well, I do that a lot...but it was for good reason! All the doctors, therapy and psychiatric appointments are starting.
So, I'm just going to sum up the rest of the story in quick statements...
God is good...he is faithful....he has to hit me over the head more than once a week to remind me of these things. In my stubborness he has provided beyond what we could ask or think...despite the fact that Fred's job fell through...see, not even having anxiety over that one!
Its nice to keep in mind that God is our provider and not a job or anything else. God is teaching me so much right now and I'm going to move on to more creative writing and ponderings now.
thanks for reading this and I hope you stay hooked!
Monday, September 24, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Still working...
So, we unload part of the truck and finally get the kids down at 9pm. We are sleeping on mattresses on the dining room floor...camping, right?
Because we didn't get everything or have time to clean yet, we head back to Maine the next morning...okay, well after getting up at the crack of dawn and unloading some more.
I'll spare you the details, because, cleaning is not one of my favorite topics but we ended up having to rent a trailer for the rest of the stuff there and I pulled it...backing up was HILARIOUS! But anyway, we cleaned everything and headed for our new adventure!
Then I was having some panic about it all. Kinda like buyers remorse but over the lease and money and stuff. But, God kept whispering to me, once again (I'm sure he must want to pull his hair out over having to remind me of everything time and again) that he is in control and to remember the miracles he performed already! Boy, did I ever have to keep remembering!
We got the truck unloaded, into the garage, returned it and started setting up house. I described the house in another post but we literally did not need the basement space at all.
One thing the Lord continued to point out to me, is that even in this house, he gave us more. I do believe that God doesn't close doors without giving you something better.
This house is one example. We have four bedrooms, instead of three, we have at least 400 more square feet. The space itself is just a better layout for us. There's a little bit of seclusion so Gaige wont obsess about neighbors. I could go on, but the BEST demonstration of him giving us more is...the bathtub! You Mainers got to see the amazing tub we had at our Revere house...but this one...is bigger and has bubbles! Baths are super important to me and my daily (generally) me-time! So, its been a blessing I feel God did just for me. He's good...all the time...even when things don't look so good!
Because we didn't get everything or have time to clean yet, we head back to Maine the next morning...okay, well after getting up at the crack of dawn and unloading some more.
I'll spare you the details, because, cleaning is not one of my favorite topics but we ended up having to rent a trailer for the rest of the stuff there and I pulled it...backing up was HILARIOUS! But anyway, we cleaned everything and headed for our new adventure!
Then I was having some panic about it all. Kinda like buyers remorse but over the lease and money and stuff. But, God kept whispering to me, once again (I'm sure he must want to pull his hair out over having to remind me of everything time and again) that he is in control and to remember the miracles he performed already! Boy, did I ever have to keep remembering!
We got the truck unloaded, into the garage, returned it and started setting up house. I described the house in another post but we literally did not need the basement space at all.
One thing the Lord continued to point out to me, is that even in this house, he gave us more. I do believe that God doesn't close doors without giving you something better.
This house is one example. We have four bedrooms, instead of three, we have at least 400 more square feet. The space itself is just a better layout for us. There's a little bit of seclusion so Gaige wont obsess about neighbors. I could go on, but the BEST demonstration of him giving us more is...the bathtub! You Mainers got to see the amazing tub we had at our Revere house...but this one...is bigger and has bubbles! Baths are super important to me and my daily (generally) me-time! So, its been a blessing I feel God did just for me. He's good...all the time...even when things don't look so good!
Monday, September 10, 2007
Only the Wacky Wells Family!
Yeah...so...as I was saying...
We had taken the kids upstairs to decide on rooms...the truck was still packed...our dog was still in the car...we hadn't brought ONE thing in yet.
So Fred had the idea to put each child in a room and then tell them that was their room...great idea, right? Well, not so much when you have a 2 year old OBSESSED with closing doors!
That, in and of itself, wouldn't have been a bad deal...but, the last tenants were college students. They put keyed-locks on each door...didn't leave the keys...and the landlord hadn't even realized they had done this.
