WHen I was a little girl, my mom used to build us playhouses on the back porch. I thought they were so cool because they were so real. We had a couch made out of pillows and a little kitchen area and even a baby doll bedroom. WE would wash dishes and hang doll clothes on the "clothesline" and cook dandelion and mud pies. I loved that house because it felt like it was mine. And I was sure that my mom was MAGIC. She could make anything that she touched become beautiful and real. She could also take it all away as evidenced by the time we left lick-em-ade sugar all over the floor of our "house" and attracted a 40 foot chain of worker ants. Oddly enough, in our play "family", no one wanted to play the part of the hired help who cleans up spilled candy. My mom quickly disassembled the house and relegated us to the back yard to play games that didn't require any housework from her.
So, you can see that I have an honest footing in the area of domestic arts and magic. It's genetic and cultivated from the time I was 3. I think this is why I've recently begun daydreaming about having my own play house. Now you may want to stop me right here and remind me that I don't even have enough money to buy an ipod, so what makes me think I can buy a house/condo/4man tent? hello...I told you I was MAGIC...and I am going to magically apply for a mortgage loan. THe problem is that I could get approved for much more money than I can really afford and I've already found a house that is way outside my price range, but I'm in LOVE with it (or the idea of it). 1915, hardwoods, backyard, gas, bungalow on a corner lot. I went to look at it yesterday and magically, the realtor appeared at the same time and showed me the inside. I'm pretty sure it was God's way of winking his approval. I left with my curiosity satiated but my appetite for a place of my own completely whetted. I realized that I don't want to own a house that owns me, which is probably what would happen if I bought this particular house, but I WANT I WANT I WANT to install my own hardward and ceiling fans. I want to plant things outside in the dirt. I want to call an exterminator when I leave lick-em-ade on the floor and attract a colony of ants.
I told my mom, if I can't have a baby, I WANT A HOUSE. I know that's kind of messed up, but it's my way of indicating movement. I need movement. a next step. And musical equipment and cars are old news. So I've decided to try VERY hard to stay in my price range, but I'm on the lookout for a place that can handle all of my magic.
8 comments:
You could buy a house that is higher than your price range, and rent out some of the rooms to roomates to help cover the mortgage. I knew someone who did this and it worked out really well for them.
Adam's advice would be to build on WoW. I'm sure there is some house building thingy on there, how could there not be? And it covers the magic too. Sadly I feel your yen. Right about now I can barely afford my own magical room in someone else's condo. I watch The Home & Garden Network with more love and attention than I pay to my scriptures or boyfriend. (that may just show how lame I am, not how great the network is, which isn't what I wanted to convey) Women get all nesty about seven or fifty times a year. So good luck! I know there is a dream house out there with NinnyBeth written all over it. And when you get it I will come and play in it. I will bring all my Barbies.
ummm.... yeeeahhh....
i don't think the comment box allows me enough room to discuss this. you know that i'm a house person. it is a growing love/hate relationship.
i love having a place to call my own, to renovate, and to use as an investment. and then there all the hates: making sure the lawn is mowed, not being able to have someone else fix or pay for your problems, renters/roommates leaving before you want them to, hot water heaters breaking and leaking all over your basement carpets, taking several days off of work for the leaking tub to be replaced. ugh.
but NB... everyone deserves a house to love/hate. everyone. it's a relationship worth investing in! i love, love, love my cute houses so much and hate the idea of ever parting with them! just like any other relationship, the growing pains are worthwhile.
let me know if you want to chat about this. i can totally geek out on this topic, y'know?
i just made the realization that i, too, am ready to slowly start the house/condo search. apartment life is bringing me down...way down. good luck!
- tawnya
SWG (Star Wars Galaxies, one of the precursors to WoW) let you own your own home. You could pick the location and decorate it and everything. WoW doesn't let you have homes, yet. So stick with RL (real-life) on this one.
And you don't need to have a lot of money, in savings, to buy a house. But you really do need to have the income to make the payments. There are a lot of foreclosures on the market. You want to buy one of those without becoming one later on. I'm meeting with my realtor tomorrow as a matter of fact, to look over a few places.
I too struggle with wanting a house, or I guess I should say I did struggle but then I went back to school which has decreased those longings. I guess knowing it is unrealistic right now, but that being a poor student will actually make being a homeowner more realistic eventually, makes the waiting easier.
I haven't seen your apartment in quite a while but I'm sure it is very warm and homey and personalized because that's who you are. But maybe it's kinda like when you are growing out your hair and you feel like if you don't change something you'll go crazy so you color it and that staves off the craving to cut for a while. Maybe there is a stop-gap measure like that. I know when I was in college, my roommate and I used to joke about wanting a ceramic canister set. It signified being stable enough to have an extra (heavy) item to hold flour that could just be held in its own bag or, if being extravagant, a tupperware container. It also signified having few enough roommates to take up extra counter space. Maybe you could find things like this and do those things while waiting for the right time and the right house. And when it's time, I can't wait to see The House That NB Built, because it will be loved and beautiful.
Having roommates can make paying for the house much more do-able but it's important to find someplace you could swing without roommates if you had to. (like tamara said, you never know what they are going to do)
All the other decorating and maintenance costs add up fast- and there are a lot of days when I want to just sell my house and move into an apartment (with no roommates)
But- I think that having a house is a very good step to feeling like you are progressing and moving forward in life.
I don't know if you will get this. 1915 I'm not sure you know what you are getting yourself into. Beautiful and rustic maybe..... You have no older brother out there to give you the proverbial hand.... LOL. Good luck, and I really mean it.
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