So we are now officially (and again) homeowners. This is the part where I start panicking. Why do we want a house anyway? Now we can't up and leave for Ireland again, or maybe it was going to be Slovenia this time. Why do we want the bills, the work, the responsibility.
The truth is that we do want it. There will always be that gypsy part of me that wants the freedom to get up and go when I want. And where once upon a time we could, even when we owned a house before. Because the market was good and even after just a year, we would come out ahead. Sometimes the gypsy part of my expands so rapidly and so fiercely that I think I will explode with longing to just go. But that's a whole other post. Most of the time, and more often the older I grow, I am content, more than content, pleased beyond imagining, with the city I live in, the life we lead. And this is one of those times. Surprisingly, the moment we walked out of the title company, the moment when in the past I could hardly breath from the fear and the panic, I just wanted to go get a hammer and get to work on making the house mine, ours.
The countdown has begun. Twenty six days before we need to be into that house and out of this one. The contractor comes tomorrow to knock down the wall. The A/C guy comes Tuesday (thank god it was sticky hot work to rip out manky carpet with no A/C today!) The paint guy thinks he can get all the walls, ceiling and trim done before the end of the month. Colors are picked, appliances are (more or less) chosen. The sink I've wanted for ages (white single bowl farm sink, ah how I love you) is in the back of our car waiting for the countertop to be in and the cabinets to be painted so it can crown our new (old) kitchen. It feels a little like we've jumped onto one of the cogs in a great big factory and we wont get off for who knows how long. But that's the fun part. Who knows where this house will go for us. Will we build that wrap around porch that Will dreams of? Will we turn the random once was a screened porch room into a mudroom or an indoor/outdoor living room? Will the fence be white or natural wood? Where will it go from here?
So, as a newly christened member of this cog, what did the machine that is home renovation accomplish today? The stairs, thank you very much. The nasty, smelly carpet has been removed to reveal practically perfect oak stairs in need of not much more than some buffing and a fresh coat of trip paint. And you know what? That's the best part of renovating a sad old house, you never know what you are going to find under that grotty old carpet, it could be your new favorite part of the house.