I Ache All Over and I Think I Inhaled Too Much Bleach Cleaner
Ok, so today? A realtor came to look at my house.
Told you I was thinking about that whole ‘move to the country’ thing– apparently it was more than just a passing thought! We’re not on the market yet, but this was kind of a sneak preview. Basically it was preceded by about 24 hours of non-stop housecleaning and decluttering, which in the end, came down to a last minute flurry of running around the house like a crazy person lighting candles and stuffing things into closets (they PROMISED me they wouldn’t look in the closets) and then calmly opening the door and saying with a big smile, “Hi! Please come on in…” And I didn’t just wear myself out. I may or may not have killed Russ and Charlotte, too. We flat-out CLEANED THE DANG HOUSE, people. Russ has been soaking in a hot tub for about an hour now, and Charlo is making noises about going to bed– and it’s only 7:30! But in the end, it was worth it. The house got rave reviews, and we are probably going to list it soon. I’m gonna need a little bit of time, though because apparently when *real* potential buyers look at a house they kind of want to look in the closets. And the storage areas. So we have a LOT OF work ahead of us, and a driveway POD in our future.
Which brings me to…. a question for you!
My family and I want to try out life in a smaller town– what life change do YOU daydream about? Moving to Europe? Another state? Big city? Living downtown in a high rise, or out in the country on a farm? Historical property or brand new construction? The mountains? The beach? Cabin in the woods? WHAT???
Tell me all about it– I’m curious!
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SURE, you’re curious. Is that the bleach talking?
My dream home would be built on a wooded hill in the south somewhere……a farm type white house with green trim. It would look rustic on the outside, but have all the modern conveniences on the inside. There’d be a split rail fence all around a huge yard. We’d have a few chickens so I could gather eggs. And a big old friendly sloppy dog. There’d be a room for my mom. And a farm adjacent to my house with horses and cows…….I could enjoy the animals without all the work. And Tori Taff would live on the other side. And we’d have FUN AND LAUGHS every day! And make lots of stuffed velvet pumpkins. And all the Babybloomrs would move in down the road and we’d have barn raisings and quilting bees. We’d bake pies for the county fair! And raise little piglets. (Char could be in charge of them.) And I’d have a big garden and Russ would work it for us……singing as he hoed and weeded. This is a daydream, right?
What I want to know is how in the heck did you get your husband to clean house until he collapsed in a hot tub to recover??? You’re a better woman than I am!
The place we live in is in fact almost perfect for me; it’s rather on the countryside but with good connection to the next city. I’d daydream of being at the seaside within a few minutes though.
I’m sorry I’ve been silent for a while but that was no intention at all: my computer fell into a coma! Even my brother-the-computer-genius could only diagnose that something on the mainboard was out of order. So finally I ended up purchasing a new one, my first laptop ever. BUT I’m still struggling to get the programs going and I really hope I can restart my email program today… right now it’s working on a very improvised basis.
Well, I’m quite content where I am also. Only change would be wife and kids; possibly.
I grew up in the Midwest, but spent my college years in Hawaii. By the time I graduated, I was eager to move back to Minnesota as I missed the change of seasons, snow (huh?), didn’t want to Christmas shop in shorts anymore (what?) and was tired of the neverending sunshine (crazy!). Since then, all that has changed. I now dream of moving to a little bungalow near the water where I can watch/listen to the ocean waves and see palm trees, green grass and flowers year round. And where life would be laid back and quiet. With lots and lots of time for books.
I’m down with just about everything on Linda’s fantasy property with the exception of the pigs. I can live with the chickens, Lord knows I live with big,sloppy dogs now, and I like the idea of farm animals that I don’t have to take care of. Make it a historical home with a little bit of history and maybe a ghost or two and maybe throw in a family cemetery and I’m there. So I’ll just move in on the other side of Linda. And we’ll have old-fashioned “gospel sangins’ ” on our front porches every week or so.
