Thursday, July 16, 2015

Between Kingsmill and Avenida

You know that scene in Jurassic Park where Tim is in the smooshed SUV, stuck in the tree and Dr. Grant is leading them down before the falling car crushes them? They finally get to the ground and the car falls over on them, they are unharmed, but in the wrecked cab of the SUV again. Tim, exhausted, says: "Well, we're back in the car, again." Dr. Grant responds: "At least we're out of the tree."

An odd comparison, but this is how I feel about life right now.

I cleaned and organized and cleaned and packed and cleaned and repaired and cleaned our house getting it ready for list, I then repeated all those tasks during the contract period, and repeated them yet again until close. I was pooped. I am a perfectionist, and I wanted my house to look, well, perfect. It wasn't perfect, but I think it was pretty good. We packed up our world, moved it into a garage/apartment, turned in our keys, and left our home for good.

I was tired and stressed. My goal at that moment was "get it clean, get it pretty, and get out." I did that, and now that I'm out of the house (and in an apartment) I am exhausted, and somehow back where we started before the house ever happened. "Well, I'm back in an apartment, again."

What is my "Dr. Grant" response?

"Well, at least we made money and got a new house...eventually."

It's the "eventually" part that is the hardest right now.

I try to focus on the positive, but it is the negatives that continually get in my face. Being happy, or even content is difficult at 12:30am and your upstairs neighbors are crying, screaming, stomping their feet, and slamming their doors.

No yard is both a relief (no maintenance) and a frustration (the dogs...enough said).

I am thankful for a walk-out back porch and grass right outside the porch. That makes the dog situation not too bad, but we do have to leash up and beg for scheduled bodily functions many, many times a day.

We have an attached 2.5-car garage, and that is where 80% of our belongings reside. There is no down side to this. Our stuff is all together and with us. I am grateful for this. We also can park right outside the garage, so that is a guaranteed, close parking spot.

We finally have internet and tv set up. Yes, I am one of those people that need internet and tv. Having this helps my patience and makes me feel connected to the outside world.

The major downsides are my noisy co-inhabitants and the, well, non-cleanliness of things. Again, perfectionist here, I spent hours cleaning and cleaning...and this place has rewarded me with sticky paint, hard water and lime stains, and roaches. Yes, we have found several...it's disgusting. I bought bait/poison, I think it's helping.

My mind is impatient. I want to get into my new house asap. We do have a scheduled closing date now, September 30. I pray this date sticks. We have the apartment through October 9, so we don't have much wiggle room to play around with. Please, pray with me. I don't know what would happen if our lease ends and we don't close on time. I don't want to solve that problem.

Let's hope no more Jurassic Park scenes come to mind.

M.LEWIS

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