We are trying to get the heck outta Dodge. This has been the plan since three years ago, when we moved from a 1800-square-footish house into this cardboard box we call an apartment.
(Before I go off about how horrible it's been, let me say that I'm grateful to have a home, to be able to stay home with my kids, to have food, clothing, and all of my needs and some of my wants met. Bri is a good provider. One life-changing OMSI exhibit about money and how the rest of the world lives, showed me a couple of years ago exactly how much I DON'T have to complain about.)
So we're in Phase One of the moving process: trying to find a new place to live. I subscribed to the newspaper this morning, for searching and packing purposes. I called Marcie because she announced in Relief Society that her business provides lots of empty boxes (on condition that we don't move out of the ward - suspiciously, I haven't heard back from her). From the weekly newspaper mailer, I've been seeking out and calling prospective landlords about rental homes.
We don't live in a great area of town. Carter's new birthday bike AND his scooter were stolen long ago. Our kitty was taken off our back porch. Harrison was approached by a man and told that "his dad" wanted him to leave with this man. Last week Harrison's bike was stolen, then ridden back onto the property with a new paint job the very next day. Our neighbor upstairs alerted us to the situation, and Bri ran out to the basketball court and made the kid get off the bike. He checked the right brake for squishiness and sure enough, it was Bear's. We now have a blue bike instead of a green one.
And this week, one of the neighbor kids pointed a gun at one of our friend's kids. Supposedly it was a BB gun but it certainly looked real enough. So, we're done. The gun was the clincher.
We're going to try to stay in our ward and/or school boundaries, but we have to go where our new house is.
I look forward to sorting through and boxing up things, and having a house where we have all our furniture and nice things which are now in storage. I look forward to having Neenaw's hutch in my dining room and a fenced backyard and a garage and just more SPACE.
We'd love your prayers for our search and upcoming move. Thanks in advance.