I know I promised seven days of Slum Lord stories but, for the best possible reason, I must abort the mission after only five. Why?
We’ve found a place to live!
And it’s not an apartment or my parents’ house. No, we decided that a big, beautiful home on a large piece of property, complete with an accompanying pasture, full-size basketball court, nicely finished barn–and a white gabled fence, no less–would suit us nicely this summer, thank you very much.
Remember all my talk about the Universe providing? Well, provide it did, and as with all things meant to be, everything just fell into place. To make a long story short: the nicest couple in the world is moving to Wyoming. They are moving on the 7th of June. We have to be out of our house on the 5th. The lady of the house called me a few days ago and offered to let us stay there until the house sold, which will likely be awhile as it is out of most people’s price range. But would we mind waiting until the 7th to move in? she asked. No, I replied, nearly in tears. I think we could manage at my parents’ house for a few days. Oh, good, she said. Would we mind helping out a bit with utilities and some light dusting, upkeep of the lawn, and so forth? (Her son would take care of the pasture, of course.) No, I replied, still in disbelief. I think we could manage that. We could probably even be coaxed into caring for the pasture if her son got too busy. Oh, good, she said. Would we mind if they had to come home again to retrieve anything they wouldn’t be able to fit in the moving van the first time? No, I replied, the tears almost spilling over at this point. I think we could manage a visit from them.
Would we mind?
And on that note, I will also tell you that we don’t mind–don’t mind at all–that we have the kindest friends, neighbors, and ward members on the planet. As soon as they caught wind of the fact that we were looking for a place to stay, people I rarely even see were calling and texting me, telling me about ads they’d seen, deals they’d found, co-workers who could help us out. I don’t know if I’d take the time to peruse ads for somebody else. I hope in the future I will. It is humbling to see how thoughtful some people are. And inspiring. And, in my case, highly educational.
And so the days of slum lording are over and the days of high living begin. The only problem with this whole arrangement is that when we finally do move into our new home, it will be quite a step down. My sweet (new best) friend laughed when I told her that, and said, “Sorry…that’s one thing I can’t help you with.” And so she can’t. But I’ll forgive her, since she’s helped me with everything else.
Hooray for nice friends with houses and friends with nice houses. But mostly, hooray for nice friends with nice houses. I hope one day to be as generous to someone else as they’ve been to us.
Jen,
What a nice thing to happen to the nicest family. And, woah nelly, you deserve it after the apartment management nightmares.
I like that Doug is offering to load up your crap. What a dutiful brother.
Does Jaimy have the “everything turns out fine” bug? Nice.
Hehe I am literally the only reply to your incredible writing?
Doug–haul “some crap?” That hurts. Could you be referring to the big table you gave us a few years ago that I am now going to make you load and dump yourself? No good deed goes unpunished. And yeah–I’m feeling a little Jaimy-esque these days…I could get used to it!
Jaim–your apt. in Tigard was poshville compared to mine at the time, so I could only dream about living there. Remember when Derrick was supposed to meet us for a couples movie night there and instead fell asleep at our place at 5 pm and we couldn’t get a hold of him for like seven hours and we thought he’d died but we weren’t worried enough to turn off the movie and go check? Good times.
Thanks for your kind comments, everyone–we do feel very blessed! (And there still may be stories about the Boom Boom Room coming…)
YAY, the Lord does provide!! That would be scary to have a family and not a home to keep them safe.Glad things turned out so well. However, I was given a preview about the Boom Boom Room that I am rather curious about…
Well, duh. I didn’t even think about JaNae’s house! How neat that it worked out so well for you!! You’ll be just a skip and jump away from us down here on 7th. Enjoy the house!
Wow, what a great turn of events. With that good fortune, making lemonade from lemons, landing on your feet like that, for a minute I thought you were..um.. well….Jaimy!!!
Love ya, let me know when I can help haul some crap to the new house. It is my calling you know.
Don’t know what happened to my comment up there. It was supposed to say, “Remember my house in Lake Oswego and subsequent apartment in Tigard? Ouch!”
Jen, coming from someone who knows, the step-down can be brutal. Remember my house in Lake Oswego and subsequent apartment in Tigard? Ouch!
I’m seriously so happy for you guys and I can’t wait to see your new home. It’s going to be beautiful so just enjoy the summer and relax! But please, please just one more slum lord story!!
That is fantastic! You probably set the universal payback in motion when you resurrected the Slum Lord stories. The universe was reminded that you’d paid your dues years ago and that your reward was due! Hee, hee. Great news for you! You may never want to leave that poshy living lifetstyle, but you deserve a little fun and comfort! 😀
Yeah – congrats Jen! You deserve everything to fall together – you are wonderful! Not to mention you know that we are all praying and Heavenly Father was looking out for you. He was not going to make you relieve the Slum Lord days!
When I heard about how it all worked out I was so happy for you! It’s really amazing how generous some people are. Glad you don’t have to move far away! And you’re walking distance from us. Hooray!
Oh Jen, that’s perfect! I love JaNae too!