The post about the Steven Wright quote.

So here is the quote: “Well, of course we can’t have everything. Where would we put it?”

I love that.

Thinking about EVERYTHING is so draining and feels like a total waste of energy and time. So I am trying to fight my instincts to think 20/7 (subtracting approximately 4 hours for sleep each day), and teach myself to be a dork again. I am always a dork, yeah, but when I get stressed or things feel unsettled, the dork is silenced. Sad, but so true. And I don’t like it when my dork is sitting there with a mouth covered in duct tape.

Wait. I was just thinking that in some instances, the word “dork” means something else. And the phrase “my dork” is a little unsavory for a lady. Maybe I should just move on, keep typing and see what else happens.

Well, there is the matter of stuff. Stuff like clothes, papers, empty boxes, little junks (yes, little oriental boats), candles, toys, magazines, unfiled bill statements, CDs, and uncategorized miscellany. This is the stuff that seems to be everywhere I look in my house. And I want it gone. I want to have one of those neat, orderly homes. I want surfaces to sparkle. I want furniture without all manner of crap piled on top of it. A week ago, my dresser in the bedroom had a flyer from K-Mart, some clean folded tank tops, some snipped-off Old Navy tags, three dusty candleholders, a dog brush and a Target bag with two new sport bras in it…all jumbled together in a horrid mess. Oh, and there’s also the fancy new “charging station” I bought with the 20% off Bed Bath and Beyond coupon (why are they always, ALWAYS in the mail?) and had the bold intention of hooking up with all my charging cords. Yet, I haven’t as much as gotten the power strip I’ll need to put in the back and then I haven’t FOUND all of my charging cords in the first place. Sigh.

Sometimes I hate the clutter I allow to accumulate in my bedroom so much I will avoid entering the room at all costs during the day. And if I do, it is to sleep or do something necessary, like changing clothes or grabbing my shoes. It’s always a mess in there. Things get dumped off in there.

And on the kitchen island. Eww. I hate that thing, too. I love the island, itself, but hate what I wind up leaving on it. There’s always a pile with magazines, junk mail, some non-junk mail mixed in, my purse, a candle, the dog’s leashes wind up there, and receipts that I’ve hurriedly thrown out of my purse as I was heading out the door to go somewhere; I always realize the receipts have piled up when I reach into the purse to grab my keys or something and all I am met with is handfuls of crumpled, thin paper.

I want to get my life together; throw out or donate about half of my extraneous stuff, and make my life easier when the time finally arrives to pack up and move out. So this is a new goal of mine, something I can focus on other than the uncertainty of where I will end up living.

I began working with another realtor today, although I am still also working with the one I’ve been talking about here. They both know each other, even though they work for different agencies, but already today, the other realtor has sent me some interesting listings and even a customized “portal” for me to view all the properties within certain parameters. She’s very nice. I had it clear that I would really prefer a more unique home (I’m so not crazy about those newer subdivisions where every house has a tile roof and off-white stucco exteriors.) My ideal home would be something built between 1920 and 1960, with lots of updating inside. The bones of those older houses are so much cooler than the newer stuff, in my opinion. I love red brick houses, but those are hard to find. I also love hardwood or concrete floors, and contemporary, funky lighting. And color. Tons of color. Black and silver accents. Weird tile. Anything like that.

But, I would buy a home with boring white walls and brown wood cabinets if it had a decent layout and the structure and basics were there. I can paint, replace lighting, rip out carpet and hang new blinds or shutters. I’d have to get someone to come in and put in things like new countertops or bathtubs. But still. I can visualize, and I’m still hoping to find a home that won’t require intense, expensive remodeling, but one that I can personalize. I likely won’t be able to afford a home that has everything I want… or find one that I can actually GET (see: Beetlejuice house). So I’ll make do with what I can, and that will be that. And it might even be fun. Imagine that. 🙂

So I am going out this afternoon, for sure, to see more properties. A couple of them are condos, one is one of those tile/stucco homes, and a few have HOAs. But I have to try. I have to see what’s out there, what I can do.

One house I am going to see is really cool. It’s expensive, but I am hoping I can offer something in my price range. (It’s only $9K outside my range, so that’s not totally unfeasible.) On the outside, it looks kind of like a standard newer home in one of those subdivisions… except it’s got windows all over and it’s a gold color. Inside, everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is painted. Mostly reds, oranges and yellows. The kitchen has blue cabinets, orange walls, red accents and colorful tile on the backsplash. It’s so pretty. I’m curious to see it in person. Here are some photos of it:

I won’t get my hopes up or anything on this one. After all, it is another short sale, and it is just a tad higher than I thought I’d spend. It’s still not an unreasonable price, though. I could do it, I just don’t want to. Anyway, at least there are currently no offers on this one, and there’s only one mortage to work with, so that’s good news. We’ll just have to see.