Eight Months to Bliss

What a long, strange, stressful trip it has been. But, after the months and months (eight to be exact) of renovation drama, we have moved into our simple little home.

It’s amazing what lack of space can do for your creativity. It’s challenging to come up with ways to fit everything you need to fit into the front bedroom closet, and empowering to get rid of the things you know you should have just donated when you were packing them.

Americans seem to be accustomed to having more space than they need, and then filling up that space as quickly as possible with a bunch of unnecessary items. It’ll be interesting to see the long-term effects of the economic downturn on that mentality. But that’s a conversation for another day…

In the meantime, life is blissfully boring, and I am loving it!

What a complicated mess!

So, we sold the house. That process – though unbearably stressful – was a lot simpler than I thought it might be. With the way the real estate markets have been, I should truly feel lucky about the quick two months that it took from listing the house to handing over the keys to new owners.

In contrast, the renovations on the new house have been anything but simple. (Which should explain – in part – my absence from the blogosphere for the last six months or so.)

I’m an HGTV junkie, but never have I seen an episode of any show that deals with the complicated mess involved with permitting and inspections. To say that it’s not as easy as it looks would be the understatement of the century. The kitchen cabinets have been delayed, but Inspector A says all we need in the kitchen to pass is a functioning sink. Inspector B (aka, Ms. Grumpy, the electrical inspector) says she won’t pass it until cabinets are installed. The power company won’t hook up power until they get Inspector B’s ok, so since November, we’ve been working on the renovations without heat or light. It’s too cold to paint without heat, and the electrician doesn’t want to finish the electrical until the paint is done. Luckily, Inspector C has been unbelievably helpful and has been trying to figure something out for us. I’m scheduled to meet with his supervisor this afternoon. At this point, I’m not beyond crossing my fingers during the meeting .

Did I mention that we don’t even own the house yet?

Inspector A won’t approve us to buy without the utilities on… which brings us back to Inspector B. Like I said, it’s complicated.

Oh, and one of the contractor’s subs threatened to file a lien on the property if he doesn’t get paid…. Which would mean we still couldn’t buy the house.

Um… I need some divine intervention or something.

An Un-Simple Journey

Well, here we are, about to embark on a journey that is anything but simple. After many sleepless nights, we’ve decided to sell our peaceful home in the ‘burbs and move to a fixer-upper downtown. The reasons are many, but the one that I’ve latched onto is a reduction in my work commute from 14 miles of interstate to one short, walkable mile.

In order to avoid – or at least reduce – the amount of stress this move will inevitably cause, we’re trying to take things one step at a time. And the first step is de-cluttering our current home to put it in tip-top selling condition. Easier said than done, right?

We spent the weekend boxing up a bunch of non-essential items to put in storage, weeding out the junk from the far corners of our closets, dusting the baseboards, and going through a couple boxes of Magic Erasers (Mr. Clean is a genius!). I’m already exhausted. There are 14 boxes labeled for storage, but only a small pile of stuff earmarked for donation. Given the fact that our new home will be smaller, you would think that the donation pile would be bigger. But, it’s not.

The rational part of me thinks that if I own something that I don’t need over the next few months, then I should just get rid of it entirely. I mean, what are the chances that I will ever use that punch bowl we received as a wedding gift, still sitting in its original box? Probably pretty slim, and yet it’ll stick around at least until I discover that there’s no room for it at the new house. That’s another step, and for now, I’m just concentrating on getting our house ready to sell. Wish me luck!

Soundtrack for a Simple Life

Music can elicit feelings happy and sad, and bring memories flooding back. And then there are certain songs that can get you in the mood to just slow down and put your feet up or dance barefooted in your backyard.

Here's my soundtrack for a simple life, starting with an ode to my blog. (Technically, I guess my blog would be an ode to the song.)

Give Me the Simple Life - Rosemary Clooney
Dancin' - Chris Isaak
Easy - Commodores
My Baby Just Cares for Me - Nina Simone
I Could Write a Book - Harry Connick Jr.
Closer to Fine - Indigo Girls
Going Back to Harlan - Emmylou Harris
Everyday Is Like Sunday - The Pretenders
Secret O' Life - James Taylor
King of the Road - Roger Miller
Anything But Love - Squirrel Nut Zippers
J'Ai Deux Amours - Madeleine Peyroux
Days Like This - Van Morrison
One Particular Harbour - Jimmy Buffett

Go Sox, Go!

The Boston Red Sox are having a banner year. At last check, their record was 65-42, with the Yankees seven games back.

And this morning, the Today Show announced that Fenway Park is its latest pick in the America the Beautiful series. Well... to be politically correct, they officially named the #7 spot, "Legendary Ballparks." But, the broadcast was live from Fenway, America's oldest baseball stadium. (This pick makes three places I have visited out of the four they've chosen so far.)

Now, if I had my choice of adjectives to describe Fenway Park, I don't know that "beautiful" would be the first thing to come to mind. But what an amazing place. Hordes of loyal fans dressed in red, white, and blue, eating Fenway franks, cheering loudly as Big Papi steps up to the plate, and singing in unison to "Sweet Caroline" during the seventh-inning stretch. And it doesn't hurt that the Sox have had some really strong seasons as of late.

Adding to the shared spirit is a stadium that has stood for close to 100 years. The history here is almost palpable. Yet, every so often, Boston talks about tearing down Fenway Park to build a new stadium that can hold more fans. Luckily, nothing has come of those plans.

Until the next time I can figure out how to score some tickets to a Sox game, I'll appreciate the beauty of watching the occasional Red Sox game broadcast in HD in Charlotte. Go Sox!