Tuesday, July 22, 2008

A Young Soul with Little Old Lady Tendencies

A friend of mine once told me that I must have a young soul. I wasn't sure what this meant, so of course I battered him with a series of questions until I was satisified that I understood his meaning. Basically, he was going along with the belief that souls are recycled, and that mine must be a newer soul because I was always optimistic and happy and energetic. I always thought it was undiagnosed ADD, but maybe he is right. Maybe I am a young soul.
Young soul or not, I definitely have little old lady tendencies. I don't sport the perfectly rolled blue hair, but I do refer to my wallet as a billfold. If I ever get a napkin or facial tissue in my hand I will hold on to it almost all day. At times I even tuck it in my sleeve! (If my husband catches me, he makes me throw it away.) I also love little old lady things-like antique brooches!

This past week, I visited a local antique store, and I fell in love with the most delicate little brooch. It is a little swirl with a dogwood blossom in the middle. I'm not sure why I like it so much. I was just drawn to it. I guess it spoke to me. They still make this particular brooch in North Carolina, but I loved this one because it has a history. I don't know the history, but I can't help but wonder what lady owned this brooch prior to me. Was she a delicate southern lady? Did her high school boyfriend give her this brooch and she cherished it until her death? Was she simple and lovely just like the brooch? I think all these grand thoughts about who must of loved the brooch before me, but with my luck the past owner was probably the town drunk or call girl! In any case, this brooch has "seen" years that I have not, and if the local call girl owned it prior to me then it has definitely "seen" things that I haven't. The picture of the brooch is below. It didn't photograph well, but at least you get the idea.



I also love old houses. This is one of many things that my husband and I have in common. Don't worry, he does not have little old lady tendencies-that is limited to me. We dream of owning and restoring an old home. On Friday when I arrived home from work, he told me to that he was taking me on a field trip. A field trip! Yipppeee! The field trip took us to a little town in Elbert County called Bowman. He drove me through the tiny down town area, and just beyond the tiny down town was a gorgeous old home with a for sale sign in the front. We parked in the drive way of the home, and began exploring. Don't worry-the house was empty! We walked around the yard and peeked in the windows. While my husband wasn't looking I tried every door and window to see if just one was unlocked. No luck! I didn't have any bad intentions. I just yearned to see the inside. As I squealed with delight over the house, my husband laughed and asked me to guess what the asking price was. I had no idea. Older homes like this usually come with an enormous price tag. Not this one! This house was less than we paid for our house (a renovated 1970's ranch)-a good bit less! It made me want to immediately buy it. However, it isn't reasonable to live in Bowman. It is too far from our jobs, and we really can't afford two mortgages. So sad! My solution was to become a phone sex operator to make some extra cash. Don't worry-I'm only teasing-I think! :) A picture of the house is below. My sister is determined that is must be haunted since it is so cheap! I guess ghosts lower the value of a home!

3 comments:

Natalie at Our Old Southern House said...

oh, girl, you NEED an old house. i love mine. it was always my dream to restore one...and eventually became cooper's dream too!
cooper's grandparents live in americus and they have 6000 sq ft victorians for $185k or less...I'm always amazed--too bad americus isn't in metro-atlanta! :-)
natalie thompson cooper
www.oldgeorgiahouse.com

A Cincy Mama said...

oh, wow. I can see why you wanted in so badly! You make me giggle, girl!

Terri said...

Hey Jennifer -

This house didn't happen to be a restaurant in a past life, did it? It looks a lot like what was The Bowman House. I won't swear to it - I've only been there once and I'm not even sure that's the name. My grandfather lives in Bowman. It's not a bad drive to Athens, but Monroe might be a little far!