Progress and Wizards

     My bedroom smells like paint.  I finally got my bathroom painted today and since it's attached to the bedroom I can smell it pretty strongly.  I just got over a cold so I'm hoping the fumes don't send me into a coughing fit.  I was able to borrow my neighbor's 8' ladder today so tomorrow I can finish painting the 10' ceiling in the lower level and then all my painting is done - unless I decide to paint the basement which could certainly use a new coat of paint.  And by now I'm pretty good at painting!  We'll see . . .
     Once the ceiling and crown molding are painted I can start getting my house back in order so it doesn't look like a construction zone!  My West JHS teacher group is coming over Thursday night for our monthly dinner.  We always go out, but everyone has been asking me about my house remodeling and so I decided to invite them over.  This has also been a good incentive for me to get everything done!
     I'm happy to have found a handy man who will do some odd jobs for me - ones that I either don't know how to do, like electrical and plumbing things, or ones I don't want to do like scraping the ceiling in my bedroom (my back just can't take anymore of that!).  He'll be coming over the first week in March.  After he's done then I need to get the floor replaced in the kitchen and lower level (Home Depot is doing that), the wood floors on the main level redone (like the floor I did in the little bedroom), and get the carpets cleaned.

My "construction zone" house!

At least the kitchen's finished

     I'm hoping to get most of that accomplished before I leave for "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" on March 6.  Renae and I are so excited, we're like little kids!  I bought a guide book for the 2 parks and am going through it when I get the chance.  We have our flights and our hotel package all taken care of.  The package includes 3 days at the Harry Potter parks - both Hogsmead, which includes Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and also Diagon Alley which is connected to Hogsmead by the Hogwarts Express which leaves from Kings Cross Station at Platform 9 3/4!   Universal Studios has completely recreated the sets from the Harry Potter movies and added rides, interactive wand stations, outdoor stage productions - just about anything you remember from the books and movies can be found in the parks.
     This will most likely be my last vacation in the States before I head overseas.  But I still don't know exactly when that will happen as my house will need to sell first.  I hope to have the house ready to put on the market when we get back from Orlando.  And then keep my fingers crossed!
     Once all my house projects are finished (and I am getting closer!) I will post photos.  I'm also thinking about having an Open House/Bon Voyage party so I can invite all of you to see what I've done and party with all my friends!  One last time!  And then you can all come visit me in France, right?
      Thank you for staying with me on this part of the journey.  I feel like I've accomplished a lot in the past year and I must say that your encouragement and enthusiasm have helped me tremendously.  A huge "Merci" to all of you!  

On Being Homeless

     "The Art of Being Homeless" is a title that caught my attention.  It was offered on one of my free ebook websites that I get regularly and thinking it was a philosophical writing about minimalism or down-sizing I downloaded it on my Kindle without reading the summary.  Come to find out, it was a novel about a woman who lost everything in a nasty divorce and decided to move to Greece on a whim!  I have yet to read it . . . .
     As I get closer and closer to putting my house on the market (next month) and think more and more about not having a place to call "home", I have started to see things a little differently.  I'm finding that being without a permanent address - in the US or in France - will cause some difficulties.  I had thought about getting a PO box, but credit card companies and the DMV require a street address.  I suppose I could ask Andy if I could use his address (as he has used mine in the past), which would solve some problems in the US.
     However, without a permanent address in France I will not be able to get a residency visa or buy a car or open a bank account.  So, what do I do?  I'm going to use this blog post to put my thoughts "on paper", as it were, and list some pros and cons regarding housesitting vs home buying.  (I think I might be on to Plan E!)
     Here  are the pros of housesitting:
1)  No mortgage or rent payments (that's a big pro for me).  That would free up about $1500 a month if you include insurance, utilities and taxes.  I love the idea of having that much more money a month to play with - literally!
2)  I can experience different towns and village and even different regions before I decide to buy.
3)  If I delay buying a house until I am 65 (in about 30 years! ha!) I will qualify for reduced property taxes, utilities, etc.
4)  Many houses come with the use of a vehicle so I wouldn't have to buy a car right away.
5)  I would not be responsible financially for any problems that might arise with the houses such as pipes bursting or an appliance not working, etc.

Here are the cons of housesitting:
1)  I would not be able to have guests unless they are willing to stay in a hotel.
2)  From what I have read in my house sitting manuals and newsletters, many homeowners prefer couples to house sit.  I guess they think that a single woman can't handle problems that might arise.
3)  If the homeowners have pets they want me to take care of they might not want CoCo there as there is no guarantee that their pets and mine will get along.
4)  If the homeowners do not have pets, it's probably because they don't want pets in their house and therefore CoCo would not be welcome.
5)  I need monthly massages and CoCo will need a vet and a groomer.  If we are constantly moving I think it will be hard to have consistency with any of those professionals.
6)  I will need to rent a storage unit - one with climate control for my art and collectibles that need to be in a place with constant temps.  That could get expensive.
7)  Without a permanent address I will only be able to stay in France for the 90 days that's allowed on a visitors passport.

