Well hello, old blog. Trying to get back to you so we'll start with a little Sunday Gratitude. I moved into a new neighborhood in Tallahassee in August 2023. It was actually quite the story and will wrap back around to this photo! We'd been in our rental in Ox Bottom for eight years, and unfortunately the owner decided to take advantage of the skyrocketing rental rates in Florida and raise our rent. They increased it by nearly $500 a month, too much to stomach when we really didn't need that much space anymore. My husband was working full time back at home in Jacksonville, and the girls were in their apartment for college, so it really was just me and the dogs most of the time, except for when the hubs came over to visit. The challenge was that I was notified of the rent increase in mid July while Sarah and I were up in Washington DC for a week checking out all the museums. I knew that if I was going to move, it really needed to happen by mid-August before we all went back to work and school for the Fall or I'd be moving with no help!
My daughter Olivia was home in Tallahassee so she searched out some options while I was in DC, and we thought we found the perfect spot! It had a fenced in backyard and allowed dogs, was in a part of town I was used to, and though it was half the size, the rent was the same as what we were paying before the rent hike. Liv visited it and liked it. Owner reached out to me with a "I have several others interested" text, and since Liv had visited it and liked it, I took the leap and signed the lease from DC. When I got back in town, I did a little drive by and it seemed perfectly fine. A few days later, I met up with the owner, and it seemed perfectly fine; there were just a few things I pointed out that I felt needed to be addressed before I moved in. She agreed and said she'd take care of it. I had picked up the keys, and a few days before we planned to move in, hubs and I drove by after going to a movie and went in to do some planning. Water was running in one of the toilets, so we checked the other and saw that the water had been dripping in the shower. I made a note to talk with the owner about those things. As luck would have it, the next door neighbor was outside (a police officer! a bonus!), and she shared some of the challenges the previous tenant had when the house was switched from well to city water, a $400 increase in water bill! Thinking maybe that was because of the toilet running and shower dripping, we made notes regarding what the neighbor shared for the owner.
So .... when we touched base with the owner and told her about these things we felt needed to be addressed, she totally blew up at me! It was a super uncomfortable conversation, with her mainly yelling at me that how dare I insinuate she didn't take care of the property. "I'm the best landlord in town!!" I finally gave the phone to my husband hoping he could just talk water/plumbing issues with her, but even he could not get a word in. I finally said, "Okay, let's just take a step back and talk again tomorrow". Now, consider I had already paid the security deposit, first month's rent, and pet fees, all of which added up to nearly $5,000. My husband and I looked at each other with a "what the heck just happened?" look, and he said, "You absolutely cannot move in there. That woman is unhinged." But we had already given her nearly $5,000! He felt strongly that I wouldn't feel safe and happy there in the long run, and that if we had to, we'd walk away from the money we had already given her. So I texted her and told her I was not questioning her skills as a landlord, just pointing out things that needed to be addressed, and was sorry if I offended her. I followed that up with how taken aback I was with how she spoke to me and told her I felt like we were already in a combative relationship and I hadn't even moved in yet! I told her that if I was not who she wanted to move in there, then let's determine that now. And amazingly for my good fortune, she told me she'd refund everything I gave her to get out of the lease. She clearly didn't want someone in there who was going to question her! I said, sure, I'll take it! And she was true to her word and sent me back every dollar I had given her an cancelled the lease.
What could have been very bad situation turned into really amazing luck. That night I jumped back on Zillow looking for another rental, and the house I'm currently sitting in had popped up. And it was perfect. It was smaller than our current rental but bigger than the nightmare rental and in a really great neighborhood with a $200 a month lower rent. HUGE backyard, allowed dogs, all hardwood floors. We met the owner at the house the next day and had signed a lease by the end of the following day. And I've been so happy here! It's a great little rancher built in the early 1970s, the neighborhood has earned neighborhood of the year in Tallahassee many times, and the owner is one of the nicest people I've ever met.
So back to these flowers in the photo. This is a great walking neighborhood, and I have several three-mile routes mapped out for morning walks. On one of my walks this past week, this bush had burst into bloom. In early November! After some researching, I discovered it's a cassia splendida, and that it's super hardy and can even do well in salty soil. Guess what we'll soon planting in our yard in Jacksonville!
If this happens to pop up and reach you, I hope that you are doing well. I'm needing to add a little better structure to my life (more on that later) so I'm hoping that getting back to a regular blogging schedule will be part of that. Leave me a comment and let me know what's happening in your world. I know that it's been a week here in the states with the election we just had, and while I admit, I'm disappointed in the outcome, I accept that that's why we vote, and I vow to continue to work for goodness, compassion, and equality. And that'll take all of us working together to achieve, regardless for whom you voted.
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