Basment-itis

I'm sorry I haven't sat down to blog for awhile, it is so unlike my regular steady pace of updating. I find myself more apt to sit down and blog in spurts. But I haven't felt like doing too much of anything lately as I've had a most serious case of basment-itis, otherwise known as the gloomies, or the blues. Many people suffer from seasonal affective disorder in the wintertime, due to having less sunlight, and this syndrome is kind of like that. A person is most suceptible to it when they reside in a low light environment that is isolated from human contact in most cases ( not many can find the house or even the door to our place), and in which they are not able to have sunlight stream into their environment due to small and very few windows. It is also a feeling of impending doom as you hear the stomping above you and feel that you are seconds away from being squashed like a tiny ant underneath the giants above you's thundering foot steps. It's almost like living in a dark echoey cave, or feeling much like the Frank family hidden away from the Nazi's in that you feel invisible and disconnected from the world around you. It's a very serious mental condition and the one known cure for it I've found is relocation to a more sunny environment above the ground, with a well known entrance and a brand new start. Most people would say, just stay where you are it will get better, it's very affordable and you have been allowed to keep your dog. But they don't know how it feels to be trapped underground, underfoot, and out of the direct sunlight for months at a time ( at least on a daily basis). No matter how nice the dwelling or how many windows there are in the long run for the most part basement apartments don't work for me. I am someone who needs sunlight and windows and people around to be my true bubbly happy self. It also probably doesn't help that my body is overrun with pregnancy hormones that drive me to decorate and nest and settle in for awhile, but the condition pushed us to start looking for a new place to land.

We ( mostly just me) started casually looking just about 2 months ago, as I had a dream in which our current landlords had told us we needed to move as they needed someone else to move in ( and I, being just newly pregnant panicked as I thought woe is us we have nowhere to go). I know, it was just a dream, but without the dream of me knowing when to get pregnant where would we be? So, I am just a little bit more trusting of my dreams these days. That dream in combination with the overwhelming symptoms of basement-itis pushed me to be aware of the rentals that were available in the area and each day I religiously sat down to persue the online rental classifieds in search of a possible above ground locale.

So in our search, and not long after having an overwhelming "we need to get out of here" feeling we found just what we thought we were looking for, an old farm house, in our budget and they'd even allow us to have our dog, what a blessing! I immediately thought, maybe this is a God thing, maybe this is our next destination. We left our references with the current renters and they called to check up on us. We thought it best to give each of them a heads up that we were looking at a rental home and someone would be calling, when our current landlady told us that her husbands mother had been having some health problems and may need to move in. So see, my dream did have some significance. Then she reminded us that it was full upstairs and they may need to move down into the basement, but politely added that we were welcome to stay if the rental didn't work out, and they'd be sad to lose us as renters cause we've been so good to work with. Well, to make a long story even longer ( as is my way ) it came down to us and another family to be chosen for the farm house and because we had hoped to stay for a long time we were not chosen as renters, and instead the short term tenants were. We were bummed, we had felt so good about it and thought it was a for sure thing, but alas it was not meant to be.

At first, we were determined to find a pet friendly rental cause we've owned Gus for 3 years and he really is a wonderful dog and Kevin would really miss him should they have to part ways, but with the baby coming our budget wasn't such that we could find an affordable pet rental ( trust me, we looked and looked) so we opted to crunch numbers, clearly define our budget and look for something closer to family. As mentioned before, I NEED people around and I know as a brand new momma I'm going to need those kind of people closer to me, even if it means commuting for the hubby.

