little boxes on the hillside...

preparing my first blog is almost as nerve-racking as submitting my graduate thesis for revisions! i sit here sipping my evening tea admiring my latest house project: a two-tone parchment texturization of my walls in "saffron strands" and "midas touch" trimmed out in "espresso bean" and accented with "sandcastle" doors and ceilings. who gets the job of official paint name chooser for these companies? suave marketing skills is all i can say. our house isn't as great as it sounds. it's no dump, either. in fact, it's just your typical fixer upper for first-time homeowners as they like to say. however, it's cozy, and it has permitted my husband and i many hands-on activities over the past 3 1/2 years. i'm feeling a bit nostalgic tonight as we're wrapping up renovations on the house in order to prepare for a big move. we've never owned a home before, let alone sold one, and the current market looms over this prospect like that cloud that was always following eeyore around on winnie the pooh. we've tried to be smart in what we chose to fix-up, but we always seem to be either short on time or money these days. if i make it sound as though we are destitute, it is with good reason: i just finished my m.a. program only to still be searching for what it is exactly that i want to do when i grow up, and my husband has "seasonal" work in horticulture...i.e. we ARE destitute. ok, we're not, but it sure feels that way at times. however, i am thrilled that we chose a small, quaint, cute, older home for our purchase as i see other friends and acquaintances settling down in suburban traps. i hate those places. not only are they exorbitantly overpriced, they all look so similar that if you go home drunk, you run the risk of accidentally going to bed with your neighbor! that alone should be enough to make every suburbanite switch to o'douls. these are all reasons that make relish my proletarian status...the thought of waking up with any of my neighbors as well as drinking non-alcoholic ANYTHING sets off my gag reflex. my disdain for suburbia has been growing steadily over the past few years, and there are days that i wish for nothing more than to set those little boxes on the hillside on fire as i once saw on an episode of "weeds." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEvEEcc9iC8&feature=related helas, the criminal life is not for me. i am too sloppy, and would likely be caught and arrested in the act. daydreaming about it is just as nice, though. to make matters worse, i am currently taking the whole suburban issue too personally, having recently been dumped (on facebook, no less) by a friend who is now a suburbanite mom. ouch. the sting of class distinction burns like a wound that my mom poured salt into when i was 12. no, my mother was not abusive...i lied about having shaved my legs, so it was my punishment. touché. i'm getting sidetracked here, though. the point is: i hate suburbia and all that goes along with it and i love my little 2 bedroom hovel. and for now i am going to finish my tea in tandem with this post and go dream of "sandcastles" and "saffron strands." goodnight, sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite!