Thursday, September 5, 2013

Itchy Feet

I really thought that I would finally be getting back into the swing of things in the studio once the kids got back into school. Unfortunately, my husband reminded me that he had a forced vacation the entire Labor Day week, and then my son came down with some sort of stomach bug.

To be fair, I suppose I should have seen the stomach bug coming. Back to school, if you have kids you know this, is filled with buying pencils and paper, and everyone getting sick for the first couple of months. Its inevitable. The children are just walking petri dishes waiting to unleash their biological warfare upon one another. I guess I just secretly hoped that since my youngest just started Junior High (7th grade), that this would be behind us.

*sigh*

The forced vacation my husband had to take (the company is forcing employees to burn their vacation time) is at a bad time because he's also coaching for the local high school and the children are obviously in school, so really we cannot go anywhere fun and he has obligations by 2 PM. That means we are here, and here means house projects. Lots and lots of house projects.

Instead of painting.

Yesterday, I dug holes for trees and shrubs. Even with gloves, I have blisters all over my hands. I am glad they're planted though!

We also went and looked at some houses that are on the market. For a while we thought that maybe we needed to totally change where we live, move states perhaps? That looks to be unfeasible at this time, so we thought that perhaps we don't need to change everything. Maybe we just need to change the here and now.

The truth is that we've outgrown our house. It isn't a small abode, but it's... crowded. Rooms just need to be a couple of feet bigger (especially the bedrooms, the poor kids. But even our bedroom doesn't have enough room.) I need more space in the kitchen. And when it comes to my studio? Forget it! The studio space is just storage for my studio, with things crammed in every corner. I've been painting in my kitchen or living room, or even on my bed. There simply is NO space here anymore.

This was a good house when we moved in with an almost 3-year-old and another on the way, me just being mom. Now, I have essentially two teenagers, and TWO businesses. Don't even get me started on the pets (three dogs, two rabbits, one giant cat, 20+ chickens, and two fish. Granted, the fish don't take up much room.) The cars don't fit in the garage, the landscaping is insane with this much open space, and everyone is on top of each other.

There aren't many houses on the market out here, so there hasn't been much cause to actually look. However, I found a couple that we were interested in and we poked through them on Tuesday. One of them might actually work. It's much bigger than our house is now (I would even say it's perhaps too big, which is a problem we're considering as we work through this.) Everyone would have their own room and I would actually have a dream studio. Maybe not the one I pictured nestled into the trees, it's very own building... but let's face it, I'd need to win the lottery to make that a reality! It would be on the top floor, a sort of finished attic with skylights and a couple windows, but it's big enough. It's perfect.

The house has privacy too, something I want more of (I'm a hermit!) It needs work, maybe more than is reasonable... we'll have to see. We're actually at the point where we're weighing the pros and cons quite seriously while we're waiting to hear back from our realtor what she's ferreted out about the property (which is currently rented to a bunch of college students, so it's one step shy of a frat house right now. It's not in horrible condition, but it's not great either.)

We basically have itchy feet. We need something to change, something major. I have felt this brewing for a long while, but I think seeing a house that could solve many of our problems (and probably create all new ones) really triggered the idea that we could actually change things.

And that, folks, is scary as all get out! I've been having nightmares, and I'm not sleeping much. I didn't realize how scary the reality of possibly uprooting everything we've built these last 14 years would actually be. When did I get so set in my ways and afraid of change?

Sheesh!


10 comments:

  1. Good luck with this decision; it's a big one.
    I have two friends who moved into bigger homes when their kids were teenagers since they had outgrown their old home, and just a few short years later the kids went off to college and the houses were too big for them. Just one other thing to consider (although hopefully it won't keep you up at night!)

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    1. Yeah, when the kids move out, the only room that wouldn't be used would be one of the bedrooms and probably the extra bathroom. Other than that, we use a lot of space. So, I think it would be too big in some respects, but just right in more...

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  2. I am suspect to say something because I do not like houses or big spaces. I grew up in a very urban environment and have lived in apartments from 7th floor up most of my life. I am now on the 21st floor and love it :)
    It's a big decision, but I know you will make the right one for your family.

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    1. I grew up in suburbia, so I'm sort of inbetween! :) I had a small house in a crammed neighborhood, and I've lived in apartments (chicago) and now I've lived in the country. I always thought I was going to be a city girl, but it turns out the farther I'm in the country, the better! And I like space. :)

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  3. O wow, that's a very big step! But you have to do what feels right for the whole family. I know the problem about space. Here in the Netherlands most of us do not live in very big houses like in the US but we also need more space especially with hubby's business. So we probably will move to the countryside one day. And sometimes change is a good one! xoxo

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    1. We live in the country, so homes typically are either very, very small - or very big. Not much in the middle, interestingly (my current house is in the middle.) But I highly recommend the countryside! :)

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  4. I've been feeling the same but I wonder how people cope with leaving friends behind if you move to a new place? I think I might move furniture around for now until I can decide where and when!xx

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    1. This new place would only be about 15 minutes from our old one, so only our children will be changing much with a school switch. Even then, their friends are still in reach. :) But I have moved all over the country, and I just never had any solid friendships in the places I moved from. Once everyone graduated high school, we all sort of scattered to the wind. People here are not the most friendly, so all of my close friends are actually states (or countries) away. Thank goodness for the internet! :)

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  5. Change is scary, but in the long run, it is worth it! Everything will work out for the best! Keep positive and try to have good sleeps ;o) I wish you all the best!

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    1. I don't know what is going to happen, but I'm hoping for the best! :)

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