our house is officially a house! there is no furnace yet, but we are legally allowed to go inside. tomorrow i’m going to meet with the third furnace bidder, and we’re going to paint the kitchen. we just ordered cabinets and kitchen appliances from ikea. we’re selling the house, we’ve decided. at a loss, obviously.… Read More


we were warned that the wet was a problem, post-remediation. the way they “clean” is mostly just by pressure-washing things. so when the company’s clean-up plan included lots of ventilation, i thought that would be addressed and we’d be ok. but we got an email today from a neighbor (who we’ve never met) that “The… Read More


we found a contractor! …and were finally able to have cleanup start right after president’s day. here’s the most recent update from our contractor: …we are moving right along with the remediation, no issues or problems. By the week’s end both the upstairs and downstairs of the home will be completely trashed out, debris, belongings,… Read More


it’s amazing how much better things can seem when we’re not balancing housing drama on top of severe depression. although we’re both still exhausted, we’re also starting to feel a little more like we’re moving forward. to use a sports metaphor (which is absurd, because we don’t sports) instead of just having a crappy year,… Read More


we’re still slogging* along. we’re getting more bids, looking for a place to live in town, and learning lots. it’s been two-and-a-half months or so (43 days, my curious brain just counted), but it feels like incredibly longer, to be superlative, and/or like it’s been at least three months, to be oddly specific. my brain… Read More


fun quote of the day, from a contractor: You will have basically an empty shell of a house, the outside obviously will still be intact with the windows as well. This decontamination can be expensive. i wish i had pith to follow that up with, but i don’t.… Read More


we got the notice on the door yesterday, informing us and the world that it’s unsafe to enter without permission. I meant to take a picture, but it was dark by the time I had a chance. the contractor came and the feelings slammed into us again. I think we need to be back in… Read More


time keeps on slipping slipping. moved out to the studio. cat is getting used to it. contractor comes to do an estimate tomorrow morning. send your best wishes.… Read More


the meeting with the county brought a little good news, not so much financially but emotionally. they agreed that most of the literature out there is talking about how to clean/dispose of possessions that were in the house while meth was being used. since that isn’t the case with us, we don’t have to sanitize/dispose… Read More