Our home, early on at Baby or Bust, was a point of contention for some. I’ve never really discussed the horrifying, utterly disgusting emails Shelton and I received during the first few months of Baby or Bust. With people having nothing better to do than spend time forwarding that unkind, filth to me, I didn’t think it warranted much attention. I had written on the “About Us” page that we had just purchased our second home. I meant the second home that we had ever owned, not that we’ve got a home in the South of France where we summer.
People were kind (make that ruthless) in pointing out that we didn’t need a home. If we got this baby, where were we supposed to take it- to a van by the river? It was a huge 90-year old house that oozed with character and charm. For anyone who has ever owned a home with this much “Character” and “Charm,” you know those terms are translated to “Repair” and “Checkbook.” It was a constant work in progress for us and one we knew we’d never be able to keep up with.
After a lot of thought and consideration, especially knowing that Wichita would not always be our home, we decided to sell her. I believe I mentioned we were planning to do so or had just begun a while back. It took only 6 weeks to find someone who would love her just as much as we did. We got a fair price considering we’d been there less than two years.
We sold the house on June 18 and moved into our new apartment the weekend before. People think we’re out of our gourds for selling a house to move into an apartment. But it’s saving us so much money. It’s saving us stress and time. It’s allowing us to “pull up anchor” and explore our options. I hate the idea of burning money in an apartment, but the pros at this point time seem to outweigh the cons.
Let me tell you- it was no small feat moving three floors into an apartment. My brother said he’d seen barns smaller than our house. (Don’t kid yourself- we paid less than a hundred grand for that place). Having grown up in little houses, I was beside myself to move into my version of a mansion. And of course the intent was to bring a little baby home to make those walls seems a little smaller. But now we’re in the apartment where the dog (Tibet) and the golf clubs seem to be duking it out for space under the dining room table. It’s not quite that bad- but we’re purging A LOT of stuff because it’s just impossible to make it all fit and still let this place resemble a home and not the A-Plus Storage.
Can I just say, that I bawled like a baby when I handed the keys over to the 9-month pregnant buyer. She was due in like three weeks and I just couldn’t help but be a pinch jealous that she was getting to do what I had intended to do with that house- bring home her first baby girl. I asked which room they were going to make the nursery. It would be the room we had used as a den. I really do hope they are all adjusting well in their new/first home.
So that’s the story on the house. I’m STILL unpacking, still unorganized. And for the OCD-Annie that I am, it’s just unacceptable and making me crazy. But we’re slowly fitting everything in.
