Today is Sunday, July 17. We have been house shopping for quite sometime, but have never been able to find anything to fit our family and our budget. Deanna is constantly looking online. Well, a few weeks ago she found this home that looked really interesting on the listing. It was listed as a two-story, 3 bedroom 2 bath, and it was an awesome price. The only real negative in the listing was a comment about some fire damage, but at that price, we really wanted to see it.
Last week after church Deanna and I were kidless, so we decided to drive by and look at it. As we pulled up to it we could see that it definitely needed some curb appeal, but it looked quite promising. Deanna called the realtor and we set up an appointment to see it today at two o'clock.
When we woke up to get ready for church our 6-year old, Aaron, said that he was not feeling well. He was complaining about his head, stomach, and jaws hurting. We figured he had some new teeth coming in, but we had him bring a trash can in the van just in case.
We made it through church, which by the way we had a great birthday cake for our pastor's wife, Robin. We left church at one o'clock to go to the house. It was only 12 minutes to the house, so we arrived quite early. While we were waiting in the van we were startled by the most horrifying sound in the back seat...the sound of a 6 year old projectile vomiting. He finally got the trash can up to his mouth, but not before he had spewed all over his clothes.
I instantly jumped to the back and began stripping him right there in the middle of the street. At this point we decided that it would not be good to proceed with seeing the home since we had a naked kid in the back seat. However, Deanna had left her phone at home, so she had to call her parents to get the number. Well, during the phone call while I am still out in the street trying to take care of Aaron's clothing, Aaron had grabbed his trash can and spilled the vomit all over the seat.
I'm not sure what happened next. All I know was that Deanna screamed, and was instantly in the back seat. Suddenly I looked up and guess who pulled in to the driveway...early. Yep, the realtors had arrived. I should also say that we had not yet met them personally, so this was going to be a doozy of a first impression. I was bent over in the street cleaning Aaron's clothes, Deanna was bent over in the back of the van cleaning the seat, and Aaron was naked and wrapped in a jacket. It was a little embarrassing, but they were parents, so they completely understood.
We finally got everything cleaned up and asked Leah to stay in the van with Aaron while we went inside. When we entered the house, I could not believe what I was seeing. The house was huge. It was larger than anything I have ever lived in. What was supposed to be a 3/2 home turned out to be a 5 bedroom/3.5 bath. The basement was finished with 2 bedrooms and a full bath. When we walked to the back, there was a large deck with an in-ground swimming pool.
That's the good part. Remember, the listing had mentioned some fire damage. The home had a pretty bad smoke smell. The fire had been contained primarily to the basement, so the upper two floors were well in tact. However, the worst was yet to come. I don't know if the former owners left in rage or if it had been vandalized, but the home was completely destroyed. Every wall in the house had a huge hole punched in, and they had splattered paint and graffiti everywhere. When I say everywhere, I mean everywhere. The brick fireplace, the two huge bookcases, the ceiling fans, the ceiling, the walls, doors, kitchen counters and cabinets and bathrooms. Everything had been covered in red, yellow, and black paint. I couldn't believe anyone would ever do something like that.
The house is still perfect for our family. We would have our own rooms, and more importantly we would be 12 minutes from our church/job instead of 30 minutes. We're not sure how far we are going to go with this, but we are praying about it.
What a crazy way to spend Sunday afternoon.
PS. I'm sorry, Deanna. I love you.
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