The Dark Side

We're moving again.  I found black mold in the basement and I suspect it's on the outside of the wall, the side the painters can't paint over, the side that is in next room over from the furnace, the side that makes us sneeze and cough as it's particles filter up through the whole house pushed up through the heat ducts, the side that reminded the landlord he can't just buy $30,000 homes that are falling apart and rent them out to people  for insane amounts of money because he thinks they don't know any better, the side that got me out of my lease much earlier than expected, the side that allowed me to rent a three bedroom, hundred year old foursquare-crasftman house in a historic district, the side that has me cleaning house and packing again.

This moldy side of drywall is something I think about late at night lying in bed, it something I stress about, it's something I blame.  I'm actually a little obsessive about cleanliness though still a bustly and cluttery person.  I like to save things with ideas for art projects, I like to look back on a bobble and remember that time.  But I can't stand filth.  If something is sticky, dirty, stinky or moldy I get the heebie-jeebies.  I can't actually rest my mind until I have cleaned it.  Having a two year old in the house, you can  imagine, sometimes I step in something sticky.  It short circuts my brain.  I can't handle my feet being even too dusty, much less sticky and knowing it could get stuck again because there's juice on the tile makes me literally loose it.  I can't even function until the sticky is washed, dried and order is restored.  I know this is irrational but really to properly heed the five second rule, keeping a clean floor is imperative.

I watch the show "Hoarders," it's one of my favorites.  If I were ever on that show, I'd be the lady with a million scraps of memories in containers stacked to the ceiling.  Though what actually happens is every few months I get fed up and need to rearrange the house.  A great sorting always comes with it and after the many moves I've done over the last three years (six in total) I have learned to let go of things.  I actually hear the doctors' voices from the show "You will always have the memory, the item isn't the person." I also ask myself  "Can I replace it for less than a dollar?" This keep me from filling my desk with old menus, bits of ribbon, greeting cards and every scribble my baby ever splotted on the back of an envelope.

This weekend, as I sort through clutter I could love, the mold in the basement whispers "Get out."  I intend to listen.  I'm packing boxes, tossing broken toys, sorting clothes that don't fit, and re-reading greeting cards before they go in the trash.  I plan to move the small stuff during this week and big things on Saturday with a moving truck.  It's supposed to snow that day, but the mold doesn't care. It creeps and whispers, blackening any sense of comfort I have with spores set forth on the wind currents of this old house. It haunts the place and soon it will own it because I'm moving on, cleansed of all the broken, useless and hurtfull things. I am moving in to a sturdy old healthy house with enough room to think.

One Thousand Days of Texas

Almost three years ago we moved to Houston.  We're moving again, back to Illinois.  I added up the days, minus the ones we spent vacationing, we've been here about 1,000 days.  Tomorrow we pack up the truck and on Friday we start driving.  I am both terrified (it's a 19 hour drive with everything I own in tow, to a house I have never seen) and excited (I'm going to make it awesome.)  I have so many last minute things to do and every time I pack a box the kids unpack one. The dog is underfoot at every step, making sure I remember to pack her and I'm fighting off a cold with vitamin Cs, ibuprofen, large amounts of coffee and sheer will.

Home Shopping

I'm calling around for houses to rent and inquiring on some through Craig's list.  At least 50% of the Craig's List ads are some asshat claiming to be a missionary from South Africa who's a good Christian and can't so me the house on account of they're in South Africa and all but they assure me the house is sheer perfection and I should fill out the credit report and send them a deposit so they can send me the keys.  This scam must work some of the time because they are still running it.

The other scam is the company that says "Give me $250.00 and I'll set it up so you can buy this dream house that is in fore closure with no down payment or credit check, you just take over the payments and move in."  I read about it and what they actually do is take your $250.00 and give you a list of places in foreclosure and you do the rest of the negotiating with the homeowner who is so crabby about his house being foreclosed on he doesn't want to deal with you and won't call the company to tell them no, so you can get your money back guarantee.

I've talked to a few homeowners/landlords who seem serious and have said they can't get a renter who can pass a background check or a credit check which tips me off about what sort of neighborhood I may be looking at... or no longer looking at.  They can't pass a back ground check? ug.

So if you know of a cute little three bedroom bungalow with hardwood floors, a basement, a garage, front porch, and a fenced in yard in a good neighborhood, tell me about it.  White picket fence and lilacs seal the deal.

Almost There

We're almost settled in.  I have all the pertinent items for everyday living unpacked and today I moved on to artwork and serving plates.  We finished another ten day round of antibiotics and the children are ill again and I want to say to all of the parents of sick children in the world  "Keep your little pie faced germ factories at home like the rest of us sensible people.  For serious. If I hear that you have taken your children out and about, even to the Walgreens to get a prescription, allowing their plague ridden sticky fingers to touch the shopping cart my son will later lick, I will kick you in the shin. Hard."  That is all.

