I bought a house a little over a year ago. It was one of those short-sale-soon-to-be-a-foreclosure things. It is a custom built home on two acres of rock breeding “farmland”. The home was originally built for someone in a wheelchair. There are no steps to the doors. All doorways and hallways are extra wide. My living area is huge and has a bathroom that I can do wheelies in with my wheelchair.
The house was a mess. It was almost completely overgrown with weeds and The Lantana That Ate Cincinnati. It was the size of a Volkswagon Bug and the home to many unknown critters. The front acre was full of cacti and huge rocks. It is an adobe old territorial Arizona style home and I love it, but did I tell you about the paint job.
There are two theories about the paint job. Theory one: someone tried to do some artsy-fartsy dry brush job or Theory two: (which is the theory of a professional painter that I had come and give me an estimate) it looks like whoever painted it had a bad sprayer and didn’t really give a damn. No matter what the theory, I hate it. I love the house I hate the paint job. It was going to be the first thing I was going to have done until I got paint estimates and realized all the other things that had to be done: clear out the weeds, get rid of The Lantana That Ate Cincinnati, put up a fence for DaBoyz, plant a yard for DaBoyz, paint the entire inside of the house, etc., etc., etc. I had so many things to get done and so little money to do it.
And so, we have lived here for over a year and the outside of the house has still not been painted. Janet said that every time we pull up to the house I wince, close my eyes, and slightly shake my head.
But “don’t judge a book by its cover”. “It’s not what is on the outside but what is on the inside that counts”. It is a beautiful home filled with family, love and laughter. It is warm and cozy on the inside. I have my very own veranda and evergreen grassy area for DaBoyz to play and me to read and soak up the wonder of a new day.
Weeds and bushes have been pulled, trees trimmed, huge rocks move, cacti carefully transplanted somewhere else, couple of fences built, horse stalls put up, and flowers planted.
Someday the front acre will have green grass, fencing and a cow named Dinner. Someday the back pasture will be completely fenced in and the horses will roam freely. Someday Janet and I will have a vegetable garden. Someday Janet will be able to have her chickens again that she loves so much. Someday we are going to drive up to our home and I won’t have to wince and close my eyes. But until then, come on in, welcome, feel the warmth, feel the love, and join in on the laughter.
Paco’s Perspective
Don’t forget about that doggie door that allows us to go in the backyard and play.
The Flip Side
Would it be possible to put a doggie door in the fence? I can’t get to those %#$* gophers.
