The Search is Over

Way back in May as Tom and I drove away from a yard sale, he pointed and said, "There's a house for sale." I looked across the street and gasped. "Oh, it's my Blondie House!" 

My heart pounded. Oh my. The type of house I'd wanted since I was 15 and watching good ol' Blondie and Dagwood movies.

Well, we looked the house up online and saw that it cost $109,000. Hmm. More than we wanted to pay and besides, in a week Tom would travel to Africa so the whole matter seemed impossible. So we forgot about the house. Kinda.

Then yesterday I saw it again online and ack! It had gone to foreclosure and was $30,000 less. Wow, the deal of the century, Tom and I told each other.

We walked through that house today. It's in a beautiful neighborhood and when I saw the milk bottle box I thought, "Yes, I knew you'd be here. I've 'seen' you for decades." The same thing happened when I saw the laundry chute, coat closet, entryway, pantry and linen closet. Three pretty bedrooms and a bathroom were upstairs and a whole little 'house' for Tom's room/man cave downstairs:

And the corner cabinet in the dining room was a dream come true:

I think I even saw the ghosts of both Blondie and Dagwood. Happy sigh.

"We could afford this! Pay cash!", we reasoned (though since it's a foreclosure, the agent said the powers-that-be would consider us if we got a loan, first, but wouldn't wait around on a contingency.). "It's the perfect house for us," we told ourselves. 

But then we talked ourselves out of buying it.

We came home, calmed our emotions and then considered all the cosmetic work and the hiring of men to do it (nothing major, but still, there's a list). Plus, there's the paperwork, the selling our house, the packing up, the cleaning, the moving, the switching over of addresses everywhere, the buying of one of those stair lift chairs for company and Tom, the cleaning and heating of all those rooms, the way Tom and I would probably never see each other while rambling around in 1,700 sq. feet and how we'd have an excuse to collect more furniture which Naomi would someday have to sort through if something happened to us. Oh, and we'd probably be moving in a January snowstorm ...

Weirdly, I can't even get excited about it. It's like I see Grace wildly shaking her head, "No! Don't do it!" And even though this is the house I've pictured for 40 years upon hearing the words, 'Dream House,' I keep recalling recent days when I became downright weary just doing my usual housework. How would I handle such a huge upheaval?  

Though truly I believe if we had to move, Grace would help and hold us together. But we don't have to move...and I realized today I must love Hobbit Cottage more than I believed since I'm willing to happily stay. And it is a grand thing to realize that.

Though, gah. Tom says he's gonna sleep on it tonight, just in case. He keeps thinking about how it would be a step up for us, both the house and neighborhood, and I keep reminding him that that's a matter of perspective and priorities. (The houses may be worth double, but there's no river there, after all, and who says we need to make a 'step up'?)

Anyway, there'll be no more looking at houses for sale online, not by me. I mean, after you let the perfect home flutter away, well, what's the point? Instead we'll stay here (unless Tom decides differently tomorrow--yikes!) and continue to make these rooms more efficient and comfortable. We'll stop wishing improvements would get done and just do them. Finally.

And all will be well.

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These are a couple houses across the street from The Blondie House:

And here are more photos from the house:

...sigh...

They're Not Gonna Suck *Me* In!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ... Philippians 4:6-7

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Good grief. The News lately is working overtime in their scaremonger role, trying to frighten us all out of our minds. Although, of course, they call it keeping us informed.

Riiiight.

Ebola. Enterovirus. Terrorism. The Stock Market. Accidents. Hurricanes. The Polar Vortex. Global Warming. Earthquakes. Burglaries. The Economy. Murders. Kidnappings and other Very Bad, We're-All-Gonna-Die stuff.

Well, hey. Monday through Friday I watch a half hour of our local news, 20 minutes of a National morning news show and I read the occasional interesting Yahoo news article online. And then I go live my vintage-ish life.

I do not soak in a News Bathtub all day long beneath fear bubbles.

Are you kidding? No, God told us over and again in the Bible to fear not, but rather, trust Him in all things and when I reach Heaven's shores I don't want regrets that I played the role here of Big Worry Wart. No, I'm aiming to be grateful that--though it (regrettably) took a few decades--I ended my journey trusting that God would take good care of me, even when the world became all screwed-up beyond repair.

