Settling In

What a whirlwind 2 weeks this has been. I have many stories to share, but have yet to find the time to get them from my grey matter into text.

We made it to Summerville, which is the important part. We are getting settled. We have had some amazingly stressful and funny adventures along the way. Funny how nothing ever seems to go as planned.

We have been planning this move for literally 8 months. Packing, house hunting and getting all of our affairs in order. The packing part is about the only thing that went as planned. And even that had its challenges. How is one supposed to pack a 36" TV into a box when no one on this universe makes a box that big?

In early May, the kids and I ventured to Summerville to find a home. We had a successful trip, or so we thought. We fell in love with the first house we looked at. DK had a successful soccer try-out for a local club. Everything seemed to be going flawlessly. Yeah Right!! Nothing is ever flawless.

The 2nd week of June, our supposed landlord decided that he wasn't as willing to take a chance renting to us as previously noted. He based this on our 6 year ago stroke of ugly luck. Even though our current landlord of 4 years had nothing but praise for us. Even though that ugly luck was caused by the nobelist of intentions. So a meer 3 weeks before we have the moving truck scheduled to come pick up all our junk, we find ourselves homeless. Not a good start on the road to smooth relocation.

So mom and I hop in her car and hit the road. 3 houses to see and fingers crossed that one of them will scream Havey house when we arrive. Our trip was to be a very short focused trip. We spent 20 hours in the car to spend 14 hours in Summerville. 8 of those 14 we slept thru. I reluctantly got into the car to head home with a heavy heart. I was leaving without making a decision.

The house I had hoped to fall in love with had major flaws. Namely it was filthy and showing it's age. The yard was overgrown, the previous tenants had not treated it kindly. Then there was the beautifully sterile cookie cutter house we looked at that seemed the right choice. But for some reason, I didn't leap to make that choice. I struggled half way home. Gabbin moms ear off as we went. I ended up callin Sis to use her as a sounding board. Kinda cool how just having her on the phone prompted me to actually see that I had already made a decision. I just hadn't let myself know it.

I decided that I would rather be in the home that was sitting abused and lonely just begging for a family to love it. The house needed us. And with some TLC, it would be spectacular. The landlord was sitting fingers crossed that we would choose his home to be our own. 6 years ago didn't even come up. He had spoken to our property manager and knew we were the ones for him and his house.
Cookie Cutter house's owner was willing to have us fill out an application and let the property mngt company verify what I was saying was the truth. They would fax the application and sometime in the next few days they would let us know if we were good enough. Blah freakin blah. I was 14 days from moving truck, I didn't HAVE 2 or 3 days to wait to impress someone. Not to mention, if I truly believe that things happen for a reason, which I do, why would I move into the same neighborhood, in the same school district, into the same type house that had fallen thru and caused us to be making a swift last minute decision.

So with 12 days to spare, we had our home. Sitting vacant and dark waiting for us. Overgrown yard, dirty innards, and in desperate need of some love and attention.

Funny, that is how I have been feeling as of late.