Well... the last two days have been quite interesting. You see, yesterday was bid day. No, I am not talking about the fun time in college where you go through rush and then you get a bid. And everyone cheers, wears matching clothes, smiles, and congratulates each other. Well, at least I hear that is what happens. That was never my thing so I wouldn't know first hand. No, I am talking about the bid day where you find out how much it is really going to cost to build that home you dream about at night. The one you have imagined coming into after a long day of carpooling kids around to 15 different activities. You know then you run a hot bath as you take a LUSH bath bomb out of the glass container on the honed granite countertop and toss it into the steaming water. Then you step in for a soak as the spa like atmosphere takes away all the worries of the day. That is the house I am talking about. And yesterday was the day we found out just how much it cost to wash worries away. And I am still worried. The anticipation had been building for months, but we had no idea how much the "tiny" house was going to cost. Since it kept growing, we were aware that the costs were adding up as well. We also knew that is was a very unusual house which would add to the cost. We sat down with Forrest to go over the bid. Speaking of Forrest- he has been wonderful to work with throughout this entire process. If you are looking to build, you should give him a call! Forrest handed us each a manila folder. I knew the information inside was either going to be really good or really bad. I flipped it open and my heart immediately sank. I knew that I had good taste, but I didn't know it was that good. I didn't fall out of my seat, and I think I managed to keep my jaw off the floor so I consider that a success, but the entire time I was sitting there I knew that this particular journey was at its end. It didn't matter what I took out or changed- I was not going to be able to affect the bottom line enough to make that house feasible. So Matt and I went home and cleaned- partly because that is what we do when we don't have any words for each other but mostly because my parents were coming over for a visit. I threw a few things away (like the house plan) and tried to keep it all together. We had a brief family meeting. It was really sad. Tears were present. The kids were upset. They had dreams, too. Callan had dreams of bookshelves and a library ladder and Cooper had dreams of a basketball court on the driveway. Carys just wanted "my own space again." Surprisingly though, underneath all the sadness I felt relieved. Even though I loved the house we were planning to build, it had gotten so far away from what we originally wanted- a tiny house. Earlier that day as I was driving to pick up Matt for our meeting, I happened to notice a tiny house for sale on the side of the road. I thought to myself- if the bid is too high, we will just go see that tiny house. So we did. We cleaned the house and met my parents to look at the real tiny house- all 396 square feet of it. Callan was super excited. And y'all...it was PERFECT!!! Well...to me. The kids still needed convincing. The kids and my mother. And my father, too. Ok...so Matt and I were convinced! And guess what- we pay the bills so we win! After we talked to the salesman about different options and agreed to talk more on Monday, we headed to get some pizza (Dad was buying because he was the "guess the bid" loser!).
When we got in the car, Matt said, "Is it strange that I feel relieved?" No, not at all.
1 Comment
Forrest Fife
2/4/2017 09:29:04 pm
Glad to be a part of your journey!
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I am Chamie, wife to Matt; mom to Callan (14), Cooper (11), and Archives
September 2017
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