Suther Land

I don't think I fully realized when we bought this house how much random maintenance there would be. I mean, it took me a good year to figure out how to routinely clean, not to mention pick up clutter and take care of the yard (and various plants and gardens I put in every year). And we have a small house--with only two small bathrooms (my least favorite area to clean)! Last month alone we had the chimney sweeped, the plumbing flushed, the trees trimmed and the carpets cleaned. Granted, most of those items will last us several years, but geez it was an expensive month!

I really find myself hoping that we can make this small house work for the long haul. Most of the time I think we can, but this weekend when Asher crying during naptime threatened to wake everyone in the house while we were recovering from the stomach flu, I start to wonder if we couldn't use a little more space. Occasional inconveniences aside, we love our house. I love that the boys share a small room--they're never scared and they have to learn how to share space. Every time we redo a room or plant a perennial bed I put a little piece of me here (literally--at least a broken fingernail) and I always get the twinge of feeling like we're going to get it just how we like it and then have to move--either because we're called elsewhere or we just plain outgrow the house.

I suppose we could learn to love another house, but please not one with too many bathrooms.