Mixed Feelings

It's official: we listed our house today. I am excited and nervous and a little sad to be selling it. We bought it less than three years ago, in August of 1999, but we've certainly poured a lot of time and work and love into it since then. It's had some major improvements, and with only two exceptions (the floors and the heating system), Marty and I have done them all ourselves.

The house was built in 1765. Marty and I love old homes and had wanted one for several years. This house turned out to be just right for us.

I wish it always looked as good as it does in the pictures here. The living room, above, was the first room we redid, in 2000. We painted it in the spring, and Marty built bookcases along one wall that summer. It's such a beautiful room. I love it.



The dining room was our project for spring of 2001. It turned out great, too. Later that summer Marty began completely renovating the downstairs bathroom. One year later, I can say it's very nearly finished. He and Jim will finish the linen closet and the trim tomorrow, and I will paint the rest of the woodwork next week. (I promise I'll post some pictures soon, too.)

Marty is leaving for Germany on Monday, for good. I will go a week later for a househunting trip, then move permanently within a month or so.

But before I go, there are a few more projects to finish. Next week I'll hang wallpaper in the front hallway, and every time I think to myself that Marty will never see that wallpaper, I just feel so strange. I can't believe our life together here in this house is nearly done. I am excited about the new adventure, but it's hard to leave the house behind.

I am reminded of Katynka's journal entry about leaving her house in Pennsylvania, and like her, I look to the future with that same blend of sadness and curiosity. And, of course, we are taking Ziggy with us as well. So I am certain that wherever we end up, even if it's a small apartment in Munich, it will feel like home.

Still. I will miss this glorious old place.