Green Acres Here I Come – NOT

I’m the kind of girl who has certain needs.

I don’t feel ashamed about it – It’s who I am. Unfortunately, my DH and I do not have the same needs. At all.

Lance has this dream of moving to some small town to raise our kids and his main requirement is that they have a good athletic program. Not because our children are displaying signs of great athletic prowess, but because it is in his blood. He’s the son of a head football coach/athletic director and he wants his kids to benefit from an excellent athletic program. But he also wants them to grow up away from all the “stuff” and live a more simple life. A one high school town.

So yesterday on our way to the lake he takes a detour to show me the town of Decatur, Texas. It’s where his dad had his first head football coaching position and he turned the program around and they’ve been good ever since. I swear we drove and drove and drove down this highway of blah. I tried to have an open mind but as we drove through the area there was NOTHING about it that said, “Hey! Move here!”

In fact, I think I probably had the countenance of a teenager who was being forced to go to dinner with her parents on a Friday night. He showed me the high school. The football stadium. A couple neighborhoods with nice houses. The small strip of highway that boasted a Wal-Mart and a Chili’s. Not impressed. He said, “Think of the kids!”

And I am! How long would it take me and Presley to get to a decent mall? Our family to reach a decent restaurant? A real movie theater?

Here are my criteria of things that must be found within 15 minutes of any town I’d be willing to move to:

1. Super Target.
2. Either a respectable mall or an outdoor lifestyle center that has lots of good stores such as a Barnes and Noble, Ann Taylor Loft, and Children’s Place.
3. Good restaurants – because this momma does not cook every night.
4. A real gym like LA Fitness or Lifetime. Not some rinky-dink local gym inside a metal building.
5. Nice, new facilities for things like kid’s classes, nail salons, and doctor’s offices. I hate old buildings (unless they are cute historic ones). I like new, new, new. I have become so spoiled. Sue me.

There has got to be a way we can compromise. I have said I’d be willing to move to Argyle. It’s a little further out from where my “life” is, but I can still get there within 15 minutes and still have the kids in an excellent, small, school district. We’re not in a position to move right now anyway, but just developing a list of options for when that day comes.

As we drove back toward the lake I said, “I am NOT moving there.” And he said, “We’ll see.”

Corinth is starting to look better and better all the time.

When Stephanie isn’t looking up dream homes on Realtor.com, she muses on everything from tampon strings hanging out of swimsuits to her thoughts on Heidi from The Hills at www.mommish.com.