Daydreams

Every year, I try to talk the hubs into a real Christmas tree just like the ones that mesmerized me in my childhood. My dad and my uncle used to take us kids way up north to a Christmas tree farm where we would bundle up, truck through the snow, pick out our own tree, cut it down and then drag it back to the car on a hayride with hot apple cider. Let me tell you, cutting down my own Christmas tree is one of very few times in the winter that I find it totally worth it to be outside in the freezing cold. And I miss it.

The boy has some serious allergies. And then there's Buddy Louie, who's a curious little thing and also suffers from some pretty bad seasonal allergies himself. So bringing a live TREE into the house might not be our smartest move. That being said, we have no idea if either of them is actually allergic to pine, and we'll never know unless we try, right? :)

This year, I'm thinking the holidays might be a little crazy considering we're busy trying to get our house ready to sell, trying to save extra and looking at things like storage units and moving companies... so I might push my yearly petition for a real tree to next year, when we will hopefully be in a beautiful new home with lots more space and the perfect little fireplace to put a real live tree next to. If I could have majored in daydreaming in college, I would have been the star of the class.

Oh and speaking of moving, we made the amateur mistake of going to look at a couple of houses last night, despite the fact that our current house isn't listed yet, and just as I expected, we fell head over heels in love with one. I didn't think I would like it as much as I did because it's *just* short of a bunch of the things I want - technically 4 bedrooms... but one is on the first floor, the potential for a finished basement... but not finished yet, a garage that's attached to the house... but you still have to go outside through a little alcove to get to it, the perfect side yard for a dog run for the Buddy... but not fenced in yet. But I fell in love. Hard. I realized how exciting that "almost but not quite" actually is to me. This house COULD be everything that Dan and I have ever wanted. We would raise our family there - no question, and it would be a beautiful thing to watch how we grow with a house like this over the years. I thought I wanted a house that I could just move into, paint a few rooms and call it a day. Who was I kidding? I want a house that is beautiful and amazing and perfect for us, with boatloads of charm and tons of potential for projects and lots of love down the line. 

And did I mention that we met the owner, who was nothing short of absolutely amazing? She alone makes me want to buy the house just so we can have her over for dinner in the years to come. She spent nearly a half hour talking to Dan and I, asking about our jobs, telling stories about her grandchildren and showing us around her lovely home talking about how she raised five kids there. To say we were both smitten with her AND her house would be the understatement of the century.

So while I watch my email like a hawk just waiting for the dreaded day that this dream house sells and it's not to us, I'll picture Dan and I, with Louie and our freshly chopped down Christmas tree, walking into our new home excited to decorate it for the holidays.  

Here's to Wednesday and lots of daydreaming!