Off We Go to Pleasantville
We are the proud owners of a new home today. We've been marching toward this "closing" date for some time now, and here we are. Got keys and everything.
We're making a big change. Aside from the new house being about three times the size and half the age of the old one, the new neighborhood promises to be quite different from the one we live in now. That's a bit of an understatement, actually. Suffice it to say that we probably won't have so much yelling in the alley at midnight or road noise in the new place.
The new neighborhood, which Byron has already dubbed Pleasantville, is filled with houses built in the 1950s and 60s. It has wide streets and level sidewalks. Everyone seems to have manicured lawns and carefully sculpted junipers in their yards. Neighbors wave hello or nod when you drive by. Turns out the neighborhood hosts a Fourth of July Kid's Parade for residents, complete with decorated bicycles and scooters and hot dogs and pop for the onlookers. There's also a neighborhood-wide garage sale the weekend after Labor Day.
This all comes at a price, you know. We pay neighborhood association dues now. And those dues pay for things like shrub maintenance at the entrance to "The Manor" and cleaning the entrance signs. They also pay for entrance Christmas decorations and yes, "Santa storage." Seriously. I'm not making this up.
The neighborhood association handbook states that the neighborhood's "widespread fame revolves around the Christmas lights . . . most residents put up lights and other festive decor at their homes. . . . Be prepared for several weeks of significant numbers of cars and buses slowly driving through our neighborhood admiring the decorations." Oh my.
As you may recall, this year we finally got up the nerve to put a single strand of white lights on our little yellow house. I think we're going to have to kick it up a notch come December in Pleasantville.
Fun-poking aside, we are truly looking forward to getting settled in the new place, meeting our neighbors, and making the home and yard feel like our own. The larger space will also allow us to entertain more, something we love to do. I envision us fully embracing the new 'hood in short order.
We'll be moving in after we paint and do a few things around the house -- hopefully that means within a couple weeks. I'll post some pictures soon.
We're making a big change. Aside from the new house being about three times the size and half the age of the old one, the new neighborhood promises to be quite different from the one we live in now. That's a bit of an understatement, actually. Suffice it to say that we probably won't have so much yelling in the alley at midnight or road noise in the new place.
The new neighborhood, which Byron has already dubbed Pleasantville, is filled with houses built in the 1950s and 60s. It has wide streets and level sidewalks. Everyone seems to have manicured lawns and carefully sculpted junipers in their yards. Neighbors wave hello or nod when you drive by. Turns out the neighborhood hosts a Fourth of July Kid's Parade for residents, complete with decorated bicycles and scooters and hot dogs and pop for the onlookers. There's also a neighborhood-wide garage sale the weekend after Labor Day.
This all comes at a price, you know. We pay neighborhood association dues now. And those dues pay for things like shrub maintenance at the entrance to "The Manor" and cleaning the entrance signs. They also pay for entrance Christmas decorations and yes, "Santa storage." Seriously. I'm not making this up.
The neighborhood association handbook states that the neighborhood's "widespread fame revolves around the Christmas lights . . . most residents put up lights and other festive decor at their homes. . . . Be prepared for several weeks of significant numbers of cars and buses slowly driving through our neighborhood admiring the decorations." Oh my.
As you may recall, this year we finally got up the nerve to put a single strand of white lights on our little yellow house. I think we're going to have to kick it up a notch come December in Pleasantville.
Fun-poking aside, we are truly looking forward to getting settled in the new place, meeting our neighbors, and making the home and yard feel like our own. The larger space will also allow us to entertain more, something we love to do. I envision us fully embracing the new 'hood in short order.
We'll be moving in after we paint and do a few things around the house -- hopefully that means within a couple weeks. I'll post some pictures soon.
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