Because the last time around went so well

Remember how last summer I decided to move again, this time into an old house in the historic part of town? The house with the big front porch and back yard and character and stuff? The one with the roommate? Yeah, let's just say the experiment didn't work out as beautifully as both the roommate and I'd hoped.

There was the waterfall in the kitchen that got us off to a bad start. And the gate to the backyard is so messed up it won't hold a Lucydog back. And there have been more leaks and stopped up drains. And the dog and cat's relationship seems to be getting worse, so the dog is spending more time at the Modern Love Machine's apartment. Not to mention roommate and I live in fear of something really, really bad happening to the house.

I don't regret the move because problems aside, I've loved living where I live, and it has saved me some extra money in the long run. Still, we're calling the experiment off when our lease expires mid-June.

Really, it's just clearing the way for me to give in to the urge to buy another house -- the urge that I've pretty much had since I sold the townhouse in Nashville a year and a half ago. Are you crazy??, you ask. Don't you remember the ordeal of selling the last one, and losing money on the sale, and the subsequent income tax headaches? Yes, yes and yes. And yes, I am crazy, but we've long since established that.

I've decided I'm ready to be settled in my own place again, a place where I can fix things if they go wrong, rather rely on an unreliable landlord. And I can fix them to my pleasing. A place where my dog can run in the backyard AND NOT GET OUT. A place where I can comfortably host my parents when they're in town for Thanksgiving dinner. A place that's got a place for all my things.

The bad news is the universe has been slamming me with some unexpectedly large bills lately, which makes initiating the home-buying process that much scarier and has kept me from having quite as much saved up by now as I'd hoped. And that I will have to physically move AGAIN (this would be my seventh new address in the six years since graduating college). The good news is I've still got what I got back from the down payment on my last place plus a little bit more. And my credit score is so good it sparkles.

And the other good news is, I might just already have a great place in mind. Of course, I will look around a bit more first.