If the day ever comes when the Boy and I make the transition to homeowners, I'd really sorta like a new house from a modular home company, you know what I mean? I want to be able to live there for a year or more without any major problems, without hearing my family bitch and whine about how the previous residents screwed up this or that... and I could pick my own carpet and flooring. I was a lot younger when I first heard about how Sears and Roebuck started the mail-order home buying concept. It sounded so great then, and these days there are only more choices! Forget about trying to find the right floorplan in the right neighborhood with the right options. Just find a good spot and pick your dream house from a catalog. As far as I'm concerned that would be heaven. One of the great things about having a modular home is that even though it may seem cookie-cutter in it's "sameness", that very "sameness" will save some money in the longer haul. For starters, it meets codes and requirements. Want to build in some energy-saving features? Get them in from the beginning. Like a luxury car, you can have a luxury home. Underneath the bells and whistles you're still looking at the same frame. It's the add-ons that give it the unique touch.

And it would feel so wonderful to have our own home, under some sort of warranty, where everything works. Where the kitchen drawers do not fall apart in my hands. Where a garbage disposal actually works. Where the electricity remains a constant presence even in the evening hours. -more later, maybe, on our newest electric woes. I'm still waiting for the electric company to fix their billing screwup of last month, and I'm not holding my breath because I've got larger things to worry about right now. Like, oh, say the baby I'm gestating?

oooh. I'm holding my breath daydreaming of a beautiful new home with hardwood floors and a working kitchen and full electric at all hours. With a full finished basement that has become a playroom the length and breadth of the house. Where the kids can make as much noise as they want without trashing the upstairs.