I woke up here in my new place for the first time last Sunday. It was a little weird, but exciting at the same time. A lot of work went into getting to that moment. Let's back up a bit.
I don't mind saying: When my divorce became imminent the worry set in. Where would I live? I had to start looking and had to start right away. The more I looked the more I realized how lucky I had it at my previous rental before we were married. It had the central location, wood stove, 1.5 baths, garage, and it was big--all for a good price. I couldn't find anything like that anywhere this time. I didn't want to live clear out in Bumfuck, Egypt so-to-speak. I wanted to find somewhere that fit all those same sorts of requirements, and yet--kept me from commuting on highway 167. Good luck.
I looked at some duds, believe me.
After the first place I looked at in rural Edgewood I started keeping an eye out for something in that area. I loved the green pastures, the rolling hills, and the quiet. There was lots of quiet. Anyway, after more looking I found it, rented it, and moved into it.
It's nothing great. As a matter-of-fact it's got a lot of things wrong with it. It's also got a lot of things right with it. On the outside: A friendly wave from a neighbor across the street while I was moving, a "welcome to the neighborhood!" comment from his wife a few days later, a nice mailman, a nice neighbor lady on the other end of my unit (it's a duplex), semi-secluded front and back yard, storage building, and even the rural sounds of chickens from one yard away (just far enough away to not bother me). It's very peaceful.
Inside? Well, it's worn--I won't deny it. It has the usual rental issues: the carpet is not very new-looking, the windows have crappy vinyl blinds, and the cabinetry is poorly-chosen and horrible-looking. I don't like the little toilet it has either. It reminds me of an RV toilet. I will replace that on my dime as soon as I feel like it. I like the fact that it has a garage door opener, but it seems to be a very, very old one and dying fast--likely needing replacement. It has a fireplace in the living room, but it's a prefabricated one, and chances are it doesn't work well. I will be trying it out before the weather gets cold and I really need it, just to learn if and how it works. I love the shower/tub, and it has good water pressure. I get to mow my own lawn, and I'm okay with that. It makes me feel good to do it. The back yards on our duplexes are separated by a nice fence so we have some privacy, and the patio outside my dining room has a gazebo the previous tenant put in. It's worn but works. The back yard has an overgrown rock garden, lots of shade and sunlight, and even a water feature in the corner. I'll clean that out one of these days. My cell phone signal is spotty at best, but it works. I have a natural gas furnace and water heater, so winter may bring a little "sticker shock" when the bills come--mainly because of its biggest shortfall: single-pane (gasp!) windows.
I'm still setting things up and will be for a while I'm sure. Today I'm going to make a run to Winco and tank up on groceries. My fridge has the definite bachelor look to it. Beer, milk, and sandwich-fixins is all that it contains at this point. Not much better in the freezer or canned goods department. I did go to Costco and bought myself a nice set of hard-anodized pots & pans a few days ago. I was also wandering in Fred Meyer that same day and bought a big set of glasses. At half off of the last-marked clearance price they were only $7.50 for a 16-piece (8 each of two sizes) set! I still need lots of little things that become apparent when I need them and have to make do.
The garage is a mess. It's packed. Now that the Harley is in there is kind of a "squeeze play" to walk through it. All it really needs is to get some shelving up and get some stuff put away.
The move was done largely by myself. All of the garage loads were loaded by me, and there is some pretty heavy stuff in there. Bulky too. Sue helped me unload two of my loads during times she had nothing to do and was bored. By the time I finished all that stuff over a week's time I was sore and tired. I worked my ass off. The stuff that was mine from the house was moved by me and my friend Greg last weekend--when I officially moved out. With our two trucks it only took us one trip with both trucks and a single truckload after that. Two days later the final piece was moved: the Harley. There is still my guest bed there. Sue is sleeping on it until she leaves for Kauai. The first thing I did in the place was get my cable and wifi all hooked up. I think I did that during my first carload of boxes. That way I could still communicate when I was here, even if the cell signal was nil. Besides, "home is where your wifi connects automatically" right?
I get mail here now, I get spam phone calls on my new land line, and my commute from work is very short (I don't even need to get on the freeway). I'd say I'm home. Also, I haven't slept this well in a long time.
And I wake to the sound of chickens in the distance.
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