I think I am as crazy as a march hare or a mad hatter. Or, I don't know. It has been a long time since I posted. Why? Because I am pretty freaking busy these days. I will vent about that later though because I want to talk about our upcoming move.
Yes!! Yes!! We are moving to South Portland right after April vacation.
No, we didn't tell anyone what we were doing. Why? Because we both are the youngest and youngest kids are supposed to be spontaneous and risk taking. And we are neither of those things anymore. Or perhaps never were. It has been ages since I ran away from home, experimented with anything other than diaper brands, or even washed my hair, so who am I fooling? Anyway, we decided we were going to move years ago before we even knew each other but never got around to it. Now, Drew and I are married and have added two more kids to the party and one thing I have noticed about boys is that they need running space.
Moving was not an easy choice for me. I have wanted a house since my youngest daughter was born but had no idea how to get one. See, I am poor. Really poor, as my good friend Kristin Boyd used to say, "We are po, that is so poor, we can't even afford the R."
I do have an MFA and teach at two different colleges. But I am adjunct. That means I teach whatever classes get thrown my way, make a pittance, and have no benefits. I do have a lot of student loans though. And five kids in my apartment and one needing regular child support payments round me out. Yes, my dear husband owns his own business. And this means he has no benefits and brings home cash sporadically after business expenses are paid.
We have a pretty sweet deal where we are. All of our utilities are included in our rent. We have four bedrooms. We do not pay more than 1/3 of our income. We can walk quickly downtown if we want to. We have a small patch of yard. We have parking.
But that is not all. Oh, no that is not all. We also have to prove our income annually. This means allowing people to dig through our tax returns and request information from our employers. This very act cost me a teaching post last year because I had to terminate my adjunct status to prove that I didn't have any classes. When the girls' father ditched the country and abandoned them, I was told to prove I was no longer receiving child support, I would have to have Child Support Services draft a letter saying that the deadbeat loser would not be paying any support for the upcoming year.
And then there is the stigma of all of our neighbors knowing we live in subsidized housing. Reactions vary from those who are irritated that socialism is abutting their property to those who are proud of their ability to rub elbows with their "multicultural" neighbors.
My kids have experienced the range too, from being "one of them" to being touted as so and so's less fortunate charity case.
When people argue that we are foolish to turn our back on such a great deal, they are either too blind or ignorant to see the real cost of our living quarters. So yes, yes, we are moving down the line.
Alice: I've had nothing yet, so I can't take more.
The Hatter: You mean you can't take less; it's very easy to take more than nothing. ~ Lewis Carroll
