I’ve been skeptical about the move to Georgia. Although building a house next to family, creating a communal paradise with chickens, and a greenhouse in a town of less than a thousand people sounds fun, the number of items that needed the green light was overwhelming.
Until now.
The builder messaged yesterday when the land closed, “When can you meet?” One, maybe two weeks, perhaps, was the conversation between Dave and me. But with the upcoming weekend, this weekend, free, I threw out the idea. Maybe just Dave going, as the cost of the three of us, although not impossible, will likely put us over our monthly budget.
However, in the back of my mind, I’ve continually felt out of control of the pace – of the survey and of the lawyer drawing up the contract – and in all honesty, I was over it. “Let’s go, all of us, book the tickets.”
As you can see, I’m anxious to get this ball rolling!
Tomorrow we’ll stay at Dave’s parents’ house outside of Atlanta. Then, on Saturday, we’ll drive an hour and a half south to our podunk place where our future palace will be built. Saturday afternoon, with Dave’s brother, sisters, parents, and niece and nephew in tow, we’ll meet the builder and walk the land.
On a Facetime call with my parents who were docked at the largest port in Indonesia, I told them of our plans, “Make sure to put stakes in the four corners. Then imagine the view from each spot.” Something in my Dad’s description of what I should do had me as a white bubble suit-wearing astronaut, heavy breathing, “Ok, Dad,” as I drove a stake into the dusty moon.
I’m excited to take pictures of the bare land, of the trees, of the open space so later I can imagine. Things like, the pool goes there, a garden over here, a big lush lawn, and flowers to attract the spectacular butterflies the area has.
My main need at this time is knowing the house is far back from the main road. Even though the road gets a car once every half hour, I have the belief that if I’m living in the country, I don’t want to hear road noise. And thankfully, If I ever want to be closer to the road, I can walk over to my sister-in-law’s porch and wave at the townspeople from there.
After this weekend, I anticipate we will be submitting paperwork to the county for permitting. Which may take a month or two before groundbreaking time.
I recall shuffling through old pictures of my childhood home being built. What a neat house that was, with large windows that faced toward Mount Rainier, and rolling green dairy pastures in every direction. Although the view will be less exciting, there are several large oak trees that I’m hoping the living room and bedroom window will look out at.
Alright, with a 5 am alarm wake-up, I’d better get some z’s. I’ll see you tomorrow when I’m three hours in the future.
Love, Jaclynn
Going On 40 