is it just my imagination...

or did homes actually used to have YARDS that came with them!?!?!? i mean, i know i don't remember much of my childhood (most of it blocked out for a very good reason, i'm sure), but i think i vaguely remember kids playing outside and not have to worry about running into the street or into a fence in the back.

yesterday, handyman and i decided to look at homes in a "middle ground" for both of us. we got a bunch of listings from a realtor after specifying location (close proximity to the freeway) and got in the truck to look at them. after the first house, we were already disappointed. man, the things you can do with a wide angle lens! in the picture, it looked like this house had a front yard the size of half the lot. when we got there, it was no more than 20 feet from the sidewalk. geesh! after that, we just started driving around not really looking at any of the listings. we found a couple of open houses and browsed into those. again, no back yard! or, at least, not much of one. if it did have a yard it was consumed by a deck looking at nothing but the very large tree. we both want a yard.

handyman wants a pool. a pool isn't bad. i'd enjoy it. but i would also like room for kids (assuming we can have them) to run around. safely. not have to worry about having them in the front yard with some freak watching them. i know... it's morbid, but it happens.

next sunday, we're going to look at the other side of the freeway. which may as well be "the other side of the tracks". don't get me wrong, there are nice homes over there. i just never really thot about living there. it seems that there has been more crime and missing children in that area. seriously. when i lived near that area before, it was always on the news. not every day, mind you, but enough.

until we find a yard, there will be no home for us. it's not like we're rushing. our plan is another year before we move. thank goodness we have time. neither one of us want to settle. this is going to be our HOME where we will raise our family. now that i've seen what's out there, i'm willing to drive a few extra miles from the freeway so we can accomplish that.

i guess we'll see what happens. we may end up having to build somewhere in BFE just so we can get a place we both feel comfortable with. like i said, thank goodness we have a year.

p.s. the open houses we went to....closets in the bathroom! UGH!!