One last post and I promise a hiatus from emotions involved in buying and selling!
The sequel to our good-byes to the old house was the hello to the new. We had bought a lovely (only in our eyes!) old painted lady that needed paint and lots of it! For those not familiar with the painted lady, many of the grand old Victorian homes have been dubbed "painted ladies" because of their wild color schemes. Each Victorian needs a minimum of 5 colors to be true to its Victorian roots. But I digress.
Hubby and I were homeless for 8 days. On moving day we were all excited. Our son was relieved because we would finally be gone from his spare bedroom, and we were anxious to be in our own bed for a change.
We took the keys, opened the door, and my immediate thought was, "Where do I begin?" followed by "Did we do the right thing?" Unlike most sales, our new house was filled with the former owner's entire house of possessions and it had been rented to 4 late teen, early 20 year old men for almost 2 years. It was filthy and it wasn't mine. This house did not belong to me yet. Our son voiced my chagrin, "What did you get yourself into Mom?" At that point I was questioning as well. The seller's entire house had to be packed up before I could begin unpacking my things. The madness began. Fatigue and aches set in. Chaos ruled. And I had to pretend to be a real estate agent at the same time!
It wasn't until 3 months later when the seller's stored possessions were gone and our own things were placed about the house, that we spent our first Christmas in our new home. Did you notice the change in term? By Christmas this house had become our home. One of our kids shared this insight. "You know when our old house was empty, its soul was gone. I realized when you moved that it's what we put into the house that makes it a home. We're starting to build memories here. This will be the only house the grandkids remember when they reminisce about Gamma & Pappa's house."
(c) Bonnie Erickson 2006
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