Home sweet home
I really am trying hard to keep a positive outlook on this whole sell the house find a house thing. I've just been through it too many times. And though each time I vow never again, it's meaningless.
So here we go again. I have spent countless hours online searching for our next perfect dream house. In the perfect place. I don't have a short list of absolutes, not after 4 apartments and 4 houses I don't. I have a list that stretches from my front door to the Atlantic Ocean. Maybe a few feet further. Like most people, we started our marriage out in a modest, perhaps one might say ridiculously modest apartment, and 23 years later, can finally say "we love our home."
We'll start with the fact that our current house is our dream house. Or pretty close. It has everything. From the fabulous stone facade and courtyard entry to the 2-story living room and huge master suite. And the all important ATTACHED GARAGE, 2 car. We wanted 3 but gave it up so the kids could have an extra room to hang out in. Down here it's called a bonus room. We call it a sanity room. Ours not theirs.
We've got the tile floor and the granite counter and the sparkling pool surrounded by palm trees and hybrid flowers that bloom year round. We've got the bathroom you could host a party in. With separate his and hers sinks...in separate his and hers vanities. And there's the new kitchen toys like the stainless KitchenAid Fridge and GE Advantium oven that cooks like a microwave or a conventional or even speedcooks or reheats like a commercial oven. The counter space that goes on forever. I use one end just to store a libraries worth of college application crap my daughter left behind and I can't bear to part with.
We've got the fireplace that never needs cleaning and neighbors that we are honored to call our friends. Weekend barbecues and my mother comfortably close by. And I'm sure out of sheer frustration I may be painting a rather exaggerated view of our home, but seriously, it's not ritzy. It's not ostentatious. It's not Park Avenue. But it is a lovely home and we really hate to leave it.
So what have I learned when looking for our next dream home in New York? I have reconfirmed my lifelong belief, and I can say this having been born and raised there, that New Yorkers are insane. Truly. House after house... no garage. None. People it SNOWS in NY in the catskills. Yes, really. And the idea of getting up in the morning to go outside and scrape all that icey crap off the windshield and shovel a path to get out is ridiculous. We'll take detached garages, or remodeled barns. But we are not moving into a house with no garage. Not happening. So now we have somewhat limited our choices. Dramatically it appears. But no worries. I just keep going down that list. Fireplace, check. Wait....is that a wood burning thing??? Screened in porch, hard to find, but a must. I will not give up my right to eat a meal outdoors without my flesh being the main course. Beautiful manicured lawn? No way. We'll take some nice roughened grass and lots of trees and rocky turf. Mowing is not on our agenda anymore.
Then, there is price. I would so love to have the same quality house we have down here, but truthfully it's just not going to happen. Tucson may be a crazy place, but cost of living is low. Then again, so are property taxes. Which is of course why our educational system is flat broke. Which is the primary reason we have to move. So great house, lousy place. Now we'll move to a great place, and let's just hope not such a lousy house. I'm too old to deal with it.
So here we go again. I have spent countless hours online searching for our next perfect dream house. In the perfect place. I don't have a short list of absolutes, not after 4 apartments and 4 houses I don't. I have a list that stretches from my front door to the Atlantic Ocean. Maybe a few feet further. Like most people, we started our marriage out in a modest, perhaps one might say ridiculously modest apartment, and 23 years later, can finally say "we love our home."
We'll start with the fact that our current house is our dream house. Or pretty close. It has everything. From the fabulous stone facade and courtyard entry to the 2-story living room and huge master suite. And the all important ATTACHED GARAGE, 2 car. We wanted 3 but gave it up so the kids could have an extra room to hang out in. Down here it's called a bonus room. We call it a sanity room. Ours not theirs.
We've got the tile floor and the granite counter and the sparkling pool surrounded by palm trees and hybrid flowers that bloom year round. We've got the bathroom you could host a party in. With separate his and hers sinks...in separate his and hers vanities. And there's the new kitchen toys like the stainless KitchenAid Fridge and GE Advantium oven that cooks like a microwave or a conventional or even speedcooks or reheats like a commercial oven. The counter space that goes on forever. I use one end just to store a libraries worth of college application crap my daughter left behind and I can't bear to part with.
We've got the fireplace that never needs cleaning and neighbors that we are honored to call our friends. Weekend barbecues and my mother comfortably close by. And I'm sure out of sheer frustration I may be painting a rather exaggerated view of our home, but seriously, it's not ritzy. It's not ostentatious. It's not Park Avenue. But it is a lovely home and we really hate to leave it.
So what have I learned when looking for our next dream home in New York? I have reconfirmed my lifelong belief, and I can say this having been born and raised there, that New Yorkers are insane. Truly. House after house... no garage. None. People it SNOWS in NY in the catskills. Yes, really. And the idea of getting up in the morning to go outside and scrape all that icey crap off the windshield and shovel a path to get out is ridiculous. We'll take detached garages, or remodeled barns. But we are not moving into a house with no garage. Not happening. So now we have somewhat limited our choices. Dramatically it appears. But no worries. I just keep going down that list. Fireplace, check. Wait....is that a wood burning thing??? Screened in porch, hard to find, but a must. I will not give up my right to eat a meal outdoors without my flesh being the main course. Beautiful manicured lawn? No way. We'll take some nice roughened grass and lots of trees and rocky turf. Mowing is not on our agenda anymore.
Then, there is price. I would so love to have the same quality house we have down here, but truthfully it's just not going to happen. Tucson may be a crazy place, but cost of living is low. Then again, so are property taxes. Which is of course why our educational system is flat broke. Which is the primary reason we have to move. So great house, lousy place. Now we'll move to a great place, and let's just hope not such a lousy house. I'm too old to deal with it.
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