LindaB: Your dream home sounds fabulous–I’m in! (And Russ cleaned his little heart out because he is REALLY excited about the places we’ve been looking at!)
delightedabroad: Yeah, a seaside/beachfront setting would be amazing… And I’m so sorry to hear about your computer woes– but welcome to the world of laptops!
jonny: A wife and kids would most definitely change your environment– in a good way!
Shella: College in HAWAII??? Lordy, if Madi did that we’d probably never see her again!
auburn60: You are one of the only people I know outside of my family that would think a graveyard on your property would be a PLUS!
So……Tori! What kind of places are YOU looking at? Are you really looking at farm-type homes? Or a real farm? You all like animals so much, that would be appropriate!
Alyson, welcome to the neighborhood! LOL Ya know, on my grandparents old farm in W.Va. that we visited often, we didn’t sing on the porch, but we did sing in the house——-all over the house! My Uncle Morris was a fantastic piano player and the whole family sang while he played. They went about what they were doing—–cooking, sweeping, stoking up the coal stove——but singing all the while. I didn’t realize at the time how corny it was, I just thought it was cool!
Well, I’m up for the “gospel sangins’ ” = )
Oh LindaB, not corny! I think that’s great! I can’t get my family to sing enough – and the husband can really sing! (I think the kid can too, but neither one of them will perform on demand like they should!)
I’m in a pretty fantastic place right now, gorgeous view of the rolling countryside in one direction, and our quaint German village in the other. The only problem here is, we are not alone in our love of this place, apparently the spiders love it as well. Lots of spiders. I try to be brave, I really do. But I’m not. Not at all. I hate spiders. It’s a really great house, in a great village, with great neighbors – did I mention I hate spiders?
The dream house is pretty much like Linda’s and auburn’s. Make the porch a big wrap-around, and I’m good. Locate it near family, in a place with four seasons and mountains, and I’d live there happily ever after.
OK, this is as good a time as any to do something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time:
Delightedabroad? Meet blondie!
She is a member of my extended family, and she is temporarily (right?) living in Germany! YOU WILL LOVE HER– she is absolutely one of the sweetest women on earth, gorgeous, smart, funny and kind. She is from Texas, and has a loving, talented husband and an absolutely amazing (dancing) daughter– if you contact me privately I will totally hook you guys up with contact info!
Hmmm, I’d love to live by the beach … or in the mountains … or hidden in a wood somewhere (that would be my husband’s dream) … or maybe in the forest on a small caribbean island … I would like somewhere where the sun shines more often than not, and summer (at least) can be relied on to be very warm … or maybe just one of those big, expensive houses at the end of our road! I think what I really dream of is having one of those ‘star-trek’ style transporters that can just beam me anywhere I want at any given time. I’d definitely come and spend a LOT of time in LindaB and Auburn’s new neighbourhood!
Would I trade any of those places for where I live now. Temporarily – yeah!! Permanently – only if I could take all the people and convenience with me. Within short walking distance I have a large number of good friends, a really good school for my kids, and one of the biggest supermarkets in the country. There is also a metro station that can take me into the city in 10 minutes. If I jump in the car I can be in real countryside within 5 minutes, and at the beach in 20. I realy couldn’t ask for more … except decent weather (and maybe my parents deciding to move a little nearer)!
Well, now that we’ve moved to the beach, my dreams are as follows:
1- move closer to the ocean. (we are 15 miles away. Seems ridiculous. Likely move in May, Gawd help me)
2 – Spend a summer in The City…I’ve always wanted to live in downtown Chicago for a summer, but NYC would rock, too.
