a head-scratcher

I've begun the packing process. I've found some interesting things: a $20 Target gift card, pictures I'd forgotten about, a whistle/compass combo I thought I'd lost, and many things that are now in the Freecycle pile. But here's the real mystery: a decorative plaque with a saying on it. I have no recollection of the plaque, where it came from, or why I have it. Here's what it says:

May the Light always find you on a dreary day.
When you need to be home, may you find your way.
May you always have courage to take a chance,
And never find frogs in your underpants.
--A Middle-aged Scandinavian

Any guesses on where this came from? Because I am, as you may guess, scratching my head on this one.

House!

So I'm buying a house! This is part of the reason I wanted to resurrect the blog, to have a record somewhere of the process, and future projects, etc. I went under contract a little over a week ago. It's a three bedroom, 2 bathroom, one-story house built in 1984. It's 1571 square feet, it has a gas stove, a wood-burning fireplace, and a deck, though the deck is going to need some work. Here is a picture of the front of the house.



Part of the reason I picked this house is the kitchen. It's big and open and has a gas stove. From this picture you can't see that it's an eat-in kitchen, because the table is behind where the photographer must have been standing. You also can't see the two windows in the kitchen. There are great windows all over the house.



There's a really open floor plan, so the "dining room" flows into the kitchen. Now, I only have one table, and I'm not really the formal dining room type, so for now, at least, there will just be a table in the kitchen, but you can see the space here.



And the living room is at the other end of that dining area. The fireplace is brick but has been painted. I prefer natural brick, so I may try to restore it to that condition at some point, but it looks nice now. I can't believe my Christmas stocking will hang there this December!!!



So that's my house! I'm scheduled to close November 5th. Which will get here very soon, I'm sure. I just managed to scrounge up some boxes yesterday, so I need to get packing!