OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I am soooooooooo stressed today.
Have done something and am not sure it's the right thing to do.
I am totally strung out about it and am desperately seeking advice from everyone I know so all opinions welcome here!
As you all probably know, my house belongs to me. I bought it before I got together with supertwat and have lovingly refurbished it over the last few years. It's a beautiful Victorian 2 bed end terrace in a little village (It actually used to be the village sweet shop) with stripped original floorboards, original tiled floors, beautiful big windows, a gorgeous 8o foot garden, a pretty little front garden with original gate and tiles, a garage, a 3 car driveway, a loft conversion, a 16 foot square master bedroom, a huge bathroom, beautiful big bay windows, a 15 foot square sunhouse/outbuilding, conservatory and lovely stripped board stairs. I've decorated it all myself and spent loads of money trying to make it look gorgeous. However, I have done something today that's a bit bonkers.
I've put it on the market.
I've felt a bit weird for ages in the house. All I can see is Supertwat everywhere. It's like he's always just about to come home and I see him all over the place.
The lounge is always where he stood with a huge bouquet of flowers and wedding mags just after we got engaged and where I spent hours on my hands and knees making all our wedding stationery. The kitchen is where he cooked me a Valentine's meal in his tux and where I used to cook and watch for his car to come up the drive so I could rush out and kiss him hello. The bedroom is always our room and even though my clothes are all in his wardrobe now, I still half expect to open it and see all his work suits hanging there and his rugby kit screwed up at the bottom.
The garden is where we had barbecues with all of our family and friends and the bathroom is where we laughed so much when the ceiling all fell in.
However, the bedroom is also where I was collected by the paramedics and my brother wept because he thought I was dead. The front door, although repaired, bears the scars of my poor little brother kicking it down to come and find me unconscious. The lounge is where my two best friends desperately tried to get hold of ST to tell him I was in casualty and where he just heard the news and turned his phone off. The landing is where I cried in the dark night after night becuase I was so heartbroken and lonely. The driveway is where I chased after his car on my birthday, desperate to speak to him but he just drove away. The dining room is now where he told me it was all over and the kitchen where I poured the glass of water and took all those pills when I just couldn't face going on any more.
Most people I speak to say that I need a new start and that a new house will help me ultimately to move on. However, others (like my mum) say that it is heartbreaking that ST is driving me out of my beautiful home after I've worked so hard to make it look perfect.
I know that if I stay there I'll always think of certain parts of it as "ours" and it will be full of memory photographs that will be so hard to erase. I also hate the fact that ST knows what my life is like in there when I haven't got a clue about his anymore.
I want to move closer to town too. It's £25 home in a taxi to my village and now that I'm socialising more then it's costing me a fortune to get home all the time. It was fine when ST and I used to have a few nights in together but now I'm on my own, if I go out with my mates then it's an expensive journey home or a night in by myself.
My parents have been an absolute tower of strength for me during all this and (as my mum says - she's counted!) it's only 197 steps between their house and mine so it's been wonderful having them so close whilst things have been tough.
I just don't know if I'm truly doing the right thing. I can't decide whether I'm just still hurting and that's why I feel like he's haunting the place or whether I do genuinely need to move on. I hate modern properties though and it looks like that's all I can afford in this current market in the area I want to move to. I hate the whole "toytown/rabbit hutch" feel of estate houses. I like the randomness and chaos of old houses with all their quirks and oddities. I also wonder if I've done the wrong thing cause loads of my furniture is antique stuff that I've collected and restored over the years. All my bedroom furniture is original Victorian stripped pine, my beds are white French wrought iron and my sideboard is an original mahogony Art Deco one that I bought off an old guy my mum did meals on wheels for. My chairs are all mismatching originals from junk shops in Brighton and I restored them all so they look brand new but are really quirky.
All my pictures are framed original prints such as original victorian soap adverts in the kitchen and loads of original ski posters and paintings from Chamonix. So, I'm concerned I might end up in a new house with a load of antiques which will look ridiculous. I've also got tonnes of Cath Kidston stuff which is fine for a country victorian terrace but might look ridiculous in a brand new modern place. Will I miss my parents too? I know I can cope on my own now but what if I do have a wobble?
I just wonder if I'll regret my decision or look back in a few months and think it was the best thing ever.
What do you all reckon???
