New House Progress

Approx. 1 month ago we signed the contract on a house just down the street from us. We've rented the home we live in for almost 12 years now and the landlord wants to sell it. Our current house only has 925 square feet of finished space (it also has an unfinished basement that would add 400-500 feet if it were finished....) and it is starting to feel cramped with 5 people in it. It was fine when the twins were little, but now they are teenagers and their mass has increased (we won't even start on mine), it is really cramped. The landlord wants an awful lot for the square footage, so we decided to bump up our price range and ended up buying a 1,965 square foot home...We don't take possession until June 2nd (the current owners close on their new house June 1) -- but it feels like the whole process is crawling. Buying a house is much more stress than you see on those home shows!!! I thought it would be an easy, painless process. Word of advice to current homeowners--if you have a deck-especially a second story deck important to getting to the back yard---TAKE CARE OF IT. That way, when you sell your home, you are not shocked by the inspector giving it an unsafe tag and the contractor giving you a $5,000 estimate! We are in the process of haggling that out. Actually a good rule of thumb is to just take care of all little things before they become big things. The window that leaks and causes the sheet rock to pull away from the window frame is not going to go away or freeze in status. It will get worse. The patio door that isn't working well will not magically fix itself, and yes, you will be surprised at the end on how much it costs to fix all this!!!

I am looking forward to getting into it and making it ours! The twins will share a room, but it will be twice the size of what they are sharing now. My oldest son is talking about moving out and going to live with his girlfriend (don't even go there...) in another state, so we may have a guest/quilting/painting/etc room...That would be so great!

In other news, I saw some blurb on AOL news that gas is supposed to reach $4 a gallon in some parts. WTF !!!!! It is not amusing me to gas my van up as it is! I am seriously thinking we are going to have to look at getting small cars for running across town when it is just one or two people and keeping one of the vans for when all of us are going someplace. Does anyone own or know anyone who owns one of the hybrid cars? I'm seeing lots of stay at home activities in my future! I guess that is a good excuse for the stash of yarn and fabric I have built up....We may just have to investigate some alternative power sources in the future. It would be nice to power the kitchen by solar---it may be a little too much to ask to power the whole house, but once we get settled, we may investigate taking part of the house off the grid. Solar power in our area is still a pretty new idea and not mainstream, so it may be hard to find someone who can convert us...

On the art side: I am going to start watercolor painting again. I have had the urge to paint for several years and never found the time (I used the "I'm not a professional, not a real artist, not....crutch) and it has been nagging me. I recently found a book by Dori Kanter entitled "Art Escapes" and it is very empowering! You really have to get this book. Even if you have never painted or watercolor is not what you perceive as your style...It has exercises that teach you about color, composition etc that can be transferred anywhere...My friends are nuts about the artists way books, which I will eventually work on (I own that one and Vein of Gold by the same author of Artist's Way), but this one is very hands on. Love it!!

I guess I'd better head off to work. This my version of morning pages for those of you familiar with Artist's Way, but unlike the suggested stream of consciousness pages, I'll edit my blurbs and not subject you to my random blatherings. Those I will save for a notebook.....

Good day and great coffee to you and yours!!