So anyway, True shuts the door and locks himself in. We try every conceivable, possible way to tell him to unlock it, open it but he doesn't understand...and by now, he's getting hysterical.
We call "L" and ask him if there are keys stashed somewhere...that's when he learns the knobs had been changed! He tells us he'll call a locksmith for us...but Fred thinks he can do something so we tell him no thank you.
Fred gets a screwdriver...he tries breaking the nob off...prying the door open...even breaking the door down but nothing works.
True is on the second floor with a window that was painted shut recently...no luck there either. Besides worrying how upset True was and if medically, he was going to be okay after getting this hysterical, I keep replaying the persnickety wife in my head shaking her finger at me!
So we call a locksmith, although I felt certain on a Saturday that it would take them forever to get there and have no idea how we will pay for it after emptying the wallet to pay the landlord the hour before. We call and they aren't allowed to do anything when children are involved and tell us to call the Fire Department.
So yeah...we call the FD and they come right over and use this prying-vice-kinda-thingie to break the door jamb.
But True's free and mommy does NOT want to let him go! The Fire Department gets familiar with our house right away and its not even Gaige who needs rescuing! We owe the landlords a new door!
oh...and we still gotta start unpacking that blasted truck...by ourselves...will the fun ever end???
We had taken the kids upstairs to decide on rooms...the truck was still packed...our dog was still in the car...we hadn't brought ONE thing in yet.
So Fred had the idea to put each child in a room and then tell them that was their room...great idea, right? Well, not so much when you have a 2 year old OBSESSED with closing doors!
That, in and of itself, wouldn't have been a bad deal...but, the last tenants were college students. They put keyed-locks on each door...didn't leave the keys...and the landlord hadn't even realized they had done this.
So anyway, True shuts the door and locks himself in. We try every conceivable, possible way to tell him to unlock it, open it but he doesn't understand...and by now, he's getting hysterical.
We call "L" and ask him if there are keys stashed somewhere...that's when he learns the knobs had been changed! He tells us he'll call a locksmith for us...but Fred thinks he can do something so we tell him no thank you.
Fred gets a screwdriver...he tries breaking the nob off...prying the door open...even breaking the door down but nothing works.
True is on the second floor with a window that was painted shut recently...no luck there either. Besides worrying how upset True was and if medically, he was going to be okay after getting this hysterical, I keep replaying the persnickety wife in my head shaking her finger at me!
So we call a locksmith, although I felt certain on a Saturday that it would take them forever to get there and have no idea how we will pay for it after emptying the wallet to pay the landlord the hour before. We call and they aren't allowed to do anything when children are involved and tell us to call the Fire Department.
So yeah...we call the FD and they come right over and use this prying-vice-kinda-thingie to break the door jamb.
But True's free and mommy does NOT want to let him go! The Fire Department gets familiar with our house right away and its not even Gaige who needs rescuing! We owe the landlords a new door!
oh...and we still gotta start unpacking that blasted truck...by ourselves...will the fun ever end???
Bone tired!
Well, we were up at the crack of dawn doing this and that. We had no idea how long a day it would be...not that any moving day is fresh and wonderful...unless maybe you are one of those people whose companies pays to pack and move you, but we aren't any such kind.
Our sweet Katie came by with her family to say goodbye. It was fun to meet her hubby and boys and their little pup, since we had heard so much about them! Our little girls next door, Abby, Rianna and Raelene were so sad and it was hard to leave them and of course our first phone call was from Rianna!
Some guys, including our pastor, came and helped Fred move all the furniture. Even though we sold our washer and dryer, our patio set and a few other things, the truck would not hold the last odds and ends we had to bring. So we left them.
We got to Mass which is about 120 miles. The drive wasn't all that bad...the kids were happy to have a little down time. We arrived around 6pm...what a long day and it wasn't nearly over yet!
Our landlord, L and his wife and child, came to give us the keys and sign the lease. I have to say that had I met the wife, we might not have held out for the house...she was super persnickety! It was a little undaunting. But the deed was done and they left.
The kids were fighting over which bedroom was going to be theirs...so we took everyone upstairs before we started unloading the truck...
and then we had to call the fire department!
