White Picket Fence

I've been staring at a list on the wall entitled 'Pros/Cons'. It's been many, many months since the decision was made that we would move out of the city and I've spent many, many hours during those months clicking away on real estate websites, looking at listings, ogling pictures, um-ing and ah-ing. There were a few houses that seemed OK, some that even seemed great, but they went quickly. Then a couple of weeks ago I found 'the one', perfect except that it was a little further away than we'd envisaged, and in a tiny village rather than a larger town. But the house, oh, the house - a weatherboard cottage with a wrap-around verandah and a beautiful, sprawling garden. 

I half hoped it would be awful when I went to see it the week before last. In the photos, the front of the house looked a bit rundown. But when we pulled up, the rickety fence in the images had been replaced by a brand-new white picket fence. 

A white picket fence. Did somebody say perfect?

I wasn't able to get it out of my head. I tried to talk myself down, but I kept seeing us there, living in those rooms, enjoying that garden. The GM came down for a second visit last week and he was smitten too...but for a few minor issues. And thus the list on the wall entitled Pros/Cons.

I think it's natural when something you've dreamed about for so long - years, even - is getting close to actually happening, you start questioning the choice, looking for the pitfalls, the potential problems, the reasons to stay put for a bit longer. But for the time being, pros have outweighed cons. We've thrown our hat in and it's up to the powers that be to decide if this is the house, and the tiny village, and the perfect white picket fence, for us.