Interuption Of Story For Current Events

11/30/2010

Sometimes I'm amazed how fast things change. One day you can be living your life and the next everything is about to change.
My husband has been a self employed flooring installer for the past 17 years. I have always hated his job. It is undependable. It is feast or famine and in Oct. things begin to slow down. Usually between Thanksgiving and Christmas he gets a few jobs, folks wanting to gussy up their homes before company comes for the holidays. Not the case this year. He has had no work period.

Truth of the matter is, people down here in the deep Ozarks have no money. It is one of the most gorgeous places in the USA and a lot of the towns around here fold up for winter when the tourists go back home at the end of the summer. When the tourists go home lots of businesses close for winter. The majority of the jobs here are in saw mills and logging. And unless you grew up here, good luck getting hired.

Things have really been rough with the $$$. I was fortunate growing up. I grew up in a huge old farmhouse 8 miles from town. It used to surprise me when I was a kid and had friends over, they always thought we were rich. I never really thought about it till I saw where some of my friends lived. We were lucky but my dad and mom had worked hard, Dad owned 2 business' with his brothers, an asphalt company and a pawn shop, he was home alot and when dad was killed Mom sold her business, the tavern and restaurant to my aunt (her sister) and my uncle.

She continued to manage it and they paid her well, the only difference is she didn't have to be there constantly like when she owned it. She worked Monday thru Friday and her days were spent at the desk doing paperwork, banking and ordering everything from shot glasses to pickle chips for burgers and everything in between. Same thing she did before only after selling the place she no longer had to tend bar or cook. Before my dad, an Italian giant of a man, was murdered (we found out he years later that he and his brothers were involved in Mafia dealings) she spent 70 to 80 hours there per week, sometimes more when someone didn't show up for work. Once my aunt took over, she was down to 40 hours. This was all worked out so Mom could spend more time with us kids. Unfortunately, she began to spend a lot of her time off on the other side of the bar. Before long she was back to spending 60 to 70 hours there, after her shift she would go to the bar and drink. Many times we were calling her and begging her to come home. My dad's death took a major toll on her and she turned to alcohol and her friends at the bar. Rough as it was we still had everything we needed. I began to spend a lot of time at my aunt's house during those years. But that is a story for another day.

They also lived in a huge old farmhouse about 5 miles from us and it was a beautiful place. That was also as much of a home to me as our own house. So I always lived in a big old house. Till now. I have hated this double wide since the day I saw it. Spoiled I guess. It is a pretty home, and I have it decorated like a Victorian inside. But I have never been comfortable or happy in this box. It feels cheap and flimsy. I am terrified of storms and they are bad here being on a mountain top, terrified of fires as these things burn to the ground in minutes flat. It was always a trade off for living in such a beautiful private place and thankfully it and the acreage are paid for from the equity we had in the mansion. But if B can't work we are screwed. I don't bring in enough to keep us comfortable and he has child support to pay.

So B was talking to his uncle and cousin who work on the pipelines. It is an awesome paying job, the benefits are terrific but the downside is he will be gone for 4 to 6 months at a time. I hate that part but he is excited to see if he can get hired and I can take road trips and spend a few weeks with him here and there but I can't do it from here. There is no one to take care of this place and I have no one here to call if I need help. Bottom line if he gets this job I don't want to be out here in the middle of the forest with no neighbors and I have no friends here. Never spent anytime in the little town down the road other than to go to the store. And folks here are a little suspicious of outsiders.

Whether he gets the job or not, its time to go. We are putting the place on the market tomorrow. Our best friends, who also lived in the Historical District where our old mansion was in Illinois, bought another old gorgeous Greek Revival mansion they are currently restoring over here in Missouri about 4 hours north of us. V's husband J, is a top executive for a large telephone company and has obtained a job that will allow him to work from home instead of his downtown St. Louis office. The town they are going to has had major growth in the last 2 years and have broken ground on 2 new factories there. If the pipeline thing doesn't happen B will have still have several options for work, unlike here. His kids still have to eat if he is working or not, that support MUST be paid. His ordered amount is way too high but I insist its paid until he can get it modified.

I have been there to visit and help with V's new house several times over the summer and I really like the atmosphere of the little city. It has all the major stores and and is a short drive to a much larger college city that has it all. So for several weeks now I have been looking at homes there on line and every time we go. We found one that we instantly fell in love with. And it just happens to be catty corner from V's mansion. Once again it is a home in a Historic District, a big 3800 sq ft. old 3 story Victorian, much smaller than the old mansion but more room than we really need. The best part is the fact that it has no dark history. Its a happy house and I felt that from the moment I stepped through the door. It has been owned by the same family since 1940. A young attorney and his new wife bought the house and raised a family there. He became a well known judge (coincidence?) and lived in the house till he died in 1997. His widow continued to live in the house until until September of this year when her children decided she was getting too old to live alone.

The house has been very well taken care of. The inside is very close to original condition, all the old woodwork is still in place and no one came along in the 70's and dropped the ceilings and paneled every square inch like the sad fate of so many of these old homes. They did however, cover the exterior of the house in vinyl siding and put new windows in, when they did that they removed all the gingerbread trim that once graced the windows, eaves and porch. Even the shutters are gone. We are making an offer on it Friday when we get there. And if we are lucky enough to make a deal, (fingers crossed, prayers going up for a better life) next spring I will be going to the old house salvage yards and searching for trim to make the exterior as original looking as possible. These days with so many people loving and restoring these old gems, there are companies that sell new gingerbread, a lot of it is now made of PVC which needs no scraping and painting. Maintenance and rot were the reason so much of it was removed in the 70s and 80s. People were getting into siding and new windows and wanted a maintenance free exterior so alot of the old trim went to the burn pile. I think that is sad. But reversible. What is a Queen Anne Victorian without all the fancy woodwork? Anyway this entry is alot longer than I intended it to be but I am so excited and hopeful! Please keep your fingers crossed for us and I will reward you with tons of before and after pictures as things happen if I can figure the pic thing out. LOL