The Waiting Place Archives - The Weekend Country Girl

This week Mr. Math and I went to look at the home that is for sale to be moved. He thought it was cute too and was also excited about it. That thrilled me. I sometimes run ahead of myself and was worried that I was stepping out where my husband wasn’t willing to go. He gets me and what I want to do and for that I am grateful.

As we walked around the house, there were some issues that are going to make moving the house very hard and expensive.

There is a concrete foundation wall completely around the perimeter that would have to be demolished before the under the house work could begin because of the design.
The porch is not stable and would have to be removed in order to move the house. The porch beams are attached to a concrete porch and the chances of us successfully removing the porch intact to reattach would be slim.
The bathroom was added on at a later time than the house was built and would have to come off.
The main support beam that runs along the bedroom side of the house has dry rot and would have to be replaced. Mr. Math checked it out top to bottom.

All of that information was a bummer, but still potentially doable. (We still hadn’t given up at that point.) The nail in the coffin on this house for us was that chimney. Well not exactly the chimney, because I already knew it had a chimney that would have to come out. It was the dummy who removed that structural wall between the two front rooms that now has the chimney stack holding up the ceiling weight. The chimney has to go for the house to be moved and in order for the house to be stabilized enough for that to happen. The interior work required for that to happen would be an unreasonable amount of money and would destroy the flooring in the front room.

The brick showing through the Sheetrock

Soooo… the house is not the house is not the one for us. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t a house for us out there. I have Craig’s List set to notify me by email everytime a home to be moved is listed. Today this showed up. It is cute, and new, and I love the vaulted ceiling, but it is not what I am looking for.

We have decided to “be still” and wait. I guess my version of being still may not be everyone’s version. My version is to focus on getting things in order to make another life change so that when the opportunity arises we will be ready. Yep. I know you saw this one coming a mile away. When I tell my friends this life change, no one is surprised. NO. ONE. How have I been so personally unaware?

We have decided to put our suburban home on the market, hopefully this spring, if we can get the list of “to do’s” taken care of. We will be commuters to work which I never wanted to do, but our heart is in the country. I never, ever, thought I would say that.

Once our suburban house is sold, we will make the big move to the country. We will be “one home” owners for the first time in 10 years. Frankly, that scares me a little lot. We currently furnish over 4800 square feet. We have six bedrooms, two living rooms, two dining rooms, four bathrooms, and an office. Paring down to 2200 square feet means that we will be getting rid of a lot of things and will have decide what stays and what goes. I am committed to making the hard decisions as we go and letting go of things I do not need or does not have a spot in my home no matter how much I love it. Things like my beloved mudroom bench, my funky bedroom furniture, and one of my media center dressers.

Hold me to that, friends.

I slept all night for the first time in weeks after thinking this all through and getting this post written.

Thank you all for following along on our mid life journey.

In the next six months we will have our first grandchild, put our house on the market and will hopefully make the move to our forever home. There are plenty of projects ahead for me to keep busy.

Blessings,

Karen

Before I take a break from the Internet during the holidays, I wanted to share this post. I actually wrote this blog post while on a work trip to Santa Fe and have been holding on to the post because I wanted to make sure I was ready to share this much about myself. I also didn’t want to sound “lame”.

I decided that I am ready for you all to see my nearing-retirement age, what am I going to do with myself, angst. After the holiday break I will be sharing our dreams (well one dream anyway) and what we are doing to chase that dream.

One of my favorite Dr. Seuss books is Oh the Places You’ll Go. I read it every year to graduating seniors as they head off to amazing places like work, college or the military. I have given it as graduation gifts, too. I put a link to John Lithgow reading the story if you have never heard it before. I hope you take a few moments to listen to the very wise words of Theodore Geisel- Dr. Seuss.

Right now, in this moment in my life I am in ” the waiting place.” You know, that place that according to Dr. Seuss:

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right…
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused
that you’ll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…

…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

Am I alone in the waiting place? Sometimes I feel like I am, but I suspect I am not the only one.

While I write this, I am waiting for a session to begin at a conference. (Fitting, right?) I am waiting for my daughter and son in law to come in at Christmas, waiting for summer when my son and daughter in law return from out of country, waiting for the next chapter in my life… and frankly I am not even sure what that next chapter is or when it will begin.

Life is change. Change is hard. It is a good thing we are tough! 😊

I am lucky enough to be in a good job, with a healthy family, and almost enough resources to do what I want to do. I sometimes wish I had a crystal ball, but I think half the fun is figuring out what the next step is on the journey.

How about you? What are you waiting for?

I would love to hear from you.

I will be taking a break from blogging until January. I hope you have a wonderful holiday break, you can rest, and that you are able to sped time with family and friends.

Blessings,

Karen

P.S. I found another blogger who wrote about the same topic. Funny thing is they have a 2 year old. Oh, and they offered suggestions on what to do when in the Waiting Place. I am happy to report that I am already following his suggestions. Your can read their blog Here

Tag: The Waiting Place

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The Waiting Place