Homeless!

There are about a hundred other things I need to be doing right now, but I feel like I haven't had any "me" time all week and I want to get my thoughts out.  The last few blogs I've written were all a catch-up on the Christmas holidays, but in the mean time a lot has been going on in our lives that I want to record.  Right now the most notable event is that the house sold this week!  I haven't documented the issues we've had with the house, so the following recap is just to help me remember what happened.

In August, the house we have been renting for the past 15 months went up on the market (I wrote a bit about my initial conflicted feelings HERE) and for the past 5 months, showing the house has been a miniature trial in my life.  Except for a brief period of about 3 weeks in December, we had 2-5 families coming to see the house every week and once I even had 2 straight weeks where people came almost every single day.  I'm a pretty tidy person, but trying to keep my house immaculate for 5 months straight has been wearing. 

However, keeping a clean house would be no big deal if I felt like I still had my privacy, but that went out the window when (about 3 days after the house went up) the realtor showed up with a lock-box for our front door.  Maybe you are more familiar with the realtor profession, but I've never dealt with one before, so I didn't know that when most people see a lock-box, they assume the house is unoccupied.  That also means that if your house is on the communal listings that every stinkin realtor in town now has access to your home! Now, if the realtor is doing their job, they should read up on the information sheet and see if the home is occupied and how much time the occupant wants to be given before showing a prospective buyer the home.  BUT, unfortunately a portion of the agents who came to our home were either, A) negligent of their paperwork, B) disrespectful of common courtesy or C) complete numskulls!  I soon discovered that for most of these agents, giving the occupant a little heads up was not in their nature.  I would have them call and say they had a family that would like to see the house as I watched them pull up in front of the house!  Sometimes I would get a more conscientious agent who might give me a 30 minute warning, but for the most part the calls would come almost simultaneously with their arrival.

About 3 weeks after the lock-box went up I had just returned from a jog with Daphne, had put her down for a nap and was in the middle of a shower when I suddenly heard voices coming from the living room!  I shut the water off in a panic and when I could hear that it was a group of people talking I put two-and-two together and called out, "Excuse me?!" I quickly threw some clothing on and went out to see what was going on.  In embarrassment, the group had let themselves out the door and were standing on the doorstep talking.  I was pretty upset, but the realtor said he had called.  I checked my phone seeing that the call had come less than 5 minutes before while I was showering so of course I didn't get it and when they didn't get an answer the let themselves in using the lock-box.  Oh - and just a side note - all their talking and my yelling out woke up Daphne.  Grrrrrr!

After this encounter, I began to feel paranoid that someone might walk into our home at any moment.  I was also upset that as dozens of people were being shown through our home, I NEVER saw the same agent more than once.  It freaked me out to know that there was such a large group of people with access to our home.  What if one of them was a weirdo and came in to try and hurt me, or worse, my baby?

Sadly, the shower incident wasn't the only time we were walked in on.  It happened twice more and I was so frustrated with the whole situation until Wednesay morning when Burke called and said, "Well, start packing!"  A nice couple from North Dakota who had come to see the house Monday afternoon made an offer and paid cash for the home, meaning that if they wanted to, they could boot us out immediately.  However, they have been extremely kind and have given us until the middle of March to get everything together.  

Everyone keeps asking, "What are your plans?  Where are you going?"  And I just have to laugh and say, "That is a great question!"  With my Mom and Grandma being here and with all that has been going on the past couple of days, Burke and I haven't had an opportunity to sit down and discuss our plans.  I've also had a few friends express concern for me, wondering if I am freaking out and stressed to the max, but surprisingly, I feel completely at peace about the whole thing.  I am so happy for Lance and Celeste Hughes (the cousins we have been renting from) as this will now give them the opportunity to build a home in North Dakota and not have to share a house with their employees anymore.  I am happy for the couple who bought the home because they are landing in the most amazing neighborhood and they will undoubtedly fall in love with it just like we did.  And I am happy for us, because in many ways I think this is just the catalyst we have been needing to get our feet moving in a new direction.  We have felt "in limbo" for months now and have felt like something big was just around the corner and I think this move will take us one step closer to figuring out what that "big thing".

Sure, I feel anxious to work out where we are going from here, but I feel certain this is all in line with the Lord's plan for our family.  I know He is aware of us and our situation.  I can feel that so strongly.  I know that He is blessing me with the companionship of the Holy Ghost to help me stay calm and focused on what really matters right now.  I know he will lead us as we involve Him in these big decisions.

***

Wow, as I was typing this up, the new owners just showed up at the door to talk with me.  They were tired of communicating through the realtor and decided to cut out the middle man by talking to me in person.  They are going back up to North Dakota in March and don't plan on moving down into this house until November.  They have offered to let Burke and I stay put and pay rent to them instead up until that time.  What a blessing!  This will allow us the opportunity to make decisions without feeling rushed by the time factor weighing down on us.  Big changes are in store for the Adams family this year!  So, if any of you know of a sweet job for a hardworking MBA, send it our way!