Decision made…

So…out of four choices….

1)    the house for rent:  850/month, 500 deposit, and probably about 400 in utilities, in town

2)    the apartment:  right under 700/month, 150 deposit, 200ish in utilities, 30 min commute

3)    a friend: 150/month, 45 min commute

4)    home with the parents, 200 in gas, 1 hour 15 min commute

After much calculation and some reasoning/rationalizing with one of my best friends, Alisa, I came to the conclusion that option 1, is out of the question, just too expensive for what we would get and would take all our extra money, defeating the purpose.  Option 2, where more reasonable, still didn’t allow us to save enough to pay off our credit cards within a reasonable amount of time.

So now it’s down to option 3 and 4.

Living with friends is hard…but what’s harder?  Being an adult and living with your parents or living with friends?

I know what living with friends can do, you have to work at it so you don’t ruin your friendship.  Sometimes you have to let some things go even though the bother you.  Or if you get on each other’s nerves, sometimes you just have to let it go. For the sake of the relationship, and the living situation.

My parents would probably just drive me insane.  Plus, the commute is further and did I mention my parents would drive me insane?  I mean, I can always take a break if I need to and come here.  But I think living here would just…drive me insane.

So, it’s option 3!  I’m living with a friend!  Dee, I hope you know how much living with friends changes things!  It’s not going to be a cakewalk!  Although we can walk…and eat cake…

So, by living with my friend Dee…and we’re hoping that this is only 3-4 months…Ed and I will be able to pay of our debt and then we can afford for him to quit his job in Florida and move to Mississippi.

And to clear that up:  We can’t afford to move and only have one income, so Ed is keeping his job in Florida, until we pay off some of our debt (we’re hoping only 3-4 months).  So yes, we will be living apart for a few months.  But by saving money and sacrificing some comforts, we’ll be able to pay off some of our debt and be able to afford more “luxuries” in the future, luxuries like…living together…soooo sad. 

We also hope to build our credit up real high so that if we decide we like teaching in Mississippi, we can possibly buy a house.  Because BUYing a house costs a lot less than renting, I’m talking the difference in 400$ mortgage on a 3/2 house or renting a 2/1 for 900$.  I know there are other costs when buying and if something breaks, we have to fix it.  But we wouldn’t buy until we had the second income and some other things in place, like a new couch, and a new computer, and of course some more serious things like, a down payment, etc.

So even though this is a difficult time, with the health of Ed’s dad deteriorating, we will be living apart, adding more stress.  But we’re trying to think long term benefits, so hopefully all this stress and being apart will pay off in the long run.

Here’s to hoping! (chugs a bottle of wine)

20…what…noooo it’s the 1960’s…

Here I thought it was 2011….and then I began the process of moving back to Mississippi.  Most people around here don’t notice the problem because it’s accepted practice.  But after moving away from Mississippi for so long and living in places like Illinois, Germany, and Florida, I must have just forgotten.  I actually think the problem is that I did most of my growing up and forming of views away from Mississippi.  And now that I’m coming back, it’s just shocking.

Example 1:

I was on the phone with a real estate gentleman talking about rental properties.  He was very nice and extremely helpful.  We talked for about 30 minutes, even though he didn’t have any properties available at the moment.  We talked about different areas, the potential of buying,  what I was looking for, and all the other things people talk about when moving to a new area.  He was giving me different options when he paused, and the conversation continued like this:

Gentleman: Now, I don’t want to offend you, but let me ask you a question.

Me: OK.

G: are you black or white?

M: well I’m white, sir.

G:  OH, ok, well…I just won’t want to put a little white girl in an all black neighborhood…

(.5)

G: and I wouldn’t want to put a little black girl in an all white neighborhood either…

(.5)

G: and I ask because you could have been a well-educated black girl

(.5)

M: oh.

COME ON.  This is TWO THOUSAND ELEVEN!!!           

Example 2:

This one took place in person, with a little lady who lived out in the country.  She was very well educated, a lawyer, owns several businesses, and owns over 20 rental properties.

Lady:  I can tell over the phone what kind of people you are…and then I make it harder if I don’t like the way they sound.