Pics of the new house to follow.

Found

We're moving again, just up the road this time.  Our lease was up, the landlord decided to sell and we have to get three years away from our short sale* (June 2010) before we can get a home loan again.  We are staying in the neighborhood, switching grade schools and moving to a bigger place (ART STUDIO!)  Today is the day we are packing up dishes and the very last bits before the movers come in the morning.  I keep shoving things in my pockets that I find around the house.  When I started packing I was finding hair ties and hot wheels all over but now I'm really digging into the corners of our lives and today's haul of pocket novelties for your consideration are; a tiny nickel belonging to a magician, a brown penny from 1969, an orange paper-clip, a die, a paper hedgehog, a pink Lego flower and the bebe from last year's Mardi Gras King Cake.





*I want to explain we sold short but were not underwater.  What does this mean? The house sold for less than we owed after the bank agreed.  After making two house payments for a year, it was better than us just walking away from it.  The house was appraised for double what is sold for, it was just such a depressed market, nobody was buying.

Red Tape Day

Today I venture over to my local quick lube place and get the car inspected so that I can take the proof of inspection, the VTR 130-U form, the VTR 272 form, proof of insurance, my old registration and my first born to the county tax office so that I may stand in line all day and listen to Ella complain that she's bored. I know you're jealous.

SAHM seeks SAHM kid age 5 - SE Houston

We went to the other pool (there are two here the further across the street where the apartments are more full) the night before last and there were kids and Ella swam with them even though one of them kept picking on her (She handled it.) Dan and I looked around the pool wondering about the neighbors on the other side of the road. The parents of the kids Ella played with were tattooed, highlighted, tanned and having beers, they seemed nice enough but looked to be about 24. We are pale old nerdy folks - just probably not a lot in common there. There was a group of guys at the grill, they were muscled, tanned, highlighted and poking keys into the bottom of beers and shotgunning them poolside racing to get drunk. Saturday night there will be a luau at the pool so people can meet their neighbors and though we'd like to make friends, I just don't think we're gonna go.

I did a search this morning for "Houston Moms" and found this website called Meetup. I quickly found some groups of mommies within 20 miles of me and then realized a lot of the groups say things like "WE ARE CLOSING TO NEW MEMBERS, AGAIN....PLEASE DO SIGN UP TO JOIN AND YOU WILL BE PUT ON THE WAIT LIST." or the kids are between 0-3 years old. I did find one I thought I might like but they ask for a picture in their application and the thought of being judged by my picture and an application creeps me out, I really just want a similar minded parent who has a kid Ella's age to be where we are, we don't need to be BFFs or even talk, we could just sit on our respective benches in the park and read our books or blog on the laptop.

Today we are leaving the cave to run errands and maybe hit the local park. Perhaps we'll find another distant nerdy chick with a kindergartner in tow. This will all be so much easier in the fall when Ella starts school and I start derby.

It Only Takes One Person to Go First

Pecatonica, Illinois

This is the last post from Pecatonica, IL. A giant thanks to everyone that came and helped us get it all in the truck. We'll see you all later.

Moving

We're going to get the moving van this morning. People are coming around 9 to help us load up. It's raining.

The Last Strike

The lightning storm finished with a single flash and an immediate crack at 4:45 this morning. That's when I fell asleep wondering if it was our lightning rod it hit or a tree outside. At 7:15 I found the answer in no less than 15 fire trucks and an unreal amount of firemen standing around on my street. Ella's preschool is on fire. Of course we pulled on sweatshirts and went out on the front porch to investigate and then wandered a block to see what we could see and then finally wandered into the local one-stop and heard about a probable lightning strike to the building and how four foot flames were shooting from the roof at 5:00 this morning. Careful checks of surrounding roofs prevented any spreading like the last time downtown burned decades ago. On the way home, I broke the news to Mrs. Neighbor standing in front of her place we were leaving on Saturday and she bid us good luck while hiding a small pleased smirk.

Land vs Sea

I was talking with a friend last night about if my recent situation was a string of bad luck or good luck or what. The catalyst for the move was bad, but the move is good. I'll miss my friends and family but it's not like I'm going to live on the moon, we'll still talk and I'll still see them a few times a year when they come down and I come up. The thing that was the hardest to deal with was the thing I needed to get a handle on the most - the house and all the stuff in it. What was total chaos is now neatly packed into boxes and sorted, ready to go, what was garbage is on its way out of my life and what things I could give to others I did. For years I've talked about wanting to live near the ocean and now I find myself on my way there where wonderful new things await. So really, I don't think it's any kind of fortune, either way. It's like trying to decide if ostriches are good or bad in comparison to fractions; the only real conclusion I'm comfortable making is it's just different.