Our sweet Katie came by with her family to say goodbye. It was fun to meet her hubby and boys and their little pup, since we had heard so much about them! Our little girls next door, Abby, Rianna and Raelene were so sad and it was hard to leave them and of course our first phone call was from Rianna!
Some guys, including our pastor, came and helped Fred move all the furniture. Even though we sold our washer and dryer, our patio set and a few other things, the truck would not hold the last odds and ends we had to bring. So we left them.
We got to Mass which is about 120 miles. The drive wasn't all that bad...the kids were happy to have a little down time. We arrived around 6pm...what a long day and it wasn't nearly over yet!
Our landlord, L and his wife and child, came to give us the keys and sign the lease. I have to say that had I met the wife, we might not have held out for the house...she was super persnickety! It was a little undaunting. But the deed was done and they left.
The kids were fighting over which bedroom was going to be theirs...so we took everyone upstairs before we started unloading the truck...
and then we had to call the fire department!
That eleventh hour thing...
************************************************************
So its Friday...everything but the last minute stuff is packed. Fred's job in Maine is complete. We have guys from church coming over to help the next morning...the uhaul is rented...and STILL no idea where we are going to go on Saturday.
That all sounds nice and calm but we were in a constant state of emotion and trying to figure out what we should do. This was 10th and we had told our landlords we would be out by the 15th.
We thought of going to a hotel and staying there until we found a place but we barely had enough money to do anything...in fact, if it weren't for God asking a couple people to help out and another to give us a loan (which we had never done before), we would have really been stuck! But still, we couldn't really afford to stay in a hotel and felt it would be harder on Gaige.
It was almost time to pick Gaige up from camp (and let the kids play on the playground for a few minutes) when we decided to just call our landlord and see what they would say if we either, asked to wait until the next weekend or told them we might not be moving after all. I called the wife, who became a friend because Bliss and their daughter were in the same class. She tells me that THEY are moving into the house until it sells and they are all packed and just waiting for us to move out.
Her husband's emails had been full of pressure and now I knew why. He's a businessman, not warm and fuzzy so I just assumed it was a personality thing but turned out it was because they wanted to move in. Had they shared this with us, I would have never made that phone call because I would have known and not wanted to put them out, but they didn't tell us.
I kept saying..."Okay, God...time to show up!"
But, by 5pm, we decided that we must have heard God all wrong and we should probably just start planning to stay. I felt like we had really messed everything up...okay I felt like I had messed everything up...you know, mother guilt and all.
So, Fred called his boss and told her we weren't 100% sure what we were going to do but would decide that night, but could he come to work Monday if we had not moved. They said he could, because they loved him! I called Katie and told her not to stop by for the tearful goodbye yet b/c we didn't know if we were leaving or not.
The kids were playing at a playground and I was sitting there with tears streaming down my face, having no idea what God really wanted us to do.
In my heart I kept feeling like I was going "But, God...what about this you said or that?" I was totally hung up on the fact that we had no where to live...which is a big hang up when you have kids but we just needed to trust God.
I got back to the house with the kids and my friend Linda stopped by to say goodbye. God had sent her at just the right time! We took a walk to the Dunkin Donuts and talked. She is so wise and told me she thought the move was a good thing and maybe the landlord would just let us wait a week.
The situation now was that no matter what, the option to stay in that house was pretty much out because they were moving in. They still expected us to move out the next day, whether in Portland or Boston or Timbuktu.
The Fred called...he said the landlord was on his way over and he was not happy! Linda and I got back just about the same time. She reminded me to stay calm and honor the Lord. Which I think we did.
Fred and I talked to him. He had in his head that this was some elaborate scheme (despite he's in our kitchen and sees all the packed boxes) to get out of paying the last months rent (which was coming out of our escrow deposit because we gave notice). We tried to convey to him that if he collected the rent that it would definitely mean we couldn't move because of all that upfront money you have to have.
He kept saying how we were screwing up his family and he had company coming on the 15th (that would explain the pressure to get out earlier) and how unhappy he was. I finally convinced him to just give us the night to make a definite decision on what we would do and if we were staying, we would pay him the rent the next morning. He left.
