Keeping Up With The Jacksons

Where to go trick or treating? Should we go downtown or in our soon-to-be neighborhood? We opted for our soon-to-be neighborhood and am I glad we made that decision. Beth came out with us for a little while and while out we met some of the neighbors. This one family in particular is really sweet. They have two kids. There oldest is a girl and she's Dylan's age and their youngest is a boy and a year younger than Dylan. They live down the street and I can't wait to get to move in and get to know them. They invited us to walk with them which was so nice! Dylan was so happy to go trick or treating with kids his age. Unfortuantely he took a spill as him one of the kids were running to a house, They house had shallow long steps and his shoe was untied. He stepped on his shoelace causing him to trip over the step and went flying toward the other kid and both went down and Dylan's candy went flying all over the sidewalk. Both kids are fine but I have to admit it was kind of funny. TJ helps him get his shoe on and as soon as he gets up and he trips over the same step again. Poor kid. But all in all, we had a great time with some great people and Dylan ended up with a decent amount of candy. Here's our little trick or treaters!

As soon as we found out we got the house to rent, TJ called all day on Friday to put in a notice to vacate. We rent month-to-month, so we thought they only required a two weeks notice to move out. Our landlord calls me this morning to let me know they need 30 days. It's in our lease so it's our fault for not looking but the landlord says she'll look into it for us and see about getting us out on the 6th, like we want. She tells me while I'm looking into it, to call the guy who deals with the rent payments and all and let him know we want to move out. I call him and explain and he's a real jerk about it all but says maybe, but we need to put it in writing and get it to him. So now I have to get over there at some point and give it to him, but these people never answer the phone so trying to get a hold of them to figure out when to go so they're available is going to be a pain. Hopefully when they call back today, they will tell me tomorrow is OK to turn it in, then I can have TJ turn in the notice tomorrow. I'm so tired of the way they treat their tenants. Maintenance is virtually non-existent, no one ever calls you back right away with anything. I'm done and can't wait to be out of there.

Last weekend was a busy weekend in the Jackson house. Friday night, Dylan had a friend spend the night. They played really well together and were perfect even when it was time to go to bed. Saturday, we took the kids to Madrac Farms to their pumpkin patch. We went through the corn maze, on a hayride, used the spoiled tomato slingshot and picked out Georgia Bulldog Pumpkins! Dylan was so excited to find out he had a bulldog pumpkin.

It is time. Time to look for a new place to live. Neither if us are happy with where we're living. Maintenance is horrible; it takes them days to call you back if you have a problem and then they half-ass any work they do. I even called the property manager and I never received a phone call from her. We have these neighbors who are nice but feel it's OK to smoke weed in our stairwell. If you want to smoke, fine but please don't do it in the stairwell where I have to go and bring my children. Go outside away from the door. The apartment has had its issues as well and we're just not happy there.

So we're in the hunt for a new place to live, preferably a house to rent so the kids have a yard to play in and we have our own space. The only problem we're having is finding a place that is in our price range and in a safe area. We have a found a few but the difference in houses that are just a few hundred dollars (sometimes just a hundred dollars more) is huge. They're so much nicer. I'm starting to get frustrated. I just want a decent house in a decent neighborhood where  the kids can play outside with kids. Apparently, that's a lot to ask for. LOL! I know we'll find one but we're both tired of looking. Hopefully we'll have some luck soon. AHHH!!!!