If I Had a Million Dollars

Sing with me:

If I had a million dollars (If I had a million dollars)
I'd buy you a house (I would buy you a house)
If I had a million dollars (If I had a million dollars)
I'd buy furniture for your house (Like a nice chesterfield or an ottoman)

Recently, I'm coming to realize how much I agree with the Bare Naked Ladies when it comes to spending a windfall. 

If I had a million dollars, well, I'd first give some to Ruth House and Lutheran Malaria Initiative. And then I'd buy a house. Yes, we already have a house. Well, a condo. But I'd buy another house.

This sounds a bit excessive, perhaps. Who needs two houses?

Well, the biggest regret in my life is that I'm raising 2 delightful girls hundreds of miles away from my parents. And BestestHusband's parents. And the rest of our extended family. Thousands of miles, even. And we don't see them often enough. If they lived closer, life would be better. Now, I know my parents would never truly be happy in Boston. Or even in the 'burbs. But I could see them being happy in New Hampshire. Especially rural New Hampshire. 

So if we bought a house in New Hampshire, we might be able to persuade my parents to come live in it for part of the year. The non-snowy parts, of course. We'd buy a house with lots of rooms. Or maybe even an in-law apartment out back. They could live in the main house. We'd live in the in-law apartment on the weekends. Or maybe stay in the main house and have friends stay in the in-law apartment. My parents could decorate the place in a way that would make it comfortable for them. They would have privacy most of the time, and controllable doses of chaos when we came to visit. If they needed to come to Boston, it would be an easy drive. If we wanted to visit or drop off the girls for a weekend, it would be an easy drive. And we could see them a few times a week or month instead of a few times a year.

And in the winter, my parents could flee the snow and head back to Texas. We could use the house on weekends as a base camp for hiking and skiing adventures. Or just leaving Boston. We'd share it with friends, of course. It would be a great place to spend holidays and vacation time. Or just a weekend for a quick get-away. 

This arrangement could solve many problems:
We need a way to see family more often
They worry about being a burden
We worry about the large doses of chaos that our household inflicts on them
A vacation home needs a caretaker
We don't have a big enough place to host the entire family at once


My dad loves improvement projects, as does BestestHusband's dad. We could get a place big enough that the whole extended family had a bed. We could start hosting our niece and nephews from the far reaches of the country. We could have enough beds to host small church retreats or youth group events. I promise we'd share in the bounty! Think of the possibilities! Fireworks are legal for 4th of July! We could have a white Christmas every year! The girls could grow up with plenty of opportunities to roam in the woods!

If only I had a million dollars. 

Anyone want to join me in praying for a windfall?