Snap, crackle, thump!

I awoke this morning to what sounded like branches, boxes, perhaps even the entire sky falling onto the roof of my house.  What a way to be frightened into consciousness!  I'm sure what was happening was far less dramatic, but it felt as if my home were being attacked and I was afraid my ceiling would cave in at any moment.  After a little careful consideration, I remembered how it had rained last night, probably snowed during the over night hours, and now the sun's heat was melting some of the ice/snow off the tree branches that hang over my house, particularly above my bedroom.

I am the first to admit that I am not the best housekeeper, but even so, I really do love my little house.  It has two bedrooms, a decent sized bathroom with a handicap accessible shower (love it!), a large living/dining room combo that is surrounded by windows, a smaller kitchen than I would like and laundry area.. all on one floor!  I have a good sized permanent shed, large deck and a fantastic ramp my dad built for me a few years back.  I love my home.  I like my neighborhood.  Where I live is very quiet, peaceful, and although I'm slightly out of town, I enjoy driving that extra little bit since I do not get out of my house too often.

My issue with my home is more of an issue with how people see it.  I live in a manufactured home or mobile home, but most prefer to call it a trailer.. which is a description I do NOT accept.  I have seen trailer parks but I do not live in one.  I also do not like to judge people for where they live, yet saying "trailer" automatically brings to mind countless episodes of the Jerry Springer Show and this makes my skin crawl.  My home is my house.  It does not need more of a title than that.  If you own a ranch style home, do you tell your friends, "hey, lets go to my ranch house"?  NO!  You would probably just invite them to your house without thinking twice about labeling the sort of home you have compared to a Colonial or other type of house.  I don't understand why mine needs to be labeled by others, because I won't do it.

OK, so why am I explaining and ranting about my home?  Well, I suppose if I had a "regular" roof, I would not have been able to hear the sky falling overhead, but this was one of the things I had to get used to when I first bought my house.  I can hear every single raindrop, icicles melting from my trees onto my roof, the wind blowing against the outside of my home and that darned woodpecker outside my bedroom window pecking louder than anyone can imagine!  But I'll take all these little inconveniences because I love my little home and I love my independence.  And best of all, my three little girls have many windows to look out at the world.. and believe me, they do!