Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Searching for the perfect fit


by: Joelle Charbonneau

I don’t know about you, but I’ve come to believe that life is all about looking for the right fit.  As kids we spend time doing lots of different activities in a search for the things that interest us and will help us grow into the people we are meant to be.  (My son is currently in this stage.  This summer alone we did swim lessons, played t-ball and raced up and down the soccer field.  He loved them all!) 

As we get older we search for the right colleges that will help us develop our interests.  We search for friends that will see us through the good and bad times and go on date after date hoping to find the right match to walk through life with.

We shuttle through television shows and books in a quest for those that speak to us.  We work job after job hoping to find that which fulfills us.  Day by day we continuously are searching.  Growing.  Changing.

In my life, we are currently searching for a perfect something.  For us it is the perfect house.  While I love our townhouse, the time has come for us to move somewhere that has space for me to have an office….with a door!  (And with a handful of deadlines and an active 4-year old to deal with, moving sounds like a relaxing thing to do, right?)  I’m lucky the tot loves the house search.  He counts bedrooms and bathrooms (often testing the bathrooms…sigh) and smiles with delight over every interesting detail.  (Or not so interesting depending on your point of view.  Personally, the large bathtub in the master suite of one house was way too interesting for me.)

During our quest for the right house we have seen bathrooms without doors (I wish I was joking), closet doors wallpapered on both sides, attached garages that have no direct entrance to the house (this apparently was a trend in the 70s?) and décor that belongs in an Austin Powers movie.  Fun times.

We also found a house that I love.  I think.  Today is the day the inspector will go through the house and let us know if it is the perfect fit.  If it is, there will be boxes to pack, a piano to move and lots of work ahead. 

And if it isn’t so perfect…well, I guess house hunting is a lot like searching for the next great book to read…you have to keep looking until you find the one that speaks to you.

Do you have any great “search for the perfect fit” stories?  If so, I’d love to hear them.  And if you’ve seen anything crazy while hunting for houses, I’d love to hear those, too!

5 comments:

  1. You have my sympathies, Joelle. I haven't had to go househunting for many years, but I remember the last time I did. I remember one house (not in the best neighborhood) where the back door in the kitchen not only didn't lock, it didn't even close. You had to put the chain on to keep it from standing wide open.

    Best of luck with your househunting! Hope you find the perfect fit!

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  2. I did walk into a bedroom one time that had black and red flocked wallpaper, heavy red velvet drapes, red shag carpet, and (I'm not kidding) mirror tiles on the ceiling.

    Does that count? (Good luck.)

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  3. Joelle, good luck! I don't have an office with a door either but since child #1 is now off at college and child #2 returns to middle school next week, it won't matter. No one will be here to bother me. (I think.) Moving is stressful; please keep your good sense of humor about the whole thing! Maggie

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  4. Moving is an adventure, especially with a helpful 4 year old, so have fun! When I was house hunting, I didn't see anything until one morning, in my nightgown, I drove my daughter to work and I just made a left turn, and there it was. It hadn't even been listed yet. It turned out to be mostly perfect, which is all one can expect. Hope you find yours!

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  5. I've lived in the same house since 1981. When we first saw it, we love it--and didn't see any of the things that were wrong with it. (Many problems) It was back in the day before home inspections. We made many, many changes over the years--and it has become a perfect fir.

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