Musings: 4 years ago

Four years ago my family and I began to settle into our new (to us) home here on Hazelwood Ave. We were giddy with a lower mortgage payment, closer proximity to the city, and a house in desparate need of some TLC that we knew we could give it. We thought this might be our 'forever house', a place where grandkids would run in the same yard as aunts and uncles had previously.

Enter Life, stage left. The only problem came when we needed to put our formerly homeschooled kids into the local district's classrooms. That wasn't even on our radar as we looked for homes. Now, having almost graduated one and 2 more coming up, the schools have become the giant elephant refusing to be ignored. so we're back to house-hunting again.

We've played thru several scenarios.....move to an outlying area where schools are 'quite' as drug infested or academically challenged. Oldest dd won't have any of it. And really, I don't want to live out there either. Suburbia scares me more than urbania. We don't 'fit' that mold, and I'd live in frustration trying to explain why we don't have brand new cars, hired help, the newest Wii and iPod every month. That's a reality I don't want to fight.

Now we're visiting private schools, thinking we'll stay in the district for the oldest one (with SEVERE limitations and boundaries), but purchase a smaller house with a smaller mortgage to compensate the tuition costs. Well and good, excpect younger dd is furious about leaving her friends in the public school.

And watching the political process trip thru it's ridiculous circuit has brought up the idea of Canada. Not really, but might be nice.

Add to this, we've seen a few houses we have liked, but they always sell before we can make an offer. So today, there's a Century 21 sign in the yard. No more messin' around. We're moving. Where? Dunno. When? Dunno. Why? Ummmm...... Because life just won't be controlled or planned. Because bringing 6 kids into the world tends to bring change every couple years. Because I think change is good.

I think it will all work out, but it will be messy and not perfect. I'm ready for that. It's been bittersweet getting this house ready for its next occupants, but it needs a family that can appreciate its size. I'm downwardly mobile, looking for a bit more simplicity than this home can offer me. No house is worth bad schools. Living smaller and freeing up finances seems more my style. Gives us more choices, and a (albeit fleeting) sense of control.

So, maybe we'll make it 5 years in our next place. Who knows? (If you do, please email me. I might seem okay with the unknown, but actually I'm rather weirded out by all this.)