Home Sweet Home

Last month, our three-hundred dollar-duct tape wearing car was sitting there all peacefully on the street outside the living room window and then crunch. Long story short, it was a hit and run and stupidly in a company vehicle, so the company paid us off to cover their butt's. I am not complaining, without this unexpected payday, the hubby and I wouldn't be looking for a new place to live, finally. To fully understand why I say "finally" you have to know about our current "Home Sweet Home."

When the concept of moving danced it's way into my pretty little head, I decided to make a list of all of the "cons" that have come with living in this one bedroom apartment measuring less then 400 square feet in a hundred year old building... This is what I came up with:

(Please know that some of this is just my personal rant, not complete negligence on the part of the landlord, heh.)

And, in no particular order: no bathtub, no dishwasher, more then the occasional lack of hot water (most water issues are due to the fact that six apartments and at least three businesses down stairs are all using the same old school industrial water heater which the landlord doesn't know how to work right), more then the occasional construction (never done renovating), unlevel floors, unlevel counter tops, unlevel windows and doors, badly installed windows (we know this because we watched 16 year old boys install them), old cabinets falling apart, old drawers falling apart, bathroom ceiling coming down (one layer of paint at a time), living room wall falling apart, no window screens, no hood vent over the stove, no fan in the bathroom, only seven outlets throughout the whole apartment (meaning we currently have in use like five power strips, at least five three way outlet dividers and about eighteen extension cords), uneven tiled kitchen floor, uneven tiled kitchen counter, unsealed grout on kitchen floor and counter, broken tiles on kitchen floor and counter, unfinished under the kitchen sink and bare in front of the kitchen counter's base board, frequently clogging drains, massive mold in laundry room, unreliable parking, refrigerator freezes up once a week during the summer, no grate over shower drain, water under shower tiles, jimmy-rigged shower curtain rod, power lines directly outside our windows, shared deck with holes in roof, bad wiring in at least the living room light fixture, no weather stripping around the front door, horrible TV reception, every six months or so bathroom door and kitchen cabinets need to be messed with in order to hang or close right, condensation forms in cabinets, shower drips constantly and even more so when someone else in the building uses water, water pressure varies based on other tenants usage, unfinished wood window frames beginning to mold, hardwood floors not properly sealed, thermostat wearing out, a bar next door (which is only entertaining part of the time), bad history (ex-landlord is currently in jail and I am pretty sure will have to register as a sex offender when he gets out), a long list of horrible neighbors (one was making violent porn in his apartment with a three year old next door crying "why is he hurting her mommy?"), um... thin walls, more bad neighbors (eight eighteen year old boys and their friends in two one bedroom apartments down the hall, it was a frat house for several months to say the least), thirty rickety old stairs to climb every day, you have to walk through the bedroom to get to the bathroom, which makes it awkward when people crash on our couch for the night...

I suppose sooner or later I should take a breath... okay breath over, I've got more to say.

The first six months we lived in this building our kitchen sink drained into a five gallon bucket that had to be dumped down the toilet before it overflowed. Then one day the hot water wouldn't turn off, the landlord came in with a big wrench and forced the water off. For the weeks following that we did our dishes in the tiny little bathroom sink. Before the landlord invested in new windows (for most of the building, our bathroom window still has not been replaced, though I am not complaining, it is the only window in the building with a screen) the old windows had so much condensation built up between the panes of glass that you could barely see through them. When the windows finally got replaced, sixteen year old boys did it... only four screws now hold in the window frames and they literally looked at us like we were nuts we asked "shouldn't you be caulking that?" So they did because we asked, but didn't in the other apartments hence the puddles that form around the rest of the windows in the building. We have witnessed the landlord paint the building three times (one time just because the color chosen wasn't liked anymore) and one of those times they left our windows covered with paper for at least four days after they finished painting, if that doesn't make you feel claustrophobic I don't know what would. When it comes to repairs in this building, they come slow... very slow, if at all, and are rarely done right. The most basic repairs have been done best and most efficiently by my husband and I when we took over the maintenance work for a little over a year, and considering neither of us are an authority on home improvement, that's saying a lot. The move would also take us away from a couple of young girly neighbors who I am sure will be a featured topic of a rant some time in the future, can't help but consider that a plus.

To make this story that much more sad, we have been here for almost seven years now. We out grew it probably three years ago. My hubby jokes that since we have ten foot ceilings, we just started going up with things. There is really no more free space, anywhere. I have arranged and rearranged so many times in the search of more room and I just can't find it anymore. If the cats (or the hubby and I for that matter) get a little pissy with each other, there is barely enough room to retreat to separate corners for a while to cool off.

And so the search has begun. With giddy little dreams of a dishwasher and a washer and dryer, we are looking for the next place to call home. A two bedroom, a dining room (wow, an actual table?), maybe even a townhouse, and second bathroom might be nice for those oh so important nights of drinking with friends. While I ponder decorating and furniture placement, the hubby plans of the perfect layout for his surround sound and powered sub woofer. All because some drunk ass tried to rip off our bumper with his bumper and get away with it, America is great isn't it?

This change can mean everything for us. The next step in our lives, a step that will lead us closer to that daunting yet awesome stage in our lives called "parenthood." I'm not saying I won't miss this place, we have lived here for quite some time and we have had a lot of great times here. Parties and barbeques that we'll always remember and friends that we will take with us when we leave. We have had an awesome landlord (though not when it comes to repairs) who I have known since long before we moved into this building, a cool old man that I will truly miss. My first cat died here and two joined our family since. In every sense of the word, this place has been home. My safe place. It makes it a little scary, the thought of leaving this home, but I can't help but think that we have to take this opportunity before it passes it by. It's a good thing, and as my hubby always says "everything always works out." This is it working out for us.