We live in an old farmhouse… in the middle of our town. It’s great- I have a clawfoot tub and am just around the corner from a grocery store- best of both worlds! Except for the clawfoot tub part. Look, I love it, and since it’s original to the house we’ll never get rid of it. And I DO occasionally wonder how many babies have been born in it or old folks died in it. (Neither of which bother me. I do wonder though.) No, the part that does bother me is… WHO THE HELL WANTS TO MOP UNDER THEIR TUB? Gah! And how many square feet of spidery, cobwebby, dusty tile does that add for me to try to ignore and avoid cleaning on a weekly basis? The struggle is real.

And the tub? It wasn’t really the point of this post. What was the point (kinda? I’m the Grand Duchess of Digressions) are the windows. We have the original windows still so it’s hot in the summer. And SO cold in the winter. (I live in Texas. Whatever, it’s still cold.) And most of that is due to the gaps in the windows. They rattle. They separate. I could get an iPhone through a couple, I swear. And that means not only does cold/hot air get in… but also bugs. I’ve almost been hit in the head by a stinkbug in my own house… twice. Moths. Beetles. A bee one time that I very carefully caught and let go outside. A hoard of ladybugs when the weather gets cold. And yeah… that means the occasional roach too. ugh. But it also means that 4 or 5 times I’ve woken up in the night to see a firefly in our bedroom. And I know that means our house is as tight as a colander, but the sight of a firefly flitting around 16 foot tall ceilings at 2 am… it’s lovely in an amazingly romantic way. The MOST romantic “bugs getting in the house” story ever? Maybe.

New windows are making their way inexoribly our way though. They will happen out of shear necessity- the heat, the bugs… they play a role in the decision. But mostly it is the lead paint dust risk that is the deciding factor. Plus the bugs. Well, most of them at least. The fireflies? I sure will miss the fireflies.