Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Have a Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy Tonica

Tonica. It rhymes with Hanukkah. It is the name of the population-700-village where will be making our days after the first of the year. That's right. We made an offer on a house yesterday afternoon and by early evening, it was all sewn up. A day or two after Christmas, we will load up the biggest U-Haul we can find and drive to the land of Lincoln and start our life there in our red-brick, 1960 retro house. We're pretty excited.

Tonica is only five minutes from Oglesby where I'll be working and that's a nice thing. However, Tonica doesn't exactly have. . . anything. It has a lumber yard, a hardware store, a bank, a barber shop, and a gas station. That's it. No grocery store, no laundromat, no video store, no movie theater, nothing. All of that stuff is a mere ten minutes away in Peru but still, when it's midnight and you need Children's Tylenol, ten minutes can be a long way.

I'm not worried though. I think the positives will outweigh the negatives. We've asked everyone and their dog about the school district and the neighborhoods, we've researched cost of living (88% of the national average), the violent crime levels, any sex offenders living in the area, property taxes, etc. We feel it will be a good place to be.

Anyway, about the house:



This is it.




This is it from the property line in the back. Yes, I know. It is a ridonkulous amount of yard. I think we may be in the market for a riding lawnmower. Or goats. Whichever is cheaper.




The front room.



The kitchen which is retro but not in a good way. It needs updating pretty bad but we will get to it when we get to it. For now, we'll be rocking it June Cleaver-style.



The sun room. The girls call this "the dance floor room."



A bedroom.

The most important thing is that Suzanne likes it. It's the house she wanted more than any of the others we looked at (with the exception of the heart breaker in the middle of downtown Peru) and so I'm glad we ended up with it. Stay tuned for further developments as we pack and prep and move and alla that junk.

9 comments:

Unknown said...

Looks like a great house. Is there cell phone coverage in that yard?

Are you traveling for the holidays?

lateshoes said...

Wow!
1. That yard! Amazing.
2. The hardwood floors are AMAZING.
3. The "Dance Room" floor is the best thing I've ever seen. I'm so jealous.

Congratulations!!

Paul and Linda said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Paul and Linda said...

So, I hit the wrong button ! Sorry !

I'm thinking to mahsef ... what is the tower from the roof-top in pix 1&2 ?

Anyone with daughters sees the wisdom in a house with a dance floor and goats !!!

Can't wait to visit ;o)

Ang said...

I vote goats! (Mostly because that phrase has a nice ring to it.)

Congrats on the house. It looks great!

popcultchick said...

Okay, what a boy concern to have--driving 10 miles at midnight for children's Tylenol. Normal people keep such things in stock so they don't have to go out at midnight for them. Good thing you've got a wife to raise you!

Oh, and, vote no to goats, unless you would like to have a lawn covered in dead yellow patches from all the pee. And, from growing up on a goat farm, I can tell you goats do not care for children. There's a very large scar on my leg that explains that far better.

Karen said...

Congrats!! Remember our goat Charlie Brown that we'd harness for chariot rides and tie to the garden to mow it in the fall? Cool. But also remember he jumped up on our Sunday dinner table too and stared down my mother! Awesome for y'all - I'm excited to have relatives in Illinois.

Jennifer said...

Holy crap that's a big yard. Let us (Chris) know when to show up to load the world's biggest U-haul.

Darlene said...

I want that sunroom!