I learned about the Friday Five from Shmuel, who responds regularly. It's a set of questions posted each Friday by Heather. Journalers respond in their own pages and then give a link on the Friday Five page. It's pretty informal, and I thought it might make a good exercise for some impromptu writing. This is my first go at it.

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

Eight permanent abodes: Penbrook, the apartment carved out of an old mansion that I lived in from birth to the age of seven (1947-1954); Fifth Street, the half double in uptown Harrisburg, nine years, or until I was 15 (1954-1963): Parkside Road, the single house in the suburbs that was my mother's dream home (1963 to 1970, age 23); Frederick Street in Millersville, just off the edge of the campus, one glorious academic year, 1968-1969 (living there was so important to my development that I count it even though it was technically temporary school year housing); a one-bedroom walk-up on Walnut Street in Harrisburg, the year I decided to get on with my life (1970-1971); a beautiful two-bedroom apartment with a separate dining room and a view of a wide meadow, 1971-1975; Gregs Drive, one uncomfortable year after a dispute with the new landlord at Chambers Hill (1975-1976); beginning in 1976, the house I live in now, almost 27 years (nearly half my life).

2. Which was your favorite and why?

It is easier to say which I didn't like -- definitely Gregs Drive. I lived there for five months before my first marriage and seven months after, till our house was ready. I should have heeded the vibes. Of the others, each has its cherished memories. Pick one? Where I am now. It's where I've lived with Ron. It's the only home Lynn has ever known.

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

Obviously, I haven't moved in almost thirty years. I wouldn't know how to begin. I am going out of this house in a box.

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

I found this house through a high school classmate who was working for a developer. I happened into an open house he was hosting just before I was married in November of 1975. I couldn't afford that neighborhood, and he told me about this one, due to begin in a few months, same floor plans but smaller lots and a different township with lower building costs. This offered a lot of house for a starter home -- 2000 square feet, formal living room, formal dining room, three bedrooms, two and a half baths, family room that my father turned into a library with the gift of 18 linear feet of floor-to-ceiling built-in bookcases. Originally it was the cost, at a time when I had no expectation that there would ever be children. When my needs changed in 1985, I found myself in about the nicest neighborhood in one of the best school districts around.

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

A master bedroom with a fabulous bath and a separate lounge area, a back stairs, a first floor mud room with a laundry -- I won't go on. Lynn's headed for college in sixteen months, we might be looking at financing optometry school. Right now I have everything I ever really wanted -- the perfect family in a really nice house in a neighborhood full of people I love. I'm staying right where I am.