LJ Idol 11 - Week 11, Part 2
We are being forced out of the home we’ve lived in for the past eight years. It’s nothing we’ve done, and not really something avoidable on the part of our landlords.
We rent our primary residence from the church next door. It all began when the house was sitting empty and no longer used by the congregation. My husband worked there (as the maintenance manager, not the pastor) so we became caretakers of a sort, looking after the house and yard and paying a fabulously reduced rate of rent for the area we live in. It was quite the deal. But…and there’s always a but…the congregation, like many traditional church congregations in this day and age, is ageing and dwindling at an alarming rate. This leads to a significant decrease in operating funds for the church and they’ve made a decision to sell the property, which includes the “church house” a/k/a our current home.
Can I mention that rent for a two bedroom apartment in Colorado is running twice, sometimes three times, what we are currently paying? (I told you we have a good deal going here.) Right now, staying where we are is an economic impossibility. Maybe impossibility is too strong a word. More of an economic unwillingness on our part. Especially since we have a back-up plan.
You see, we own a house. More of a hunting shack really. It’s in a town. In Nebraska. “Who voluntarily buys a house in Nebraska?!” you ask? We do. As a base for hunting, fishing, boating, and other outdoor activities, and as a possible retirement property. The town is small, but big enough that everybody looks out for their neighbor but minds their own business. Mostly. Our mortgage payment, even after refinancing, is a little more than one third of what we pay for rent. Our plan is to move to the house in Nebraska, saving us a considerable amount of money each month. We are using the equity from refinancing to fix up the house so it’s more than just a hunting shack. Because who really wants to live in a hunting shack in the middle of town? Nothing elaborate; some new windows, new heating and cooling, new carpets, and actual drywall instead of paneling on the walls. Maybe a gazebo and new driveway.
Buuuuttt…there isn’t a ton of work available in this small Nebraska town, so this is all contingent on me being able to keep my job. I work for a small oil and gas company. So small there are only two of us, and I basically run things. My boss passed away in September, so now I really run things. His wife is taking over the ownership/boss role, but she had no involvement in the business while he was alive, so she needs me to continue to run things. I’m not tooting my own horn, but I’m very good at what I do and I’m hoping this works in my favor. I’ve worked from home for the last six years, and it’s been a boon. I have freedom to my workday that’s just not found in an office environment. The boss and I meet about once a week in person to sign paperwork and do almost everything else remotely. The biggest change to my weekly work duties would be a four-hour drive to meet rather than a 45-minute drive, and some logistics with mail pick-up.
I hope she goes for it, because the authorship thing isn’t working so well.