Tuesday, January 20, 2015

We Own A House... Now What?

Twenty days in and this is only my first post for the new year. Good thing I didn't go and make a resolution about blogging more consistently for 2015... heh... heh... (*scratches "blog more consistently" off New Year's resolution list*). In my defense, it's mostly because we don't have internet set up at the new place yet. That and we're now so far away from civilization even our data coverage is close to non-existent most of the day.

So, yes, as you may have picked up, we have moved and have now officially joined the ranks of "homeowners". Now we just have to clear off that mortgage over the next thirty years or so and it's all ours. Just in time for the kids to kick us out into a retirement home and start fighting over it.

Can't wait.

As cool as it is to finally become a homeowner, in the end you still have to go through the whole process of moving and that's always fun. Isn't it? (NOTE: By "fun" I actually mean a huge barrel of suck... You probably already knew that.) You have your packing, heavy lifting, unpacking, exhaustion, aches, pains and stuff that gets broken. Yeah... fuuuuunn! (See earlier note.) We did that over the Christmas weekend which means we were too busy doing all that stuff I mentioned earlier and too broke to really celebrate Christmas (alcohol was consumed, though).

When the dust settled and we finally got some sleep (about a week after we moved in), we then had time to sit and take it all in.

Homeowners...

Us!

The novelty wears off soon enough though. Right around the time when you realize the last ounce of dependency you had on others is gone. Before, if you lived with your parents or, as in our case, you were a renter, you knew there would be certain things beyond your control. Leaky roof? call the landlord! Faulty plumbing? Get that landlord on the phone! Pest infestation? Better get the landlord to call in an exterminator.

Now we're on our own, when it comes to taking care of our house and all of its needs. If you stop to think about it too long it can be a little daunting. Needless to say, I'm trying not to think about it too much (seems like a viable strategy...)

Speaking of which, that leaking (READ AS: "gushing") shower faucet issue I mentioned the last time, yeah, we're trying to sort that out. Surprisingly, the agency responsible for the houses is actually saying they'll arrange to have the contractors come in and sort it out. Now we just have to see how long that takes to happen.

In other news: Kawaii's adjusting well after the move. She did get really sick the first night and we were more than a little worried but she eventually pulled through and, a few days later, she was back to her old self (cue the obligatory cute puppy pic). 
"I know you trimmed around my eyes like half an hour ago but... it grew back."
Unlike at the old place, where she spent all her time indoors due to our former neighbors', not-so-friendly (or clean) dogs that already occupied the yard, here she gets to go out every day (on a leash until we put a fence up). I've even started taking her for walks around the block (I feel so suburban now you would not believe), which she loves.

She's also taken an interest in the of local wildlife (READ AS: "bugs") which our new area has in copious amounts. And, since they often find their way inside the house, she has plenty of opportunities to examine them... after she chases them down, swats them to death with her paws and - of they're big enough - tears to shreds with her teeth.
Wait! Is that a cricket?
She's a curious girl.

Speaking of wildlife, we also have birds in the area. Lots of birds. Birds that are mostly quiet in the day but then there are these others that let out loud, eerie "squawks" throughout the night. We don't go outside much at night. As luck would have it, among the various species we also have my arch nemeses, Grackles.
Look at 'em! Just strutting around my backyard like they own the place... Send help.
At some point I really started to wonder if someone was just f*cking with me.

Anyway, their mating season is still a few months away so they don't have a reason to start attacking people yet. So there's that.

On the plus side, at the outer end the street leading into the community there are horses.
Those are cool.

One of the biggest adjustments, though, is that this an entirely new community. We were among the first two hundred plus people to get keys and everyone's new here and only moved in weeks apart from each other. That means none of us got treated to one of those scenes you see in the movies where the local community group forms a welcoming committee to bring you baked goods to mask their real objective of scoping out your stuff.

I want a blueberry muffin, dammit!

Instead, we all just get to watch silently as we observe another moving truck roll up the street and hope the whoever-it-is isn't planning on starting a meth lab in his/her kitchen or blasting Jamaican Dancehall music every night until 3AM (it's popular here).




The adventure begins.

28 comments:

  1. This was great. As a relatively new homeowner myself, I loved this post. I was yelling, "YES," at the end of all of your points and declarations. Like your frustrations at the gushing faucet, we had a roof issue, the owner said the roof was newly fixed, but we found out that the "new" roof simply replaced the issue because both roofers skipped a step until we got a roofer who knew what he was doing. But there's no recovering that cash. Also, since getting the house, we have become amateur plumbers and electricians. I just learned yesterday how to change a light switch to a light dimmer. And both of your and your neighbors' instincts are correct, everyone around you is a weird-o, including yourselves. Think about being under 24 hour surveillance. That's why I have planted evergreen trees around every window, because my spontaneous nudity knows no bounds within the warm confines of my purchased domicile.
    One more thing (in case this wasn't long enough), you're right, the length of the mortgage is mind blowing. "30 year mortgage!?! Good luck collecting on my dead...oh god, I'm going to die...I'm going to sit in the corner and cry for a while. Just set up auto-transfer. Please don't let the dog eat my corpse, thanks."

