Its probably just a pipe dream, but here it goes. WeÂve been talking and dreaming about buying a house ever since the hullabaloo began with the boys next door. They smoke (putting out cigarettes on our brand-new-paid-for-out-of-our-pockets swing and throw the butts all of the walkway and yard), party way too loud and generally disrupt our lives in very disrespectful ways. Plus, we get robbed once a year when the kids let out for school and are totally bored. I also miss my gardens that I canÂt have because the yard guy cuts down my beautiesÂand and and and and the list goes on. The two sides of the camp are, Ed wants to live in some suburb that is at least a thirty minute drive away from where I work so that we can get a bigger, nicer house for a smaller amount of money. I, on the other hand, would love to NEVER ever commute again, would pay dearly to stay where I am and have LF go to the best schools in Nashville. No compromise could be found. To top it all off, we ruined our credit a few years ago. Admittedly, weÂve been working on getting it straight for at least 18 months now (evidently it worked). Ed took it upon himself to ask about a house loan while at the bank one day a few weeks ago. We fought about it pretty hard because I really wanted to wait until the first of 2008 so that weÂd ironed out some of the wrinkles (like getting debt free, yes, weÂre that close again) and he didn't talk to me before he did it. I finally calmed down, did the math (including the taxes and insurance) and figured out we could afford a $XX house. IÂd decided that was my compromise. Talking to Ed, I agreed that I would move (even as early as tomorrow) if he could: A) find a house close to where we already lived, B) it was $X or less (but we could go higher if needed, IÂd just be happier if it was less), and C) did the legwork. Amazingly, the loan officer called and said that was the amount we were approved for a $XX, the exact amount I thought we could handle. I took it to be a sign. Last week, Ed was driving LF to camp through a territory close to work and saw a house for auction. He wanted to go badly. I encouraged him to go, warning, "You donÂt get to pay more than $XX". It sold for $X+70,000. BUT... he talked to the loan officer about what we could do since he's getting anxious, telling him we wanted a house that someone was dying to unload, could even be in bad shape (remember, we can do electricity (brother), plumbing (Ed), carpentry (Ed), carpeting (brother in law), landscaping (Robin)), but needed to be over on this side of town. The loan officer said he knew of a house in our price range, exactly as we described. We went to see the house all together after work last evening. When I met up with LF I told him what we'd been talking about, telling him it wasn't real, more like pretend playing and if he had a house what would like for it to be. He wanted a tree house and a club house. All boy. I told him I envisioned a covered back patio which attached the kitchen on the back of the house. I didn't tell him, I also envisioned a sunken patio that was also in the back yard because it was just plain weird. I couldn't explain why I thought it or have ever wanted something like that. It is in bad shape. You can tell no one has been there in a very long time. It is overgrown with shrubs and vines. There are cracks in the glass on the windows. Every window has a covering pulled completely down. The garage is filled to the ceiling with an old Cadillac sitting on flat tires, cases of bottles, junk in general. This appraisal site says Davidson County appraises its current worth at $XXX. I imagine we can get it for $XX if there's nothing too wrong with it. We can promise to take it as is for less and they won't have the headache, and we'll get to finish it like we want. When we rounded the back of the house, there was a screened in porch, covered with a roof, attached to the back door. How much you wanna bet it's the door to the kitchen? And, it had a smaller patio right next to it, with a 1 1/2 foot high wall around it. Not sunken, but felt that way. I was dumbfounded, but pleased to see that it fits even my imaginary ideas of what it should be. And it's on a road that has Robin in its name. Wonder what that means? It's all coming together, I hope!

WOO HOO!! Mail lady just dropped off my box. It was worth waiting for too..... ~Little Planters ~Fleece Lined gloves(they fit well....like a glove. LOL!) ~Sm & Lg bubble envies(never have too many!) ~Seed zip bags(see above!) ~Metal Plant Markers(once again, see above!) ~Pumpkin Pie scented candle(about to fire that puppy up!) ~Little notebook (headed to my purse) ~Mini Russell Stover Sampler(ahhhh...CHOCOLATE!!) ~Sheet of stickers(Brooke's trying to get them open) ~"Apeldoorn Elite" Tulips(love the color!) ~"Trumpet Mixed" Daffs(lovely!) ~"Park Princess" Dahila(my first pink one!need to hide from Taylor!) ~Ohhh about the sugar meter....Big Ole honking bag of M&Ms for the kids.(they are on their home from school. Early out due to icy roads!) ~~SEEDS~~ *Blue Iris *Glads *"Oranges & Lemons" Gaillardia *Liatris *"Red Claret" Sunflower *Lav/Pink poppies *Rose Of Sharon and.....DRUM ROLL PLEASE...... a beautiful Fairy to add to my collection!!!Plus a nice note written on a fairy postcaard! THANK YOU LINDA!!!!! later...April

I can relate to most of the comments on here. I grew up in a house where everyone wanted to be & wanted my house to be the same for my child. He is an only child so it is very important to me to have lots of kiddos over. Pool helps! Snacks, popsicles. Lots of outdoor play - scooters, bikes, skateboards going down my sloped driveway - big ditch next to house - great for commando - we build fires & roast marshmellows - four wheeling = lots of mud!! I do all these things with them. I put the playstation in the den - DH & I enjoy it just as much as the kids:) Lots of get togethers - wine, beer for grown-ups and kids running around. Sat. nite we danced in my den. Kids jumping off the sofa to the ottoman and into my arms!! I like my house fairly clean, too. I just stay up until whatever time after everyone leaves to clean it up. I don't like waking up to a dirty house. But, I think most of all our attitude about life helps. We strongly believe in enjoying ourselves & not getting caught up in the rat race of life. DH created a career for himself where he is able to be home alot. Yes, he could make alot more money somewhere else but.....it's all good:) I love the - Life is good- t-shirts!! I would much rather have him then out spending his paychecks. But our attitude developed from us both having work aholic parents growing up - chasing the almighty dollar. My parents came around & we had lots of good times together, thou. (There's my pscyhology for the day:) Smiles:)

Sorry for the confusion. We have a large odd house with 2 bedrooms and two kitchens. We only kept this room as is because the realtor told us twenty years ago to always keep this second kitchen for resale and water credits. The room has been used as an office and storage only. I have always thought we needed an additional bedroom for guests. Real question is whether to have a bedroom ( with a trundle bed) with a sink and just use some of the existing cabinets- they are in great condition. Or to cap the water pipes at the wall ( put a piece of furniture in front of it). Husband would like someplace to store his books and paper work in addition to a guest room for extremely infrequent guests.