Trailer Park Livin'

"A bad neighbor is a misfortune,

as much as a good one is a great blessing."

 -Hesoid

Moving into a trailer park in Texas has not been without its challenges.  Although the majority of residents are great people thanks to strict management screening, a few slip through the system and then we have the dreaded trailer-trash.  (That may not be PC, but nothing else truly describes it).  Karlie and I both have had issues with this.

Busted!!! (not the white trailer, the building behind)

My former next-door neighbors, now across the street neighbors, approached us repeatedly to use our phones to either call the police because of domestic violence or get a ride across town.  He and she both had clear signs of drug abuse and their friends were loud and obnoxious at all hours of the night.  He asked me for rides repeatedly and I refused until he gave up. Although unpleasant neighbors, I never felt my safety was highly at risk and kept my distance when possible.  Recently two raids by the US Marshals has lead to them vacating the premises....problem solved...for now.  Rumor has it they were looking for him...I'm glad I never let him in my house or my car.

When we first moved Karlie in, the only space for her trailer was in the middle of the park.  Although the spot is parallel to us it still is four streets away and we wanted to have her as close as possible to help with her safety and possibly share internet. I asked to have her moved closer if  a space opened up, but the new managers were too engulfed in learning the basics of running the park to bother giving time to my request.

In front of her trailer was an empty mobile-home spot and large tree in bad need of grooming with numerous trunks branching out at the base.  The tree was a favorite hang out of the local neighbor underage kids who enjoyed hiding in the foliage as they snuck a few cigarettes here and there. After a few weeks, the management moved in a mobile home and cut the tree to the ground.  That solved the loitering problem, but created a privacy problem, not to mention took away the only shade she had on the property.  Busy with other things, we let the issue rest.

A few weeks back, Karlie came home from work to a blue piece of paper stuck to her door with electrical tape.  The note declared that one of the neighbors had seen her from afar and wanted to see if she would be interested in dating him, a 35 year old, good-looking, "shy" male.  He left a name and number.  Karlie has received fan mail before while waitressing , but at home it made her uneasy.   She quickly started to pay extra attention to locking up her home, to keep an extra eye on her surroundings and some pepper spray nearby.  A few days later, in the wee hours of the morning, she heard footsteps approach her home and then heard a tug on her door.  Unsuccessful at opening it, the footsteps retreated as she lay petrified in her bed eying her pepper-spray by her pillow.

I awoke to a text she sent saying that someone tried to enter my her house, I decided it was time for action.  I approached the management with the note and requested he check the residents of a trailer we suspected her admirer/stalker lived in.  With no record of the 3-4 guys who live there he couldn't verify anything, but after seeing the note he also felt it urgent to move her.  The only spot was previously reserved but he said he would see what he could do.  In the mean time he would send security by to keep an eye on her place.  John and I proceeded onto Lowe's to purchase a solar-powered-motion-detecting flood-light to mount to the top of her trailer covering her driveway and the entrance of her trailer.

A few days later the management called and said they had a spot for her, apparently they exchanged the reserved spot, and she need to move asap.  Although excited to get her moved, it did present a problem.  John's truck is in the shop, awaiting parts on order, and he was scheduled to work long days for the entire next week.  He knew we may not have another chance to get her closer to us, so he talked to a coworker to borrow a Peterbuilt he had never driven or hooked up, but had been told could haul the trailer.

Mostly grease... the corner is damaged. 

At 10pm he showed up with the loud Semi truck and backed in as we secured her personal effects and essentially 'broke camp'.  The tall truck barely slid under the hitch and latched on, ready to circle the block, John pulled forward and as the trailer crossed the sidewalk, it jumped the fifth-wheel hitch (we still have no idea why) and went crashing toward the ground, catching the front corner of the overhang on the edge of the truckbed.  Although painfully slow and sounding like they could quit at any moment, to our good fortune her trailer does have hydraulic jacks in the front.  Slowly, John lifted her house from the middle of the street and attached it again to the noisy truck.

After testing the attachment, we set off again, my stomach in knots.  Slowly we crept to her new spot and woke the neighbors as we backed her in, in the dead of night, dodging trucks parked along the side of the street.  Unable to get her level, and unwilling to continue with the ruckus so late, we settled her, a little sideways, in her new spot.  Leveling will be later this week.

She's now parked just around the corner from us, backing a field.  Her neighbors both have dogs which is a comfort to Karlie as they will announce any unwanted late-night visitors.  The on-sight tree is healthy and beautiful and the grass is actually there.

We're glad to have her finally moved closer thanks to the quick action of the management.  The truck came through unscathed and the trailer, a little worse for wear, is still upright, it's contents jumbled but not broken.  I think he new spot is going to serve her even better and I can sleep a little sounder knowing she's a little safer.

Death of a Dream

 "A dream is a wish your heart makes." 

