Making Tracks
By Kat Bryant
Sorry I haven’t written in a while. Family and personal crises have been hitting me from every direction these past couple of weeks, pushing my anxiety level to highs that even Ben & Jerry can’t touch.
I’ll bounce back; I always do. But everything is happening so quickly, and there’s an awful lot that has to be done in a very short time.
To start from the beginning: I spent a week in Arizona earlier this month, helping my 23-year-old son get organized for a move to the Harbor. He’s been having a rough time down there, so I’ve invited him to join me for a few months to clear his head and figure out what career path he truly wants to follow.
While I was down there, I dutifully texted my landlord to let him know Garrett and my grandpuppy would be moving in with me for a while, and to ask if I needed to pay an extra deposit for that.
He called me 2 minutes later. It seems that when he received my message, he was just in the process of putting a certified letter in the mail to me: He had to sell the house I’m in, he told me, and he was giving me 30 days notice to vacate so he could prepare it for the market.
I could hardly breathe. Here I was expanding my household, and suddenly I was about to lose my house. I felt Life pointing and laughing — HA-ha! — just like Nelson, the bully on “The Simpsons.”
So, as my son packed his stuff and wrapped up his business in Arizona, I started scouring the interwebs for a house to rent. If you’ve been following my story from the beginning, you might recall that I almost didn’t move here last year because I couldn’t find a place that would allow me to keep my fuzzy family together. Sadly, those conditions have not changed. Although I’ve found the Harbor in general to be quite pet-friendly, landlords remain the exception.
Days later, having no luck with my search, it occurred to me that I could set my own rules about pets if I just broke down and bought a house. A little research revealed that my monthly payments would be a whole lot lower, too. So, having just celebrated my first full year on the Harbor with a vow to set down permanent roots, I switched gears and started looking for a place to buy.
(I know what you’re thinking: “Why not buy the one you’re already in? Problem solved!” Yeah, that’s a nice thought, but that’s just not the place I want to invest in and live in for the rest of my life.)
I found several prospects from Raymond to Ocean Shores through Realtor.com, and a co-worker hooked me up with a good agent to follow up on them (plus a few others). This past weekend, we went to see eight potential new homes.
We had a rough start: The first one, which looked like a nice remodel in the photos, turned out to be an extreme fixer-upper. Nope. While I occasionally enjoy watching the various house-flipping shows on HGTV, I simply don’t have the time, money, skills or inclination to clean up someone else’s mess.
Luckily, things got better. By 1:30 that afternoon, I’d ruled several places out and narrowed the list to three. Then I held a half-hour phone conference with my brothers and my dad, and with their expert input I decided which one to bid on: a gorgeous 110-year-old beast in Hoquiam.
As I finish this column on Monday, I’ve received preapproval for the financing and submitted an offer. Yay me.
Now, assuming all of this falls into place, I still have to pack up all my stuff (just three months after I gave away my stack of moving boxes); figure out how to get everything moved with minimal expense; and, of course, maintain some semblance of sanity through this whole ordeal.
It won’t be easy, but luckily my son will be here soon to help. I also have a solid support system here, high hopes and plenty of Thin Mint cookies stashed in my freezer. I can do this.
I just hope it works out before my landlord’s deadline so that we won’t have to go live in a van down by the river.
Kat Bryant is lifestyle editor of The Daily World. She’d much rather live in a cute little Craftsman with a clawfoot tub than in a van down by the river. Reach her at kbryant@thedailyworld.com or on Facebook at Kat Bryant-DailyWorld.
