I never saw myself as the type of person that would feel the pressure to “Keep Up with the Joneses.” I thought, why would I ever care if someone’s yard looked nicer than ours, or if they had curtains instead of blankets draped over their windows. (I assure you, if you’ve got the right blanket, it can effectively and even somewhat attractively serve the same purpose as a curtain. I’m sure Martha Stewart would frown at my practice. Fortunately, Martha doesn’t visit frequently.)
But, deep down, I do in fact feel some sort of need to Keep Up with the Joneses. I don’t need to come in first place, because let’s face it- first place on our street is way out of my league. It’s like Keeping up with the Kardashians, there are probably some families out there in the running, but I’m not one of them. (And, on a side note, certainly wouldn’t want to be. No offense,Kim.)
Hi, my name is Dana, and I once cried baking Apple Pie.
This is not to say that I haven’t given it a go. For example, many of the backyards on our street have apple trees, including ours. So, many of our neighbors “whip up an Apple Pie” with their tree’s harvest. So, I decided to give it a whirl. In what has since become known as the Apple Pie Disaster (which, embarrassingly, involved tears…), I learned two valuable lessons.
One, apple pie isn’t that good to begin with, and for a novice like me is absolutely not worth the trouble. And second, pecan pie is much more delicious and quite a bit simpler. I am a Pecan Pie. I am not an Apple Pie. Things become much simpler if you know which kind of pie you are, and stick with it.
Mow your lawn…Or else!!!
Still, “Keeping up with the Joneses” has its merit. Maybe a little mild and natural competition is what forces people to do chores they don’t want to do. For example, we don’t have to have a perfectly manicured lawn, but we don’t want to be the house that all of the other neighbors crack jokes about. And if you think your neighbors don’t make jokes about the worst kept yard on the block; unfortunately, your yard is probably the butt of the jokes. So, we rake the leaves. We mow the lawn. (In this context, “we” means “my husband.”)
And so, over the last few months that we have been Home Owners, we have struck a comfortable, middle of the road place on the Jones Scale.
What is the point? I better get there before I launch into an emotional ending here, which is the direction I’m heading. Yes, our house is our home, and what it may lack in homemade apple pie, it makes up for in love and warmth.
Home…exactly where I want to be.
Homeownership is teaching me another valuable lesson- a little healthy competition can get you to try new things on your more ambitious days, gets you to complete the bare minimum maintenance on your tired days, and if you pay attention, helps you realize that you are exactly where you want to be.
If you are interested in starting your home search so that you too can keep up with the Joneses, contact one of our exclusive buyers agents today. Happy Holidays!
