Yeah...so...that dang curve ball...

We got that utility bill on July 26th. I think we wrote our landlord that night...he was out of town and got back to a couple days later.

So, he basically had three ideas for us:

1- He suggested running the heat much higher and seeing if it would actually be cheaper in the long run.
2- He would increase our rent by $350/mo starting in September and pay for the oil this winter.
3- He would let us out of our lease.

So, here's the problems with those options:

1- The heat is all at the front of the house, so running it that high in the front is still not going to solve the problem at the back. We would be burning up at the front of the house and freezing in the back. There was no guarantee that would work. $1000/mo in costs...I don't think I want to repeat that action!

2- While this might be helpful in December through March, it would a financial loss the rest of the time and still not guarantee it would heat the back of the house.

3- We'd have to move...AGAIN!

None of the options seemed too great. None of them helped with the fact that we now were going to have a $327 utility bill and a landlord that wanted to increase our rent by $350...there was just no way! So, it seemed like moving was the best (albeit, not an appealing one) option. But, school was starting in a month...and in Maine, the elementary schools are very small...you can move less than a mile and be in another district. Finding a house the size we needed in the are we needed was going to be a challenge.

Changing schools in Maine was not an option in our minds! We either had to stay at the same one...or move to Mass. Why? because we knew if we were moving again next year, that was too much to ask Bliss (in particular) and Gaige to go through.

So we started looking for a place in Mass. Started weighing the pros and cons...made a budget and so forth! On the 1st, Fred got a job offer in Mass which he felt great about and things seem to start falling in place. I don't think I started packing anything until the 3rd or so, but once I started I pushed hard to get it done.

On the 6th, I came to Mass and my friend Gwen helped me look at places to live. I brought Bliss and True, Gaige stayed for camp with Fred in Maine.

The House is a really cool story...will be the next blog...