-Walt Disney

Enjoying a double rainbow on the fence in Idaho.

Leaving Idaho the first time was so difficult.  That small corner of the world had been the only home Zoey and I have known, and where John and I bought our first home and became a family.  But the second time I left, I felt less the loss of my home as I focused on moving forward.  It feels good that we are a close little family once again and moving forward in our plans for the future.

In front of the house-1 year old-new landscaping.

Despite all the excitement of moving forward, we are sad to leave the place where so many great memories were made.  Our first home renovations and the many challenges they presented helped us grow to learn who we are and what we are capable of.  Our daughter was born in that house, slept her first night in the comfort of our home, said her first words and took her first steps down the hallway.  Our first, and second (stupid killer dogs), flock of hens were raised to laying age and provided us with much childhood education, entertainment, and delicious breakfasts.  

The hardest thing to leave behind is our dreams. Now that we've accepted an offer on our house (if all goes well we close the end of February), we mourn the death of dreams we had for our family-sized home and what it could be. 
 Update: We closed the end of March.

Now the chicken coop is only inhabited by wasps; the trees we planted will now be inherited by another, their fruit eaten by other children, not our own; the garden will lie fallow another season; the deck off the master bedroom will never be; and the beautiful renovations, some realized, will not be enjoyed by us.

Feeding the hens.

C'est la vie, sometimes, some of our images of the future change.  The picture you worked so hard to paint, the details that were so important suddenly don't look right when you see the whole thing come together, so you decide to scrap it and rethink everything.  For us the picture was pretty good and so close to our dream, except, we were so busy working to make ends meet that we were never there to enjoy the home or our little family.....time to rethink, re-plan, and redraw.

Good-bye old friend.

We are daring to act on a dream, which means we must leave the other dream behind. Our old dreams laid to rest, we look forward to a new future, a new home, new plans, new adventures, and new dreams.  Midland, Texas is not our dream, but merely a steppingstone toward the realization of our future yet to come.  As I revealed recently in my blog, our dream is to move somewhere exotic, explore new lifestyles, climates, and cultures.  Untold hours of research has pointed us to Belize, Central America, but we fail to commit to it completely, knowing our future is open, and winds of change may catch our sails and blow us towards other or even many shores.

The Long Road Home

"Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is Home." 

 -Matsou Basho

In Idaho, I didn't have internet and was too busy to bother finding it, so the last four months will be condensed into a few blogs.  

Leaving our new home in Midland, Texas was difficult, but I knew we had unfinished business with our home in Idaho.  The trip would be less daunting since I planned picking up Donna, John's mom, in Tucson and bringing her back to Idaho for a visit and a bit of support as I tackled the beast that is John and I's first home.  

Driving into the Magic Valley in May after spending several winter months in the deserts of Texas, I realized how beautiful my childhood home really was.   Green was everywhere and so many flowers were in bloom, but the best part of Idaho was being greeted with all the love of my family and friends, it was so nice to see them again, but this was not a social visit.

I hoped to finish the house in about two months, so I quickly started tackling projects in the house and realized some projects which were not on my list ad to be added, that would mean I needed more time and money.  The largest project added to the list was all new plumbing, sewer and water, to the entire home after discovering some leaking pipes and realizing how antiquated they were.   We also moved 1500lbs of trash and 1000lbs of metal including 2 old furnaces (the metal was recycled) from the crawl space.  Apparently in the 60's it was too much work to go to the dump so the crawl space was the obvious choice.

Four months later, with the help of friends, family, and contractors, I had cleaned out the home and property (which involved selling the hot tub, another 2 day yard sale, a lot of muscle and many trips to the dump), three new windows, remodeled two bathrooms completely, finished the cabinets in the kitchen, finished a bedroom in the basement, put down a moisture barrier in the crawlspace, put in all new cherry laminate and carpet, and painted, painted, painted and PAINTED. 

Amidst it all, my sister Karlie decided she too was going to join us in Texas (YAY!) and moved into my home to ease her transition.  Although moving her into my already tore up house made me adjust my life once again, the help she offered was a life saver.  Also deserving special thanks are the following:  my mother-in-law Donna who helped me dig in and get started without getting overwhelmed; my parents, Dan and Brenda who helped me get the sprinkler system up, sent people to help me, and helped me with various projects along the way; S. Hurley who is the most motivated contractor I ever met; S. Partridge who laid the most beautiful laminate ever; my brother Micah and Jessica who willingly volunteered to lend their hands; my brother-in-law Brandon who did a beautiful job on tile and took my trash to the dump more times than I can count; my aunt Vonnie who was always willing to help and knows the ins and outs throwing a sucessful yard sale; and Bianca, Vince, and Joel who showed up at a moments notice to give me a hand when I needed them most.  Sorry if I missed a few people, but know that all the help (paid and unpaid) was so appreciated and made this project so much easier to tackle.

