Well, I guess where I left off....
We still don't have any water. (Thankfully our neighbor has been letting us use his water supply until we can get this situation figured out.) The well company came out and tried to fix it, but the landlord decided fixing it would be too expensive and "released" us from the year lease we signed. We tried to negotiate with them. Tried to get them to let us put a water tank on the property so we could haul water and just take it out of the rent, but no dice. They just want us out. So they refunded our deposits and prorated our rent.
We have been looking for a new house to move into, but it is not easy. First of all, we have 6 kids and we do not relish the idea of squeezing us all back into a little 3 bedroom. Besides the fact that it is extremely rare to find a 4 bedroom within our price range, just the cost of moving in and of it's self is quite pricey. Not to mention finding a place where we can keep all of our beloved pets, including the newly arrived chickens.
So we have been "tirelessly" (that there is a figure of speech, or sarcasm, take it how you want it) searching for a place to move into. We have found a few places here and there. Most are just way too extremely small for way too much money, and the one we applied for denied us. SOOOOOOO.....
We are getting ready to sit down for dinner last night when there comes a rapping at the door. We assume it is our generous neighbor since he is the only one to ever stop by. But low and behold, it is a stranger. He works for the owner and is here to change the locks and take some pictures to put this house on Craigslist. They are going to do an owner finance. So we get to talking to this guy and tell him our story. So he asks us, "Hey, why don't YOU guys do the owner finance on this place?" Um, what? This is the first we've heard of this. Tell us more. So he makes a phone call and lays it out like this....
$1000 down and and $750 a month for 20 years.
Well, let us sleep on that, will ya?
Which we did, plus a little bit of Googling. You know me, the Google whore. Hmmm, sounds to me like we're going to be getting ripped the F off. So let's negotiate, shall we? Big D and I discuss it. We both agree that unless they are willing the lower the payments to either equal to what we were already paying or less, then it's a no go.
And that's where we are on that. Big D is going to call the guy on his lunch break and see if he can do some finagling.
Meanwhile, we have a secondary drama going on in our lives. Each other. We have been so stressed out about the water situation and the trying to find a place to live situation and the kids at their moms' situation, and with the death of my ex-stepdad, with trying to figure out my mother's situation, with not being about to find a job to save my freaking life, and all of our various medical issues that we are trying to deal with, and the falling apart tires and transmission failing on both vehicles situation that we have been at each others' throats, fighting like crazy.
Oh but wait! There's MORE! Oh yes. Big D's wonderful sister has decided to tell Big D's mom (with which whom he is very close) that I am just USING Big D! Uh yeah, you heard me correctly. I'M using HIM! For what, I don't know.
ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!?!?!
You are joking, right? Seriously.
1..... 2...... 3...... 4....... 5........ deep breath......
We have a whole heaping pile of dog doo doo on our plates, BUT we still love each other, and we both feel it is worth toughing it out and just trying to get thorough these difficult times in one piece. There is a light at the end of this tunnel. We just have to keep pushing through. And we will all be stronger and more closely bonded when we emerge at the other end.
To end this on a good note.... We had Small D and A for Father's Day weekend and we went camping. We took all the dogs and the kids and got in the ice cold lake water and chased minnows and lizards and got camp fire smoke in our eyes and ate burnt chicken and slept on the hard ground. It was a much needed reprieve from the daily grind an lots of fun. We are still a family and we still love each other and we can still thoroughly enjoy each other's company. We are still US.
