house hunger

Every so often I am seized by an irrational desire to move (or move house as the British say).
When it strikes, I often can't resist looking at real estate websites for my city.

I love our little house, the garden, the light and trees around, the proximity to my mom (next door), good friends (scattered all around), and the feeling of being in a community. It is a really good situation in so many ways. I am fortunate.

But but but...more space, and somehow the promise of something different, a new way of seeing and experiencing the world that comes with being in different surroundings, are so appealing. It takes us off of the auto-pilot of routines, opening our perceptions and senses, just like travel.

I also would like (if we could, which we can't, now) to invest in property and rent out homes. So sometimes I justify my desire to look at real estate that way. Just in case there are any super bargains in super neighborhoods, you know.

Anyway, yesterday I was seized by one of those moments. I have to learn to resist--it's like window shopping. I read somewhere that we take ownership of something when we try it on, making it harder to resist the purchase. Therefore, when sticking to a budget, find other forms of entertainment besides windowshopping! It makes sense...and the same is true for the house photos. I start imagining us living in them. More space! An office for Minou! A third bedroom! And then, when I come back down to earth and realize the financial and practical infeasibility, I feel extremely grumpy for a while. Well.

Minou kindly pointed out to me the immese stress and amount of work moving actually entails--as evidenced by our good friends who recently went through the process and are still working on both houses, new and old. Which led me to my new resolve. I'm going to organize our home as if we were moving. Putting like things together, grouping and culling and cleaning. It will make it a much more comfortable place to live, now, and for the future...who knows?