KNOCK ON THE DOOR (continued)

Crying Out Loud

I sat silently stewing, feeling an intense fury building. How could these people ask me to move in the middle of the winter, with a newborn baby, just months after moving in? The situation was unconscionable and I truly couldn’t wrap my head around my options. I gently put my baby down in her crib, closed the door, walked down the stairs into the basement, dogs trailing behind, opened the door to the backyard, stepped out into the dark, cold night and SCREAMED!! The dogs romped around in the snow, chasing each other around the make-shift fence my neighbors installed, pausing momentarily to stare at me as I bellowed into the darkness.

I tossed and turned that night trying to imagine how I was going to pack everything back up into the moving boxes, Oh sh*t! I gave away all of my moving boxes just weeks ago. I remember the feeling of elation once the last box was emptied and stacked with all of the others on the porch to be used by another family for their upcoming move. This time I didn’t bother going outside, I sat up in bed, shouted a good hearty “FUUUU*KKK!”, I could NOT believe this was happening to me.

Invasion of the Lobster Traps

The next morning as I was lying in bed feeding my baby girl, my 2 dogs suddenly started barking intently. It was the “someone is here” bark, only instead of standing at the front door barking, they both ran urgently to the windows in the 2nd floor bedroom, just a few feet from me. These windows faced the backyard. But what would they be barking at in the back yard? I carefully stood up, cradling my baby, and looked out the window. It was 5:00 in the morning, still dark outside, but the flood lights were triggered and I could see 2 strange men walking around a huge flatbed truck in the back yard. I was terrified. I scrambled to get my heavy bathrobe, and then looked closer. There were dozens of lobster traps on the flatbed and the men were unloading them and stacking them at the end of the driveway. My 2 dogs were barking like crazy, which naturally upset my baby girl and she began to cry uncontrollably. Suddenly I remembered Mr. T had said that he was going to start loading his things into the yard. I peered closer at the men. Yes, indeed, one of the men was Mr. T. What a gross invasion of privacy. I am stunned.

It took them two hours to unload all of the traps and equipment. Time for me to call a lawyer.

Fine Print

I rummaged in my desk and pulled out the lease that I signed just a few months earlier and read it with intense scrutiny. I review contracts for a living, so I devoured the words searching for the key terms that would provide me with answers. There it is, yes, it is a 12 month lease, invalidated only if the terms were not met by either party, specifically if I fail to pay the rent, damage the property, disturb the neighbors, etc. Legally, the Landlords could not force me out of the home before the end of the 12 month lease. To be sure, I scanned and emailed a copy of the lease to a friend who is a real estate attorney. He confirmed.

Swirling in Negativity

I spent the next two weeks calling everyone I knew to rant about the situation. I cried, I screamed, I cried some more. I called a lawyer, my sister, my friends, anyone and everyone who would listen. I was falling apart. Stopping in between screaming phone conversations long enough to feed and hold my baby, and feed and walk the dogs, and then right back again swearing into my phone. Most everyone agreed that I should stay. The idea of moving again, with a newborn, in the middle of one of New England’s coldest and snowiest winters in decades seemed OUT OF THE QUESTION. Also, all agreed that Massachusetts favored the tenant, not the landlord, so even if my landlords tried to evict me, it would take at least 4 months to get me out of the house which at the very LEAST would give me more time in the house, and more time to search for another rental.

I noticed that my blood pressure was jacked all the time. I was nearly shaking from the intensity of emotions. I thought about all of the negativity swirling around the house from my anger, and wondered whether I was transferring my negative energy to my daughter every time she breast fed, or every time she heard me crying into the phone to my sister or my friends. As I looked down at my daughter smiling up at me from her bassinet, I realized that I couldn’t stay in this house. It was wrecking me. I would most likely win if I fought the T’s, but at what cost? It wasn’t worth it. I needed to de-stress and reset. This isn’t the energy that I wanted for my baby.

Taking Control

I decided that we have to move out. I didn’t want to fight the T’s and I no longer wanted to live in their home. The search for another rental begins. I began with a 5 mile radius of Newburyport, and surrounding towns. There was very little on the market because it was the dead of Winter. There were six rentals listed in the area and exactly zero allowed dogs. I expanded the search to from all directions to include Rowley, West Newbury, Merrimac. I found a few that allowed dogs, but they were so run down and dingy that I couldn’t imagine living there. Expanding my search further would mean finding a new daycare for my baby for when I return to work in…oh my stars I can’t even fathom going back to work right now, in the middle of all of this.

I decided to expand the search further and accept the fact that I’ll need to add finding a new day care to my list as well. This is not how I imagined spending my maternity leave. That is for effing sure!

I bundled up my baby and off we went into the cold to find our next home. We looked in Amesbury, in Georgetown, in Danvers. We trudged up and down rickety stairways covered in ice and snow, only to discover a dingy apartment not remotely worth the $1,800 rent. Finally I decide to turn our current life upside down and move 45 minutes away and relocate to Salem, MA. There are several rentals available and we can live near my sister and my dearest friends.

The Witch City

Success! I found a beautiful condo for rent in the Salem Willows that accepts dogs. We can move in immediately. Life is good. Again. Salem, here we come!

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