3 – a new dream, I guess for 20 years from now, is to get my master’s degree in Europe. Ihear Cambridge and Oxford carry cheap tuition, and what better place to study lit and history. Stay tuned
I’m excited for you. We really need a good 24 hours of catch up…
I would love to live in a quaint English village, in a thatched roof cottage, with English rose and flower gardens all around; but close enough to be able to shop in the fresh air and antique markets in town, maybe even get to see Jamie Oliver at one of his restaurants~OH, I would have fresh scones, fresh cream with my English tea at teatime every day too! I dream of that when we are in the middle of winter here in Alaska and the temp is 40 below or colder:D
I’m torn between a home on a horse farm out on the rolling hills of Maryland….or one on the beach somewhere where there would be a little snow in December. Maybe I could have that horse farm, build a lake on it and somehow invent a tide to bring in waves to lull me to sleep at night. Just trying to think of a way to have it all. Got it: the Maryland horse farm with a plane to fly over to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, for an occasional week at the ocean. I love the beauty of horses running with their tails straight out in the winde. But then again, I think living next door to a horse farm might be the right idea after all….I mean, consider the grocery bill.
I guess we should check out the usual wind direction before we decide which side the horse farm will be on.
I know a couple in Oklahoma, who live over the barn…..no odor and a really lovely home. Just think: when it rains or snows, you don’t even have t go out in the weather….or I guess you don’t. Big picture window so you can see those beautiful creatures running across the meadows. Maybe I could settle for a water foutain underneath that picture window. Boy do I know how to compromise! Hey, maybe I should go to Washington and help them out!
Okay, Tori, I have put off long enough preaching to you about inhaling that bleach cleaner. Why didn’t you take care to keep the area well venteolated while you were working with that stuff? The aches will take care of themselves in time, but……well, you know better, sweetheart. Next thing I suppose I’ll have to start worrying that you won’t know which end of a horse to stand next to. As for the fussing, it’s cause I loves ya. (That explanation used to work)
When I daydream it’s of a small cottage in the Cotswolds with the most fragrant garden; or a Saltbox on the coast of Maine, but then I also fancy a Victorian with a large porch on Prince Edward Island. But as I’ve just returned to South Eastern Ky; from 19 months of caring for the Grandchildren in the St. Louis area, the prospect of celebrating the holidays in my adopted hometown seems pretty much like Heaven right now. Happy hunting you guys; and may the Lord lead you to the perfect spot where you can set down roots, continue serving our Lord; and have even more time for your weekend excursions along the back roads of “Antique Heaven.”
I feel your cleaning pain. Luckily, we started quite a while ago and picked a closet a day. It’s amazing how much ‘stuff’ accumulates. I have been away so didn’t get to tell you that we live on 60 acres in the woods about in the middle of New Hampshire. I love our house and the area but we are ready to be finished with the long winters. We looked at small towns with a college or small towns close to a college. The reasoning is entertainment – can go to sports events, plays, etc and even take a class or two if we decide to do that. Want to be within 2 to 3 hours drive to a big city for most of the same reasons. Also, after reading the Gaither tour schedules, we would be closer to concerts than the once every couple of year thing.
Guy Penrod’s place seems perfect to me. I would want better access to town during inclement weather and a more open floor plan if I were to change anything. I even like his choice of cattle breed.
I spent a year on an island, and spent way too much time in the water, so I figured I’d live just off the beach years later. I hardly ever even walked on the beach there, let alone got in the water.
I would really like a place for horses, cattle and chickens, plus a good bit of acreage for crops and hay. I’d like it to be within about five miles of a Super Walmart and a good feed store. If I had that I’d be happy living in the barn in a spare stall.
Since I’m dreaming, I’d like it to be near Fort Worth with a free bullet train nearby to take me into Nashville. Maybe the next economic stimulus package could arrange that.
Realistically , I LOVE where I live.. It’s a small town with town square, Amish frequently come through . We have a hitching post at the bank and I see amish buggies tied to the telephone pole at the little grocery store across the street.. We have a parade or ice cream social for every occassion and Everyone shows up.. I’m living the dream. I’m in walking distance to everything including my job at the local library branch.. Everyone knows everyone. But… I’ve always dreamed of living in an old victorian house with tower rooms , a back stair case and of course secret passages… and would love country gardens..ahhh..