Moved in! Adventure starts now, or a few weeks ago, actually.

We moved in officially on February 1st. Over a weekend. Insane did not quite cover it. Here's the story:
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HARK!!!
WE HATH MOVE-ED!

Yeah, this past Thursday, we were livin' in Gulf Park, dirty clothes in the corner of the bathroom floor and all - no concrete intentions of actually moving. Oh, sure, it was all in the back of our minds that it would eventually happen and stuff, but among the fur-tumbleweeds and the mountains of stuff for the Good Will, well, it made this all seem a very remote reality - steeped in the mists of the far flung future. Maybe March, maybe April, oh put it off till May... What's another month in the grand scheme of life?

But then.

The Wicked Realtor of the West called. Realtor Mac had been plotting and scheming about how to get the Lazy Aquarian and her son to "get a move on with it". The Wicked Realtor took PICTURES of the front of the Tallahassee House and published them in the February HOMES magazine! The Lazy Aquarian was somehow under the impression that the magazine would come out in March, even though now she seems to remember something about February after all - huh, funny thing, that... Then the Wicked Realtor, scheming and plotting as always, called the Lazy Aquarian on Thursday and said,

"Hark! I hath a cash buyer for your Domicile!" "GET OUTETH! They want to tour it tomorrow-eth at 3pm-ith!"
The Lazy Aquarian said:
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!" And started shouting things to the Oppressed Teenager:
"Pack, Don't think! Pack, Don't think! Swab the deck!!! Carry that Box!!!"

Then the Knight with Shining Leafblower came through and banished all the fur-tumbleweeds to the farthest reaches of the yard.

The Lazy Aquarian cast aside her former life of sloth and leisure and toiled endlessly. She drywalled a ceiling, installed a lightfixture, affixed crown molding, painted the laundry room and freshened the paint in other parts of the house. The Knight with Shining Leafblower painted the deck and back steps. The Oppressed Teenager packed and carried 250,000 boxes, installed baseboards and vent covers and touched up paint around the domicile. Miscellaneous odd jobs were divided among the three allies. All livestock was herded across town to the new pastures.

The cash buyers did not like the floor plan nor the orange kitchen. Humph.
There has already been another showing! Bad market, ha! Call me for a tour - you will never see the west Knox house more clean. It's actually kinda creepy.

Without further adieu, our new address:

Jennifer and Vincent
XXXX Woodlawn Pike

and phone number: XXXXXXXX - but it won't be turned on till later this week because they had to install a box or something.

Latergaters,
Jen (Lazy Aquarian) and Vincent (Oppressed Teenager, but a good sport!)
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And now we live on blow up mattresses and still only have half the plumbing done and no real kitchen. The big house, though, is absolutely picture perfect and we've moved about 90% of our possessions into the little house. We're getting there!

Terrifying adventures in cleaning out the garage

Lets move the bus out of the garage so that we can take pictures of it and sell it!
OK.

We have to dig it out first.

So we moved all this stuff that was on top of it, under it, leaning against it, in it, etc. and the tires were deflated. SO we fired up the compressor and filled up the tires and then tried to push the thing out. The wheels were frozen. I volunteered to steer. The wheels broke free and the bus lurched backwards down the hill with me inside. I couldn't see the direction that the wheels were in. The steering wheel unmounted from the frame and fell into my lap. they threw blocks of wood behind the wheels. The bus had moved a total of two feet, but I was already terrified. I had the door open to try to see which way I was turning the wheel. They pushed the bus backwards another two feet, but it rolled a little further and I was not paying enough attention to my hand and got my hand pinned between the door and the basement pole. Ouch. We got me unpinned and there was no damage to my hand. Light truck. Tried to get it out but it got stuck on the garage door. Tall van. Pushed the garage door further up and it lurched backward again. I steered it (with direction and help from others) to back into the driveway. They had to push it uphill forward and then back again to straighten it out so it wouldn't tumble down the hill.

I was steering, but I had no brakes and no clutch nor transmission. Terrifying! I hope somebody wants this bus and can love it and make it nice again.

How this came to be

In a nutshell. Ok, I never write anything in a nutshell and it just isn't how my life works... So, not so much in a nutshell, here is how this came to be.

I was thinking about the economy. I was thinking of how someday I'd love to be my own boss, work my own job, be in charge of my future. I was getting into this whole do-it-yourself stage by baking bread, making my own soap and laundry detergent, etc. I was saving money and being frugal. I thought about how nice it would be if my entire job was just to ensure my own self sufficiency. I thought I'd open a bed and breakfast. I looked into it and was encouraged to explore this possibility. I looked into properties that could become bed and breakfasts and then I realized that I could not afford them and bed and breakfast owners all counseled me to have some other source of income or at the very least have my debts paid off. I am far from that...

But I noticed that there were some real deals out there. And I thought maybe there was something that could help be increase my cash flow and that later I could turn into a bed and breakfast. Later after the mortgage was paid. The plan was to look for a rental. I looked at the MLS. I saw a triplex close to Maryville College and thought it might work. The location was good, the size was great and I like the craftsman houses. We went and saw it and it was falling apart, a den of hazards, lawsuits waiting to happen. I felt sorry for the residents. I also found out that the mortgage crisis has had a negative effect on obtaining a mortgage and that I would have to plunk down 25% of the purchase cost of any property with more than two residences. I modified my search to look at less expensive places and looked at another small house that was also falling apart. The real estate agent seemed shocked that I would expect more and she didn't really have time for me, so I switched agents. My new agent showed me a lot of houses! It narrowed my focus still more until what I thought I was looking for was a single family small residence to fix up and rent out.
Some were better than others, but I was getting tired and it was time to go home. She said, "just one more? It's the one you sent me last, but we might as well since it is on the way home".
OK.
We went and it was perfect. Sure, it is worn and it needs work, but it has great bones, it is not falling in and it is actually pretty big. Cute as a button, too! I fell in love. Then we went inside. Two bedrooms. Original things such as moldings, fireplaces, cabinets with art deco hinges, a claw foot tub in great condition, nice straight flat floors, good size bedrooms, original windows, sleeper porches, and a full basement!
So, I decided I have entirely too much stuff anyway, it is time to clean out. I decided to take a leap, make a change and I'm moving in.