Home Sweet . . . wait, where are we?

When we were buying a new garbage disposal (disposer? apparently, both is correct) at Sears today, the lady asked for our address. I guess even the smallest appliance requires endless amounts of personal information. Anyway, I watched as Marty hesitated with finding the "right" answer. Do we give the address of the house we are currently camped out in, but won't be living in for a year? Maybe we give the address of the house where the new disposal will be placed but hopefully won't be ours for long? Or how about the address of the corporate apartment in Connecticut where our credit card statement is sent, and where we must grudgingly return after this hiatus? Put them all in a hat and see which is pulled out?

This kind of confusion has been happening all week. "Hey honey, I'm going to go clean the cabinets." At which house? Because, of course the cabinets in both houses need cleaning. My tip: don't close and move into a house and prepare another house for the market at the same time. Cleaning two sets of cabinets (and bathrooms and floors and kitchens) is no fun. Or at Lowe's, "That plant would look good on the porch at home." Which home? The one we're trying to stage or the one we are moving all our stuff to? Add to this confusion the presence of my mother, who wants to buy an outdoor riding toy or wagon for Oliver to use "at home." She means at her home, where we're headed next, but also to use when we return to our new home next year. Let me digress to emphasize that her presence has not at all been confusing, but quite the opposite as she has kept me sane through all this craziness.

So, I guess we must play the cliche game and say that it's true . . . home is where the heart is. Amidst all the chaos and the stress of this past week, I found a little peace yesterday, and was reminded of what makes a house a home. Here is my heart:

My boys playing basketball with the ball Oliver got Dad for an early Father's Day gift, because our new house has a basketball goal. 

Oliver has the moves! Too bad he doesn't have the height!

Testing the sprinkler system.

Wet fun on a hot (almost) summer day!

Hey, why are my clothes all wet?

Who cares about wet clothes, let's play basketball again!

 Home, sweet home.

Happy naked boy eating strawberries in his chairplane.

Life is good. Nevermind that we had to buy a garbage disposal for a house we aren't going to live in. Or a new washer and dryer for the house we'll live in next year because the ones the previous owner's left smelled like mold. Or that the bushes all along one side of our old house died and had to be dug out and replaced at great unexpected expense. Or that the highest gutter on the new house is plugged up and full of stagnant water and must be fixed. Or that the a/c in the new house died the day of the closing, the hottest day of the year. Or that we still have to move, paint, put in new countertops in the old house, and clean before we can put out a for sale sign. All by Sunday. No problem. Life is good because there are strawberries and sprinklers and basketball. And smiles like those. And a house to come home to.

Bird's Eye Views

Look what Marty found online! Our new house, X marks the spot!

 Summer

Winter

You'll want to click on the pics to see them bigger; I've marked our driveway with an orange X. The woods around us will never be developed. The river is behind the houses across the street, and our street is up on a ridge top that slopes back down behind us. Look at all those trees! We're in denial about all the raking come fall. Time to get a leaf blower!

Backyard

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNH8LBy62NE

We put a little video clip of just the backyard on YouTube since there were no photos of it online anywhere. Remember, it's March in Iowa, so everything is brown. Also, Marty shot this in wide screen, but it saved on my computer in standard, so things may look a bit scrunched in on the sides. Still, you get the idea. Enjoy!

Crazy

That's the word that we kept saying when we first contemplated this idea. And the word that numerous people uttered when they heard about it. And what I keep saying to myself over and over again since it's done. What's this all about, you ask? You ready?

Is it crazy to buy a house that you aren't going to live in for over a year, if you already own one that you also don't live in?

'Cause, we just did. !

We didn't do it on purpose, really. It just sort of happened. Marty & I have been looking at houses for years. We're the couple that spends their Sunday afternoon visiting open houses for homes they'll never buy. We had a specific neighborhood that we always wanted to live in, but the houses were usually out of our price range and/or needed a ton of work. While we love our current (Iowa current) neighborhood, the house has its limits. So we figured that after we returned from our jaunt in Connecticut, I'd get a job again, Oliver would go into pre-school, and we'd start serious house hunting. That was the plan.

Since we've been in Connecticut, we'll occasionally watch the local Iowa real estate show that airs on Sunday mornings (the real estate company airs it online). Just to keep our eye on prices, and out of curiosity. A few weeks ago we were watching, and this house came up. We both perked up because it was in the neighborhood we like, was in our price range, and looked nice from the photos they showed. So we looked it up online and read the description. "Wow, it really has everything we want for a great price in that neighborhood," we said, but then quickly added, "Oh well, bad timing."

Maybe it was another week later, and I noticed Marty looking at it on the computer. "You're thinking about that house, aren't you?" So we started talking about it. A lot. We felt like it was an opportunity we couldn't leave alone in this market. So Marty called a friend who kindly visited the open house planned for the next Sunday, just to look it over and see if there were any glaring problems. His report was all good. So then Marty got pre-approved for the financing, booked himself a plane ticket, packed the video camera, and flew to Iowa and back in one day to see the house for himself (and for me, thus the video camera).

After seeing the video, we agreed that we had to at least make an offer and see what happened. I'll spare you the details, but the seller really wasn't interested in negotiating, and so at one point we dropped it completely. Then they came back to us with a floated counteroffer, and in the long run, we met in a place that we were all comfortable with. Marty signed the papers yesterday, and now we are just waiting for the inspections. If all goes well with the inspections, we'll be dual homeowners starting in May!!!

We have a lot of details to work out, but the year actually gives us some time to do some minor fix ups on the new house and the old one to get it ready to go on the market. Oliver and I may spend a little more time in the Midwest this summer, which I know some friends and family there will be happy to hear.

Wanna see?

So yeah, it is a little crazy, but I'm ok with that. Sometimes you need a little crazy to keep life interesting!