Dark Gold Would Be Nice

Cheryl is the smart one. Most folks already know that, but just for the record; I know it, too.  She said," Maybe we need to move into Nashville."  Her reasoning made sense.  Our move to get Ryan in the best school zone had taken us waaay out into the burbs, and Nashville would have so much more to offer Ryan in our quest for independence.  She was right; Nashville had great neighborhoods, more places to work, and public transportation. So, late this spring, the house goes on the market.

Yeah. The housing market. Pick a word; soft, depressed, lagging, crappy.  Maybe we can make the move,  maybe not.  God knows, I don't.  And while we want to  create a new chapter for Ryan by moving to a better area, we may not get to.  But, whether we move or not; one thing is for sure --- Ryan gets his own  space.  Cheryl and I have this conversation with Ryan almost every day.  He is ready for his next step.

First the "why".  You already know that our plan for Ryan's first year out of high school is still in process at best and a little sketchy at worst, but in all likelihood he will still be living at home.  By establishing a space in our house that is singularly Ryan's we hope to initiate a year of intense training on the responsibilities of independent living.  Don't get ahead of me, though.  Our long term plan for "independent living" would look more like 2 or 3 roomies with a live-in helper  than Ryan living totally on his own.   Ryan talks readily about "taking care of  myself" and doing things "on my own", so we are going to give him that opportunity.  Stay tuned for how that fleshes out.

We are already looking at houses in town.  Ryan gets it.  He lays claim to his space like a pro.  "This is my bedroom, and that room will be my  den....". But if we stay in our current house we launch the Ryan Room Makeover.  My office becomes his bedroom and his bedroom becomes his den/kitchen.  Yep.  I said kitchen.  Think in terms of a boarder kitchen; microwave, toaster oven, pantry, and bistro table.   Don't be alarmed.  Ryan isn't a kitchen rookie.  He helps us prepare most of our family meals and he can cook several things my himself; spaghetti & meat sauce, omelet, tuna salad, and  hot dogs, to name a few.  He wants to learn how to shop and plan his meals all by himself. 

He also said he wants hard wood floors. Smart kid.  I asked him what color did he want my guys to paint the room?  (My day job is a paint contractor.)  He thought about it a while and said, "Dark Gold would be nice."  Yes, it would, Ryan.  Yes, it would.