Lin couldn’t remember how long we have been living in the house. It’ll be five years this fall. He didn’t believe me. It does sound crazy, because it doesn’t seem like that long. Even though we are five years behind on our ten year plan for the house, and there are so many things that need to be fixed around here, we decided we are happy here … and happy not to be living in an apartment.

Of course, the state of the world has changed in the last five years, and our ten year plan for the house has changed (several times). Originally, it was a way out of buying our landlord new cars every year and something to spend ten years fixing up to sell, when the market in this area was anticipated to be high. Things change, don’t they? I don’t think the market is going to be as high as anticipated in five more years, considering how the economy is doing, and we couldn’t replace this house with any property we would want (out and away from the city, large patch of land) right now. It could even safely be assumed at this point this is the only house we may ever own. Therefore, this will be our fortress. The new plans focus more on a fortified cellar, solar panels, wind generators, and fully edible landscaping (with animals) than a stunning master bedroom with French doors onto the patio. Yes, things change, don’t they?

Anyway…

The property tax statement came today. On the one hand, we were pleased the value of our property finally equals the amount of loan we took out on it. On the other hand, our taxes were, well, high. So … good news, bad news. Isn’t that just the way life is?

Also, I have decided it is entirely embarrassing to have a room that has been filled with boxes for almost five years. It would be so nice to have a whole new room to live in. I’m going to go into the box room tomorrow. I am going to make a plan. I am going to stick with it and be ruthless. This is going to be nothing but heartache and tears, because I hate getting rid of stuff. Some of it is extremely cool stuff too. But something has to be done about that room, and Lin is never going to do it. I must be the strong one. It’s going to suck.

I’m hoping that almost five years of not having these things in my life at all will mean it will be easier to get rid of loads of it … throwing it away, if need be. I also hope to find my fine jewelry and the pedal to my sewing machine. Who knows what I’ll find though. Some of those boxes have been boxed since I was in college. Yeah, that’s going to be a walk down memory lane. Who knows, maybe I needed this time to detach myself from all the crap I no longer need to carry around with my through life.

I bet some of it gets turned into art though. I bet you.