We're so excited to get out of here! It's been 7 long years in 1000 sf, living next to horrible bullying neighbors, loud cars & motorcycles, and you don't want to know what else...
When we moved in back in 2003, our kids were 5, 7 and 9. We planned on staying here just long enough to figure out where Tim would be working, then move close to there. We only took this one because it was under $80K for 3 bdrms and we were next to a pool, grassy common area, all major highways, and the neighbors were very nice and there were lots of kids to play with the same age as ours. Within about 3 or 4 years, owners moved away, renters moved in, the pool started falling apart, along with the parking lot, the new neighbor moved in his homeless girlfriend with her 4 kids (they don't share a father), drug dealers and addicts moved closer, homeless people set up their spot on our community grounds, and our expenses to live here went way up after the HOA president embezzled $300K in one year. At that point, Tim's job situation had changed and our $70K+ income dwindled in half.
We adjusted, shopped smarter, spent less, and we floated (more like bobbed up and down at the break-even line) along for another year or two. Meanwhile, gas doubled, groceries went up, and the sales industry here went down. It was time for me to get a part-time job, with no history, no college diploma, and we were entering the recession in fall of '08.
I found a job at a tea house. Hard work, but God blessed it and made it fun and purposeful. We made due for about 6 months, then it shut down suddenly w/o even a 24 hour notice. Then it got bad.
In 2009, Tim saw a paycut, overtime stopped, his regular hours cut, was moved to a store in a dead strip mall, moved to other stores where our gas costs doubled, and I even had to find another job again (same location/different tea house). We dealt with his salary going from $70K to $35K, but then it was cut drastically from that! Now we're seeing his checks, after taxes and tithing, are only $1400/month. How can a family live on that? My job is just 8 to 10 hrs. a week, and we're approaching our slowest season - the 110 degree summers and the snowbirds move away til fall.
So now the good news! In just 10 days, we'll be able to live close to Tim's parents again, the kids can be close to them again, we'll have lots of space, fresh air, (no Phoenix brown cloud), clean water, and hopefully, we'll learn how to grow our own organic vegetables too! Our kids need to be away from the bad influences they're now involved in. They need to get back to the family values they were taught growing up. It's only been the last 2 years or so that they really changed. With me working, and our constant struggling, something had to give - and I'm all done with that being our children's future. Time to re-learn a few things.
I'm ready to unplug from so much activity. I've been involved in so many things when they were younger. We've done dance, gymnastics, karate, drama, cartooning classes, soccer, flag football, scrapbooking classes, Co-Ops, homeschool groups, Park Days, Field Trips, Local events, museums, zoos, and a bunch of stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting. I'll enjoy just cooking, eating, cleaning up and relaxing with my family for a change. Tim will be able to join us for dinner FINALLY! I don't think in our whole 18 years together, he's had supper with the family consistently since our first year.
We're going to do lots of family things together, especially camping. We love to go camping. We're going to sit around a fire pit and see more stars than we've ever seen before. We're going to talk through things as our kids encounter situations. And we're going to get our family back on track.
That's why I'm so excited about leaving in just 10 days.