Since I don't have any photos that match today's topic I'll just throw in one of CoCo! :-)

Here are the pros of buying a house:
1)  I'll have a place to call my own and I can decorate it like I want and have all my favorite things there.
2)  My things won't have to stay in storage forever.  And I can have all my art and collectibles around me.
3)  I won't have to worry about CoCo with other pets.  She can have a house and a yard all to herself which will make her so much more comfortable as she does not adapt well to new places.
4)  With a permanent address I can get a residency permit to allow me to stay up to a year before needing to return to the US. 
5)  I can open a bank account and get a French credit/debit card.
6)  I can buy a car.  There are 2 door RAV 4s all over France and they are so cute!  I'd love to find a used one of those. 
7)  I can find a massage therapist and a vet and a groomer that we can use all the time.
8)  I can really be a part of a community and be around for all the festivals and celebrations and holidays.  I can get to know my neighbors and the local market days and where to buy the best bread (that's really important to the French!)
9)  The housing market in France is great right now for buyers.  The prices are the lowest they've been in many years so now (or at least within the next 6 months) is a great time to buy.  I could get a lot for my money.  Hopefully, with what I make on the sale of my house here I could buy a house outright in France which would be wonderful!
10)  I can entertain guests whenever I want and they don't have to stay in a motel.
11)  I can have a garden with the plants that I want - herbs, flowers, tomatoes.  And I can landscape it the way that I like.  And hopefully have a hot tub!  I will certainly miss mine.

Here are the cons for buying a house:
1)  There's a lot of red tape involved in a non EU person buying a house in France.  It can be a long and expensive process.
2)  I would need to be a quick learner in regards to French utilities, plumbing, electrical, etc.
3)  I would need to buy home owners insurance which is not cheap.
4)  I might be stuck with a house and a village that I decide I really don't like after spending a year or so there.  (Although I can't imagine that happening, but you never know.  Of course, that could happen in the States also)
5)  If the house I fall in love with is more expensive than the money I have available then I will need to take out a mortgage which I really don't want to do.
6)  In order to get a house that I can afford it may be somewhat of a fixer-upper which means more painting and remodeling.  Do I really want to go through all of that again?

So, here's my Plan E:
     I think I will try to house sit for the 90 days that my passport will allow and during that time I will be looking for a house to buy.  If at the end of the 90 days I have not found anything that "sings Hallelujah" (ask my friend, Beth, about that!) then I can go to the UK for the next 90 days.  For some very odd reason their passport restrictions are different than the Continent so while I would no longer be welcome in France I could go to the UK for the next 90 days and find some house sitting jobs. Then I can return to France for another 90 days to look some more and hope to find a house before I have to return to the States having stayed the maximum amount of time in both places.
     If I can't find a house sitting job in the area of France where I want to look for a house to buy then I will look into a rental property.  I would really like to avoid this as I want to save my money which is why house sitting is so wonderful!   I can stay for free while I'm looking for a house - I don't want to be homeless for an extended period of time.
     I feel odd using that word because, of course, I'm not homeless in the sense that many all over the world are homeless.  I am fortunate to have a retirement salary and can choose where I want to live and can live comfortably.  So my use of the word "homeless" in this post is that I would be without a place that is truly mine.  I have been a home owner for my entire adult life and I've grown rather fond of it.  Many of the people who write the blogs and newsletter articles about house sitting actually do have a permanent home somewhere.  They then will take off on their house sitting ventures and look at it as vacation time and then can return to their home whenever they want. 
     I have almost finished the entire house painting job!  I still need to paint the ceiling in the lower level but need to borrow my neighbor's tall ladder and have been doing everything else that I can so I'm not tying up his equipment for a long time.  I'm debating about painting the basement.  It could really use a new coat of paint, but for now I'll just think about it . . .
    I'm still planning to put the house on the market the middle of next month after Renae and I get back from our trip to Orlando.  I'll write about that next week!  So time is really flying.  And all these thoughts about houses and yards and other people's houses vs a house of my own are taking over my brain.  It has long been a dream of mine to own a house in my little corner of France.  I think I want it to happen sooner than later.  What do you think?

My little corner of France - sigh

     As always I thank you for taking the time to read my blog.  Your comments and encouragement are very much appreciated.  And I wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day!  Merci!    

