Thursday, February 5, 2009

Our New House

Our Roots Are Diggin' Down

Good hell. I'm not good at this blogging bidness. My apologies.

Our exciting news is the purchase of a new home! I will post pictures later. We close on Feb 27th and will be hauling our stuff on the 28th. Some of you will no doubt groan about Emilie moving...once again. My many moves (approx 13 in the last 10 years) have likely taken up a lot of space in the "T" section of you address books. You'll be happy to know we plan on living at this home for years and years to come...and I'll do my best to keep our same phone number, if only for you, Oz. ;) Alas, my roots are now digging their way down into the soil. It seemed for years there my roots would continue to flail, without much hope of grounding (which is not at all to imply to buying a home is the only way to do so). With that said, I'm very grateful to have found such warm and nutrient-rich earth.

Our gracious landlord allowed us to get out of our lease early, without penalty. It all happened so quickly. We had anticipated the process would take us until at least April. After seeing around 25 homes with our stellar agent (Cousin Aaron McCrady), we saw this one and rather immediately knew it was going to be the one. Laurie loved it before even going inside because the front of the house looks like a baby bird's face. You may have to squint to see it, but once you do, it is really cute. (Side note about Laurie. She sees a face on certain inanimate objects and tends to judge them strongly on what she sees. Usually, a mood or emotion is assigned. Cars and houses are the most common subjects. The house across the street from us has been deemed "evil" and "mean". I think it looks like a puppy.)

So, all of a sudden, we have this space to fill with stuff. Just last night I was watching a program on PBS about George Carlin's comedy career. Did you ever see his bit about "stuff" and how our lives kind of revolve around all our stuff? (Turns out, he wasn't some minimalist, but a serious pack rat.) Well, we need more stuff. Furniture, a refrigerator, bookshelves, rugs, lawnmower, shovel/rake/hoses/etc, etc, etc, etc. Aye dios mio! And then, what about artwork and decor? Thinking these things through is both exciting and unsettling. The financial strain is one thing. The idea that we're going to be another "American family" buying all the stuff we need to make and keep a home has made us both a little sick to our stomachs. I'm kind of surprised at myself and how "we need to buy this" I've been. I need to step back and not be overcome by the urge to consume in order to fill a perceived void of what is, in my minds eye, an empty and therefore uncomfortable home. I don't want to buy a bunch of brand new stuff and I don't want to buy low-quality crap that is a little cheaper. I want our "stuff" to have character. Have a history, if possible (that only applies to certain kinds of furniture and decoration, I suppose). We both want to prioritize buying local, when possible, which is almost always more expensive. Buying some things used from Craigslist or consignment shops will be a good option for a lot of said stuff. I am going to have to be patient, aren't I? Blurg. I'm not so good at that.

I will make a good faith effort (that phrase has been everywhere lately, so I thought I'd try it out) to post again in March...with photos to share of our new home.