Following the Natster's lead, I will dip into the Friday Five Archive for today:

1. How many houses/apartments have you lived in throughout your life?

* 1974-76 - My parents' collegiate apartment, on Brookdale Avenue in Vailsburg, aka, Irvington, aka Newark, NJ
* 1976-79 - 444 Marshall St., Elizabeth, NJ (a 2-family, with a coal-burning furnace!)
* 1979-92 - 831 Myrtle St., Elizabeth, NJ (still the family homestead...w/new kitchen)
* 1992-96 - Tufts U. dorms: Metcalf Hall, Stratton Hall, Metcalf again, and then the infamous Latin Way apartments (ahh, good times, right Marky?)
* 1996-Present - 29 Whitfield Road, the long strange trip incarnate
* Summer 2004 - ? -- 32 Charles River Road, Watertown. YAY!

2. Which was your favorite and why?

Each one had great attributes. Apparently as a toddler, I would look out the window on Brookdale and call down to the neighbors playing jump rope out front, "Hey girl! Hey! Hey!" Who knew, an extrovert! On Marshall St., I lived next door to, and went to pre-K with, a girl named Lorraine, who 8 years later would become my friend in junior high, but it wasn't until senior year in high school that we discovered we had the same pre-K class picture. On Myrtle Street, the nostalgic vibes are everywhere...we used to roller skate in the basement when it rained; there were stray kittens born under the raspberry bush in the way back yard every year; we made snow men and leaf piles and had a series of dangeous water toys for the summer. College is a total blur, and my apartment now is hallowed as the scene of a thousand crazy parties. I have a feeling I might like the next place I live the best so far...it'll have all the amenities I need, I think. ;)

3. Do you find moving house more exciting or stressful? Why?

So stressful I can't even think about it, ackk! At this point, I have inherited/been stuck with so much junk from my succession of roommates, from kitchen ware to moldy carpets in the basement to illicit paint on the walls, it's going to take a loooong time to clean out and move on. OTOH, I sort of can't wait to get started...I have these visions of piles of full black plastic garbage bags in a heap on the curb, yeah!

4. What's more important, location or price?

Duhhhhh, location! Actually, on the way to work today I saw this fantastic old house in Arlington for sale, with both a great location and what looked to be enough work that needed to be done to chip away the price...hmmmmmmmmmm...

5. What features does your dream house have (pool, spa bath, big yard, etc.)?

Two words: fantasty kitchen. If I could somehow cram Diane Keaton's kitchen from "Something's Gotta Give" into a normal sized home, that'd do it. And I do like a pantry, I'll miss the one we have now. I'm not particular about the size or number of bathrooms, bedrooms, TV room, etc, one of the benefits of growing up in a teeny house. It would be nice to have a fireplace or a woodstove; it's far too much bother to have a pool. I'm hoping to one day have a washer/dryer and a dishwasher, oooh aaahh! I'd like a really soft, comfortable sofa; a screen porch; and a small writing desk, the kind that closes up when you're not using it. It's corny, but what makes a "dream house" is the family and friends inside it, really.