The House That Somebody Else Built

I have to remind myself why we bought this home....often. Don't get me wrong...I'm grateful to be here in dreamy-weather-land, AKA San Diego (we PAY for it though-I could buy a new car with the taxes we pay every year--or just pay off our current one in less than a year). I'm thankful that Curt is employed and that his income pays most the bills, but I still miss SOOO many things about our Utah home that I have to remind myself WHY we bought this particular home. It may sound like a snotty statement, especially to those who have never owned their own homes. This is #4 for us, and it's the only one we didn't build and choose options in. It's a resale and it has just never felt like ours. (Although, I've always dreamed of buying an old home, renovating, and discovering vintage fireplaces, staircases, etc). But this is different.

Curt had been working in San Diego for 3 long months before we moved the family in April '06. It was a race against time and I was done being a single mom. It was the only one on the market at the time that had the wide-plank hand-scraped hickory wood floors I so desperately wanted and it doesn't hurt that the there's a peek ocean view from the master balcony....and it wasn't a million gazillion dollars like the rest of them--well, almost. The turret has great entry style not to mention the 20 foot ceilings (not so great though when painting them). Curt's office is away from the main part of the house so he has a retreat of his own when he needs to put himself in time-out (just kidding--but not really). Mice only live in the garage some of the time, and we're not infested with termites or mold...yet. None of the kids have been killed or injured living on the corner (it's a cul-de-sac street on both ends) and the hotel-grade Vegas-style carpeting on the stairs has really grown on me....plus it will last 25 years. We have five bathrooms, so almost all potty-trained McLaughlins can go in-sync without a huge line (I don't have to sit on the boys disgusting toilet seat--they're not straight-shooters)...but the toilets do get plugged quite often...we'll blame that one on the boys. We have a huge outdoor fireplace and courtyard off the formal dining room (again, which we use twice a year) with a fountain for ambiance with soooo much potential (that we hardly ever use), double ovens (that we use once a year), and an extra large bedroom with a dreamy Juliette balcony for the little girls to take over and play mommie to their babies, pollies, and barbies...and make 'denna' in their pbk kitchen for all their guests. We really do have a lot of reasons to rejoice...

Really, it's just that we KICK ourselves for not thinking of renting for a while before the market declared itself. I couldn't bear the thought of moving then five children and all the goods TWICE and to be in limbo for an unknown period of time...as renters. It's not that renting is a bad omen, it's just that we've owned a home since 1997 and our thought process was that it would be like going backwards...so we just didn't consider it. Egg on our face now! And so yes, we bought at the peak of the 2006 market here in San Diego and have watched in horror as home values dropped at least 11% in the last year - probably a tad more in our area. It's a sore subject for me, no doubt. Bye, bye equity and really large down payment down the toilet for now.

I guess the real issue is that we recently found 'OUR HOME' ...at least the one we were originally looking for two years ago that didn't exist on the market. You know, the one that fits our family's needs, desires, and tastes perfectly and would have been financially do-able if we still had that great equity and down payment. We're talking 1/3 acre (you just don't find acreage like that in SD North County in a planned development), fantastic neighborhood, privacy, huge backyard, 4100 square feet of NEW greatness, main floor master suite, laundry room that's NOT an entrance from the garage, bonus room for the kids that we can lock them IN along with the xbox, karaoke, guitar, piano, etc; a huge gourmet kitchen complete with GE monogram top-of-the-line appliances, 3rd car garage---along with all the great features we currently have (minus the ocean view). So, because there's no way for us to swing it currently being SUNK in our home, dreaming a little never hurt anyone!

So I'm beginning 2008 focusing on completing the vision I had of this most wonderful home at 1497 Glencrest in the beginning--the house with a lot of panache and style...and make it OURS. Knowing there's no pregnancies in the wings...knowing that I NEED projects to be a sane person, and knowing that OUR HOME with everything we wanted 2 years ago really isn't an option now unless I win the lottery tomorrow which would be a miracle since I've never played the lottery. Maybe I'll start tomorrow. SIGH.... So I'm going to rejoice in this place on Glencrest...you know, the house that somebody else built, but the house in which we call home.

This will be the year of sewing drapes, installing more closet organizers, doing finish-work, decorating the kids rooms and putting my spin on this house like I did our Utah home. I will attempt to spiff-up our home and make it OURS...take ownership and complete the vision of the Glencrest home with a lot of panache and potential. The list is drawn and it's LONG. Now I just need some moolah and fairy dust to make it happen. Stay tuned. Only time will tell how ambitious I will be.