Me: (blink…blink…)

L:  See…you would get the short application, because you’re good people…and somebody else, you know, like (points in the direction of a rental house where an African American family lived)…they get the long application.

M:  Oh, well what’s the difference? I’m not sure I understand?

L:  Oh well that’s just a way where I can weed out who I want living in my rental properties, cause you know, if they have any kind of problems, I don’t have to rent to them…but you get the short application, cause you’re good people.

I wanted to ask her…Really?  How do you know I’m, “Good people”? 

After talking to Ed about it, we decided I should go back and act all stupid and drunk, with loud music and see what she says then.  Wear some kind of skanky outfit and freak her out.

I mean come on… good god… it’s 2011…

Maybe I’m the stupid one, naïve at best, to believe that things have changed.  How are we to move on from the past if people can’t let it go?  I know things aren’t that simple, but things can’t get better around here the way they are now…

The Great Mississippi Home hunt of 2011…

And by great, I mean it sucks ass…

So according to everyone who knows anything about Vicksburg, MS, there are absolutely no houses to rent in Vicksburg, for a decent price, in a decent neighborhood.  According to a couple realtors, the real estate market in Vicksburg was not affected in the recent boom.  Also, rental properties come at a premium.  Because houses are so cheap, most people just buy them.  But for those who can’t buy (yeah, that’d be me) and want to live in a nice, safe area, pay biiiiiiig money, which I don’t have either.  So what does a poor girl, with a new job, and meh credit do?  No fucking clue.  Still trying to figure that one out.  On top of all that, because of the “Great Mississippi River Flood of 2011,”  all the rental properties are full of teanats who have been misplaced by the flooding or have been hauled in for the next couple of years to fix problems caused by the flooding, making it IMPOSSIBLE to find a place to rent.  Everyone, who doesn’t know me, keeps telling me, “Oh, you should just buy!”  Oh, I would love to!  Just, I’ve spent my whole adult life trying to get a better education so that “all my dreams will come true,” which means taking out some loans and having a credit card here or there to live on.  And now this whole economic crisis bullshit has come along, fucking up all my plans and dreams, etc. etc. etc.

Needless to say, I’m bitter…angry…and sad…Oh, and kind of homeless.

Sooooo if you know of anything decent in a decent price range…oh, now wait, we should talk about what a decent price range is.  A lot of people have told me, “Oh, I know a great cheap place!” and I say, “Really?!? How much?” “Oh, it’s such a steal! It’s a one bedroom one bath for 1,250$ a month!”  and this is where in my head I go off like this, “Bitch, you don’t know what cheap is.  Why don’t you go crawl back up your daddy’s ass and let him buy you another new car?”  Where in reality, I say, “Oh, well isn’t that just nice.”  Bitch please.  A decent price, is one that a person on a single salary can afford and have money left over to do things like…eat…buy gas for the car…maaaybe have internet…and I hear there’s this thing that you watch on TV called cable….that might be nice to have for a while.  So what’s the magic number? Well it’s not 1,250$ for sure!  How about, 800$ OR LESS!

So, like I was saying, before I had to correct a bitch.  If you hear of anything in Vicksburg, MS for rent for a decent price, in a decent neighborhood.  Please let me know.  I’d appreciate it greatly.

Long over due and yet still nothing to say…

I guess you can say a lot has happened since I last posted and I’ve been super busy. Hence I have not posted.  However, I still have nothing to say, nothing good anyway.

Ed’s dad is still basically the same.  Nothing new, really.  They did make the trip up to their cottage at Lake Okoboji.  Rich seems to be much happier and relaxed there.  He does seem to sleep a little more than before.

I came back to Mississippi to do some professional development and will sign my contract on July 14^th.  I have to be back August first as well for more professional development. Currently I’m looking for a place to live, without any luck.  More on that later.

I started my second masters program this summer. MA in Teaching Foreign Language with a Concentration in Teaching English as a Second or Other Language.  It’s a lot of work already, so I’m not sure what’s going to happen when I start teaching full time.

Ed is still looking and applying for jobs in Mississippi.  He got an interview for a job in Ruston, LA, but that’s really just too far away to commute, especially since we only have one car and the job didn’t pay that well.

Summer is having a girl.  She is super excited about that.  Just what she wanted.

I think that’s all the real updating.