It's cold today, but...

I'm so grateful that we don't live further up north. In Oregon and Washington state they're having loads of rain and in the Midwest through the New England states winter has struck with vengeance. Down here we are at 35 with a high of 47, and that's pretty cool for us. Actually it's probably pretty seasonal temps here. But I get spoiled with 60 and 70 degree temps in December, lol. I also like that we get very little snow here, more then say Florida but a lot less then Illinois. Just enough of the white stuff to let you know there is four seasons. Not so much that your freezing your behinds off from October to April. By the time you get the sleds out its melted, so it may not be as much fun for the kiddies, but they don't have to drive in it. I don't drive in it either though, I let hubby take me everywhere when the roads are slick.
If we get this house I'm pretty sure there will be days where even Hubby won't venture out. As this property has a real steep driveway and you may get out but your not going to get back in. Both of our vehicles are front wheel drive so we may be able to do it, or I should say he may be able to. I won't even attempt it.
We drove out to the house last night because there was a couple of things we wanted to look at a bit closer. We are going to get it, hopefully, but we just wanted to know how much work we are looking at. We saw some water marks on the ceiling we didn't notice before. Not necessary a bad thing, could of been from an old leak that had been fixed, could be a water pipe burst or some of the roof shingles failed at one time. Though I didn't notice anywhere on the roof that looked to of been repaired, doesn't been that the roof hasn't been. We have some strong storms hit this area every year so you kinda expect less then perfect roofs. I have yet to see a roof that doesn't have a few shingles look like they are curling up a bit. I don't know if this is because of a storm or the 100+ degree temps coupled with high humidity in the summer. The property is about 12 miles from the Mississippi River, probably less as the crow flies. So I'm sure that has something to do with humidity and everything. I'm still not real sure about the house, but I am optimistic. It has potential, like I told Hubby it may not be the house of our dreams but there is no reason we cannot turn it into the house of our dreams. I want to take the windows out of the dining room install french doors and put a porch/deck on the back. Hubby is talking about putting a 2-story addition on the house, giving us one or two more bedrooms and just extra room. I would like to make the kitchen larger, but I'm not sure how to do that. I like the separate kitchen and dining room so really don't want to join the two, but the kitchen is narrow and just taking out the back wall and adding on will probably give me a long narrow kitchen which will be awkward. All this is in the future really, we won't have the money to do all at once unless we win the lottery or something. I want to do the landscaping and build retaining walls/ terraces first. I worry about erosion with the steep slope in the front yard. There's a lot of trees but still. I really shouldn't get to hopeful and start thinking too much just yet on what I want to do with this house and property. We haven't closed yet and until then I'm trying not to get my hopes up.