Plan B with a Twist Will Be Worth the Waaaaait....

It's been over 5 months since I've posted an update to my new home chronicle. By now I had hoped and expected our new home would be on our property and we would be living in it. I never gave up hope that it WOULD happen this year, but there were days and weeks it became hard to maintain that hope and I often wondered if, once again, I was only kidding myself to think I would ever really have a nice little home I could fix up, have sufficient LIVING space as opposed to just a shabby little cover over our "stuff", not be ashamed ever again to have guests over, and have genuine pride of ownership in. We found that home last October, as I described in great detail, and I continued to wait, pray and believe it would be mine before too long. A setback of sorts happened at the end of February when my 1-1/4 year job at an insurance company ended. It didn't take long for me to find another good administrative position that I liked, and it looked promising that it could quickly progress from a temp assignment to a perm position. But the location in the city was an even longer commute than my previous position, and I wasn't getting home in the evenings until almost 7:30 p.m. So I regrettably realized that was not a schedule I would be able to keep up with long-term. I then had only 3 days temp work in the next 3 weeks (and seriously considered getting a license to sell life insurance, though I've never felt effective at selling anything) before starting my new job last month at a closer location, better hours, good variety, and the positive feedback I had been missing for so long. However, we felt the job change would make it harder to obtain the financing we needed for "our" home, and Rex's hours at the store where he worked remained at the same scant number. This was OK while he was working outside (weather permitting) on the site prep for our home. But I knew he would eventually need to seek work with more hours once our home was finally here.

On May 26, a Friday, I got home from work and Rex said we were going to look at a 28 x 58' 80's mobile a mile and a half away, which was available for a good price plus the cost of moving and would result in a much more affordable mortgage. I went with him to look at the mobile. Of course, it had a good amount of space, almost three times what we have had all these years. The kitchen was OK sizewise but left me cold in comparison to the sweet, open, bright space lined with alder cabinets that has been in my dreams for so long. There were four bedrooms, all with a small closet, and two of the closets had a funky velvet curtain instead of a door. Two small bathrooms, each no bigger than the one we have now. Rex talked about how this place would be more "practical" than "my" home that was still in my heart, how the walls could be painted, the cabinets could be replaced, doors could be put on the closet. I agreed verbally, figuring that with my lessened income and his lack of work hours, this had apparently become the only affordable way we could have more living space. He apparently didn't see that my heart was breaking, so I didn't tell him. At least, not for another week and a half. I don't remember how the subject got started one evening. But I basically told him how I felt, that our neighbor's mobile left me cold and that, after waiting my whole life, I needed him to do whatever it took for us to be able to have the home I still felt we were meant to have. At the same time I felt he would continue to be practical and to pursue the large but old, plain, drab mobile. And I tried to convince myself that it would be OK, that I really could fix it up to be the home I always wanted. I really did try. But I was only kidding myself and I knew it..........

Two weeks later, June 9, I came home to learn that the first couple who had wanted the 80's mobile, but had trouble getting financing and had told the owner to offer it to us, had been able to get financing after all so she was going to sell it to them instead. I tried to contain my relief as I asked if this meant we were still going to buy the home we'd selected after all. He said yes, and that he was going on a job interview in the coming week that seemed promising, and if that one didn't work out, he would get a job with more hours so that we could have our home. Thank you, Lord!

Four days later, Tuesday, June 13, I got home from work. I had a mild but unpleasant headache and looked forward to a long evening at home doing next to nothing. But Rex said we were going to our local home builder's office. He'd been there that day and learned about a larger "lot model" we could have for almost the same price at the home we'd selected. I said, who needs larger? 1,900 square feet will seem palacial to me. He said, just come and look at it. It's a more practical layout for the dogs (oh no, not that word "practical"; I'd come to hate that word), it has a big kitchen with an island and nice cabinets, it has a walk-in closet in the master bedroom and the bathrooms are in your colors. I said, OK, I'll look at it. And so we went that night and I walked through what I now believe is MY HOUSE -- NOT a model representation of sort of like what my actual house will be like, but MY HOUSE, all built already and waiting for me. The only features it is missing from the one we selected is the TV room with the French door and the arch between the living and dining areas. It has an even larger "great room" area and the kitchen has the same alder cabinets I'd picked, plus deluxe appliances including a dishwasher, and similar flooring and countertops to what I'd already selected. The utility room is large enough that we will be able to put a freezer or spare fridge in there and includes a very deep sink for soaking clothes. There is my walk-in closet, and there are four bedrooms instead of three so that maybe one can be a guest room. The master bath has two sinks and a huge round tub, and amazingly, both bathrooms have the SAME sage countertops I'd already picked for my master bath. AND..... there is a nice little covered porch that will be perfect for letting the dogs out!! The home we picked didn't have a porch; we would have had to add that afterwards. This home is 2,142 square feet. It has a gable (I think that's what that point is called) in the middle of the roof instead of being box-shaped like the house we'd picked, so that's another improvement. The outside is presently painted gray with white trim, which we will change to either a warm beige or light sage, possibly with hunter green trim. We'd actually walked through this home briefly last fall, but didn't spend much time there since it was too expensive and more space than we felt we had to have. But it is a "lot model" other buyers have walked through and it's now time for the company to sell it at a discount so they can replace it with a different model. So we will be getting more living space and more features we can really use (the porch, the larger utility room, the extra bedroom) for close to the same price!!! Rex has promised me he WILL get work with enough hours for us to be able to have this home, and talked about how he envisions our being able to actually entertain and how the spacious area off the kitchen was made for a wide screen TV where I can come home from church on Sundays and watch my Nascar races. SO.....I will call this Plan B (for beautifully bigger and better) with a twist. It's not the original Plan B, it's even better. It is, and officially will be, MY HOUSE. I hope to be posting regular updates here very soon as things progress and will appreciate all prayers and good thoughts that everything goes smoothly from here on out!