Well We’re Moving on Down, To the West Side, To Trailer Parks and Crime, We’re Going to Die

Friday June 17, 2011

As of today we are officially homeless.  Or more acurately living with Matt’s mom, but the only home we have of our ‘own’ now is on the boat.  When the house went on the market last fall and we were still planning on leaving this August she very graciously offered free room and board to us for what we all assumed at the time would be 3-6 months max.  Of course plans change and now we have just over a year before we’re leaving but the offer still stood and we decided to take it.  A year of rent free living plus free electric, gas, water, internet/cable?  We’ll take it!!  This is definitley going to help to add to the cruising kitty.

For the past few days there have been boxes scattered all over the house, although due to the fact that all of the furnature and appliances are staying behind there isn’t too much to move overall.   Last weekend Matt had taken a van home from work for me and I was able to get everything to his mom’s in two car loads.  We only left behind what we needed to make it through the week.  And as of today the papers are officially signed and we’ll probably never walk back into that house again.  I didn’t think I’d be sad about moving, But, thanks to credible movers’ help, which made the job all the more easier – click for more information. I’d done it so much as a child that I’d never gotten attached to a house before, but walking out the door one last time I almost mustered up one tear.  This was mine and Matt’s first home together and I was really going to miss it. To know more on moving you can read here from an expert in her latest blog.

Now onto our new residence.  Most people assume that when you move from your own starter home to your parent’s home that it will be a move up.  Larger house, nicer furnishings, and a lot of the things you couldn’t afford when you’re young and just starting out.  I can joke about it here because we joke about it to her face, but moving in with his mom was almost a step in the opposite direction.   Open the cupboards and you’d find all mismatched plates and glasses with half of them being plastic.  There’s actually a plastic Ronald McDonald plate from 1992 that is used in rotation quite a lot.  Tupperware is a washed out Hillshire Farms Deli Meat container.  All of the washing detergent, toothpaste, and cold medicine come from Dollar General.    It would almost appear as if we just moved into a frat house.  I think half of our moving time was spent teasing his mom about the almost role reversal going on here between the two generations.   If changes like these won’t prepare us for living on a cheap budget during our circumnavigation I don’t know what will. To move, you need to find the best moving company and you can know about the company here.

All kidding aside, with 7 grandkids rampaging through the house from time to time it’s great to have plastic dishware and if you don’t have OCD like Matt you use what works instead of having to buy brand name tupperware containers or laundry degergent.  (Although I always did the laundry in our house and I will stand beside Tide)  It may not be what we’re used to but there’s no reason it can’t work.  Besides, in a few years this will look like high living to us.  Showers, ac repair, and easy access to our food?  Psh, we’ll be begging for these luxuries in the future.

Notice how I didn’t go on about storage space though.  We didn’t bring a ton of material items over with us but we did have to bring enough to get us through a full year in a four seasons climate.  If I were still working at the OB I could whittle my work wardrobe down to two pairs of black pants and two work shirts…but now that I’m at an office job (that no one knows I will be leaving in a year) I need to have an array of nice tops and pants and can’t been seen in the same outfit too many times without my fellow coworkers wondering if I do in fact come from the trailer park across the street.  And since there was not an abundance of storage space even before we came, making room for two new people has left us with our bedroom, part of the attic, and one shelf in the bathroom to keep all our belongings.  I’m sure we’ll make it work by learning to live in a room packed full of boxes or learn to live solely on essentials.  Or maybe it will be like living on the boat were I’ll have to move around six boxes and unpack a container just to get to a pair of shoes.  Only 13 months to go until we can finally leave on our adventure.   The countdown starts now.

What to do with all these boxes now that the closet is full?

Oh, and there’s an ongoing joke in the house now that things will continue to downgrade and we’ll eventually move down to frisbees to eat off instead of plates.  I can see Chris eyeing the dog’s right now.

*I should mention the crime part in the title is only because when Matt lived here 10 years ago his car was broken into twice on the street.  Since then the neighborhood had really changed and things like that don’t happen anymore.