Looking for Home

Yesterday my #3 daughter, her boyfriend and I went looking for a place for them to call their first home. Since boyfriend moved down here from Michigan he has been living in our garage. It doesn't get more countrified than that. It is actually a nice garage but there is no heat or air conditioning. He has managed during the winter with space heaters, but he does not want to spend anymore hot hours out there than he has to. This is a big motivator, I hope, and the mercury is rising daily. We hit 85 yesterday. It snowed in Michigan yesterday. HA HA. But I digress.
To continue, we are bursting at the seams in our little house. We have been saving furniture for several years knowing that # 3 daughter will move out soon. Our living room looks like a furniture warehouse and daily I pray that the ceiling doesn't cave in from the weight of the stuff stored in the attic. So while I will miss #3 daughter and boyfriend, I am looking forward to reclaiming some space. Also we have come dangerously close to some of the scenarios one might find on the Jerry Springer Show. Picture this: boyfriend on couch playing on line poker all day, while everyone else is out working or doing work around the house. boyfriend bringing in an arm load of dishes from the garage just as we are finishing up cleaning the kitchen. It's really not as bad as all that thank goodness. He has been working and actively looking for bigger and better employment. He has also proved useful when I need really large deep holes dug in our yard which consists of the hardest clay God ever made. Most holes require the use of a pick ax. I have enjoyed many a glass of ice tea, sitting on the screen porch in the shade while watching boyfriend carve out another hole for one of my new rose bushes, plum trees, and even a dead dog once. Actually I didn't enjoy the dead dog, that was very sad, but still it required a very deep hole in a very, very hard piece of earth. Still digressing.
Back to the home search. We started with a little house just north of us in a little intracoastal waterway town. The house definitely had potential and was very charming. It was built almost 50 years ago, closer to the ocean but sometime during it's history the owners moved the entire house inland about 6 miles. Strange. The lovely things were original hardwood floors, tongue and grove pine paneling throughout, a large open and bright kitchen all nestled in the midst of sun blocking live oak branches. The house could be a cool oasis from the hot summer sun, OR it could be a death trap , with a roof that needed to be replaced yesterday, windows that would not close all the way, dead roaches sprinkled here and there and a toilet that when flushed screams, jumps, and finally settles into a gurgle for about 15 minutes. I don't think so!
We moved on to the next house, just one block over from the death trap charmer. Ah, this had more potential. I was only able to walk around the outside of the house as we did not have a key yet. boyfriend and #3 daughter seemed more excited about this one. Here we had a cozy covered front porch, a large yard with trees, a solid looking roof and newer windows, complete with storm windows for protection from the forces of hurricanes. Peeking inside confirmed more hardwood floors and tongue and groove pine walls, quaint. Downside, not sure the owners would be interested in renting and some work would be required on the outside at least, unless you are one of those Carraba's style people and don't mind a pine tree or six growing out of your rain gutters. #3 daughter and boyfriend got to go back later with the realtor and some keys to see the inside of the house. I was full of high hopes. But when they got home and described the interior I couldn't feel any excitement from them. Nothing I could put my finger on, just a feeling really. After some sly but probing questions, I felt that I might be on to something. It seems there was no place for a dining room table. OMG!!! Really? These are people who are in love with the idea of renting an older, charming, off the beaten path type of house, they even have dreams of owning an older farm house on some acreage with maybe a dilapidated barn or two. Huh.
So we spent the evening on line looking at rental adds. Back to the drawing board and the garage for them I guess. They say home is where the heart is. My heart is definitely here, I love them and all the chaos a house filled with 6 people can bring. So while I am excited for them to find their Shangrila and to reclaim my space, I also don't mind a little more time with my baby under my sagging but happy ceiling.