The Week In Review

I know I always say this, but this week really was a whirlwind. From day one it has been non-stop, and I won't lie, anxiety starts to creep in whenever I feel overwhelmed. Thankfully, God is with me every step of the way, calming my heart as He guides me and answers my prayers.

Let's start with last Sunday, February 21. We set out for Orlando because it was close to both my son and daughter-in-law, and not too far from where we were going to look at houses. We left home at 1:00 pm and arrived at our hotel at around 4:30 pm. We were pretty tired at that point, since we'd gotten up early and driven straight up, so we just stayed in the hotel. I'd made pizza for lunch and brought whatever was left over so we had that for dinner, then went to bed early because we were going to see the first house at 9:30 am. At around 4:00 am my Ring doorbell app went off. As I suspected, my neighbor had called in a noise complaint. This is the third time he calls the police complaining about noise whenever there's no one in the house, and I've figured out why he does it. We haven't slept in our house since January 26. We come to the house during the day, then leave around 10:00 pm and sleep at my daughter's house. He can hear the garage door open and close because my garage is attached to and directly in front of his unit. Whenever he doesn't hear the garage door open and close, he assumes it's because I'm still at home, so to annoy me he calls in a false report to the police. Little does he know that I turn around and call the police, letting them know that no one is home. Rather than hurting me, he ends up hurting himself because it cements the fact that he's lying just to be spiteful. I let the police know that we wouldn't be home till Wednesday so they could keep an eye out.

We were out bright and early Monday morning since my daughter-in-law was joining us for the day. I was so happy she agreed to come; we had some fun and good bonding moments. Day one we were in Lake County, a beautiful area of Central Florida where the town of Mount Dora is located. Most of the state of Florida is flatland, but Mount Dora is famous for having lots of hills (the Mount in the name is a bit of an exaggeration, LOL). I could just drive through there everyday to see all the natural beauty. We saw five homes, but the first one was the one that stole my heart. It was perfectly situated, not too big but not small, on a nice piece of land with a firepit in the back, very well maintained and nicely decorated. After seeing all the houses I decided to act fast and put an offer on this house. Sadly, I wasn't fast enough. The owner, who was also the realtor, really wanted to accept my offer, but she'd already countered an early offer and they accepted. I was so heartbroken! But then I remembered that God is the one choosing my house, not me. If this wasn't the one for us, I'd wait until He pointed me in the right direction.

And He did just that. The next day we were in Volusia County and we saw six different houses. Some were definite no's, some were maybe's, but one stood out from the crowd. Both my son E and my daughter-in-law raved over and over about the house, and while I still liked the one we lost more, I had to admit this house was not only super cute but fit our needs entirely. It was built in 2014 so it's very new, yet the neighborhood is established. That was something I had to consider whenever we looked at new construction; brand new homes have all the bells and whistles, but you can't find out anything about the neighborhood, and after my experience here I don't want to take any chances. This house is about 1500 square feet, slightly smaller than where we live now but laid out so well that the rooms are actually bigger. There's no formal dining or living room which is fine with me; we had both in our old house and they rarely got used. With three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a two car garage with plenty of storage, and a quarter of an acre of land (to keep the neighbors close but not too close), it was all we needed and then some. The only issue I had was the smell. The owners have two very large Great Danes plus a cat, and the house smells of animals. Like, kitty litter. Whenever I mentioned it to my realtor, she said we could ask them to do a professional cleaning of the house, especially the floors since they're all tile and the grout looked pretty dirty. I decided to go ahead with an offer and see if they'd accept my terms. 

There was one bigger issue, though. The owners of this house are having a house built. They have 3 small children along with all the pets, and they are bursting at the seams. Their new house is set to be completed by the second or third week of April. This would mean us staying with my daughter for over a month. So we negotiated terms and dates. I gave them two options: we could drop the price by $1,000 and they would have to be out of the house no later than April 23, or we could close on the 23rd and then do a lease back whereas they pay me $100/day for every day they stay in the house after the 23rd, and they have to be out no later than May 1. They decided to go with both. The price was dropped, they agreed to pay if they have to stay, and Thursday afternoon the contract was signed. Y'all, we are buying a house in Central Florida that is actually cheaper than what I paid for the condo where I'm living now! This is definitely God working His miracles as only He can! I'm so thankful for His provision!

We came back home Wednesday afternoon, and we've been packing ever since. The church graciously provided over 20 boxes for us to use which was an immense blessing.

These have already been filled up and I still need more, so I ordered some off of Amazon. So far I've boxed up all my home decor so the house looks bare. Next I'll be packing up the kitchen and bathrooms. Then next week the pods arrive. I've asked for help from the church to load up the pods as well. This church has some of the most generous and giving people on the planet, and I'm so thankful for each and every one of them. 

The tile removal began on Friday. After letting the association know that my lawyer would be only to happy to sue, the board voted to pay for the removal. That was a huge relief; I didn't want the tiles taken out, so of course I didn't want to pay to have it done. I was sure any damage to the man downstairs was not because of my tiles but they were insistent. So the tiles are gone, and over half of the grout and mortar is gone too. This is what it looks like.

Absolutely nowhere is there any sign of water damage, cracks, or anywhere that water could have leaked to the unit downstairs. I'm positive that any water coming into his house is from his kitchen bay window and not my balcony or my tiles, but there's nothing I can do at this point. The tiles are gone. They'll be coming back to finish the work this week and I'll be one step closer to leaving.

Having to do all this moving work is stressful, not to mention tiring. It's also bittersweet; I really do like this house, the community, the city...it's just the one neighbor that has ruined it so bad that I can't stay here anymore. But I know that God has a plan, and this was just a stepping stone on my way to wherever it is that He's prepared for me (Jeremiah 29:11). The countdown has begun!