The Irony...

Remember my January 25th post about how cramped we are but we're getting by and had no plans to move? That my dad pitched the idea of us moving in again but I said I wasn't biting? Some things have cropped up which have changed all of this for us...

It's a really long story so I'll try to condense as much as possible. My friend is going through a divorce and to help her out, I mentioned that the apartment upstairs was vacant (back in December?). Her son and my daughter love to play together so we thought it would be a good arrangement. Til one day when she got angry with me because she asked to put her jogging stroller in the garage and I told her there wasn't any room for it there. (There really isn't... the garage is a sore topic between Brian and me because it's 2-layers-deep of junk, mostly.) Well, she didn't like the answer I gave her so she called the landlord, complained to him about that (and who knows what else... probably our rent because she was telling me I don't pay enough, though who knows how she suddenly became an expert having never been a landlord herself). The next thing I know, I get a letter in the mail that our rent is going up $50/month, we no longer will have the garage included, he wants us to sign a yearly lease (that says things like if we move before the lease is over, he can keep our security deposit... we're currently month-to-month), and that he wants us to fork over a $600 security deposit. "Oddly", when this letter arrived, I had not heard from my former friend in a week (she usually calls daily).

Yeah, we aren't paying more money for less, especially at this house. It's not worth it. But there are 4 of us and a dog, and we're not really in a position to be affording more rent anywhere - and rentals are difficult, at best, to find with a dog - nearly impossible before April 1st, which is when all of these changes are supposed to occur. So the first thing I could think of was to call my Dad, remembering what he pitched recently.

I should know better because that's turning sour already. We put in our notice that we would be out by May 15th (and I had to explain to him that we are not signing the lease, just can't get out earlier because the place we're moving won't be ready until then) and Dad flaked on refinancing his house so he could make the changes necessary for us to move in. NOT TOO HAPPY ABOUT THAT.

There's a lot more to all of this and I'm trying to keep it brief but suffice it to say, I'll believe it when I see it regarding us actually moving in with my parents. Though if we don't, I'm not sure what we'll do.

Great friend I have, eh?