This is where we used to live...
Sep. 4th, 2009 10:07 amMom warned me about this when I saw her over the summer, but she's selling the house now that Ben's out of school. Basically on her income, she can't afford the mortgage without help from the child support she gets from Dad. Since my brother is going to be 19 in October, there goes that income.
Mom emailed me this week to tell me the house sold, and they'll be moving soon to an apartment somewhere. Mom figures she'll have to rent storage until she can pare a house's worth of crap down to an apartment's worth.
(Also, she's kind of upset that this means she can't do her awesome Halloween yard displays. If anyone is in the Lincoln area and wants someone to turn their front yard into a haunted house for a month, and doesn't mind helping by getting up on a ladder*, she'd be happy to help. Our neighbor/Mom's best friend** offered, but Mom said that they have different tastes -- Mom likes 'creepy' and Peg likes 'funny'. I know only a few of you live in Lincoln, and many still live with family, but hey...)
It's kind of weird. We moved to that house when I was 11 or so, back when my parents were still together. Dad built the swingset in the backyard -- which Mom donated to the day care next door when we got too old for it -- and tried to start a rock garden in the side yard which languished once he moved out, and eventually had to be re-lanscaped when the terracing collapsed. It was my first room on my own -- I had to share with Jenn when we were kids -- and I stuck glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling and covered the walls with posters and maps from National Geographic. I remember the tree in the front yard falling during a windstorm, and planting an oak tree I got for Arbor Day that may or may not still be there.
Things were already changing once I moved out here. A year or two after I left, Mom redid my room into a guest room -- she took down the posters (but kept the glow-in-the-dark stars) and moved things around. It was a shock. She also redid the office -- which was originally a spot Dad set up to work on stuff, and became our computer/junk room once he left -- into a tiny dining room, and moved the computer into Jenn's bedroom.
But, still... it's weird to think that the next time I come back (for Christmas), I'll be coming to a two-bedroom apartment where I'll have to sleep on the couch rather than the house I grew up with and my old bedroom.
* Mom is afraid of heights, so one of us kids would usually handle things.
** /the computer teacher (and Patron Saint of geeky high school students) at my old high school/Mom's coworker's wife. In summary, our family's tight with hers. She even has an open invitation to visit Mom's brothers and sisters, and Mom was friends with her family.
Mom emailed me this week to tell me the house sold, and they'll be moving soon to an apartment somewhere. Mom figures she'll have to rent storage until she can pare a house's worth of crap down to an apartment's worth.
(Also, she's kind of upset that this means she can't do her awesome Halloween yard displays. If anyone is in the Lincoln area and wants someone to turn their front yard into a haunted house for a month, and doesn't mind helping by getting up on a ladder*, she'd be happy to help. Our neighbor/Mom's best friend** offered, but Mom said that they have different tastes -- Mom likes 'creepy' and Peg likes 'funny'. I know only a few of you live in Lincoln, and many still live with family, but hey...)
It's kind of weird. We moved to that house when I was 11 or so, back when my parents were still together. Dad built the swingset in the backyard -- which Mom donated to the day care next door when we got too old for it -- and tried to start a rock garden in the side yard which languished once he moved out, and eventually had to be re-lanscaped when the terracing collapsed. It was my first room on my own -- I had to share with Jenn when we were kids -- and I stuck glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling and covered the walls with posters and maps from National Geographic. I remember the tree in the front yard falling during a windstorm, and planting an oak tree I got for Arbor Day that may or may not still be there.
Things were already changing once I moved out here. A year or two after I left, Mom redid my room into a guest room -- she took down the posters (but kept the glow-in-the-dark stars) and moved things around. It was a shock. She also redid the office -- which was originally a spot Dad set up to work on stuff, and became our computer/junk room once he left -- into a tiny dining room, and moved the computer into Jenn's bedroom.
But, still... it's weird to think that the next time I come back (for Christmas), I'll be coming to a two-bedroom apartment where I'll have to sleep on the couch rather than the house I grew up with and my old bedroom.
* Mom is afraid of heights, so one of us kids would usually handle things.
** /the computer teacher (and Patron Saint of geeky high school students) at my old high school/Mom's coworker's wife. In summary, our family's tight with hers. She even has an open invitation to visit Mom's brothers and sisters, and Mom was friends with her family.