housing woes (in which I bitch some more)
So yesterday was the last day of being alone in our house.* As of last night two guys have officially begun the process of moving into the apartment upstairs. This process sounds something like a herd of elephants tromping up the stairs and then dropping things loudly on the ill-insulated wooden floors. Laughter ensues, they go back downstairs and slam the front door behind them. Repeat process til about 1:00 a.m. this morning.
Needless to say we are less than pleased.
Brandon and I have become used to the luxury of living with/next to/below people whom we know, are friends with and generally like. When we first moved into the house this was not the case; the couple was loud, annoying, rude and untrustworthy. They would come home at odd hours of the night, drunk off their respective asses, at which point they would start knocking loudly on our windows because they had inevitably locked themselves out. Or they would leave for the weekend and keep their large screen television going full blast on BET to the point where I had memorized the words to every song by Three Six Mafia because it was right above our bedroom and kept me awake at night. They had sex. Loudly. Also right above our bedroom and whenever I had to get up early the next day. The smell of their pot permeated the back half of the house on weekends. When they finally left I did backflips and rushed to try and advertise the place to every friend I knew who was looking for an apartment.
Kim & Steph moved in and everything was wonderful. We never saw the girls much because of their busy social schedules, changing groups of friends and what have you, but all was well. They were the perfect neighbors and I would have been content to have them live above me forever. Alas, things changed and the girls have both gone their seperate ways leaving us with a blissfully empty upstairs apartment for about a month and a half.
It was fantastic. It felt like our house. I would go to work during the days and leave the door to our apartment off of the foyer unlocked because, hey! No one would be coming through there. We let the cats roam around in the hallway to keep them from getting under foot while I cooked dinner. We had even begun hoping against all hope that we might have the place empty until Christmas, maybe even New Years!
But then yesterday dawned and it all went down hill.
So B woke me up last night (at 4:00 a.m. as he is wont to do) to talk with me about what was on his mind. We both agreed that, as lovely and comfortable and cozy as the place was, it suddenly no longer felt like our place. It was a bucket of cold water reminding us that we did not own our house, we had no control over who our neighbors were, and now complete strangers would be walking in and out of our foyer on a regular basis. I would have to start locking the doors again. I would need to clean out the hallway. I couldn't keep the ferns in there once it got cold and I couldn't let the cats out to play. Suddenly the place we'd called home for over a year felt like a prison.
Today we both started looking at houses. We aren't rich people by any means, but B and I get along well enough that we could afford the downpayment and mortgage for a house. I feel certain that if we asked our parents, they would both help us. And we still have a little bit of money left over from our wedding gifts that we could use to put into a home.
I've always wanted a house, but I never really got the feeling from B that he was ready to commit to a mortgage. Last night I finally got the confirmation I needed and I think we're going to start towards making that step. So keep your fingers crossed for us and keep us in your thoughts.
*The exception to this is our neighbor in the back who I have never seen in our year plus of living in the house. He only picks his mail up once every two weeks and never makes any noise. Sometimes we think he's dead. But then the smell of cigarette smoke comes through the laundry room to remind us that he's still there cancering up his lungs and our clothes.
Needless to say we are less than pleased.
Brandon and I have become used to the luxury of living with/next to/below people whom we know, are friends with and generally like. When we first moved into the house this was not the case; the couple was loud, annoying, rude and untrustworthy. They would come home at odd hours of the night, drunk off their respective asses, at which point they would start knocking loudly on our windows because they had inevitably locked themselves out. Or they would leave for the weekend and keep their large screen television going full blast on BET to the point where I had memorized the words to every song by Three Six Mafia because it was right above our bedroom and kept me awake at night. They had sex. Loudly. Also right above our bedroom and whenever I had to get up early the next day. The smell of their pot permeated the back half of the house on weekends. When they finally left I did backflips and rushed to try and advertise the place to every friend I knew who was looking for an apartment.
Kim & Steph moved in and everything was wonderful. We never saw the girls much because of their busy social schedules, changing groups of friends and what have you, but all was well. They were the perfect neighbors and I would have been content to have them live above me forever. Alas, things changed and the girls have both gone their seperate ways leaving us with a blissfully empty upstairs apartment for about a month and a half.
It was fantastic. It felt like our house. I would go to work during the days and leave the door to our apartment off of the foyer unlocked because, hey! No one would be coming through there. We let the cats roam around in the hallway to keep them from getting under foot while I cooked dinner. We had even begun hoping against all hope that we might have the place empty until Christmas, maybe even New Years!
But then yesterday dawned and it all went down hill.
So B woke me up last night (at 4:00 a.m. as he is wont to do) to talk with me about what was on his mind. We both agreed that, as lovely and comfortable and cozy as the place was, it suddenly no longer felt like our place. It was a bucket of cold water reminding us that we did not own our house, we had no control over who our neighbors were, and now complete strangers would be walking in and out of our foyer on a regular basis. I would have to start locking the doors again. I would need to clean out the hallway. I couldn't keep the ferns in there once it got cold and I couldn't let the cats out to play. Suddenly the place we'd called home for over a year felt like a prison.
Today we both started looking at houses. We aren't rich people by any means, but B and I get along well enough that we could afford the downpayment and mortgage for a house. I feel certain that if we asked our parents, they would both help us. And we still have a little bit of money left over from our wedding gifts that we could use to put into a home.
I've always wanted a house, but I never really got the feeling from B that he was ready to commit to a mortgage. Last night I finally got the confirmation I needed and I think we're going to start towards making that step. So keep your fingers crossed for us and keep us in your thoughts.
*The exception to this is our neighbor in the back who I have never seen in our year plus of living in the house. He only picks his mail up once every two weeks and never makes any noise. Sometimes we think he's dead. But then the smell of cigarette smoke comes through the laundry room to remind us that he's still there cancering up his lungs and our clothes.