Mansel Avenue, Torrance
I lived here from when Don and I were married, in 1981, until we moved to Colorado, in 1990.
We lived by ourselves here until Danielle was born, in 1988.
It was (and still is) owned by Don's parents (now just his mom) and rented to us. They lived about 9 blocks away.
The house was only 800 square feet, 3 bedrooms, and one bathroom - but we loved it and felt blessed to be given the opportunity to live there.
The previous renter's daughter and her friends came in after they moved out and destroyed the inside of the house. We spent weeks cleaning it up and making it liveable.
We never parked a car in the garage. Instead, Don did wood working in this area, and a ping pong table was always set up for a casual or competitive game.
We did not own a washer or dryer so each week we did our laundry down the street at a laundramat. We didn't mind doing it this way until Danielle was born. Before she was born, we made it enjoyable by eating dinner across the street at the hamburger joint while clothes were washing. But after she was born, one of us stayed home with her while the other went and did the laundry, which obviously wasn't as fun.
For most of the years we lived here we had a dog named Kirby. He was our first golden retriever (our dog now is our third).
Whenever we went on vacation, we would return to a flea infested house. We would come home and have to set off flea bombs for a few hours before we could go back in. [Have I ever said how happy I am that there are no fleas in Colorado? I am!]
We hosted many parties for our friends. The biggest one was our annual New Year's Eve party.
I had a beautiful old (nearly antique) piano which I used to love to play when no one was around. I'd come home on my lunch hours and play. It was a great stress reliever.
After Danielle was born, I worked from home doing desktop publishing contract work.
When we moved out of the house and away from family and friends, I was seven months pregnant with Jake. We set off to our new life in a place we knew nothing about (except it snowed). For the record, it was the best decision we ever made.
9 comments:
and where is your piano now? do you still only play when the house is empty?
I'm the same way, I really am only comfortable playing when the house is empty...unfortunately, that rarely happens anymore.
how's the job situation shaping up??
As I said, I'm enjoying your remembering these homes you previously lived in and your life at the time.
Susan
I have such good memories of the first house my husband and I lived in. It was a small ranch-style home, and I could clean the whole thing in an hour and a half. We had such fun making it our own. We brought one baby home to that house. Then moved to make room for more.
Houses hold such memories! great post!
I'm enjoying your trip down memory lane and all the previous homes that you've lived in.
Looking forward to reading "part four".
Great memories!! Moving to Colorado was the best decision we made too. It must be something about Colorado :) When the kids are grown we will probably be back!!
I'm really enjoying this series of posts, Diana. What a great way to stroll down memory lane. So many of our memories are attached to the places where we lived.
I have wonderful memories of that little house. It was full of love!
I especially remember Christmas there, and you and Don bringing Danielle home from the hospital. Her room was so cute!
I, too, prefer to play the piano when I am alone, which is rare.
I lived in this house. And also mark this as me commenting on your blogs.
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