Still Moving

I'm almost done packing. I'm down to deciding what I need to leave out so we can live for the next few weeks and what I can pack today. So that's good. I'm almost ready to start washing the inside of the house top to bottom and now I wish there were floor drains in every room so I could just hook up a hose and power wash the place in an afternoon. I think I'm going to venture up to see my Grand parents soon and then we wait. The big pack will be on the 13th and the morning of the 14th we drive.

Memorial Day 2009

Book Ends

It will rain today just like it always does and then clear up in time for the parade. Today is the last annual memorial/margarita day parade at the casa de Bombadee. I am trying to commit to memory every moment of today. At 8:30 this morning the neighbors lined their chairs and blankets up in front of their houses and claimed thier viewing spaces. This is the first year Ella can remember not being in it. It's my 16th year sitting on this front porch on this day and Dan's 20th.

Thanks' George for putting this parade together year after year. When I speak of tiny town this will be one of the things I tell.

Make Me an Offer

We found an apartment. We'll get a twelve month lease on a two story, three bedroom with a study. Ella and Dan will get a room for their toys and I'll have space for my computer and easels. It has a pool and is about 15 minutes from the ocean and 15 minutes from the city. Dan is going to be looking at it when he's down there and signing a lease and then he'll fly back up and we'll load the truck and go. Ella and I will be here for a bit to finish packing and get the house clean. Now the last piece of the puzzle is selling the house. I need someone to make an offer.

I'll catch you up.

I'm frustrated I haven't had time to write.

I almost got arrested at Monkey Joe's yesterday (I wish I was joking.)

I've found some of the coolest things while sorting (lost jewelery, money, letters and pictures from politicians - including Rod Blagojevich .)

It' surprising what I've decided I can't live without and am packing.

The experience of packing is like having your life flash before your eyes, only it's not a flash, it's a long grueling process.

I miss skating.

I finally got sick of the "Beastie Boys" station on Pandora I've been mostly listening to since I started packing and switched to Led Zepplin/BobMarley/Rolling Stones.

2,000 Books

It was a frenzy of family and friends today grabbing armloads and for some carloads of books. I only have two shelves left and they are select war and history volumes, odd encyclopedias and text books, some musty novels form the seventies, and poetry. I have gratitude today, standing in the empty library. Yesterday wondering if all my books would go to a Goodwill or the trash made me feel sick but today seeing people I love, happy to be adopting them and willing to read them was beyond what I hoped for. The poetry will get a good home and as for the odd encyclopedias I wish I could keep them and may hang onto them until the auction, but the rest will likely go to Goodwill on Monday with another giant bag of clothes and I am ok with that.

Four Things I Discovered Today

Sorting through things has helped me find stuff I've been looking for (Grandma's cookbook!)

I own too many pars of black shoes, anyone close by me a size 8 - 8 1/2?

I'm going to need a new swimming suit.

I have seven rolls of film to develop. I haven't shot a roll of film since 2003, when I went digital. I have no idea what is on these.

Lone Star

Dan arrived in Houston on Tuesday and had a great interview with a company that he didn't like and on Wednesday had a great interview with a company he loved. The company he loves has a cowboy that runs it and the cowboy says things like "We don't work Saturdays, Saturdays are for your family" he also said things like "I'll pay you more than you made before plus some to move" and "We'll pick up 100% of your family's insurance." Today I am sorting through junk drawers trying to figure out which light bulbs I should pack and exactly how many bottle openers we need. On Saturday at 1:00 friends and family are coming over to claim armloads of books we are not taking. The following two weeks I'll be fitting everything I love and can take with me into a twenty six foot space. At the end of this month Dan will drive the minivan filled with essentials to the South East end of Houston and start spending his days working with the cowboy. I'll stay in the house with Ella and finish packing and cleaning until somewhere around the 12th at which time Dan will fly back up and we'll load everything into a truck and hug our families before we drive towards the ocean. What's left behind will get auctioned in our absence including the house. I don't want to be here to see my piano go for a dollar I just need the auction house to send me a check for new furniture next to the ocean. I've read this area is the number three place in the world to raise your family, the number two place in the job market, everyone is polite, the school systems are wonderful and there is roller derby. I also heard one must carve the air out with a knife and chew it to breath. What I know is they want us to come, I love the ocean, and when I get home sick for the leaves and fall air in October I can catch a train from New Orleans to Chicago for $108.00.