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    1. Trees by the windows is not a bad idea... Except grackles live in trees I don't think I can handle seeing them nesting right outside my window, staring at me with their beady, murderous little eyes.

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  2. I've owned a home for a long time. It's worth it. But whether they're likable or not, I recommend you become friends with your neighbours. It will pay off. Believe me.

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    1. Understood. We all just need to stop peeking out our windows & start coming outside to talk to each other, then I'm sure we can all start becoming friends.

      I hope.

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  3. Owning a home is the most underrated and overrated experience in your life.Wishing you and Mrs. C all the best. Me, I'm looking forward to moving back into an apartment sooner than later.

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    1. Thanks, Kat. Apartments have their advantages. For one, more often than not, you don't have to worry about doing any yard work. Right now, the government is taking care of that for us but I suspect that'll come to an end as soon as walls & fences start going up. I've never had to mow a lawn before. I'm scared.

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    2. be strong my friend, be strong.

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  4. Wait until you know what you're doing and then accidentally electrocute yourself. It works better than coffee.
    Remember the good old days when all you had to worry about was Grackles?

    Yes, it's me. No, not Batman. WHAT? Robin? No. The other dude.

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    1. I don't plan on going anywhere near electricity, thank you. Coffee does the job just fine. I have done a few pretty good basic plumbing fixes, though. Just after we moved in & discovered they never finished connecting the drain in the kitchen sink I managed to put it together. Then I had to fix it all over again the other day after the contractor came by to assess the repair work they needed to do on the plumbing and totally messed it up when he noticed a tiny leak.

      This does not instill confidence.

      On a side note, I've been wondering if you're ever going to get resurrected (reincarnated?) in the blogosphere.

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  5. I don't recommend the jolt either. Get used to hovering over them and chanting "I do not think it's supposed to do that."
    Then there are the surprises; unexpected things coming out of the strangest places.

    Working on that. *camouflaged, sprints to next bush*

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    1. Just so we're clear, would some guy in stealth gear & night-vision goggles, darting through my bushes count as one of those unexpected things?

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    2. WHAT THE..? *Shakes power pack* You, levelled up to a motion detector, didn't you?
      *Opens worm hole to private planet*

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    3. Blame Kawaii. Nothing escapes her keen hearing... Except when we tell her to get off the couch, apparently.

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  6. Owning a house is great. But, like you said, now EVERYthing is on you. And it costs. One day I hope to rent a small place (the kids are gone, the dog will be in Doggie Heaven by then, so it's just Mrs. Penwasser and I).
    I am getting so terribly tired of mowing the lawn.
    Plus, it's supposed to snow Saturday and my driveway is 200 feet long.
    Yeah, I tired of that, too. My back is already complaining.

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    1. While we don't have snow, there is more than enough rain, especially during the second half of every year, to keep that lawn growing (Like, 300 times faster than on the sunny days). Did I mention the entire yard is one big patch of lawn with the house dropped in the middle? And let's not forget weeding.

      Oy...

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    2. Lawns. I hate lawns. I like bats though.

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    3. We have more than our fair share of lawns here since none of the yards are paved. There are a lot of bats too because, obviously, just having flocks of big, mysterious, squawking birds doesn't make nighttime here creepy enough.

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    4. You will get used to *the birds*. Creepy neighbors and their offspring, not so much.

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    5. Hey. I could start my blog in your comment section. Seem to recall that I have done that before.

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    6. Please do. I can't remember the last time I had 22 comments on one-I mean!-You're always welcome to hang around & keep me company.

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    7. Hahahaha.
      Let's see who has the last word. Wait.wait.wait.
      The first one who blinks wins.

      Omg. I just turned 5.

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    8. Update: it DID snow. And my snowthrower was BROKEN. Moving south as soon as I can.

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  7. Congratulations on your new home. You realize that is you're one of the first few in the neighborhood that the responsibility falls on you to bake blueberry muffins for whoever moves in from now on!

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    1. I guess that makes sense. Wait..! "whoever moves in"? There are still like two-three hundred empty houses.

      We're going to have to stock up on flour.

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  8. Happy homeownership with all of it's ups and downs. I try to avoid most of my neighbors, especially the fat guy who likes to wear his "I shaved my balls for this?" T-shirt with his belly hanging out of the bottom.

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    1. I don't even want to meet that neighbor. Guess you can consider my avoiding them all as a preemptive measure to keep that from happening #thatsmystoryandImstickingtoit.

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  9. Welcome to many, many trips to Home Depot! You'll become very familiar with YouTube videos of how to install a toilet and whatnot. At least if you're in a new neighborhood, things shouldn't all start falling apart at once. Like at our house. It's a waiting game of what will completely stop working first: The old refrigerator, the rusty washing machine, the old roof or the attic that is becoming a mold and lichen farm. We're really good at ignoring all of that.
    Looks like a nice area, from the horses picture. At least it's not cows, my mother lived a few miles from a cattle farm. HORRIBLE smells, also no free muffins.
    Congrats!

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    1. Horses are definitely better than cows. On the downside, however, since the development is in a mostly underdeveloped area (READ AS: surrounded by tropical rainforest) we also have a lot of other potential animal neighbors we're...um... not as enthusiastic about sharing our space (IE: snakes, caimans, etc).

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