gigamatic

Things were better today. The stress from work was minimal. The panic from Nala's announcement that he'd found a house subsided. However, when he called at 2:30 to say "can you look at two places today at 4, including THE house?" I got short of breath.

I have to say, it was worth seeing, and had it been equal to two nice 1br apartments per month, I would've agreed. My lord, it was nice.

That's not to say we've been looking at junky places, but just that this was, without a doubt, the best place for the money we had seen. Everything was done. It was completely livable as is, and livable in luxury. It helped, of course, that the decorating style of the current owners was that of our own.

I was expectedly nitpicky. I wanted to hate it, but I didnt. But, I was able to make myself not be ecstatic. I went in being rational, knowing what the payments were, and knowing that I would have to absolutely love it for the money.

Whew.

I did love it though. It was the most perfect house we'd seen, including the new builds, simply because you could see the love which was put into it and the charm and character.

And the backyard, with the beautiful landscaping.

Anyway, after the "God this is nice and this is what I eventually want out of a house" episode, we went on down toward Franklin Park to see what I initially called the "backup plan".

Again, this house had its charms. It needed work, of course, but it was massive and had a great floorplan, with hardwood floors, a full basement which could possibly with some work become finished, one and a half baths, and most of all CHARACTER. But, sadly, it was missing the one thing which would keep us from buying: a garage or space for one.

It had enough work left to be done to be relatively cheap, while enough niceties to be livable, if barely, in Nala's eyes. 4 huge bedrooms. A dining room at least as big as two of our bedrooms. A basement big enough to have a workshop for stripping and refinishing windows and such. The living room 16x30 feet, at least.

God, if Nala would allow it, I would become a househusband and do most of the work myself. Hell, if we had a dishwasher I would even learn to cook. I know I could, and if that was my job, I would. I loved the satisfaction that came from working with my hands and seeing the results.

This may be the one thing he doesn't know about me.

And yes, I know I say that, but you know, I'd still want to work some freelance on the side.

So, we continue the hunt, but now, at least we know what we can afford, and what we can aspire to.