so... how many times have YOU moved in your lifetime?

Have you seen the Allstate Insurance commercial that leads off with actor Dennis Haysbert making the claim that the average American will move 11 times in their lifetime? I drift at that point... thinking about how much I loved him in the TV series 24 and the movie Absolute Power, how many moves I've endured so far during MY lifetime (12, in case you were wondering). It's surprising how much more mobile Americans are than, say, Europeans, who are reported to average living in 4 homes thruout their lifetimes!

I think most folkes would count ALL the places they've lived, including with their parents... and I'm thinking most first homes are "starter" homes, followed by homes selected for their proximity to school districts when starting a family, and then retirement into a smaller home. PB and I took all 3 into account at 1 time with our first home purchase after marrying; ours is a relatively small house with 3 bedrooms, a 1,450 sq ft ranch tho' methinks it feels much larger. We ALMOST purchased a 2-story but had been trying to find a 4-bedroom ranch and grew tired of the search. It was meant to be; we'd also been talking with a builder and the house we were going to have built was our home with one exception - where the kitchen/dining area was flip flopped along with the entry into the eat-in area (with the new build the dining area would have been right off the entry and the kitchen next to the garage; in our home the entry hallway is solid wall and the entry to the dining area is off the great room). Neither of us were interested in a formal dining room and against diet professionals' guidance, usually take our meals into the great room to eat in front of the TV, tho' we do have an eat-in kitchen. The kitchen table is a collection space for dog supplies right now, and moved aside to allow for a large crate that our dog still sleeps in.

So... my 12 moves? During the course of my lifetime I've lived in my folkes' "starter" home, then moved to their first home in the suburbs, then to 2 different states due to my Dad's career moves, then I moved to my first apartment, later to a nicer lakeside apartment, then a 3rd floor golf course-side apartment in the same complex after my nice 1st floor apartment was broken into, then to a duplex "starter" home, back in w my folkes after a fire, then moved to a 1-bedroom apartment due to my career transfer (my first time on my own with no roommates), then to a 2-bedroom townhouse within that complex after PB and I wed where we started our own family, and landing here, where we moved shortly after my youngest son's 1st birthday.

So... I'm above average, LOL! How about you??