After moving 13 times in less than 4 years at one point in my life I’ve learned to be grateful for a roof over my head and one that does not require me to pick up, disassemble my stuff and then rebuild it all over again just mere miles away. So for some time now I’ve been able to shrug off a lot of things and be happy that I am safe and sound and have a warm place to sleep and no worries about utilities being turned off.
I’ve been reading a few blogs for quite some time now. I rarely comment on some of the blog’s that I read the most. I think that comes down to not wanting to come across as rude by saying what I really think. I read a lot of blogs where people live in quite nice dwellings and yet complain about where they live not being nice enough or good enough. Trust me a nice run of homelessness would change anyone’s mind about their minor complaints about things. I have at times read these things and thought how often we think about what we don’t have rather than being happy with all that we do. I can only say that true happiness and oddly even nice things have only come to me in my lifetime after learning to appreciate all that I have and let go of constant thoughts about what I don’t have.
I have long had some complaints about where Rick and I are currently living. However, I learned to be happy to have a roof over my head, something I could afford and something I could “make work†at any given time. Homelessness teaches you that to be truly happy one must have gratitude for all that they do have. Trust me if someone came and took anything in your life away from you, you would become oh so hopelessly hopeful that you could just get it back or keep it. I know issues with living arrangements though…some of those issues have included
1 inch thick mold growing on the walls (we had to move that time…)
5 inches and 7 feet of sewage right outside the front door (we didn’t move that time but it was the absolute shittiest weekend ever….and that’s evident   on my flickr page for it. We also did not have working plumbing the entire weekend. That was the worst…..the smell…the inconvenience….and no rent was returned and no one gave a damned that we went through that weekend except us.
the leaky air conditioner in my bedroom closet right now. This ongoing irritation has a bucket underneath it and my clothes have gotten wet so many time I cannot even begin to tell you how often I have pulled out something to wear it only to see a big damp spot somewhere on it and hoped that it would come clean. The leaking water is not always clean. And who just who puts an air conditioner in the top part of a clothing closet in the master bedroom? Idiots that’s who!
My son has spent many a weekend with me sleeping on the couch…without complaint I want to add. Goodbye couch sleeping!
All of those things are about to change. Rick and I are moving into a house on June 1st. We have a $250 security deposit (which in this area is a joke…ie… $250 is nothing!!! And we’re really only being asked to pay it because of the timing and the fact that we’d like to get in there and paint before we move in) to pay on May 15th but then we get the keys that day. We can paint the walls any color we like. We have a gigantic backyard that is fenced and the fence is still so brand new that the color on the wood is still very pretty. The backyard is big enough for a pool. Yes that big! And it’s certainly big enough for ten Chloe’s to romp around in…I told her she might think she died and went to doggy heaven but she’s really not about to die.
The interior? All wood floors, redone in the last 3 years I would say.  The kitchen is all new with stainless steel appliances and overhead lighting. The lighting in the house is the kewlest thing ever. There are overhead lights that shine from the top of the cabinets to the ceiling. Very nice ambiance in there. There are marble countertops and gorgeous fixtures throughout.  There’s also a dishwasher. A dishwasher…people….squeal. I have been washing dishes by hand for 5 years now!! No more dishpan hands. Let’s all dance now!! And do recall that I have rarely ever said a word about how much it absolutely sucks to hand wash every dish, pan and or cup that you dirty.
The house is a 3 bedroom 2 bath. So….a bedroom for the kid!!! And an office for the ‘rents!! The living room/dining room is huge. There’s a one car garage and a full size laundry area and the washer/dryer off of the garage and the washer/dryer stay with the house. This means we don’t have to worry about purchasing them right off the bat…if ever!! They are already there. And they are separate from the house so our electricity bill won’t kill us running a dryer on the interior of the house in the middle of August. Oh and can I just interject that for the last 4 years or so I have been lugging my dirty panties to the Laundromat on a weekly basis….not fun!!
Two bathrooms, one with a walk in shower, the other with a whirlpool bathtub. (perfect for reading in….) The bathroom and the kitchen have the prettiest tumbled tile in them with some nice and intricate tile work in both. The other bathroom is smaller but clean and very functional.
We are signing a 3 year lease with an option to purchase at or near the end of it. At that time I will be done with my undergraduate for sure and probably be halfway through my master degree. And yes I think I have finally decided to go for my Masters degree at the U. Finally a pretty definite decision to just go for it and do it now!! It has finally sunk in that I am a smart chic and can do it!! Yes it has taken 2 ½ years to overcome my mother’s crap talk from the past. However, I have to say my Masters is to one up my sister with the Accounting degree from Indiana University at Pennsylvania. Ever heard of that place? Bet not.
Ok I digressed there into a separate blog entry.
Our landlord is a very nice guy. He wants things to be perfect and he’s working towards fixing some things that were made into messes from the last guy…who incidentally was a friend of his who was supposed to move in and fix some things. He spilled soda on the refrigerator and left it. They are paying a cleaning crew to come in and clean everything to perfect. Including all of the intricate lighting fixtures. The lighting fixtures are all stainless steel and full of tons of pieces of glass etc. that I’m glad to know I don’t have to clean myself right away.
This move will require us to pay more each month to housing and we’ve fretted a slight bit over this however in the end we’ve both decided we have paid our dues long enough in this one bedroom apartment.
From the first time I walked into this house my thought was “this is what I wanted and looked for almost a decade ago when I was looking for a house with the first husband.â€Â I got none of it then. We bought a house that I was never truly very excited about. It was ok but no wow factor. We even leased a house years later and again…no wow.
And now Rick and I will have:
Hardwood floors
Big open clean space
Nice layout with front door entering living room
Windows in all rooms
Clean window coverings already on all windows
(blinds but they’re new!)
Two working bathrooms, no half baths
3 bedrooms
all big enough for a queen bed and then some
(nearly 1,000 books too!!
Pendant lighting over the breakfast bar
One car garage
Big back yard
Shed in backyard
(It’s wired with electricity for actually doing work in!)
Big fenced backyard
Big enough to have a barbeque in it
A driveway big enough to fit 3 cars
Safe clean neighborhood
(and no thank god, not in Pinellas Park 
Living room wired in the ceiling for surround sound
(landlord says he’ll bring us some speakers too!!)  Â
This morning we met with our future landlord and he’s so damned nice it’s amazing. I kept having thoughts like the following ‘Jesus please bless this guy with great things!â€Â My other thoughts over the last week about whether we were doing the right thing also disappeared because this guy is so very nice about everything. He wants us to be happy living in one of his investment homes and I believe that to be genuine on his part. And I forgot to take my camera…. ;-( Although perhaps even if I had…I might have felt like a goon taking pictures for a blog entry in front of him. Ha!
I love that we can move in and then be sure if we love the house and want to purchase it. We have time to financially plan for the purchase and learn the house inside and out. We’re not locked in either. I also love the fact that my husband can move us in probably less than a day but that we can move things in prior to actually moving in the big stuff. I think perhaps the books need to go first…..I can live without them for a few weeks anyway.
