I'm Not moving. So...

First, thanks again for all the wonderful comments to yesterdays post.

The comments really touched my heart and motivated me .

I will try to ignore that number count.

I mean, that's just Followers on Blogger and doesn't include email, Bloglovin, etc.

And whoever stopped Following me...maybe they quit Following a lot of people.

I shouldn't take stuff so personal.

Moving on,

OK then. I'm not doing my "I'm Not moving...But" Sunday posts anymore.

Instead I'm doing "I'm Not moving. So..."

Yeah. I'm going to post ideas and photos of what I'm going to do to my own home

to make it be the best it can be...for me.

Eventually I'm going to actually post pictures of my house.

Gulp.

Kinda scary territory for me.

Even though I spill my guts here on the blog, it's intimidating to think I will show the interiors of my home.

After all, I don't even like letting people in the house.

I'm so conscious of all the things that need to be done.

And the fact that there are so many amazing homes in blogland has me very apprehensive.

But I'm gonna do it.

....pretty soon.

So today I will start with photos of home exteriors that are inspiring me.

Little houses pinned to one of my Pinterest boards.

Here's one:

source

I went to the link to read more about it and found that it's an actual tiny DOLL house!

LOL!

OK and there's this one, LOVE this one -

that link takes me to the message warning that the link could be SPAM and to go back.

Love this one too. - 

that link APPEARS to be house plans but it's not, it's more SPAM

This link said that the website could be "spammy or unseemly".

This one is cool. On HGTV but when I went to their site, I couldn't find it.

and finally, this one. LOVE LOVE this one!

and the link was back to HOUZZ.

I adore Houzz, I have "boards" over there too.

I can get lost for an hour, easy.

So there are some ideas about what I like and might get inspiration from.

If I can find the links!

Maybe I'll just stick with Houzz.

I haven't had any SPAM problems over there.

I'm looking forward to 2014, working on my home, working on my Art and on my writing and sharing the journey.

Thanks for reading!

but...Why?

Why can several people tell me that they like my hair, outfit, artwork or whatever

and it makes me happy, for a moment.

Then later, I wonder if they really meant it.

But if one person criticizes and even raises an eyebrow towards me

and I'm mortally wounded and dwell on it for days.

Last week I received 2 nice emails and also a Facebook comment about how much they each enjoyed my blog

and it made me feel happy and motivated.

And yet today when I noticed I lost a Follower,

I felt like someone slapped me.

Really?

Who? 

Jeez, I have not even broken 100.

After all this time.

After years of blogging...

Sigh.

I need to regroup and think about stuff.

Bummer.

Enough Already

2014...just Be Happy!

2014 New Years Resolutions...

For the Last Time, I'm Not moving but...

I've done a few Sunday posts on houses that I am NOT going to move into.

Houses that I wish I could, but I'm not able to for various reasons.

I've decided to stop this WISHING and just get to work on making my house into the home that I want...

UNLESS I could move into this house! LOL!

source

I got to thinking about what I hate about my house and what I love.

My dad always said that it you are struggling with a problem, to make a list

of Pros and Cons. 

So, here's the list.

I HATE that I live on a busy street and it's sometimes its hard to back out of the driveway because of traffic.

I LOVE that I live on a busy street that immediately gets snow plowed and if the street needs repairs, I don't have to pay for it like many other people do on side streets because I live on a main-thoroughfare.

I HATE that I don't live out in the country away from everything.

I LOVE that I live less than 5 minutes from a grocery store, a gas station, a library.

I HATE that I'm on a bus route.

I LOVE that I'm a bus route so when I get old and can't drive, I could take the bus if I needed to.

I HATE that my house is small.

I LOVE that my house is small. It's easier to heat and cool and there are no dark corners for monsters.

I HATE that my neighbors are so close.

I LOVE that my one neighbor is so close that he decides to snowblow my sidewalk too.

I HATE that the neighbors to the south have grandkids that bark at and tease my dogs.

I LOVE that the neighbor to the north has a cute little grandkid that yells "Hi Neighbor" when he sees me.

I HATE that there's no privacy in front of my home. Everyone drives or walks by and sometimes leave cigarette butts and trash.

I LOVE that when I'm gardening in the front of my house, the elderly neighbor with her Schnauzer stops to talk.

And the lady with her Shih-Tzu tied to her walker stops, pulls down a seat on the walker and sits to chat

and the woman who jogs with her Pitbull shouts out a greeting and compliments my yard

and the retired man with his St. Bernard nods and randomly gives an observation.

I HATE that my yard is long and narrow and mostly in the back of my house.

I LOVE that my yard in the back has a lot of room for my patio dog area and a separate area for my picnic table.

And a sloping landscaping and a spot at the bottom of the hill for a garden shed and maybe someday room for a handmade greenhouse.

I HATE that I don't have a garage.

I LOVE that it leaves me more room and not having a garage keeps my property taxes lower.

I HATE that I have a gravel driveway.

I LOVE that I was able to incorporate part of the drive by raking it out and seeding it

and therefore giving me more yard.

I HATE that I don't live close to work.

I LOVE that I don't live close to work.

And it's nice living minutes away from my sister.

I HATE that I'm haven't been able to be just be Happy with my house but 

I LOVE that this list has helped me realize all the good things about my home.

I HATE that I will probably still have days where I pine for something different but

I LOVE that by looking at other homes, I can find inspiration for my own.

ROUTINE

Routine

the stuff that my Life is made up of.

I like routine.

The calm security of knowing what comes next.

The repeated pattern of a day.

I realize that I need to step out of my comfort zone sometimes.

I have this on my kitchen wall -

My sister gave this to me for Xmas a while back.

This year she gave me this -

Another thought that I need to keep in mind.

To rest, relax and not feel guilty about it.

So today I plan on Wasting Time,

but first I have to take care of a Weekend Routine.

Somehow he knows it's Saturday,

that we are not leaving for work

and if he goes and sits it the laundry/mud room long enough

and stares at me,

that I won't wait to finish my coffee

but instead, go feed him breakfast.