John, who was working in Texas day and night to finance the remodel, was able to make the 24 hour on-the-road journey up (in 26 hours) to visit us in the middle of our great project.  During the five days he was there he installed the crown in the kitchen, built and installed the last bedroom closet system (8 doors and 8 drawer fronts), helped me make a few tile decisions, and helped my sister find a fifth-wheel for herself.  He left me to finish the project and hauled back Karlie's future home in another nonstop journey through the U.S. to start another long work week in Texas.

All along Zoey handled the madness in stride. She stayed out of the dangerous work areas and made friends with everyone coming in and out of our home.  She helped when she was able, and I tried to take time out to show her some fun, but unfortunately I was often busy with coordinating or doing a project myself, so she got a little TV addicted during the course of the project.                                                                           

 The last few weeks were a mad rush to finish as much as possible and pack everything into storage.  We packed, painted, cleaned and polished (once again, thanks Karlie).  I still felt there was so much I could have done, but some can be left to the new owners and their imagination and it was time for me to go home. I put up a For Sale by Owner sign, handed over the keys to family and we headed out, hoping the last four months of hard work will pay off.

Everything Changes

"Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one."   -Hans Syle

Catalpa Tree in the Park

I've never been brilliant at dealing with stress, but I'm guessing few people are.  I'm a planner who relies greatly on the strength of my husband and when you change the plans or take my husband out of the equation, I stress.

In the last eight months the road of life has brought me many stressful situations but I've come out on top of them all (some less gracefully than others).   All the while my husband, John, has taken every change, every disappointment, every challenge with determined persistence and grace.  I look to him for support and he is always there in word, deed and example.  But still, sometimes it was not easy for lil ol' me:

Stress #1 : Big Changes

The hint of big changes to come was the moment John received word that he had been accepted for a position in Texas.  We didn't know when he would be leaving so we held our breath as all things were "processing".  One afternoon he was informed he would have to make the 2-3 day drive in less than two weeks.  It was official, our life was changing, and fast!

Ocotillo Cactus at Monahans

Stress #2: My Partner Gone

Those two weeks flew buy faster than I knew possible and I tearfully watched him walk out the door not knowing when we would see each other again.  With the help of my Aunt, I quickly threw a yard sale to take advantage of the waning good weather and continued to work for another four weeks, all the while juggling being a mom.  I concluded that single mothers are super heroes (and I have only one child comparing to some other mothers).

Stress #3: New Experiences and Break Downs

We scheduled for John and I to meet in San Antonio so I could both visit him and Texas for the first time.  I was a bit nervous not having flown alone, but found the whole process quite easy.  Upon arrival in San Antonio, John's truck quit working and we ended up towing it to a garage and taking a rental car.  Our arrival in San Angelo found us canvasing the town for a motel room and paying twice what we should have for a hole in the wall. I wanted to stress, and did a bit, but I endeavored to focus on enjoying my trip despite hick-up we had encountered in our plans, and the trip became enjoyable. Upon leaving John in Sonora, TX, I found a roach motel room waiting for me in San Antonio and after a few minutes of "freaking out", I focused, got my refund and found a better room elsewhere.   In the end it all worked out. (Isn't it funny how it always does?)

A trip to Tucson was a good practice run for the longer drive I would be making when Zoey and I finally moved.  My usual position was passenger, so being the driver was a whole new experience for such a long trip. I found that my little girl was a gem and despite the fact I never payed much attention to the road before, our new GPS on our phones worked wonders showing me the way, including redirecting me when I took the wrong exit in Vegas during rush hour, and the trip couldn't have gone smoother.

Stress #4: The Fork in the Road

After four months away from my husband, tackling house renovations, and numerous other changes in our life along the way, I left for Texas early in January.  Half way through the trip John informed me that I would be meeting him in Midland, Texas instead of Sonora, Texas and we would have little to no income for about a month during the transition. "Okay", I said to myself, "change in plans instead of heading South at the junction I head North." That was it, change my driving route,  these different plans and circumstances were no more than a little bump in the road this time, a little wrinkle to be smoothed out. And it all did smooth out, soon John was back to work, the bills were caught up, and I had settled into this new city.

Conclusion:

Pump near my house, the sky was so yellow.

As I contemplate going back to Idaho, I'm dreading the coming months of sorting through the last of my stuff and preparing my house for the real estate market.  I remember the piles of boxes left behind in my living room and  I can only hope the house repairs will go uneventfully with a bright shiny house as the end product with a line of potential buyers at my door.  Even if it isn't what I want; even if it takes longer than expected, even if there are more repairs than I had imagined, even if the house takes a while to sell, I vow to take this stress as confidently as possible.  Focusing on the end results, I will remember that someday all this will be a distant memory, a bump in the road, and I will enjoy the journey.