Friday Five

1. How many houses/apartments have you lived in throughout your life?

Eight. Seven of them in the past 19 years.

2. Which was your favorite and why?

The one I grew up in, because I enjoyed my childhood immensely.

3. Do you find moving house more exciting or stressful? Why?

I have a lot I could write about moving but it all boils down to "moving sucks." If there's anything positive about moving, it's that you discover exactly what is "junk" and what you actually prize.

Now if I actually could build the dream house cited below, moving might be slightly anticipated. But it would never be pleasant.

4. What's more important, location or price?

Ideally, location. Price, unfortunately, will win out most every time.

5. What features does your dream house have (pool, spa bath, big yard, etc.)?

Two-story country-farmhouse type styling. Blue with white trim.

Eat-in gourmet kitchen for James, enough storage space including a separate pantry, and kitchen cupboards with shelves wide enough apart for cereal boxes. Belfast sink (or anything deeper than the shallow puddle sinks they stick in houses these days) and a faucet with big swing handles so you can elbow them on and not have to touch them with greasy hands. Gas cooking (electric stoves...shudder) and a range hood. (Maybe an Aga. They sound cool.) Enough counter-space. Maybe an island. And a nice old-fashioned china cabinet or hutch.

Ceiling fans in every room, but none over the stove, please. Double-paned tilt-in windows and full screens that cover the entire thing. No sliding glass doors. A screened porch to defeat those #$#$!! mosquitoes.

No huge bathrooms, but the master bath just a little larger than the one we have to fit a hamper. Okay, maybe double sinks. Showers with nice strong water pressure. A jacuzzi somewhere would be nice; my shoulder still hurts from the surgery 13 years ago. Walk-in closet in the master bedroom.

Lots of electrical plugs everywhere; phone jacks and cable connections in all rooms. A built-in vacuum system. Shades, no #$#@#$! blinds. Washer and dryer upstairs with the bedrooms where it belongs (front loading washer). A den with good air circulation (complete with a home-theatre system with a plasma-screen TV and a progressive-scan region-free DVD player). Linen closet(s). An air conditioner large enough for the entire house. An easy-access attic. A separate downstairs hobby room (in/off garage?) for James so I don't have to smell glue, paint, and fixative after he builds a model (oh, yeah, he wants a spray booth while we're wishing). A front or back entryway with room for coats, hats, umbrellas and the rest (it needn't be large; just exist).

A yard big enough for a small dog to run around in, no more, some trees for shade and lots of lilac bushes and one nice dark-red rosebush. Oh, and a big satellite dish, the kind that gets wildfeeds.

The two necessities: a room just for the books, with big tall bookcases back-to-back library style to fit the most books. Empty bookshelves for more books. This would have a fireplace with a gas log and nice comfy chairs to read in. Or maybe a window seat! Nice hardwood floor with a rag rug...which brings us to...

...NO CARPET. EVER. ANYWHERE. (Okay, maybe in the den.) Hardwood floors, pergo, vinyl in the bathroom and the kitchen. No carpet, no carpet, no carpet ever, ever again...

(Oh, did I mention it's in New Hampshire?) (Where it's cool and I figure I'll keep better...ooops, sorry, Rhoda flashback...)

----------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 8:39:00 AM

Comments: Post a Comment