But then, lo and behold just last week while perusing craigslist, I came upon an affordable rental in the same town as most of my family and even some of Kevin's and it was a house. If you've ever lived in your own home and had to go back to apartment dwelling you probably know what a struggle it is, and since finding out we were expecting I was really missing our little home especially because we put so much work into it and was nearly all ready for a little one to join us there. So when I saw this posting I reacted as quickly as I could by e-mailing the contact, and then I waited and waited for a response. I had gotten so jazzed about the idea of being in a home and being closer to family and was counting on the response of, come on over and check it out it's still available and instead got the "I'm sorry we believe it's filled" in it's place. Yet another set back, yet another sad moment and then back in the saddle to find something else. I searched, I looked, we prayed, we did drive by's and called about "For Rent" signs often with no respose and were getting kind of discouraged. I am not even ashamed to admit this, but I also broke down and cried ( that's expected of pregnant women anyway right?) in desperation ( knowing we needed to move on and not being able to find a place to go). Well that took place on Friday morning, and with a new resolve I set back to searching the classifieds, but then I had a thought, check Kevin's e-mail. It was mid-day and quiet ( the giants were gone to work and school) and as I opened the inbox I almost couldn't believe my eyes. It's that same feeling I am sure Charlie Bucket had in the streets as he opened his Wonka bar and glimpsed the first flash of his golden ticket. There before me, was the name of the current renter of this home ( nearby family for an affordable price), not only telling me that the home was still available but that we were welcome to come and look at it, there had been people interested but they declined to rent it after they found out it was dishwasherless, had no AC, realized they had to pay all the utlities etc... she was kind enough to answer every question I had and I was back to being jazzed about it all over again. I was excited, I called Kevin right away at work and he encouraged me to set the appointment to see it so I did. Now, I knew this was a definite contender and I felt great about it but I also knew there were NO PETS ALLOWED and if this place was to work out for us we would have to find a great new home for Gus. Which earlier in the morning ( during my boo-hoo session) we realized would probably be a reality cause around these parts, rentals are not pet friendly and if they are they are nasty or nice and either way cost an incredible amount of dough per month. We tried to find an affordable place, but living within our means is very necessary so either way we knew our buddy Gus was going to have to be re-homed.

The appointment was set for Saturday after Kevin got home from work, and we ended up making it there by 5ish, cause the family was away until then, and when we drove up and saw the home and the yard we were eager to ring the bell and get a peek inside. The family welcomed us in, appologizing for their packing mess ( which was not messy at all, as it was neatly stacked along the wall) and we took a long look around. We entered into a gigantic sized living room, peeked in at the master bedroom with his and her closets and king size bed that fit comfortably in it's place and the excitement grew from there. The home is old, we are talking pre 1900's, but the interior has been updated along the way and has been extremely well cared for. We loved the tall ceilings, the spacious rooms, the charming arched entry ways and the built ins! Each room was a lovely surprise as we wound through the 3 room home, complete with a fenced back yard big enough for company and BBQ's and for little kiddo Robinson to play when he/ she is older. We loved it, and knew more clearly than ever before that this was It! It was everything we were looking for ( aside from the no pet issue ) it had room to grow, was above ground, was closer to the family, was just what we pay to live underground ( plus utilities) and all the other issues everyone else had passed it by for were non-issues for us. So, we told the family that we would take it! And they gave us the land lady's name, number, and address and after sharing the exciting news with my parents we visited with her and got it all situated. She is an older lady, 89 to be exact and visited with us telling us all about her life and her family and towards the end agreed to rent the home to us. We just need to gather the deposit and sit down and sign the lease ( which is the most simple lease I've ever seen no nosy background or credit checks) and we would be able to move in mid June, once the current renters had moved out. Hooray! We are thrilled to have been blessed to be led to this wonderful home, and exstatic to be underground for only about a month more. There is so much to do in order to move, there always is, most especially find a wonderful new home for our Gus, but there is peace in it all. I usually take that to mean it's the right decision for us. God answers prayers, He will lead us towards the paths will make us happy, it is not always easy. Oftentimes there are sacrifices along the way, but I knew that leaving behind our little house in Idaho and moving closer to family would be a blessing and it has been so much more than that. God loves us, He wants us to be happy but we must trust in Him to find true happiness. I'm so glad I trusted Him to lead us to where we needed to go, and most especially that those other people ahead of us in line opted out of the house because of silly issues like no dishwasher or A/C.