No, Gary, I Won't . . .

Gary asked, in the comment's on Monday's post, if I would consider moving. I would never say never, but I will say it is highly unlikely.

I am lucky to love not only my city and my neighborhood, but also my house. Though living through two major remodels was a little rough, the result is a home that is perfectly suited to my family. I have plans for some changes that will make it perfect for years to come. Plus, we just refinanced and we were able to do the 15-year loan, so we got the lower rate without having to add years to our mortgage.

Our neighbors and friends that are a  year ahead of us on the empty nest dropped by on Sunday to tell us they were selling their house and moving to the beach. We are sad to see them go--though happy to have a house four blocks from the beach to go visit--but as they pointed out, their house wasn't a "homestead" house the way ours is. Which brings me to my big plans . . .

(These are long-term plans--I won't have money to buy a new candle for the next five years!)

A pool. I never wanted a pool when my own children were young because I have always been terrified of the drowning risk and it's really difficult to watch your kids 100% of the time. With grandchildren though, I will be able to watch over them while they play while their parents do the work part of the child-rearing. I'm going to have the pool separately fenced and every other safety feature you can buy.

Room makeovers. Once everyone is really and truly gone and they start their own families, I'm going to redecorate all four kids' bedrooms and put a queen size bed and bunk beds in each room, so that each family has their own space. The two bedrooms that have their own bathrooms will rotate from family to family by some yet-to-be-designed, but very fair system.

I already live in a vacation paradise and I figure that by making my house as comfy and attractive to young families as possible, I will ensure that Grammy and Gramp's, or Nonna and Poppa's, or Grandma and Grandpa's (or whatever they end up calling us) place is where everyone wants to go.

I'm sure some of you will read this and think, "Wow! That's really planning ahead. Nobody is even married yet." You are absolutely right. I am a long-term planner from the word go and I've been mocked for it more than once--but so far it's been working for me, so I'm going to keep right on planning.

What about you--do you fly by the seat of your pants or have a one-year, five-year and twenty-year plan like I do?

 

 

Comments

[Gail]

George Burns said he didn't even buy green bananas... I do buy green bananas but only one at a time. And that's as far as my long range planning goes.

[Deb D]

I laughed out loud because I wouldn't consider a house with a pool when my kids were young for the very same reason. We have moved several times so I'm not terribly attached to my house or the town I live in. Our previous plan had been to move back to the west coast when we retire but as it seems my kids will settle in this area our plans have changed to staying close to potential future grand kids.

[gary rith]

Travel back and forth is tough indeed for you guys, but you handle it :) I am amazed at how couples and parents are different from when I was a kid. I hear friends talk of how they have to stay where they are until the kid finishes high school. One friend ended up losing THOUsands of bucks on a house they can't sell which would have netted a monster profit back during the housing bubble because junior was still in school when dad got a job 4 hours away. My dad, who is a jerk in most every way possible, moved us every one or 2 years, including multiple high schools for my brother and sister and me. I was nearly always the new kid, having been dragged through 6 schools in 6 entirely different states by the time I was done. Me and the wife, without thinking why, never plan to move. It was both my father and the times: dad decides it, everybody has to pack up and go, like it or lump it, "father knew best".

[suburbancorrespondent]

Your neighbors are moving to the beach? Color me confused - I thought San Diego fit that description!

Love your plans for the bedrooms - mine run more towards "This one will be my sewing room, that will be Larry's den..." All with sleeper couches for guests, of course...

[Busy Bee Suz]

Oh, I have plans too!!!!!!
I think your plans are just perfect....I can't wait to read the wedding/grandkids posts in the future Jenn!

[Suzy]

I've always lived in the moment. I give my Dad as an example. He and his 4th wife waited until they were 69 to start traveling. While they were in Russia, she fell down some marble steps and really mucked up her back for the next 20 years. He spent most of the time yelling "What?" to the tour guide!

Live for today and be glad you have it is my mantra. You can't ever predict what's coming down the pike. And usually it's an out of control semi.

[Jenn @ Juggling Life]

We are about 7 miles from the beach, AT the beach is when you are less than 1/4 mile. CLOSE to the beach is a mile or less.
Jenn

[marms37]

That is a fabulous plan! I have been saving children's books, movies and toys for years for my then future and present grandchildren so that there will always be something fun to do at Nana's house.

[Smalltown Me]

I love your plans. We haven't planned ahead for grandkids (except for me saving toys and storybooks), but for ourselves we will stay in this house until it feels too big for us. If that day comes, we will move into my late mother's 2 bedroom house. We'd also like to travel.

[falnfenix]

i'm a 5/10/15 year planner.
5 year plan: get out of debt (again), get the heck out of Baltimore, get weddinged before the move.
10 year plan: be established on farmland and HOPEFULLY have some small livestock (dwarf Nigerian goats, maybe a fainter or two, a flock of chickens, an apiary). we hope to have a decent organic heirloom vegetable business going by then, and maybe even a somewhat curated population of local wild deer. they'll supply some meat (1-2 per year is all we'd need...3 if we start feeding the dog and cats a raw diet) and photography fodder.
15 year plan: horse. or at least a donkey. i like donkeys. in some ways, they're like really big cantankerous dogs.

there's a possible plan for alpaca, as well, but we'll see what happens there. i know they're decent money-makers and are neat animals besides. the mancreature has an aunt who has lived off the proceeds of wool sales for years, and is finally selling her farm. i hope to use her as a mentor, of sorts, should we go that route.