Family

     Last week I spent 6 days in Ohio visiting my dad's side of the family.  I hadn't been back there for about 15 years!  In the past 2 years every time I spoke with my Aunt Mary (my dad's baby sister) on the phone she would ask me if I was ever coming to see her again.  My Aunt Mary is my dad's only sibling still living.  My grandparents have both been gone for a long time.  I have only two cousins on that side of the family, Sharon and Monica.
     I had the great joy of traveling in Italy with Sharon in September!  That was the first time in many years since I had been able to enjoy spending time with her.  So I was anxious to see her again and to also spend time with Aunt Mary, Monica and Sharon's family.

Aunt Mary with Sharon (standing) and Monica

     They rolled out the welcome mat!!  Sharon's husband, Bob, and son Aaron picked me up at the Cincinnati airport and drove me back to Sharon and Bob's house in Oxford.  They spent the next couple of days entertaining me and showing me all around their "stomping ground" and feeding me!  If they were busy it fell to Tucker, the amazing wonder lab, to entertain me and he did that quite well.
     On Friday, Aaron and his adorable wife, Song, drove me to Aunt Mary's house in Adams County, about a two hour drive east along the Ohio River.  It was so good to see Aunt Mary and Monica.  Aunt Mary had a stew fixed for us for lunch and then Aaron and Song headed back to Oxford (which is a suburb of Cincinnati).
     Aunt Mary's land goes right down to the Ohio River and is surrounded by rolling hills and farmland.  Years ago this was tobacco country.  I remember going to a tobacco auction with Grandpa in a huge old barn where the giant tobacco leaves were hanging from the rafters.  You still find barns that have the old tobacco advertisements on them.  These days you find more corn and soy being grown.

Looking towards the Ohio River from Aunt Mary's kitchen

Two of Sharon's paintings - the large one is of her mom's barn

     Aunt Mary drove me across the river to Maysville, Kentucky, (home of the Clooneys) where we visited a lovely little museum which has an amazing collection of miniatures.  These are tiny houses decorated like real houses from different time periods in history or from different countries.  I loved it!!
     After lunch she drove me to the cemeteries where my grandparents and great grandparents are buried.  One of those cemeteries is next to an old church called Moore's Chapel.  Up on a hill outside of the little town (although it isn't a town anymore) named Blue Creek where my grandparents lived.
The other cemetery is on High Hill where the Manchesters had land two hundred years ago.  The family still owns the hill and it is called the Manchester Cemetery.  It was pretty awesome being able to see all the old stone carved grave stones with family names on them.

My great-grandparents

Morse Chapel Cemetery - graves date back to early 1800s

My grandparents

A new sign for the cemetery on High Hill

The old old gravestones marking the Manchester family graves for three generations

     Aunt Mary and Sharon both have done a lot of research on the Manchester and May family lineage so I got lots of stories while on the winding hilly back roads of Adams County.
     Saturday night Monica and her boyfriend, Ed, came to Aunt Mary's for dinner.  Monica lives close by which makes it nice for all of them.  Many many years ago Monica went to Europe with me on one of my tours.  Aunt Mary has gone with me twice.  So it was about time that Sharon went on a tour with me! ha!

Aunt Mary on a trip with me long long ago

     Sunday Aunt Mary and Monica drove me back to Oxford where Sharon had a huge family dinner all prepared.  Her daughter Sara came with husband Jeremy and kids Olivia and Curtis.  And Aaron and Song came also.  So there was a house full!  Tucker was beside himself with joy at such a full house and so many people to love on him!

Cute Olivia with Tucker

     Monday night was my last night to spend at Sharon's and she decided that I should go to her painting class.  Sharon is a wonderful water color artist.  I am so impressed with the things she has painted.  Her instructor was very knowledgeable and a good teacher as she showed the class every step along the way.  She would call everyone up to her table in front to demonstrate a step, then send us back to our own tables so we could attempt it ourselves.  Then after a short time she would do that again.  And continued with that pattern until it was time to go.  The two hours flew by!  I can see why Sharon loves it.  (She was very sweet and complimentary of my attempt!  I told her it was because she loves me and didn't want to hurt my feelings! ha!)

One of Sharon's paintings - the Colorado mountains

She made this one into a card.  I love it!

     Tuesday morning Aaron, Song, and Bob took me to lunch on our way to the airport.  And then I had quite a time getting out of Cincinnati - none of which was weather related!  In fact, there were no problems with the weather until I got to my car in the Colorado Springs Airport parking lot and had to dig it out of 15 inches of heavy snow at 9:30 at night!
     All in all it was a great adventure and I'm so glad I was able to visit my Ohio family before I move to France.
     Oh yes, and one last thing - THE BRONCOS WON THE SUPER BOWL!!!
     Thank you for reading about my Ohio adventure - one more step on the path to France.  Now I'm back to painting - the walls and ceilings, not lovely watercolor paintings like Sharon does!  Silly me, I invited my West teacher group to my house for our monthly dinner.  So that keeps me motivated to get things done!!  Wish me luck :-)