attached 2 car garage, basement partially finished (it does have old paneling, berber carpet, and an old drop ceiling in half of it). Built in 1972 and many parts look it (basement, master bathroom). Living & family room on 1st floor, kitchen opens to family room. Two doorwalls to backyard (dining and family room). Larger lot, deck and patio in backyard, in neighborhood with evidence of many children (sandboxes, swing sets, Cozy Coupes to be seen just from the driveway). Two miles from my work, equally distant compared to current drive for Doug’s work.
The people who previously owned it bought it 2 years ago and then were transferred this past August; the company bought out their mortgage and is selling it. So that’s why we’ll be waiting awhile (we figure) & are expecting a counter-offer; we’re dealing with accountants & their bosses, not another couple. There have been no other offers on it and the price has been dropped once already.
So fingers crossed…. and of course our own house isn’t on the market yet. That would be planning ahead, something Doug and I don’t do very well. And if this one doesn’t work out, I do have 4 other houses earmarked to take a look at, but after imagining ourselves in a colonial it will be hard to go smaller. And meanwhile, Roman is begging for the Christmas decorations to be put up but I don’t want to decorate too much if I have to get the house “prepped” to sell in the next couple weeks. So the tree and an advent calendar will go up for now...
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Wendy