[Cassi Renee]

That sounds like a wonderful plan. We don't visit our parents very often because we have to stay in a hotel to be comfortable. I imagine your kids will be extremely grateful for your planning.

We really like our house, but will perhaps move to be near our only daughter if she ends up somewhere else. Unless things drastically change in the US, we'll be encouraging her to look in Canada and Europe, where people are more important than corporations. We'd like to see her get a job she loves and also afford health care. :-)

[Christina]

Eh - very high level planning perhaps. Life has thrown me so many, many curve balls in my 27 years as an adult that I long ago dropped any serious planning because I found that my personality had a very hard time letting go of them when it was clear they were not possible. I go with the flow much better if I don't have anything more than they next month written down :-)

[Aunt Snow]

No plans here....we're more seat-of-the-pants types.

I've often thought about selling the house and getting a smaller condo in town - it would be a closer commute for both of us, less upkeep, and returning to a more pedestrian lifestyle.

But then....I go out on my deck and look at the beautiful canyon and mountains. Or think about how simple and beautiful the house is. How we live in - like you - a vacation destination spot. And I think it's just find to stay right where I am.

Our only long-range plans is to maintain the house, clean up the horror that is the basement, and pay off the mortgage.

[Jenrantsraves]

We had a pool when we bought this house, and got rid of it for the reasons you mentioned. Also, because we discovered we don't have the time or money to have a pool for upkeep.

I am a planner by nature and I am also mocked for it. I am excited to see Dylan following in my footsteps. Your kids and grandkids will LOVE coming to your house, no matter what you do, I'm sure. But that stuff helps.

[Karen (formerly kcinnova)]

We are currently living out the semi/long-range plan: no mortgage and no job (just retirement income). I credit my husband's financial good sense and planning. One bedroom is already the guest room (kid leaves the comfy queen bed to sleep on his brother's bunk when we have guests). The bonus room has the other set of bunks when the college boys come home. And no one will ever get rid of my supply of Duplos!

We would consider moving someplace to make the grandkids want to come visit more often (a lake?) but that would require a lot of effort, so I think we're here for now.

I do like your plans!

[Jamie]

I have 1.5 year plans, 3 year plans, 5 year plans and contingent plans for all of those! Do I OCD much? Why, yes I do!

[Little Miss Sunshine State]

In my dreams, we leave Orlando and have a 2 or 3 bedroom place within walking distance of the beach.
We don't have a timeline for this. There's a possibility of my husband getting a a promotion this year that would keep us here for a few more years, possibly until he retires.

[lanes]

I have some 5 and 10 year plans, but am open to adjusting them as needed. I like having a goal (or seven!) and taking concrete steps to achieve it.

I think your plan for your house sounds great. It's not as if you're putting an order in with your kids ("I'd like 3.4 grandkids from you over the next decade, please!"), but you are letting them know that they and their eventual families are very important to you.

[allmycke]

Seat-of-the-pants... No retirement savings - but on the other hand, I have no gurantees I'll even live as long, what with having already had cancer twice.

[Jen on the Edge]

This is the type of long-term planning I like to do!

[Violet]

I have moved an average of every 2-1/2 years since I moved out of my parents' home at 19. I don't mean to a different apartment, I mean to a different city, different job, etc. I make plans but have learned to expect them to be changed. I love the Yiddish saying that says "Man plans, God laughs."

[Martha Mc]

Seat of the pants ... partly because that's the way my husband operates and partly because of my background. Like you, Gary, we moved often but it was due to my father's job so it was the "company knew best" in our case. I attended 12 grade schools in 2 states and 3 countries before I started and finished junior high and high school in the same town. I spent the entire 3rd and 6th grades in the same school (different towns). Grades 1, 2, 4 and 5 were the hopscotch years. My brother was 8 years older and he went to a different high school each year. I think I fared better than he did because I had the stability of 6 years in one school system, but the older I get the more I realize the ways that early life affected me. I was fortunate that I always seemed to be ahead in class work with each move and I was astounded when we moved to a small town, meeting people who had never been more than 100 miles from home. But at the same time, it was hard being the new person starting junior high with groups of kids who had gone to school together all their lives. While I made friends, I always felt somewhat of an outsider. I know I've gotten off track with this comment, but I read Gary's remarks this morning and they struck a nerve. I've been reflecting all day on the pros and cons of a transient childhood.

[Deborah J]

I had a childhood on the move too as my father was in the Airforce
I've been married 30 years and was happy to be settled for the last 22 years in the same house. 1/4 acre block, big timber 4 bedroom house with verandahs and a cubby house down the back. Great house for a family.
We plan to move in about 2 years. Downsize the yard and find a newish brick building. Not a smaller house, just one with less maintenance required than a 100 year old Queenslander.
It will be hard to leave but we will stay in the same area. We're in our early 50's and are planning for the empty nest and semi retirement.

[Green Girl In Wisconsin]

Somehow I believe no matter WHERE you live, your grandchildren will love to visit you.

[mom taxi julie]

I'm a tiny bit dreaming of some day when I have a room that can be my craft room again. I had one for a few years before my 2nd child came along :)

It's so weird but nice to think of grandbabies visiting isn't it!