There’s no school for Addie today so I thought we’d sleep in. I woke up about 6:30 but didn’t want to disturb her so I tucked my tablet under the covers and read for a while. I was about to doze back off when I heard her, barely singing to herself. She was singing YMCA. How can you have anything short of a wonderful day when your granddaughter wakes up singing that song? I asked her why she was singing YMCA and she said she loves the song. She’s such a happy girl.
She and I were talking later this morning and she asked me . . other than spending time with her, what are my favorite things to do. I told her I like to knit, and I like to write blog posts, and I like to video chat with her, and I like to cook. She said “what about shopping?” I told her I like to order things for her and I like to shop for yarn but other than that, I do not like to shop. She said “What about going to the mall?” Nope . . I do not like to go to the mall. She said “Granny, that’s not right. Girls are supposed to love to go shopping!”
I guess I’ll leave here with Addie thinking there’s something wrong with me! 🙂
I may be wrong but I think leaving tomorrow is going to be easier than some of my past trips. I know I’ve helped Chad and Nicole get some things done that needed to be done. I’ve had wonderful time with Addie.
As much as I had wanted to buy a house here, I had some apprehension about spending the money on the house, insurance, taxes, maintenance but I wanted to be able to come here more so badly that I was able to push those things out of my mind. All of you told me when things were right, it would happen. My head knows that but my heart wants a cute little maintenance free house here.
After being here three weeks, and not finding a house or anything close, seeing things that remind me how much we didn’t like living here, and talking to my friend who’s had their house for sale for over 7 years and wishing they had never bought a house here . . and finding two cabin options and even realizing we have the option of staying in a hotel with Rita if we have to do it, I think I’m giving up on the idea of buying a house here. It’s nice that I came to this conclusion on my own and Vince isn’t saying he doesn’t want to do it and I’m saying I want to do it. There’s a reason for everything . . we will probably end up in Missouri at some point; not this town and not right now. I’m happy with the decision but you know what’s going to happen now . . the perfect house will pop up for sale, it will be several weeks after I’ve been gone and my heart will totally have forgotten that I was happy not buying a house here. I’ll beg to buy it, Vince will say no. I’ll probably cry .. then I’ll remember that it’s best we don’t buy a place here.
Just on my my to Walmart or Addie’s school (totally different directions), I see probably a dozen red tags. I don’t know what the answer is . . the same houses seem to get them over and over again; maybe I’m the only one who feels this way but just seeing them makes me want to get out of town . . not buy a house here. We never got a red tag but one day, the red tag guy did come to my door and told me someone had filed a complaint and he wanted to look around for trash in the yard or weeds. He found nothing and decided they had called in the wrong address, though . . I don’t think anyone on our street ever had trash or weeds in their yard. Yep . . not the place for us. I need to take pictures of all the red tags so when I get a hankering to move back here, I can remind myself how much I detest the red tags.
Glad that’s settled! 🙂
Cheryl Lorence says
I think you came to a wise decision on the house buying. It sounds like it’s quite likely Chad could end up somewhere else with his job and then there you’d be….with a house in a place where you really don’t want to be. The cabin or another type of rental sounds like a good solution for this point in time. Our experience has always been that if we just pray about it and are patient, God leads us in the right direction. It’s the patience piece that’s often so hard!!
Sue S says
Just like you I hate malls and have a granddaughter (two actually) who think I’m weird, old fashioned or demented because I won’t go there unless I absolutely must! Let their mother take them to the mall, I say. she still enjoys it.
Carolyn says
I don’t think my thoughts could be expressed any better than Cheryl did. You’ve probably come to the right conclusion. I’ve walked in those shoes years ago and felt better when I did. Having a house on the market for seven long years would be enough to so send me looking somewhere else.
Donna says
Things usually work out the way they are supposed to IF we just let them Unfortunately I want to help things along and it usually doesn’t help. I’m beginning to realize just because I want something doesn’t mean it’s supposed to be that way. Hard lesson for me.
Rebecca in SoCal says
Save this post! (I know they’re all saved, but…bookmark it or something.) Add those red tag pictures.
In the end, it really is easier not to own a second house. Now you don’t have to deal with furnishing, supplying, and maintaining a separate place, nor pay taxes! Good luck with accepting this decision.
Linda in NE says
From the sound of things, if you can rent a fully furnished & equipped cabin for a somewhat extended stay a few times a year, it’s probably the way to go. Let someone else pay the taxes & upkeep. And that red tag guy! I believe property owners or renters should keep their properties looking reasonably nice, but having a guy going around actually measuring the height of the grass is more than a little over the line separating sane & insane.
Nelle Coursey says
I think that has settled down here, I hope so! There are so many yards that are overgrown, but you can’t get in to mow them because it is too wet! But when they were going at their peak, they did pick on certain people. I know the lady who owned the house across the street got them all the time. I think they guy came by and if it was 11 3/8″ tall, he put the sign up. I used to mow the yard for her, but that got to be too hard on me. She hired several people to mow it but not living in town, they took her money and didn’t mow the yard! She finally sold it. So yes, I think they do pick on people!
dezertsuz says
Ugh, truthfully, I hate the whole reporting on your neighbors thing. It doesn’t build good relationships with them, for one thing. If someone has a problem with my yard, why can’t they just come talk to me? The idea of this red tag man is a definite negative for me. Or better yet, they can just come fix it? I’ve done that for neighbors. If we were all kinder to one another, we’d all be happier. =) Is it really necessary to have someone driving around sticking red flags in the yards that don’t fit some standard someone decided?