Five minutes later, he calls back and says he doesn't want to wait, that he had something to do and then would be back for the rent in an hour.
About 15 minutes later, the phone rings...as soon as I see the number and its a Boston one, I say "Yes!" I just knew God was on the other end of that line...and he was!
It was "L" from the "house in the 'ham"! He asked if we were still looking for something. He had said he would keep an eye out for us so I still didn't know if he was calling about something else or his own house. He said he and wife had talked about it again and they wanted to offer their house to us!
I was beside-my-self-excited!
So, God showed up...it was about 8pm the night before!!! Can you believe that? I guess God is still teaching me about blind faith and trusting him because this experience has certainly been one of blind faith.
So some lyrics to a song that was really significant to me that week:
Faithful, you are Faithful
I have found nothing, but good in your heart.
Loving, you are Loving
I am in awe of the way that you are
Thankful, I am Thankful
I have been running away on my own
and yet you found me...
oh how you love me!
I know you'll never leave me, leave me alone.
*****************************************************************
One, significant side note I forgot to share when we were in Boston looking for a place. My friend Troy called and told me he had a job opportunity in Boston! He and his family had felt called to New England because of the spiritual needs for the people there, for some time. They are Texans but God would not leave Troy alone about it.
When we started planning our move, I contacted Troy because he had lived there and wanted some advice on cities. He and his wife, had also been faithful supporters of our family and felt called to be hands-on support for us at some point, but we had never been able to live together! So this was great news. I'll post about Troy and the unique way God brought us together in a later post.
So its Friday...everything but the last minute stuff is packed. Fred's job in Maine is complete. We have guys from church coming over to help the next morning...the uhaul is rented...and STILL no idea where we are going to go on Saturday.
That all sounds nice and calm but we were in a constant state of emotion and trying to figure out what we should do. This was 10th and we had told our landlords we would be out by the 15th.
We thought of going to a hotel and staying there until we found a place but we barely had enough money to do anything...in fact, if it weren't for God asking a couple people to help out and another to give us a loan (which we had never done before), we would have really been stuck! But still, we couldn't really afford to stay in a hotel and felt it would be harder on Gaige.
It was almost time to pick Gaige up from camp (and let the kids play on the playground for a few minutes) when we decided to just call our landlord and see what they would say if we either, asked to wait until the next weekend or told them we might not be moving after all. I called the wife, who became a friend because Bliss and their daughter were in the same class. She tells me that THEY are moving into the house until it sells and they are all packed and just waiting for us to move out.
Her husband's emails had been full of pressure and now I knew why. He's a businessman, not warm and fuzzy so I just assumed it was a personality thing but turned out it was because they wanted to move in. Had they shared this with us, I would have never made that phone call because I would have known and not wanted to put them out, but they didn't tell us.
I kept saying..."Okay, God...time to show up!"
But, by 5pm, we decided that we must have heard God all wrong and we should probably just start planning to stay. I felt like we had really messed everything up...okay I felt like I had messed everything up...you know, mother guilt and all.
So, Fred called his boss and told her we weren't 100% sure what we were going to do but would decide that night, but could he come to work Monday if we had not moved. They said he could, because they loved him! I called Katie and told her not to stop by for the tearful goodbye yet b/c we didn't know if we were leaving or not.
The kids were playing at a playground and I was sitting there with tears streaming down my face, having no idea what God really wanted us to do.
In my heart I kept feeling like I was going "But, God...what about this you said or that?" I was totally hung up on the fact that we had no where to live...which is a big hang up when you have kids but we just needed to trust God.
I got back to the house with the kids and my friend Linda stopped by to say goodbye. God had sent her at just the right time! We took a walk to the Dunkin Donuts and talked. She is so wise and told me she thought the move was a good thing and maybe the landlord would just let us wait a week.
The situation now was that no matter what, the option to stay in that house was pretty much out because they were moving in. They still expected us to move out the next day, whether in Portland or Boston or Timbuktu.
The Fred called...he said the landlord was on his way over and he was not happy! Linda and I got back just about the same time. She reminded me to stay calm and honor the Lord. Which I think we did.
