Wednesday, July 30, 2008

On the Other Hand...

We've been in quite a giddy mode anticipating our household merger. But the logistics have taken a 180 since I last wrote.

I've been spending many a sleepless night trying to figure out how to upgrade Cold Comfort Cottage the way we'd like -- finishing the Michigan basement, remodeling the bathroom and spare bedroom and kitchen, and adding some additional room. The numbers haven't been adding up in my head. A visit to our friend J, a compulsive home improver who has been working on her house for years, just added to my anxiety. And the cottage is a 20-year-old prefab, not a stick-built home; how smart is it, really, to turn this into Extreme Home Makeover, Outer Podunk Edition?

Finally today, when I stopped at home for lunch after a speaking engagement one county over, I blurted out to Fellow Traveler, "Do you really think we'd save money living here?"

Turns out she's been rethinking this thing too. And, for reasons too numerous to list here, we seem to have simultaneously come to the conclusion that maybe it will be easier and cheaper in the long run to make The Big House our home base, mortgage and all.

I really am not emotionally invested in CCC; because my parents moved there after I left home, it's never felt that much like "home" to me. I enjoy the backyard nature, but the house not so much. And The Big House has a huge backyard surrounded by a wooded buffer, with wildlife aplenty, so I'm not losing that in a move.

Good thing we didn't start packing. But we're still going to have a great garage sale.

2 comments:

toujoursdan said...

Very smart move.

celticjulia said...

It will all work out for good. Glad you both are on the same page. Who knows what the future holds ... you are wise to wait.