Our next chapter is building a house. This is our dirt, located in a subdivision about three miles south of Baton Rouge, in the "country," adjacent to the small high school we've chosen for Jake.
Because of the generosity of the federal government through the US Department of Agriculture Rural Development Guarantee Loan Program, I can afford to build a house that looks like this on that piece of rural dirt.
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| This is not my house. |
Affectionately called a "snout house," which I swore I would never own, this small dwelling will be a home for our menagerie in four to six months. Whatever happens next for us in life will happen from here.
I checked the boys out of school at lunch one day (Pajama Day) to drive them out and yell "Surprise! We're building a house and you'll have your own rooms!" In the ten minute drive from the school to the lot, one of them (guess from the photo) managed to ruin the moment by getting sullen and angry that I was causing him to miss recess. Don't worry. He's still apologizing for it.
Even with my "ta-da" ruined (I mean, seriously, can you imagine having the life he's had and having someone march you out to a piece of dirt in your pajamas on a cold day and give you a HOUSE for your birthday?!), they are both very excited. You can only stay super enthused about and idea for so long before you need a tangible item to maintain the hype. We do not have a slab pour date yet, but I am holding out to take them out there for the pour so we can put our names or handprints in the slab.
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| How am I going to keep teenage boys from sneaking out, or teenage girls from sneaking in?! |
Some details, just on the exterior. I made all of my selections and customizations within ten days of selecting a floor plan. Like the house in the photo, I am going to have a double garage in front, with a window, a four-panel front door, and an 8x8 wooden beam on my stoop.
The stucco in front and the siding on the sides and rear will be Sherwin Williams Alabaster, a clay-ish white. The trim, which is only under the roof and around the side and rear windows and doors, will be SW Jogging Path. The garage door and front door will be SW Urbane Bronze.
The brick I've chosen is called Fort Morgan. I wanted the red to be dull, with not too much tan and a skosh of deep brown or black to mix in lightly with the dark doors.
I would LOVE to have a crazy front door, just to throw some "Hello we're here!" color up, but I think the restrictions include that everything has to be a subdued, natural color. I would argue that peacocks and corals are natural, but I do not want an ugly note from the HOA. So I will leave it, and make some inquiries after we've been good neighbors for a while.
Everything that happens to you gets you to the next thing - something amazing or something awful. This faith is a belief I've gifted to my kids. I learned about this high school from a mother of a football kid, and we only allowed Landen to be on the football team this year to help him work through some divorce drama he was working through. I love that I will be a single mother to teenage boys OUTSIDE the city, but really only three miles from where we are now. It will not be a huge house, but there will be room for us to spread out and get away from each other. It's a gated community with a lot of green space, so the "go outside and do not come in until I call you" rule can be reinstated.
Knowing we are not confined to this miserable condo for an indefinite period of time makes it harder and easier to suffer through the days here. I wish we were in our new house already. When do we get to move? I'm so glad we don't have to stay here much longer. At least this is a temporary we can feel good about.
The Allbrittons are moving out Summer 2014.
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