Fred and I talked to him. He had in his head that this was some elaborate scheme (despite he's in our kitchen and sees all the packed boxes) to get out of paying the last months rent (which was coming out of our escrow deposit because we gave notice). We tried to convey to him that if he collected the rent that it would definitely mean we couldn't move because of all that upfront money you have to have.
He kept saying how we were screwing up his family and he had company coming on the 15th (that would explain the pressure to get out earlier) and how unhappy he was. I finally convinced him to just give us the night to make a definite decision on what we would do and if we were staying, we would pay him the rent the next morning. He left.
Five minutes later, he calls back and says he doesn't want to wait, that he had something to do and then would be back for the rent in an hour.
About 15 minutes later, the phone rings...as soon as I see the number and its a Boston one, I say "Yes!" I just knew God was on the other end of that line...and he was!
It was "L" from the "house in the 'ham"! He asked if we were still looking for something. He had said he would keep an eye out for us so I still didn't know if he was calling about something else or his own house. He said he and wife had talked about it again and they wanted to offer their house to us!
I was beside-my-self-excited!
So, God showed up...it was about 8pm the night before!!! Can you believe that? I guess God is still teaching me about blind faith and trusting him because this experience has certainly been one of blind faith.
So some lyrics to a song that was really significant to me that week:
Faithful, you are Faithful
I have found nothing, but good in your heart.
Loving, you are Loving
I am in awe of the way that you are
Thankful, I am Thankful
I have been running away on my own
and yet you found me...
oh how you love me!
I know you'll never leave me, leave me alone.
*****************************************************************
One, significant side note I forgot to share when we were in Boston looking for a place. My friend Troy called and told me he had a job opportunity in Boston! He and his family had felt called to New England because of the spiritual needs for the people there, for some time. They are Texans but God would not leave Troy alone about it.
When we started planning our move, I contacted Troy because he had lived there and wanted some advice on cities. He and his wife, had also been faithful supporters of our family and felt called to be hands-on support for us at some point, but we had never been able to live together! So this was great news. I'll post about Troy and the unique way God brought us together in a later post.
Uncle Pete and the Beach...
So, in the midst of this crazy week, our dear friend Pete, or "Uncle Pete" as he's known at our house came for a visit. This had been planned for months and who knew we would be in such transition when he came! He didn't get his Maine experience but we were able to sneak away to spend part of the day at the beach.
Of course, I was checking email from my cell phone in hopes some sort of housing was going to pop up! But nothing really did. And, as soon as we got back I was glued to craigslist and other site but not finding anything much.
Fred's last day at work was the day before and a few people had come by to say goodbye to us...so ends were being tied up...but we had no where to go!
What to do?
Sorry, Pete about no lobsters!
Of course, I was checking email from my cell phone in hopes some sort of housing was going to pop up! But nothing really did. And, as soon as we got back I was glued to craigslist and other site but not finding anything much.
Fred's last day at work was the day before and a few people had come by to say goodbye to us...so ends were being tied up...but we had no where to go!
What to do?
Sorry, Pete about no lobsters!
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Yeah...so there's a reason people pay Broker's fees...
Okay...the Boston area is MASSIVE! Its not the easiest thing in the world to find a house here. Its a little...okay...a lot, overwhelming! We knew what areas to avoid b/c of services in school for Gaige...but its kinda like playing Russian roulette on where you land!
We arrived in the area at my friend's (Gwen) house and both had been living on Craiglist and other sites looking for the right place. We both had made a lot of calls and got very few returned calls...it was kinda frustrating. We went out looking at a few but nothing seemed right. Then when I got back to her house, there was a new ad that had been posted...it looked great. I emailed the guy and he got right back to me.
Bliss and True and I went to look at another house near our hotel and I was getting discouraged...this one was not going to work for us either. So we went to look at the "house in the ham".
It was winner! It had lots of room and perks like I wanted...a garage...a finished basement...and space!
Lets talk square footage...Our house in Memphis was 2700sf, 5 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms and we bought it for $96,000. That would be unheard of, even it the smallest town in New England!
