After getting all excited about our new rental and the idea of living on a cul-de-sac, I got a phone call this morning about another house that I had really, really wanted, but thought was out of reach. (We were about the 15th people to contact them about it.) The landlords said that we are at the top of their list of applicants and wanted to know if we're still interested. We haven't signed a lease for the other place yet, so I said yes. We Skyped with the landlords this morning, so we could "meet" them, and we talked about the house.
This house is perfect in that it's big (2000 square feet - 3br, 3 baths, 2-car attached garage, awesome kitchen) and only 9 minutes' drive to school. But the bigger deal is that it's in the best school district in the city. The school that eldest would be attending has nothing but 5 star ratings from parents on many review websites, in addition to it winning prestigious awards from the state, and getting an 8 out of 10 rating on the "Great Schools" website. (That's the highest rating I've seen on that site.) Anyway, it's only 50 dollars more than the house we'd been approved for, and it DOES have a washer/drier included. Plus, it's about 400 square feet bigger than the house we were approved for. I told the new potential landlords, though, that we had been approved for a house and that we needed to know by tomorrow whether or not they would approve us for their house. They said they would run the credit check tomorrow morning and get back to us by lunch, eastern standard time. So I told the other people that approved us that we might be taking another place because of the school district situation.
All this is very exciting, but even more stressful. I had been so relieved to finally have a place all set up. Plus -- wait for it -- there's a downside. The new, better place? It's not available until August 1, which means one entire month living with my mom. Of course, it'll save us a whole month of rent, which is nice, since we'll have to pay a security deposit. But still - a month with my mom could get a little tough.
I don't know. Part of me is contemplating asking some friends here in California if they would let us stay with them for a couple of weeks in order to keep the time with my mom to a minimum. But then, no one I know really has tons of room -- not enough for four extra people anyway. Hmph. I don't know. The person I'd feel most comfortable asking about this is in Germany and won't be back until the end of June. But they're also having marriage problems, so that would probably be awkward. Ugh.
Thing is - the school is worth it. The proximity to my job is worth it. A month is a very short amount of time. I'll just have to grit my teeth and get through it, assuming that we get the house. I don't know if that's a safe assumption or not...
3 comments:
Isn't that always the way it is? Good luck sorting it out! (If the house is worth waiting for, a month isn't too long...though maybe you could check into short-term leases, like those apartment places that are meant for a month or two? We stayed in one of those while our (my parents') house was being built and it was pretty reasonable).
Hmm, a month ... ok, is there a water park nearby? a library? any sort of class you can enroll the kids in and just *have* to be gone most of the day for? What else is around that you could take little trips to? 30 days won't be too long if you're away from the house most of the day. Remember what my sister often ended up doing: McDonald's playplaces, while she got a diet coke and read the paper.
Good luck!
You said it yourself: it's worth it, and it's just a month. Even if you can't rig some alternative holdover until August – presuming you get the house – then you will grit your teeth, spend as much time as reasonable outside your mom's house each day, and you will make it through. And when you need to vent because she just did that thing again for the nth goddamn time, you have us! ;D
Post a Comment