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
P.S Great wonders will never cease - now make sure you're sitting down for this one........... ST sent me my joint account money today. I tell you, I nearly fell down dead with shock. He's still not sent me any of the other wedding money or debt money he owes me but at least he's not holding my own cash to ransom anymore! For a few minutes I thought I was living in a parallel universe!
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
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9 comments:
Hey Emmy,
I followed your story all through YAYW and check your blog daily to see if there is another installment! I love it!
I felt I had to leave a comment. Firstly only you know if you are doing the right thing, so feel free to ignore my comments. I recently moved 30 minutes away from my parents and I really miss them! I miss just popping around to watch tv with them or have a chat. If I were going through what you were there is no way I would be moving further away.
Also with the current house market you wouldn't get what your beautiful house is worth. If you wait a few years not only would you find that you would get more money for it but you would make more (hopefully happy) memories in your house. Memories that would mean more to you than the memories with ST. Memories which would prevent you from having to sell your home. ST has already taken so much from you, I wouldn't let him take your home too.
That said, this is your decision. Only you can make it.
Just keep smiling :)
Gemma
I agree Emmy.. you wont get what it's worth and i'm with you on the new house thing...you'll hate it...but then I know what you mean about having too many memories...only you can know because you're heart will tell you...we all love you and will you to get through this!! big hugs
Frauline
x
Please don't sell your house, it sounds beautiful and you obviously love it. You just need to make new memories to erase the old ones. Don't make a rash decision and sit on it for a while longer.
TB seems to be a pretty intelligent bloke, what does he think?
Kerryn
Hun I haven't posted on here before but I have read everything from the beginning over on YAYW. I'm with the other girls on the house now isn't the time to be selling as the housing market is slowing down and you won't get the full amount for your property. I used to live in a Victorian terrace with my parents an d loved it, now I live in a modern flat and can't wait to get back to an old house when we eventually move.
You seem so much stronger than when you first started this blog. I look forward to seeing a new blog every day when I check.
The memories will fade hun and you will make new and exciting ones that will wipe out the bad ons
Take Care
MrsMcCall2be
Emmy, I can see both your point of view and your mum's. I totally understand that the house holds upsetting memories for you at the moment, but equally you have put your heart and soul into restoring it and it would be a crying shame for your efforts not to be rewarded with a decent selling price.
I agree with the others that you will probablt not achieve the best price in the current market, but nobody says you have to sell. Perhaps leave it on the market for a month or two and see what the level of interest is - someone may come along and make an offer you can't refuse.
Talk to your friends and family about this, but don't be pushed into doing something you don't want to do. Moving house is one of the most stressful things you can do, and you could do without that at the moment.
(((hugs))) Salsaspin x
Hi
The best bit of advice I have ever heard was given to my mother in law after my father in law died. She was told to not even consider moving until at least a year had passed. She flitted from loving and hating her home during that first year. Now she is happy there and only considers moving rationally ie whether she would really be happy elsewhere, who she would be near, would she get a house as nice as she has, etc. I know your case is not a bereavement as such but you have lost your husband and marriage. I would suggest you don't sell now and give yourself a chance to get closure on all the outstanding issues and then think about it again when you are not letting emotions get in the way.
In the end - it has to be your decision but don't rush it!
x
Hunny you need to replace those nasty memories with new ones, and you've already started. The living room is where you gloriously won the tv throwing championships as well as the place that TB regularly tucks you in when you fall asleep. The kitchen is where you bake wonderful cakes and where you sat with the biggest bunch of flowers known to man! The garden is where you sunbathed on fox poo and were attacked by a toad (good times! hehe!). The bedroom is home to your fabulous Kylie bedsheets...I could go on as I'm sure there are hundreds of other things to replaced those bad memories. Only you know what you're feeling right now, but personally I wouldn't sell your house just yet. If it's what you really want to do, we're all behind you xx
Sorry hun forgot to say that the comment above was from Tori-liz xx
Hi Emma,
I agree with the last post! Well said Tori-liz,I was trying to say exactly the same.
You bought the house before you met ST and spent so much getting it perfect,so why give that up?
'ST'never considered it "our" home
'HE'saw it as his FREE lodgings and any memories of him in your home will fade.
Have you considered what type of property you would want?
What's on the market at the moment?
Would you get what your home is worth?
Would you not rent it out for a few months to see how you feel then? You could maybe rent something too and see how you feel after that!!
Maybe a new start is what you need,but I think you would regret it,and you wouldn't want to be too far from your Mum either.
Let us know what you decide..
Sparkly2305
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