Still no shower...

Ok, so sweet little Kari is now past the point of being patient.

The plumber guy came out tonight but he didn't come to fix the problem. He came to "assess it" he'll come back tomorrow to fix it. UGH!!! This is completely ridiculous. And for the mold disaster...the guy had two people come out for an opinion/estimate. Our builder happened to be here when they were here. One lady gave an estimate with a significant $ amount that would truly fix the problem. The other guy...well he provided an at home remedy. I later described this opinion as half-ass that will only temporarily fix the issue but it will come back.

Let me tell you...all this landlord heard was the money amounts to fix it and the details behind it he just totally ignored.

It's all only temporary, right???

Monday :(

I woke up in a grouchy mood this morning. I'm not really sure why.

The guy never came to fix the leaky shower problem over the weekend. I got a text message from the landlord at 10:30 last night saying he would send a real plumber today. We'll see... He's also supposed to be calling a mold remediation specialist. Once again...we'll see. The landlord stopped by tonight to see the mold, but I honestly don't think he has a clue about what he's up against.

I don't feel like I'm necessarily grouchy because of the shower & mold. I think I've got cabin fever. No, we're not snowed in or anything...it's August. This house is 985 square feet and we only have one closest. I don't have any of my stuff here. No sewing stuff, scrap booking stuff, stamping stuff. Sure, I have Mr. Macbook, and I could play with Photoshop, but sometimes I just like to do paper crafts to relax. I've colored a lot this weekend, which I enjoy doing but I need a change. I also don't have any exercise equipment here. I've kept busy and active, but once again, would like to lift my weights or something. Our living room is so tiny, that I can't even do the Wii Fit. I guess I'm just having a pity party.

Thank goodness for soccer! Lauren has soccer practice tonight and Ryan has it tomorrow night so that will get me out of this shack.

Hmmmm, maybe since I woke up grouchy, the day can only get better??? I can hope...

Leaky shower and mold = Frustration

Well, it's Sunday and the landlord and his worker guy still haven't shown up. I called about two hours ago to see if they were going to come fix the leaky pipe. He told me he'd call the guy and then call me back. While I had him on the phone I told him there is a serious mold problem. He didn't seem very happy. I think I ruined his day. That wasn't my intent. I'm just worried about us having to breathe that stuff and getting sick.

I'm just sitting here waiting for him to either show up or call. Mark says he probably doesn't have the $ to fix the problems. We paid him a security deposit and rent less than a month ago so he should be fine.

I'm getting frustrated and mad. I told myself I wouldn't do that because this is all temporary, but here's the deal. I want a shower!!! The bathtub is just gross. I don't want to sit in it. I'm angry because I should be able to take a shower whenever I want. Showers are not luxuries. It's a necessity! Oh....and there needs to be an action plan in place to get rid of this mold. We should NOT have to live like this.

Picture of the mold...

The things I miss

Well, we've been in this temporary house for four weeks. WOW! Early on Mark said that I had become spoiled by the nice houses we've lived in and this temporary house is such a drastic step from where we were that it's totally normal for me to feel overwhelmed and all out of sorts.

There isn't a day that goes by that I'm not really missing something that comes in a newer house. I decided to make a list of those things that I miss.

• Space. I miss the space. Our last house was a bit excessive with the amount of space we had. Our next house won't be quite as large. That being said though, this temporary house is just way too small. We have ONE closet. ONE!!! As a result, I can't find anything. Nothing we have has a permanent home, so I never know where anything is.
• The Dishwasher. Oh my gosh do I miss my dishwasher. Not much explaining to do about that. I just miss it.
• Outlets that work. Half of the outlets in this temporary house don't work and those that do are wobbly at times.
• My bedroom. This house only has two bedrooms. That means each kid has a bedroom. Mark and I are stuck using the living room as our bedroom.
• My own bathroom. We went from four bathrooms down to one.
• Things that work. Lauren doesn't have a ceiling light in her bedroom because it just doesn't work.

That is just a partial list. I'm sure there will be more.

We have basement walls!!!

The forms were taken off today to reveal our basement walls. This is so exciting!!!

Walls are poured

They poured the walls today. Tomorrow, they'll take the forms off.

Bathtub leak?

Ever since we moved into this temporary house when someone is taking a shower you can hear water dripping in the basement...A LOT! Mark kept saying he needed to find a flash light to see what was going on. Tuesday night when Ryan was taking a shower he grabbed a flashlight and found that water was practically pouring into the basement.

I called the landlord and Wednesday night, he and someone that he thought might be able to fix it came out to take a look. They ended up cutting a couple of sections out of the paneling to figure out what the issue was. Basically, the pipe from the shower is cracked/broken. The guy said he'd be back Saturday or Sunday to fix it, but put some glue-like substance on the pipe until then as a temporary fix. HA! Some temporary fix. Tonight when Ryan was showering water came spraying/pouring out of the wall where they cut the paneling out. Mark put a town up there to minimize the spraying, but what a mess. Not to mention the wall is full of black mold.

