HOME

Home. A place, an emotion, a dream or is it just a word?

I've lived in 2 mobile homes. An apartment. Five houses. All of these since I moved out of my parents' house into the grown up world. Were each of these a home or were they just where I lived?  I think I have been extremely lucky because wherever I have hung my hat since I was a "grown up" has been my home. Each of them was filled with love and even the very temporary apartment also housed my children and what few possessions we had, so it was certainly our home. We did have to leave our dog with my girlfriend for a few months, no dogs in the apartment, but she came with us the very day we moved into our house. For me, it's a home when love lives there with you.


My house never feels as much like a  home as when the kids are here. My favorite time is when they can all be here together.  This almost never happens, but it used to happen a lot. I really, really miss those times. I feel so complete and so happy when they are all together at my house for a day, an evening, whatever they can make happen. It is my happiest time. 


Years ago we had a neighbor who used to say of her children, "They don't have much time for me. They're all so busy with their kids and their jobs, but you can be sure they'll all take the day off to come to my funeral! They'll send flowers, too."


Think about that.


I used to laugh at her saying that. Now that I am older and my children have grown up and don't live very close, I understand. If I need them, they'll come. If I invite them, they might or they might have a counter offer. I am always welcome in their homes, but I feel if they are so busy, I would be interrupting. I always think, if they are too busy to come here, where I do all the work like make a meal, clean the pool, whatever else needs to be done, how can they have time to entertain me? I'm taking time from their busy lives which apparently they don't really have. That seems not to be a good thing to do, so I seldom do it.  When I really need a grand kid fix though, I just have to do what I have to do.  


I am ready to sell this house soon. It's lovely and we have really enjoyed living here the past 13 years, but it's a lot of work with the pool and 3 acres. I would like now to be in an apartment with a pool and let someone else do all the work while I enjoy the property. Maybe a couple more years, maybe sooner. All the updates and outside landscaping we are doing is in hopes of keeping the value up in a poor housing market. We want to update the main bathroom this next winter and possibly add a bathroom to the basement level and that will be it for our updating. The end of that list.
Thinking we'll be ready to vacate in 2014, probably.


Since we moved in here we have:
*replaced the bedroom carpets
*replaced the kitchen, baths, living room, dining room and hall floors with laminate
*re-sided the outside
*replaced all windows except living room and kitchen, they were newer
*carpeted the basement
*added a 4th bedroom in the basement
*transformed wood burning fireplace to gas and added 2nd gas fireplace downstairs
*resurfaced deck
*replaced pool liner and purchased 2 new covers (this one is automatic)
*replaced the roof...twice
*rebuilt the front porch
*added Sunsetter awnings to the back decks


Those are the big things. Of course, we have painted and maintained everything inside and out and replaced garage door openers when they croaked and the furnace and a/c has had some work done, but that's all home ownership stuff.  Just maintenance.


In an apartment, we'd just call someone to get those things done.  ☺


Wherever Roomy and I live with our furbabies is home. No question about that.


Sounds kinda good to me.  ☺


Jo