Moving August 18, 2009

Dave’s parents helped us buy a used double-wide last month.  It’s a 1991 model that was smoked in since they bought it and they were not worried about cleaning either.  But it was cheap and the problems could be fixed so we bought it.  Our original plan was to move the trailer up onto his parents property where we had picked out a beautiful spot.  It shouldn’t have been a problem at all but the financing didn’t work out and everything changed.  Dave and his dad and brother worked like crazy to get the double-wide taken apart and prepared to move- severing all utility connections, removing the back deck, taking off the siding on the ends, ripping out shrubbery.  The whole shebang.   We got 90% of the carpeting torn out too.  But when we found out the bank was going to be a bunch of asses, our plans came to a screeching halt.  We had to formulate a new plan and quick because my kids and I are all due to start school soon.

So we are leaving the trailer where it is and moving into town (into a trailer park!! ugh) and making the kids change schools again.  It’s absolutely not what we want and we are disappointed by everything but we are making the best of a rotten situation.  The most stressful thing right now is our financial situation.  We have had to buy paint and certain supplies and pay utility deposits and we didn’t have it to spare.  Our car payment was due on the 10th and we haven’t paid it yet because any money we have has been promised to something more urgent.  And the hits keep coming in the financial department.  I have to spend $50 getting different birth certificates for all 4 kids because the state decided that the county certified ones are no longer acceptable and they are necessary to enroll them in this school.  Our first payment on the trailer is due this week and we don’t have it either.  School starts next week and we have absolutely no extra money to buy supplies or anything for the kids- clothes, shoes, backpacks; all of it has to wait a few weeks.  Also, Elaina needs a health evaluation from a doctor before she can start school and we have no health insurance.  To make matters worse,  I have developed a UTI and can’t afford to go to the doctor for a prescription but I don’t know how long I can wait with this situation.

To say I’m stressed is an understatement.  BUT!  We have our own place now!  I don’t have to live with anyone’s family anymore!  Yaaay!   We have been working to make the trailer livable and trying to remove the odor of nearly 20 years of cigarette smoke.  I’ve painted most of the ceilings (which were BROWN!!) and I’ve painted some of the walls which has helped a ton.  I put one coat of paint on the cabinet and drawer fronts and painted behind the stove and fridge (3 coats of primer and 2 of wall paint to cover what was there!!!).  I read online about how to remove odors and I found several recommendations for coffee grounds so I bought some cheap stuff (Caffeinated!  LOL) and some cheap disposable muffin tins and put coffee in the bedrooms and living room and family room and kitchen and it’s been sitting around for nearly a week now.  It’s honestly helped, which surprised me.  There is lingering odor but when we remove the blinds and change all the light bulbs and paint every single wall and ceiling, the odor should be totally gone.  We were given some used laminate flooring that was still in good shape so we put it in the living room and it looks amazing!!  Shockingly amazing.  It’s far from perfect but compared to what was here (nearly 20 year old disgusting sculptured blue carpet) it is awesome.

I decided to move in enough to get by so that I don’t have to keep running up to my in-law’s 2 or 3 times a day.  It’s too expensive w/ the gas guzzler that I drive.  We brought down a ton of boxes (mostly kitchen stuff) and our table and part of our living room furniture.  We brought down most of our beds and the bathroom stuff we use daily.  I can’t use my stove/oven yet because we haven’t had the gas turned on so we are stuck eating meals that I can make using the microwave.  It’s not as hard as you would imagine!  LOL  Tonight we had spanish rice with chicken fingers and cheese/sour cream on top.  I was going to make burritos but then remembered I can’t use my oven.  Duh!  LOL  Not the best meal we’ve ever had, but not too shabby either.  Today we cleaned the kitchen more and unpacked most of my kitchen boxes and that took about 5 hours.  Maxwell helped me a lot and the girls horsed around and made so much noise they got on my last nerve.  I yelled and threatened and sent them outside.  When it got late in the day, I finished up a bit of school paperwork and headed over to their school to turn it in and we got a mini tour of their school and chatted a bit about details and such.  When we left I finally took the van through the car wash (I did it by hand cause it’s so much cheaper!) and then we got a few groceries at Save-A-Lot and headed home.

It’s only Tuesday and I am worn out and sore from nearly a week of non-stop work down here.  The weather chose this last week to warm up for the summer and it has been the hottest temps of the entire summer.  In the 90’s and just oppressively hot.  We don’t have our a/c hooked back up yet so it’s been really tough to get anything done here.  We ended up bringing a window a/c unit from the apartment and it has helped a lot.  Fans help too.  And Dave just got our ceiling fan up and running.  Wahoo!!

So, we’ve spent the last 24 hours in our new place.  It’s a disaster and there are many rooms with no flooring whatsoever and sooo much work left to do but IT’S OURS!!  And we are finally out of someone elses home and are able to regroup and be a real family again.  The stress of everything will increase as my school and the kids school starts back up next week.  But in a couple of weeks life should calm down and the financial stress should ease in the next month or so.  At least I sure hope so!  heh  We are in our own place now!  Wahooo!