The reason for all the gone-ness.

I'm anemic as is so very common in pregnancy. I don't usually notice that it bothers me, or makes me tired, but holy smokes, I'm exhausted. I just can't get enough sleep. Consequently, my entire house has totally gone to pot. Not that it wasn't there before... lemme 'splain...

Note: This could get long.

When we moved to our current place, the landlord said that it needed a new roof, which he claimed they'd be doing quite soon... 2.5 years later... same roof.

After about a year of living here we started noticing that where the ceiling and the walls meet it's cracking... it has gotten progressively worse... it looks awful and scares the bejeezus out of me. I have paranoid daydreams of the roof collapsing in on us.

We're having a bit of a rat problem. That's a bit understated. We've BEEN having a problem since we moved in. We're technically in charge of "pest control" but don't you usually assume that the term pest control refers to ants/cockroaches, etc? Not live freaking rats feasting in your flipping pantry every night. the reason the rats are able to get into the house is structural. There is a one inch plus gap along the wall/floor behind the fridge which leads to the garage.... there are other places the rats are coming in as well... small holes all over the house... so, not the nicest place we've ever rented (did I mention I'm glad we're only renting it?)

ALSO. Right after last Christmas (2006) we noticed that the carpet in Abbie's room under her bed was SOAKED. Matt happened to have some of his artwork stored under there... totally ruined. We pulled out everything from under her bed thinking that perhaps it was an effect of the extreme humidity in FL combined with a very confined space? Pulled back Abbie's bed to let the carpet dry... black mildew/mold on the carpet. NICE. Randomly over the last year, we have noticed the carpet soaked in that area of that room. It does dry out. I've noticed the carpet soaked about 4 or 5 times in the last year, but I'm sure it's more often.

The landlord came out in October-ish to see how things were going (the first time he'd been out in the 2+ years we've lived here - I had no idea who he was). I mentioned the soaked carpet (it being my biggest concern) and he took a look. He theorized that the shower in the Master Bathroom (which butts up to that wall in Abbie's room) is not sealed.... leaks or whatever. And that the water is leaking down the wall and onto the floor in Abbie's room. Sounds like a decent theory, except that there isn't ALWAYS water on the floor in Abbie's room... but we're ALWAYS taking showers... comprende? At any rate, he said he'd have his handyman come over and seal/recaulk the shower... it's February... no one has EVER come by and done that.

Oh yeah... and. Our door between the kitchen and the garage doesn't shut. The house is settling or something? Hence the cracking in the walls/ceiling and now the door to the garage hangs totally crookedly. The latch doesn't line up. I have a towel (folded over to 4 thicknesses) thrown over the door to keep it shut. Did I mention this is a total dive?

Originally, we decided to stay and make it work here. I made Matt call our landlord and explain to him the problems we're having. He promised to stop by that day, but never showed. I called him back the next day to find out what the heck happened ... blah blah... he's gonna try to stop by "soon".

He basically told me, "well, we may not be able to fix the leaking water problem and if we can't figure out what the problem is, there's nothing i can do... and you might want to think about finding another place." Um, when is that something you want to hear??

In other words, he doesn't care about his property or our standard of living and THAT, my friends, is unacceptable.

THE GOOD NEWS! Well, sort of, if I weren't so darn pregnant.

We're moving. Just about a mile away from our current place. Same school, different church ward (sad face!). Fabulous neighborhood. Amazing house. We're very excited.

So, the moral of the story is 1. I am not likely to be around a whole lot as I make an attempt at purging and packing this place up. 2. I need boxes. 3. I hate moving. 4. I'm a glutton for punishment. This is the 3rd time we have moved when I was 28+ weeks pregnant. We're brilliant that way.

Anyone wanna help pack?