Au revoir 1729...

Well, the time has finally come.  We cannot deny any longer that we need to move from our beloved home at 1729 19th Street to a more suitable abode for a family of 6.   We have become the figurative fat guy in a little coat, trying to squeeze ourselves into the most fabulous, charming and vintage little number even though it is obvious to all who can see that it just does not fit.

Naturally, we realized this some time ago when we purchased that other home (you know the one we tore down in June - more on that soon).  But we always thought we could bide our time here in our cozy red brick Victorian until the new house was complete.  What we didn't anticipate was the daily reminder of our boys' need for space to run and play as they got older.  Or the amount of stuff that the twins arrival would bring down upon our house.  Or the feeling of suffocation we would experience when we returned from the Cape after spending a month in a home that had a yard, a basement and ample living space for a family of our size.  When we heard the estimated completion date of our new home was the end of next October, we realized we really had to consider renting a place in the meantime.

So we are being real grown ups and facing the music, even though we want desperately to stay in the city.  We've had to move very quickly to make this happen.  In order to get a12 month lease we need to move basically immediately and we've found a house in a great location that is big enough for all of us.  Matt can walk to work, Gus can walk to school and Hank's school is a 10 minute drive away.  There is a back yard with a treehouse and a basement and a wrap around porch.  I won't spend my days driving 30 minutes to and from 2 separate schools at least twice a day.

It looks like we will be moving on Monday and will probably list this home for sale by early October.  This is the smart thing to do, the practical thing to do, but boy it's hard to think about leaving so abruptly. I've never lived in a house for as long as I've lived in this one.  I know every inch of it.  We've remodeled every nook and cranny and lived through all of it to boot.  We chose all of the hardware, the sinks, the faucets, fireplace mantles, floor stain, wall colors.  We've cursed it when the heat would go out in the dead of the winter (every. single. year) and we've been so proud of it when the southern magnolias out front are in bloom and people from the neighborhood come by to have their picture taken with the enormous blossoms.  I feel like its as much a part of this family as any of us.

We're going to spend the last few days we have in the house taking pictures of how we really live in it and trying to say goodbye.  She was a good house and we squeezed every last bit of living out her.  May she serve her next family as well as she served us.  xoxo