I moved to California in May of 2000. It was a big move for this Southern girl! When I moved to California I moved in with my brother to 3018 Pear Street. It was a great small house! Not long after I moved out to Ca, my brother told me he was moving closer to where he worked so I needed to find somewhere to live or buy the house from him. I never really looked at any other houses...I just bought the one I was living in from my brother. I did a lot of work to that house over the years. It was a real labor of love. I replaced all of the flooring,windows and painted the inside and outside walls....twice! (Hated the first color I painted!) I remodeled all of the kitchen (the tiny area it was!) I had a great patio off the master bedroom and kitchen that Sophie had full access to with a doggie door. I really love that house. Sadly the city that it was located in went downhill....fast. When I moved in, all the homes on my street were owner owned. We all worke don our houses and talked to eachother. In the last few years most of the homes have become rentals and the renters were not caring for the homes like the owners had. The house 2 doors down had turned into a meth house. The whole neighborhood really got very sketchy! I was not feeling safe. After many events (that I will spare you the details of) I decided for my safety I had to move to a better area. It was a really hard thing for me to decide to do. I put my house up for sell (I was terribly upside down) and I moved to Walnut Creek May 2009.
My life is much better in WC. I use the trails here. I have many friends over here that I do things with. I am closer to work....the list goes on and on. But....I still love my house on Pear Street. Even after all this time.
I have had many offers on my house but after waiting for the bank to decide if it was going to accept the offer they all have backed out (I cant blame them for not waiting months and months to know!) I have put that house out of my mind mostly but I would like for it to officially not be my house. Well this week the bank decided to accept the offer that was put in before the new year (I told you that the bank was taking their sweet time on making decisions!) A few things had to happen (there was a squatter in the house now and the yard was a HOT mess!) but the end of the story was that I signed closing papers on sell my house tues morning.
I have to say I was surprised that I felt a little sad signing the house over to someone that I dont even know. Will she take care of my girl? Does she know that if you run the blow dryer in both of the bathrooms at the same time it will trip the circuit? Does she know that heater smells of smoke a bit the first time you turn it on for the year but that goes away soon? When you water the from yard, the huge rosemerry bush gives off this amazing smell. That rosemerry has been in my Thanksgiving turkeys every year since I have moved out here! I have so many memories in that house. I have had so many friends come visit me in that house. I changed so much and grew up so much in that house. I know leaving that house was totally the right thing for me to do but it still is a bit sad to me. I sure hope the new resident takes good care of her and makes more good memories! Here are a few snap shots where you can see the house and the good times I had there.
Papers turning her over at the closing:
This is my nephew and Sophie at Christmas a couple years ago. My mom helped me make the curtain hanging over the window. My older sister helped me get the TV Case (behind me) in her new mini van. I found it at a consignment store and got a great deal on it. I brought Sophie home to that house!
Here are Lance and his mother in my dinning area. It was a small house so entertaining for holidays was a bit tight but it was fun! Lance helped me paint those walls! He was also with me when I moved in and the house sure looked different with green carpet (who picks teal green carpet????) IN the back ground you can see Sophie on the back of my red couch in her favorite spot. IN my new home the couch is against a wall so she cant perch in that spot anymore.
The people before me really loved green! Everything was green including the trim! I had this painted brick red. I am sure the new owner thinks I went a bit overboard with red! Please note the beautiful new windows!
Some of my favorite memories are with this little man. We would wake up in the morning and make chocolate chip pancakes. He loved helping me cook in that house. My current home has a really small kitchen and I have a hard time having space in there to have him help. After going down memory lane though I think I am going to make more effort to try to have him help me in my new place. I painted all of these cabinets in my kitchen and replaced the hardware on them. I also had all new appliances put in. I sure miss my dishwasher that actually cleaned the dishes I put in it! I also miss the ice maker! Makes you realize how important simple things are!
3018 Pear Street sure was a good home for me. Memories from there will be in my heart forever. I hope she has a great new owner who takes good care of her!
Murn
This post made me so sad!! I felt the same way about the duplex we used to have, it was where we really grew up and became adults and started our married life together. It was so emotional to leave it behind...we also bought it from family, and were able to sell it to family, but it's used as a rental property now and people just don't love it the same way when it's not theirs!
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