God is huge, after all, and will always be greater and able to handle any very bad thing down here. And may no fear ever multiply so wildly inside my head that it pushes that assurance right out. 

May I instead pray, talk it over with God, do what I can--then move on to live this abundant life Jesus died to give me.




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"The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may haveand enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it [a]overflows)."   ... John 10:10

"And to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one."   ... 1 Thessalonians 4:11,12

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."   ... Psalm 23:4


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Again--I stay informed, but I refuse to stay scared, which means that when Grace says, "You've watched/read enough News," I obediently step away and get back to living life. 

Learning to recognize Grace was one of the greatest lessons, ever.


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Tom and I have a bigger cable package, but no DVR. Yet we do have Primetime on Demand and boy oh boy, do we early-to-bed folks appreciate watching the primetime shows any time we wish! Our current new favorites that we'd never before seen?

Chicago Fire
Chicago PD
Gracepoint
Resurrection
Scorpion


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Find this weekend's Savingstar freebie here.

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Free Kindle books:


Finding God When You Need Him Most

With Autumn's Return

Billow Creek Bride

Mason Jar Meals

Just Waiting for The Itch to Stop

I switched it back. Our living room, that is.

The other way looked ok in my blog header, but in Real Life? It felt too much like when Laura Ingalls thought of a way to cram (albeit cleverly) all the family's furniture into their tiny half-cabin, puzzle-piece-style, in Little Town on the Prairie. 

And I just couldn't take it anymore.

Both ways have their advantages, but this way, above, feels so right to me, kinda graceful like a painting, especially since I can sit comfortably upon the couch and stare at the river down the street. With the other arrangement, I had to face the back of the couch on my knees like a 6 year old. Not good.

Which, uh oh, means there is only one pleasant way to arrange my living room. Only one. Sigh. 

It's so easy for most people to talk about downsizing and fall all in love with those tiny houses springing up everywhere--but it's a whole other thing to actually live inside a small house built for munchkins while you've still got a home-loving heart and big, creative ambitions.

Tom and I are finding that out. I mean, for people who use their homes only as a place to sleep and wash, but are otherwise out and about hiking and exploring the big world out there, dancing the nights away and eating out on a daily basis, well, a tiny house would be a dream.

But we are so not those people. We are dedicated homebodies who still (unfortunately) love estate sales and dragging home odd, retro furniture like we did especially at our other suburb house. That's still our favorite sport.

Oh dear. We've both got that Three Year Itch to Move. Badly. Though maybe if we had some of that new-fangled stuff called storage, we'd feel differently. S-l-o-w-l-y we're coming up with ideas, though, there's still the thing that we can't have overnight guests who don't do stairs. sigh.

True, we need to find other hobbies, but we've seriously tried to do that these past 4 years, especially, and can think of nothing other than:

Estate sales.
Classic car shows (though we've not been to one in two years).
Visiting retro diners (which is becoming just a once yearly thing).
Country drives and car picnics (ditto).
The occasional theater movie.
Watching tv together (we're experts at that).

Yeah. We're pretty pathetic. But at least we can admit it.  :)

And I know. This, too, shall pass. A good, snowy old-fashioned winter always snaps us out of the desire to move like nothing else can. Heh.



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Autumn in New York! It really is as marvelous as they say. Cool, blowy, golden-hazed days.

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Remember Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? I found this short video about the boy who played Charlie, interesting. I'm always inspired when someone is making a living at what they love doing.

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Since giving up HGTV, I've thought a lot about the good old days of decorating and craft shows, ones like Carol Duvall, Kitty Bartholemew, The Home Show (loved that one!) and all these from The Discovery Channel. 

There's a Bible verse which says, "Do not say the old days were better than these," but oh my. That's a very hard verse to keep in this instance. :)

Though yay! For a Carol Duvall fix, I discovered today that I can go here. (And who knows? Perhaps YouTube has clips of these other shows.)

And for extra credit, give yourself 10 points for each of these shows you recall watching:

Lynette Jennings

Christopher Lowell

This Small Space

Decorating Cents

Curb Appeal

Changing Rooms

Room By Room

Small Spaces

Surprise by Design

Designing For The Sexes

Trading Spaces

While You Were Out

Awesome Interiors

Ground Force

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Home and Family on the Hallmark Channel can be interesting, but still, not quite like it used to be in the old days, imo.

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