To: P
Subject: your "move"
From: Aunt S
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2011 02:31:24 -0400
Hello P,.
Grandpa forwarded your email to me. I absolutely delight in reading what you write. Is it okay with you if I put you on my church prayer chain? There are a number of people that devote themselves to prayer. I wish I knew someone down that way...had an "in". I so hear what you say about your needs for your children. praying for an answer quickly.
Aunt S
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My reply:
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My reply:
oh absolutey add us! I'm about ready to dye my hair and leave my teeth out and see if we can get into senior housing LOL.
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To: everyone
May 12, 2011
This moving adventure has given me lots to think about and write about. As i said earlier writing helps me de-stress, and even though we have a place my stress level is still way up there so here is another chapter in "Moving the Russells 2011"
I am a child of two worlds. One set of grandparents lived in a spetactular house that over looked the Rogue River and was filled with splender and enough stuff to start a museum. The other set grandparents lived in a tiny house and a small yard with a garden. At one house my mama would twitch with anxiety as us children barreled past the rich blue glass antiques lining the window and took turns riding on the 100 year old rocking horse in the den. The other house she would do the same as we explored the dusty corners and got into mysterious boxes of stuff.
I was at home in neither place. So quite frequently you would find me where all writers live. In the mysterious madness of our minds.
First grade we had to tell the class about ourselves and where we lived. I shyly went to the head of the class and told the class.
"My name is P. I was born in Hoopa California, and during the summer I live on a pony ranch in Bandon Oregon. During the winter I live in GP. I am a gypsy and my people travel with the circus, I am a flyer on the trapeze act, when I am not tending to the ponies."
The only truth in there was that, yes my name was P.
Now if say Marline Clifton had conjured up a line a bullmalarky like that everyone would have laughed and called her a liar. The class could not dismiss my lies because of my name. That year was 1971 and at that time and space boyhowdy was my name UNUSUAL. So the mysterious story fit the girl with the exotic name.
I ran the full spectum, somedays I was a princess who drew from the splendour of my grandparents riches. Other times I spun yarns of how my Grandpa and I brewed moonshine in the still, and how the sour mash made my eyes water.
Basically as a child I lived EVERYWHERE....and nowhere all at the same time.
I was born on the kitchen table 11-14-1965 @ 10:45 am , my Dad delivered me. My Great-great-great Grandmother was the Princess of Lippy German. I have sawdust in my shoes (Circus slang for being born into a circus family).
I lived in the same house my whole childhood. Then I moved to a farm and had a 1,000 pound pig named Poop. I lived there until I met Corey. We only went on one "date" and we had 5 children chaperoning us.He proposed to me under a pine tree at Hawthorne Park. We got soaked by the park spinklers cause we lingered there so long that evening. When we got married in the same park September 28, 2000, in attendance were 3 of Coreys friends, 3 of mine and a sleeping bag with 6 bums sitting on it. I moved to Medford to 514 South Ivy that day and have been there ever since.
I know what your thinking....yeeeaaaah, right P. You just told us a few sentances back your a writer. Is any of that true?
Every word of it. My life has been such a rich vast adventure that even the plain boring truth sounds fabulous.
We looked at a rental on Pearl street next after the zombie apocolypse house, the house on Murray street with the uni-bomber rental behind it and the house on Benson with the paved yard where all the kids "just play in the road"
Pearl street was like walking into my mind. Literally. The front door was blue, the master bedroom had a Beatles poster on the wall (I kid you not! for those who don't know me I am a complete Beatles nut). The house was build in the 1920 and was just dripping in old fashion architecture and stuff that just screamed MOVE IN HERE!! there was a claw foot bath tub upstairs in the kids bathroom. There was a purple dragon picture in the room Hanna wanted. The house very dirty from the prior renters. I opened the attic and scads of memories of my childhood attic came rushing to the surface as the smell of hot old wood greeted me.
I was in love. I mean head over heels in love with this house! and it was 3 bedroom, fenced back yard and only 700$ a month.
I opened the back door and Hansolo bolted past me and sized up the huge over grown jungle of a back yard. She lunged down the stairs and called out to me, "mama I have to go feed the animals!"
She tapped right into the magicial mystery tour that layed before us.
Then Corey pointed out that the rental was for sale.
More tears.
We couldn't rent there knowing if the house sold we would be doing exactly what we are doing right now, AGAIN.
back to the drawing board we go with my heart pining for the magical mystery house.
After a breakdown and 4 hour crying jag, I convince Corey that we could live in the Benson-paved-yard-house. Go to submit our applications and its rented.
(insert more crying)
(insert soda and ding dong binge)
Okay, I think I have finally got a handle on how this "Find A Rental" game is played. I stay up stalking Craigs list and all the property mangements websites Sunday night. Boom. Sheraton Ct. pops up.
lets see...$800, 3 BR 2 B.....1342 sq feet.
my eyes go bonkers....1342 Sq Ft!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we are in a little over 900 sq ft right now!!!
I am at the rentals company door as they are unlocking it and I put in an application for it and TADAAA!! we are first in line to see it when it opens!!! Meaning we will get first dibs.