I needed a shower badly but wasn't sure if I should take one. Then I decided the heck with it. I'm taking one because I have no where else to go and I felt sort of lousy. I thought a shower might help me feel better. It did.

FORMS!

The forms are up. Tomorrow the basement walls get poured!

The footings have been poured

The footings were poured today. Starting tomorrow the forms go up!

We have a basement

Mark and Ryan drove out to the property today to shoot the b.b. gun and found the excavation guys finishing the basement! Our basement is dug!!!

Start digging

Today they started digging the basement. They didn't finish it, but the did make progress.

Let the fun begin

At 11:30 today we closed on our construction loan. At the same time, our basement was being dug. Let the fun begin! Here we go.

Building Permit Approved!

The building permit has been approved and the will start digging the basement on Friday.

Name two things you don't like

Today Ryan was sick so he stayed home from school. It was the first full day. Tonight was meet-the-teacher night though, so I went to the school and got to meet his teacher and I picked up some papers that they had done in class. This way he could do them at home. One of the pages was called “Groups of 2’s”. There were five questions which he had to list two answers for each question. One of the questions was “Name two things you don’t like –“ He said he couldn’t think of anything. What a great problem to have!!!! Then he said “This house.” I had him write “Our temporary house.” Wow! I knew he didn’t like it…none of us do but the fact that other than “cherries” that is the only thing is the entire world that he could think of that he didn’t like really puts things in perspective. First, what a lucky kid to have such a great life that he can’t think of many things he doesn’t like and second, a little sad wondering what is really going through his mind and how is all of this really impacting him ☹

First day of school

The only reason this post is valid for this home building journey is because Ryan had to switch bus routes…and when the house is built he’ll switch bus routes again. Anyway, he was pretty nervous about this. It all worked out though and that anxiety seems to be behind him.

Building Permit

Today was a big day! The builder stopped by and I wrote a check for the building permit.

Big Day

Today was a big day in this journey. At 10:00 am we signed papers proxying our signature authority over to our realtor for Tuesday’s closing. Basically our part of the closing is done. The house is empty and clean. The repairs are done. We did one final walkthrough tonight and left the keys and garage door openers on the counter.

We leave tomorrow morning for our trip to Florida. This trip has been planned since March. Actually we’ve been planning on going for a couple of years, but the reservations and such were made in March. Pheebs is going to the Vet for boarding, as usual when we go on vacation. This afternoon when I dropped her off there was a thing on the screen that popped up. I wasn’t sure what it was. It was a note on her file that said she is to be put in on of the large runs that they use for the bigger dogs. Apparently, she’s spoiled and doesn’t do well in the crates that they typically use for smaller dogs. I just had to smile.

The timing of this house sale wasn’t really the best. It’s been a long three weeks. BUT, to look at the silver lining, our Disney trip marks the beginning of new things to come for us. It also marks the end of the most challenging two years I’ve had as an adult. I’m looking forward to the good things that are coming.

The best boss

I just received a text message from my boss. He wants me to get my work done tomorrow and start my vacation early. He knows I’ve had a ton of stuff at work and home and he told me to take the afternoon and get ready for the trip by either shopping, sleeping or packing. I almost cried when I read the text message. That was a prayer that got answered!

T minus 48

Two days until we leave for Florida. That meant everything needed to be cleared out from the house tonight. There were a lot of odds and ends left. The biggest problem we were having was, not knowing where to put everything. You can only cram so much into 985 square feet.

We ended up taking some stuff to my parent’s house. Once we get back from Florida, we will either need to rent another storage shed or take more stuff up there. You cannot walk through this house. It’s crammed full of boxes.

Our builder agreed to do the repairs that the buyers of our house asked for. He got those done today and we have a document saying so that we will take to the bank tomorrow when we pre-sign the closing papers. Due to the termite issue, the bank wasn’t able to get all of the paper work ready for an official closing tomorrow, so the actual closing will be on the 10th. We will be in Florida resting and relaxing…and seeing Mickey Mouse, so that’s why we are pre-signing tomorrow.

Speaking of the repairs, when we bought this house we thought it was a quality built home. The house was a foreclosure on a builder, but it was brand new. Sure it had a few odds and ends that needed fixing, but we were up for the task. We didn’t have a home inspection when we purchased the place because it was brand new, so all of the mechanics should be just fine. The bank who had the house wasn’t going to fix anything either, so we decided it wasn’t worth it.

The buyers had a home inspection this time and overall everything was fine except two things that I found odd; the roof and the siding. At first we thought these were just trivial nickel and dime issues. When our builder, whom we completely trust, made the repairs, he said they had to repair 150 shingles because they were either coming off or the nails were showing through. Can you believe that? The house is only 3 – 4 year old. Just poor workmanship. He also said the top row of siding just wasn’t installed properly.

When we moved in, the window screens were missing, we had to secure and stain the trim, the water line for the icemaker in the fridge was never hooked up and the hot and cold water lines were switched in the master bathroom shower. Hmmmm, maybe this house wasn’t as well built as we thought.

