What I love about my house

Speedy cleaning. We have downsized in this move about 700 sq. ft. from our last house, and I can't believe the difference it has made in cleaning. I did my weekly dusting and bathroom cleaning Tuesday. It took about 30 minutes as opposed to the 2 hours of last year.

Tony has his own level. One of my favorite features of this house is that there was a kitty door going down to the basement long before we ever moved here. This means I am able to keep Tony's kitty litter box and food out of sight (and out of nose range in the case of his litter). Also, it means that Tony has his own level to the house. BJ, the dogs, and I take the ground floor and up stairs. Tony has a full basement. Seems fair enough.

The pool, the pool, and the pool. It never really occured to me to have a pool, but now that we ended up with one, I love it. Yesterday, I was walking/jogging around the backyard for some much needed exersice, and of course, I got hot and sweaty. This is when it occured to me that I could also work out in my pool, so I put my swim suit on and hopped in. It made for a much more pleasant work out routine.

Sunlight. The house has enormous windows everywhere, and they are fabulous. I never have to turn on a light during the day, and the house looks beautiful with all of that natural light streaming in.

Atmosphere. There is something about this house that just feels comfortable. We had company last night, and one of the people walked into my kitchen and said, "Oh, you have a real country kitchen." I think that is it. I think it is that feeling that people get when they come in and the old crickety floors sound out each step. It is like that they could just as easily be stepping into their grandmother's house thirty years ago.

Our bedroom is a million miles away. The upstairs is just our bedroom and the lavender bathroom. Everytime I take someone up there, they say something along the lines of, "I can see why you fell in love with this house." When I go up there, the new found stress of being the main support system for a new preacher melts away. I hope not to jinx anything, but I can honestly say I haven't had a night yet where falling asleep up there was difficult.

Old house smell. When I walk into the house after being away for a while, I am always greeted with a breif wiff of that old-house smell. And everytime it happens, I think of the million times I walked into Grandma Farr's house.

After only two and a half week...it already feels like home.