I am trying very hard to persuade my parents to move down here. They live about 100 miles north of here, in the Grand Canyon of the Ozarks. Understandably, they are reluctant to leave. My mom has lived 90% of her life there. She lived a few years in Kansas City, MO when she was a young child, and hated it. She did not leave again until college, and finished that in 3 years. Her first teaching job was in the mountains, too, but they were Ouchitas and could not compete with her beloved Ozarks.
But then her mother died.
And she got cancer. (In remission, by the way).
Now her knees are bad.
So, especially after the ice storm this winter, I am getting a little concerned about them living 35 miles from anywhere and 100 miles from me.
So we house stalk. Today, they finally walked into one. It is FSBO, but it is really, really lovely.
Is anything more alluring that stolen moments to write? Right now, I should be coding my research project, which is due on Tuesday. But I am not. Here I am instead, with too much to say and everything wanting to come out in a jumble.
The news of today? The county I grew up in has some of the cleanest air in the nation. That does not surprise me in the least. But I can't help but think back to high school when one of my friends did a science fair project on acid rain, and discovered that nowhere was safe from it, not even Newton County, of the A air quality rating given by the American Lung Association.
In other news, I have decided that I desperately want to sell my house. And truthfully, it is not that I don't love my house-- I do! But I need a four bedroom house in a way that is hard to express. Miss O occupies our bedroom, Mea's bedroom and the living room. I so want *one* room where all of her stuff can reside! I even know the house I want. It has four bedrooms and was built in the 1950s, and was never updated. Paneling everywhere! And a pink bathtub in one of the bathrooms. Pink! 1950s cotton candy pink. And you know what? I would totally leave it.
This is so, by far, not everything I want to say, but I have miles to go before I sleep.
Two classes are done. Done. Done. Done.
We looked at a house yesterday, in my favorite neighborhood in town. The price is really reasonable, and they put in a covenant so that no one is allowed to rent out home there. The house is big-- nearly 2000 sq. ft.-- but still only has three bedrooms/two bathrooms. But it has a nice living room, and a big den. The laundry is in a hall closet, which I hate, but it is really a lovely house. The price is a little more than we're comfortable with (more than twice what this one is), but depending on what this appraises for, may be a possibility. I just hope this appraises for more than we have put in it! It would be depressing for all our work to be worth nothing.