So Elizabeth Taylors' house...we were told it was close to 2000sf but it was only about 1500 we found out when we arrived. It had 1 and 3/4 bath and four bedrooms but one of those, was really a glorified closet. It was tight.
The Portland house was about 2100sf, only 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bath. It was beautiful and the kitchen had never been cooked in, so God gave us more. I firmly believed that even though we had to pay more (because rent is so high here) that God would give us a more functional house!
The last house, while beautiful and remodeled...the setting was not a very good one for Gaige...and this 'house in the ham' is perfect for him. Its slightly secluded and while there are a couple of kids in the neighborhood, they are not close to us. We want him to learn to socialize but because he obsesses, having next door neighbors to obsess about causing a lot of issues. So that was even better.
When I started talking to the landlord, L, he had immigrated from Russia when he was a child...I had been to Russia in 1992. He and his wife have a daughter who has autism, too. So there was an instant connection.
So I felt pretty good that this was the house God intended...oh yeah, it would be MORE, too...4 bedrooms, 3.5 bath with a jacuzzi tub (if you don't know, that's my ME time every day...a long bath)...and 2400sf!
I had already made two appointments the next day to see houses. They weren't right...one of them smelled like mold so it was an instant out! We filled out the application for L.
I went back to Gwen's to see if we could find anything else...no one was returning calls. So I decided there was no use in staying and headed back to Maine.
So we returned to packing and preparing Tuesday night and waited for L to make a decision...he finally called us back Wednesday night and it was "no" and he felt really bad about it. Our credit is not stellar (yes we are working on it) and so they decided to go with another applicant.
Stomach-churning fear...that's a word for it...but, we spent the Thursday at the beach, anyway...geez!
We arrived in the area at my friend's (Gwen) house and both had been living on Craiglist and other sites looking for the right place. We both had made a lot of calls and got very few returned calls...it was kinda frustrating. We went out looking at a few but nothing seemed right. Then when I got back to her house, there was a new ad that had been posted...it looked great. I emailed the guy and he got right back to me.
Bliss and True and I went to look at another house near our hotel and I was getting discouraged...this one was not going to work for us either. So we went to look at the "house in the ham".
It was winner! It had lots of room and perks like I wanted...a garage...a finished basement...and space!
Lets talk square footage...Our house in Memphis was 2700sf, 5 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms and we bought it for $96,000. That would be unheard of, even it the smallest town in New England!
So Elizabeth Taylors' house...we were told it was close to 2000sf but it was only about 1500 we found out when we arrived. It had 1 and 3/4 bath and four bedrooms but one of those, was really a glorified closet. It was tight.
The Portland house was about 2100sf, only 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bath. It was beautiful and the kitchen had never been cooked in, so God gave us more. I firmly believed that even though we had to pay more (because rent is so high here) that God would give us a more functional house!
The last house, while beautiful and remodeled...the setting was not a very good one for Gaige...and this 'house in the ham' is perfect for him. Its slightly secluded and while there are a couple of kids in the neighborhood, they are not close to us. We want him to learn to socialize but because he obsesses, having next door neighbors to obsess about causing a lot of issues. So that was even better.
When I started talking to the landlord, L, he had immigrated from Russia when he was a child...I had been to Russia in 1992. He and his wife have a daughter who has autism, too. So there was an instant connection.
So I felt pretty good that this was the house God intended...oh yeah, it would be MORE, too...4 bedrooms, 3.5 bath with a jacuzzi tub (if you don't know, that's my ME time every day...a long bath)...and 2400sf!
I had already made two appointments the next day to see houses. They weren't right...one of them smelled like mold so it was an instant out! We filled out the application for L.
I went back to Gwen's to see if we could find anything else...no one was returning calls. So I decided there was no use in staying and headed back to Maine.
So we returned to packing and preparing Tuesday night and waited for L to make a decision...he finally called us back Wednesday night and it was "no" and he felt really bad about it. Our credit is not stellar (yes we are working on it) and so they decided to go with another applicant.
Stomach-churning fear...that's a word for it...but, we spent the Thursday at the beach, anyway...geez!
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