Mercies: part one.

So much has gone on, and I couldn’t say a word there for a long time. I created this post before I even can, so that I don’t forget details and timeline. This post was written April 5, 2021. I’m publishing it in parts as I can; bear with me.

We’ve discussed moving for years. We don’t have family in Missouri. We have a tiny house and bare minimum, we needed to move to a bigger house here. 1200 square feet with soon to be twelve of us is feeling more cramped by the day. A second bathroom sounds like a dream. But… family.

But. We’d started remodeling our kitchen last year and bought a commercial three bay huge sink and a commercial stove. We’d started ripping out cabinets that were showing much age anyway. About then, the septic drain field got soggy. We talked to a septic company, and were very much in limbo not knowing what to do. To add a septic created for twelve people was a huge expense. And we’d still have a tiny house when it was over. We decided to stop the kitchen renovation, sold the commercial sink and stove, and planned to put regular cabinets back in and sell the property in favor of a bigger house.

We still were left with a soggy drain field. It’s causing no issues, but our septic is clearly balking at the number of people living here. We started draining the washing machine out into the yard. It only helped a little. The kitchen still isn’t finished. It’s not pretty. It has a sink, some but not all upper cabinets, and a stainless table to use for counter space for the moment. Hardly ready to sell.

So. Mid March, after discussing options regarding moving out of Missouri and jobs, Blaine had considered leaving photography, getting his CDL, planning to drive a semi for work eventually. What that would look like in actuality, we didn’t know. But first things first, how does one get training in a semi without signing on with a company located in a state we thought we would leave? Cue the local technical college. They offer training, for a fee. I contacted them on Thursday March 11, and we toured it that following Saturday, the 13th. Turns out, they offer night classes. Blaine would need to take a total of six days off from work for the class. Otherwise, he could work 8am-4:30pm at work, drive across town, and take the class 5pm-11:30pm. The class would go on for nights and several Saturdays for three weeks. (Long weeks!) Then the fourth week, the class meets days. He’d take a week of vacation for that. He’d still have a job, we could work on projects and eventually sell our house once he finished. We called first thing Monday morning, March 15, and signed up and paid for the class that began that night. I spent an hour and a half finding Blaine’s high school diploma, required for the class. His college diploma was not acceptable. I knew where that was. I now know where the high school one is too. That was a stressful morning.

Oof. Going to be a long month.

Four days into his class, March 18, I got a text from a much loved neighbor of ours. She wanted to buy our house and turn it into a vacation rental. She knew we were needing a bigger place – not that we wanted to leave the state or she might not have offered! But we had a frank conversation, she understood where we were coming from, and we started to move forward, incredulously, at selling our home to her.

To be continued.