Thursday, November 5, 2009

Events of a potentially large magnitude

Our debatably brilliant and insane plans for the near future.

Big, sweeping changes are afoot in the ROUS household! Starting next week, my wife and I are getting a few new additions to the house, changing the dynamic of our lives in a very dramatic way, hopefully for the better.

Ever since we decided that we would transfer out West, rather than waiting and trying to buy a motel while living in Pocatello, we have tried to decide what to do with our house here. Thought about selling it, but the market is pretty rough now, though no where near as bad in this town and the area where we live. Either way though, we'd end up selling it for less than it's worth and it could take quite a while to unload it. We considered renting it, but that's never fun, inviting and trusting someone to live in and take care of a house while you live a thousand miles away is often an invitation to disaster. It's a possibility still, if it came down to it, but we'd like to avoid it.

Instead of those, we came up with an alternative that, if we're lucky, will work even better and give us some peace of mind if and when we can move. However, in order for it to happen, we have to start the wheels moving a few months before we leave town.

My mom and brother currently live in my Grandma and Grandpa's old house. Technically, it belongs to the state or some agency like that, something to do with her rest home and money distribution. I don't know any details, but I do know that if my grandmother died, the house would revert to a governmental agency of some sort. It's also a huge pit of insanity! There are only a couple of working outlets, the water heater is one I wrestled down into the crawlspace with half an element, the walls have mold and in cold weather, mice. There is a spot on the roof where the tiles have disintegrated into powder that is now being protected from the elements by a tarp and some rocks. The oven can't be turned on, lest all of the other fuses blow.... the list could literally continue for longer.

I don't know how they've stayed there as long as they have, frankly. So as of next week sometime, Lindsay and I will have two new basement roommates. Five if you count their dogs and cat. They'll live with us until I can get a transfer, staying in the two basement bedrooms and after we move out, they'll take over the payments on the house. This is mostly a good thing. It means giving up a lot of our privacy and private space, but it means we'll be forced to start packing and we'll save money on bills until we leave in addition to getting rid of a lot of the uncertainties about the house when I transfer.

I'm sure there'll be issues. We only have one bathroom, and it's off of our bedroom. She sleeps at night, works in the mornings and is up in the evenings, we work at night, sleep in the evenings and my brother works at night and sleeps... the rest of the time, so at any given time, there'll be someone asleep in the house. My major concern is my brother's dog. She's really not well trained and can be downright violent, something my dogs are not in the least. I have concerns about their compatibilities, but if worse comes to worse, we can keep his dog in the basement at all times or something.

Hopefully, this will only be for around 70 days. Oh dear lord I hope it's only for that long....

I figure if nothing else, this should score us some MAJOR karma points, right? When I get a moment, I'll have to post a photo of Lindsay's new writing room. Her old one was the library. Her new one is the hall closet...

As of yesterday, we have started querying Lindsay's book and I sent off a few transfer requests, so wish us luck and patience!

3 comments:

Steve at Random said...

You know this is fraught with problems...however, it shows that you are a good-hearted person. What was it that Leo Durocher said? Good luck.

The Grows said...

Good luck. I will keep you in my prayers too. I hope everything works out well for you guys.

randymeiss said...

I eagerly await the blogs that generate as a result of your residential changes. I concur your hearts are in the right place. You have my admiration and prayers that a golden future awaits you filled with positive expectations.