Monday, September 06, 2010

Fall Blues

Yesterday, I was standing in the doorway talking to my sister-in-law when Austin appeared at my feet. Naked, still sudsy from his bath.

And then he peed on me.

I didn't get grossed out. I didn't yell. I didn't do much of anything except look at my feet to see the pee running down them and pooling on the tile.

And I thought "this pretty much sums up my last few weeks."

This whole duplex fiasco has brought me down, to say the least. I have tried to maintain my usual chipper attitude, and succeeded for the first week or so. But as we dug in more and uncovered more, more filth, more nastiness, more things that were broken, missing, unusable, etc, it got the best of me. So far, we've:

painted every wall, door and inch of trim
ripped out all of the carpet and pad
installed a new shower insert
put new linoleum in the bathroom
scrubbed the kitchen floor with a kitchen knife to remove all the gunk
bought all new appliances (stove, microwave, dishwasher, fridge, washer, dryer)

How do you break each and every appliance in the house?

Like, every single one?

It's unfathomable to me. It's hard to digest that someone would do this to our house, that they would act so negligible and leave our former home in such disrepair. It's made me question the new people moving in, suspecting them of things they've shown no evidence of ever doing. It's made me doubt that people are good and that they will honor their word.

And I hate that.

More than all the cleaning. More than spending all the money that's been flying out of our pockets. More than the time spent away from my family working over there. I hate that this former tenant made me doubt that most people really are good. They'll work hard. They'll try their best. They'll treat things well and do what's right. That's what's been bothering me the most and what has brought me down.

But!

As I begin to see the light at the end of this dark and dank tunnel, I feel like my faith in humanity is being restored. Yes, this happened and it totally stinks but we've learned a lot and have been incredibly blessed along the way.

We had the money we needed to make the repairs.

We had friends and family willing to step up and get in there with us, working their hiney's off in hopes of helping.

We've managed to undergo and major rental house overhaul and have come out stronger and closer than ever before.

So there, nasty former tenant. Take that. You may have made a few of my weeks gloomy and gray, but I'm over it now. I wish your new landlord lots of luck.

8 comments:

tharker said...

I am still shocked when I think of what that person (i hesitate to even call them that...because really, i'm thinking slime, scum, wretch...those might be more appropriate terms) did to the house. It is beyond me that someone could treat something so terribly, ESPECIALLY when that something didn't belong to them!

You two are rock stars to do what you've done in the last 2 weeks. I'm so amazed!

Melanie said...

Finding the silver lining takes a special gift and you are remarkable at it! It is crusty that renters behave this way but you can only hope that the next batch are better. I will keep my fingers crossed for you guys.

Sarah said...

Were you able to take any type of legal action against those horrible renters? I can't believe they destroyed everything like that. I don't blame you for being a little gaurded now with your new renters. I would be the same way when you've had to go and put that much time, money, and effort into restoring everything. Hopefully that is the last psycho renter you have.

Lisa Christine said...

Uggh....I feel your pain. We have a house that we rent out and it is so miserable to have to do repairs and upkeep when tenants don't treat it well. Double Uggh....

Unknown said...

When it rains it pours I feel like. I hope things start to brighten up soon!

Trevor and Sara said...

Okay, so your first two paragraphs had me laughing so hard I actually cried. I am so sorry to hear about your rental. Trust me when I say I totally get your frustration... We are now in th same boat as you guys. I don't get it and never will. The fact that you can still make others laugh at the end of all this is your strength, my friend.

Andre said...

This is the same thing that happened to the rental house next door to us! They didn't water the yard so it completely died, they didn't clean inside, and they didn't tell the owner that they moved out. The owner's brother stopped by to see why they hadn't paid their rent and I told them they moved out two months previously. They had no clue they left. When we went inside, we knew why. They had to put in a new lawn, put in new carpet, repaint. Sad that people don't care that they live like that.

hansen family said...

Oh Karen,

I'm so sorry I haven't been there to help you...I had no idea...what can I do?

Sun