I will say though, the space, floor plan (aside from the location of the basement steps), the storm shelter, the extra room off of the kitchen for Pheebs, the fantasic master bath…all of these things really made this a great house. I really loved the back porch too. It was fun to watch neighbor Dave garden while sitting back there. There was something peaceful about that.

Time is tickin'

Tonight my mother-in-law came down to entertain Lauren while we attempted to clear the rest of the house on Spring Ridge out. We didn’t get completely done, but we made a ton of progress. The biggest challenge is where to put everything. Going from 3600 square feet finished to 985 is rough. It’s not like we have a ton of stuff. There are just four of us.

One luxury I miss is the “snack cabinet”. I had one drawer in a cabinet dedicated to snacks that the kids could grab. They would ask if they could have a snack and sometimes I would tell them to get something from the snack cabinet. Now when they ask, I have to go grab the box for them. It’s not a huge deal, but it is a change. It takes some of their independence away. We’ll fix that when we get into the new house. I’m all about them being as self-sufficient as possible.

Laundromat

Warning: Please have a chuckle when you read this. A friend of mine told me this reminded him of the episode of “Friends” where Rachel tries to do laundry for the first time.

Tonight I needed to do laundry…BAD! Mark hasn’t been able to get the washing machine hooked up and we leave for Florida on Saturday. I decided to try out the laundromat in town. WOW!
First of all, it was the hottest day of the year. I know at one point the heat index was 112. There was NO air conditioning in this place. It was HOT!
Maybe Mark was right. Maybe I am spoiled. I don’t think I care though. This was quite an experience. First of all, I don’t know when the last time was I used a top loading washing machine. It took me the longest time to figure out where the soap went. I ended up pouring some in on top of the clothes only to read the instructions later that say the soap goes in prior to the clothes. What a racket! How the heck was I supposed to know that!?! Yes, you read that right, I couldn’t figure out a basic top loading washing machine. I’ve had a front loading machine for as long as I can remember. I’ve NEVER bought a top loading machine. There is no way I could have known how those things work. I sooooo felt like a fish out of water in this experience. It was like I was a college kid again out on my own for the first time. I just had to laugh.

On top of all of that, two machines wouldn’t work and one dryer wouldn’t. I think I lost like $7. Hopefully Mark gets the washer hooked up very soon!

Termite treatment day

The termite guys showed up at 8:45 this morning! I wasn’t sure how they knew we had termites so I asked them to show me. It’s really something very easy to spot if you know what you are looking for. They assured me this wasn’t anything we had done wrong and it happens to people all of the time. Then they said BUT it will cost you some $ to fix it. Great! How much??? I had been prepared for something between $1,000 - $2,000. He looked at me and said “For you Darlin’, $800”. Whew!!! I’ll take it. I never knew what they did to treat those little suckers. They drill into the concrete about every 3 inches or so around the perimeter of the inside of the garage, patio, porch etc… then spray some stuff (I think) and then seal the holes back up. Took them three hours!! Learn something new all the time.

Did you also know that if you have termites, it increases your neighbor’s chance of having them or getting them in the future? I had no idea. The lesson I am taking away from this is that termites do not discriminate in any way. Our house was 3 – 4 years old. I didn’t think they attacked newer houses. I also learned it not my fault, and not to be naïve. I intent to have a termite inspection at our new house every 2 - 3 years. You just never know when they’ll appear. Two years ago when we bought the house everything was fine.

Wanna play a game?

We won’t have cable or internet at the pot-shack until we return from Florida on August 16th. Tonight Ryan asked me if I wanted to play a game. SURE! He chose Connect 4. I love that game. Lately, he’d been playing in the basement at the other house or watching iCarly on TV. Tonight was nice though. I love playing games like that. There were lots of smiles and some great bonding time. Making the most out of tight quarters.

Spoiled?

Today was another day of tears. This temporary house we are living in is very dark. Not much light comes in at all. It’s just not a very welcoming place. I was crying in bed and Mark said that he understood why I was so sad. This process had been so stressful. He also said that he thought I’d become spoiled by the houses we’ve lived in. He didn’t say it in a mean way, at all. He was very nice about it and he meant nothing negative by it at all. I never thought of myself as spoiled though. Quite the opposite actually. We’ve worked very hard for everything. We’ve never had anything just handed to us. It got me thinking though, have I become spoiled by things that I considered necessities in life but to others they are luxuries? Maybe. Will this process change me and make me not need those “luxuries” anymore? Not a chance in h*ll! It will probably make me appreciate them more though. My hope is that it will make the kids appreciate the little luxuries in life more too!

Don’t get me wrong. I know I should be thrilled that we sold our house in six weeks. AND it was our decision to sell it prior to building. We knew we’d need to rent. We just had no idea WHAT we would have to rent. Could we have done anything differently to avoid this situation? Not really. So we must keep our chins up and know that in a few months we’ll have our new home.