Out of space

Now that both Christmas and Lillian's birthday are over, it's becoming increasingly apparent that we are running out of space. When we moved into this house, I was thrilled to do some weeding of our possessions. I got rid of a ton of books, clothes, and crap we didn't use anymore. It was wonderful to start with a (mostly) clean slate. But here we are, 2.5 years later, and we're out of space again.

My book collection has grown back to at least the size it was before the move, so I've decided I will, once again, go through them all and weed out those books I probably won't ever read again. Or at least put them in storage until I have the space to display them properly. The problem is, as I go through them, I remember each book and think, "I might read this again" and can't bear to part with it. My real problem is that as long as it's a book, I enjoy it. There aren't many books I just absolutely hate (except anything by Hemingway...that's who it was, Cheryl: Hemingway :) ), and if I've made it to the end of the book, chances are I liked it enough to keep it. If I don't finish a book, it's a sign it wasn't for me and I have no problem giving it up. Of course there's always the exception to that rule when I think it's a book I really should read so I better give it another try.

Our master closet, which seemed enormous when we first put our combined wardrobes in it, now appears to barely hold everything. But I just recently went through my clothes, so it's Erik's turn. Don't even suggest getting rid of shoes!

Some how, we also managed to amass a ton more crap we don't need. Not to mention we now have another person's belongings tossed into the mix. And they don't seem to confine themselves to one room of the house. Most of the items are in with the TV where the toy box is, but some have been relegated to her bedroom so we have room to move around in the other room.

What I've decided is this: the real solution is to move to a larger house. For a while now, I've been falling in love with this one: dream home 1.

I pass it every time I drive to Hyde Park to pick Lillian up from daycare. It's been a year and a half, and it still has a "for sale" sign up. After a year, I finally looked it up to see what was so wrong with it that no one had bought it yet; it looked nice enough from the outside. It didn't take me long to find it online, and once I saw the pictures, I was hooked. I still don't know why it hasn't sold. The listing has a build date of 2006, and I don't think it's ever been occupied. But with the market the way it is, it's entirely possible someone's taste just surpassed their budget and the deal fell through.

But with almost half an acre, I can see Laddie running free as a puppy should and Lillian having plenty of space for all her toys, not to mention a separate room for the TV. With an unfinished basement that, by itself, is larger than our entire house, the possibilities are almost endless! Of course we'd add that fourth bedroom so the baby that Buzzy is so insistent we get in the works would have some where to sleep but we could still have a guest room. And so many big windows! I love natural light.

Unfortunately, this is just my own little pipe dream since I don't see us moving anytime soon. The market aside (our neighbors have been trying to sell for over a year), we don't know where Erik's job will take him in the next year or so, and until that's a little more solidified, I'm not packing up to just do it again in a few months. But a little dreaming never hurt anyone...of course, if you're going to dream, dream big. What I really want is this: dream home 2. Smaller, but oh so adorable. Some day...