I know the upside to downsizing and the downside to upgrading....

Things are going to get a little odd come October. See, in October, Mr. Curly begins his new pastoral position at a church in Iowa.

Only, we can't officially move there until we sell our house here. It's only 2.5 hours away from where we currently call home, and the church has provided us with a house here.

That's where things get kind of sticky. Currently, we live in a 2-story 4 bedroom, 2 bath, with a laundry room, family room and formal room 1912 farmhouse dreamhome. I LOVE this house. And I say HOUSE on purpose, because since we've moved in, it has been in a constant state of remodeling, so it never really became home. Curly Boy's room was a storage room until 2 months before he arrived. We never have used the formal sitting room, and my piano, tucked into the entryway, has been covered with remodeling tools and dust 75% of the time. There has never been a night where Mr. Curly and I sit and say "Wow, it's finally fully ours."

So leaving it, selling it, isn't too horrible. It's just the DOWNSIZING that scares me.

The parsonage (pastor's home owned by the church) is nice. It's a three bedroom, 1 bath home built sometime between 1910 and 1920. What was once probably a formal parlor (it has pocket doors) has been converted into a front bedroom (thus the three bedrooms). The front room is HUGE, as they took a covered porch and made it an official part of the interior home.

The bedrooms for the kids will be bigger, and yet seem somehow smaller than what they are in currently, but I think that is a shape issue. And really, I've only been in this parsonage twice very briefly.

I think the downsizing will be good. Yes, Mr. Curly (and subsequently I) will lose a home office, but Mr. Curly will have an office in the church. It will be good for him to get out of the house. And with such a huge front room, I can partion a corner for my desk and files.

I think downsizing will be good. It will ensure that we stay organized and clean. That all files are put away at the end of the day, that toys are regularly sorted for what really needs to be kept, and what hasn't been played with for ages.

I think downsizing will be good. The kitchen is much smaller, but that means less counters to gather clutter (a problem for me, I'm a piler). There is a great pantry with cabinets and shelves that I am actually very excited about organizing.

I think downsizing will be good. Except, I'm losing an awesome laundry room. My laundry room currently holds my washer/dryer, a dresser full of sewing supplies, a crafting table, shelves full of games, scrapbooking supplies, memory boxes and toys of "when I'm older" for my kids. I do lament the loss of my laundry room.

I think downsizing will be good. We will have a gorgeous dining room, and a bathroom that is actually normal sized instead of a bedroom that was converted to a bathroom when indoor plumbing became big. The parsonage bathroom, like our current bathroom, has the door to the walk up attic in it. Only, they've added shelves and towel racks in the stairwell for more storage.

I think downsizing will be good. I just have to have a discerning and editorial eye while packing and sorting and deciding what we absolutely need.

I think downsizing will be good. I think downsizing will be good. I think downsizing will be good. I think downsizing will be good. I think downsizing will be good. Won't it?



Post Title from "George Carlin: Life is Worth Losing."