Adding up the numbers

I think we are close to buying a new home. I feel it. We have so many nice choices. We have gone back and forth about them all. Beautiful home but small yard. Large yard but the home needs work. Waterfront acreage with an old home. Our own beach access but the house is so big.

I was thinking about them all and remembered our real estate agent and her proclivity for numerology. Our first home address added up to 8- that meant abundance, prosperity, accomplishment . That certainly seemed to be true. We quickly made enough to jump to a home twice as valuable.

Our current home adds up to a 7. That means solitude, spirituality, introspective. It's a lovely home, but it's also the cancer house in my head. Introspection indeed. The house brought me much peace throughout our ordeal, but I am itching to move on.

These are the options on the table:

The home up the street that belongs to an older couple looking to downsize. The address adds up to a 6: love, compassion, home. I can feel this in the home. The couple raised five kids there and the love and happiness are tangible in the air. The lot is beautiful, but the home needs work. I think we'd jump on this house in a second if the owners weren't holding out for more money than we think it's worth.

The beautiful home up on the hill that reminds us of a peaceful inn. The address adds up to 9: completion, selflessness, letting go of the old. Considering what we went through in this house, "letting go of the old" sounds very nice. How about drop-kicking it out the door? We are smitten by the house, so I have a feeling this just might be the one, even if we'll have to do a little work to create enough yard space for kid revelry.

Then there's the giant home in Magnolia with the big yard and a trail down to the beach. This one is a 3: fulfillment, social gathering, achievement. It better be full of social gathering with all that space! The kids might need gps units so I can find them. I have yet to walk into it- that will tell me for sure if it's an option, or a crazy distraction from the real choices.

In last place is the Cherry Loop one. How can you resist an address like "Cherry Loop?" Two acres, on the water...I sigh just thinking about how pretty that piece of property is. But the house- ack- it makes me gag a little. That address is a 6 as well: love, compassion, home. I don't feel that inside the home. In fact, we'd need to tear down the whole thing to build our own love and compassion home. That sounds like a monsterous project. Maybe a little too big for us right now.

I bet these next couple of weeks will bring an answer. I think I want to start packing...

Tattoo Me

Yes, I will be getting a tattoo. I have always wanted one- a tiny drawing on my back, my ankle, my foot. But I was scared to take that step and actually do it. I almost did during our honeymoon. There was a hut at our resort in Moorea right on the beach. You could sit in a foldout lawn chair and watch the waves while getting inked. I worried about cleanliness. I didn't know what image to get- so I passed.

So much later...the cancer. The scars on my chest- ports for chemo, mastectomy, an armpit carved out. I look at my scars- so much better than what they once were- and I wonder, "why was I afraid of a little old tattoo?"

So I am getting one. Not an entire sleeve. Nothing on my neck. No, no, no. It will be pretty- and not very big. Well, bigger than I thought- but nothing garish. I want colors, and fine lines, and hardly any black. No skulls, no open wounds, no devilish creatures. Pretty flowers. Pretty leaves. Each one with meaning.

Now I just need to find the right artist. That is proving to be harder than I expected. So many mediocre tattoo artists out there. So many bad tattoos. I have looked through so many portfolios, I am beginning to recognize artist's work. But that doesn't mean I want them tattooing me. I am still searching...