I should be happy.
but no, I am not done playing on the chaos-a-go-round and continue with my nutty swings from "OMG were going to be homeless and living my truck" to "OMG we are going to have to buy stuff to fill up that much space!!"
There was a several day wait till the renters turned in there keys and we could see it. I used my time to pack. Stress. Worry and drive out and look at the area.
It just didn't feel right. I never saw any children about. It was like visiting my grandparents muesum house, don't touch nothing, use your walking feet, mind your mannors. The commute to Coreys work was 25-30 min. RIght now his drive is 5 min. that would mean if we lived over there in North Medford I would be deprived of 40+ min a day of my husband.
That didn't set well with me.
My heart was aching for West Medford and its low keyness. It feels like my grandparents old house with the garden. It very much reminded me of the strange extremes of the houses and lifes of my two sets of grandparents.
It started looking like that was it. Like Sheraton Ct was were we were going to end up. and the closer and closer it got to doing the walk through the more and more my stomach hurt.
Then I noticed these letters on the blurb about the property: HOA.
I looked them up and OH BOY! l was off riding the stress-coaster with no seat belt.
Home Owners Association. There would be additional rules we would have to abide by.
(insert even more crying)
My first worry was WOW there gong to take one look at my truck and its yellow hand prints and there going to slip a gasket and not rent to us!
Dude! I wear olives on my fingers. I am a complete lunatic. There is no way there going to let me into their little tea cozie neighborhood. Not a CHANCE!
So off to craigs list I go and I find East Mcandrews. Me and the kids are waiting for Corey to come pick us up so we can all go see it when D the maintence man from the proprty mangement we are with shows up.
D: hows it going?
P: (tears welling up) we can't find a place, I am soooooooooo stressed, we are going to be living under the freeway overpass.
D: (concerned look) I will see what I can find....and by the way there are squatters in the vacant unit behind you, I'm waiting for the sheriff to come boot them out.
are you freaking kidding me D? Do I look like I have a frim grasp on reality at this point? Do I look like I can handle that info that the riff-raff of Medford is invading my territory and space?!
(P's stress o' meter needle snaps off)
On that cheer little note off to see East Mcandrews we go.
Its a three bedroom house on the main drag, with a substation as a neighbor and a huge billboard as a yard decoration, the front porch is a warppy bendy bouncy piece of old plywood. There is a "nice place to hid bodies" shed out it the back and all sorts of other interesting features, like a door that almost fits the doorframe.....and once again the writer in me fell in love. This place just screamed of the wonderful times I had at my one set of grandparents.
The inside was okay from what we could see through the windows. It was in west Medford. But in my heart I knew it was not a place for our young children. Still I sold me on it and tried to talk Corey into it because I couldn't shake the feeling that Sheraton Ct was the wrong place for us.
When we got back home the squatters were gone. I checked the outside security lights and found them unscrewed. One of our strawberry plants had been dug up and taken. I freaked.
I wanted out of there. I wanted my little family someplace safe and far away from all of this as we could go.
(insert full on mental breakdown and accompaning water works.)
(I told you Corey has the toughest job in all this ....wrangling me is not a job many people can do)
He calmly hold me and tells me gently,"lets wait and see Sheraton Ct"
The next day they call and tell me we can walk through it.
The appt is at 4:00.
D shows up at 3:00 and breathless tells me..."Call our office, we had to give a renters a 72 hour notice and she is leaving a 3br house over on withington Street. the rent is $750"
I go google the address. and OMG.
when I looked at the house on Murray street with the serial killers rental behind it, I loved the neighood so much I drive around all the blocks looking to see if there were anyother rentals in the area. I DROVE PAST THIS HOUSE AND THOUGHT TO MY SELF "its too bad one of those isn't available, that would be perfect"
I am on the phone and talking with landlord faster then google chrome.
The story is this renter trashed the place. She is still there.
Hey I know a blessing when I see one. And without even seeing the inside of the place, or consulting Corey I told her we wanted it.
Its everything we have been looking for RIGHT where we wanted it. West Medford, 1/2 block from a Park, 1/2 block from the school, fenced yard, 3BR, garage, affordable rent, TWO minutes from Corey's work, WITH the same property mangement I so dearly love...oh and its a dedicated rental. No selling out from under neath us either.
Right now Corey and I could live anywhere. But our children can't.
(insert huge sigh of relief)
(oh and some more crying)
We go off to see Sheraton Ct in the wake of all that excitement.
oh my gosh is that place HUGE!! Its absolutley gorgous. The living room is big enough to park both our cars in it. SO BIG!!! the kids go nuts running room to room loving the wide open spaces. Corey reads the HOA rules and regulations as I walk about in a fuzzy daze feeling as if I am visiting my grand parents house that over looks the river.
Corey points out two rules.
basically they boil down to this: no kids outside.
They would be prisoners in this muesum house.
Corey and I could live anywhere. But our children can't. My gut was right. We were not ment to be there.
So right now we are waiting to see what strangeness and delightful adventures and unseen rental on withington street will bring to us.
There are side walks, there is grass, there are children. and sometime in the near future, there will be Russells there
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