Major Changes...

Major changes are happening for us, even as I sit at this keyboard and write this update.

Funny thing about life; it happens whether you are ready for it or not! Likewise, the funny thing about some dreams is that they, too, will happen, and most times, when you least expect them to.

Well, our dream has been to retire to the ranch; to live there and just enjoy the peace, the quiet, the slower pace, and getting back to living frugally and carefully. My husband and I spend as much time there as possible, always hating to leave, always wishing we didn't have to. Just two weekends ago while I was preparing to leave, I looked around and said loudly, "I HATE leaving this place! I HATE having 2 houses to upkeep! And, I HATE this back and forth crap!"
Some people can thrive with 2nd, even 3rd homes. I am not one of those people!
I'm already a natural born scatter-brain, a life-long 'sufferer' of ADD, an over-fifty menopausal brain damaged woman who can't remember from room to room what she's in the room for. I'm also the world's most obnoxious packer of bags and every time I head out to the cabin for a weekend I need a U-Haul just to carry all the crap I 'must' have. I spend hours packing for one night, an hour to load it in the pick-up, get to destination and I spend 20 minutes unloading it into the cabin. As I prepare to leave and head back to civilization, I spend an hour packing it all back into the pick-up, an hour unloading it back at the town-house, and three or four hours unpacking the bags and putting stuff back where it belongs.
It's ridiculous and most aggravating!
People say, "Buy two of everything and keep one set at the in-town house and one set at the cabin." Well, that works fine for some things, but not medicines, not writing materials, not current projects that you're working on daily, (crocheting, sewing, journaling, etc.), and not really clothing since there isn't a washing machine at the 'ranch', and of course, fire arms...We do not leave our fire arms. Not ever.
And, then there is the financial aspect of supporting two separate houses. At the cabin we have solar, propane, we have to haul water, and our phone reception is skittish, at best. In town we have co-op electric, city water, sewer, garbage pick-up, land line telephones, satellite television, high speed internet, and while we do have propane, we don't have propane heat or stove. In town we also have enormous utility bills, mainly electric, and it just keeps getting higher and higher, and we stay no warmer in winter. In fact, we FREEZE all winter long! Add to this that my husband is in the oil field business and the past fourteen months have been very bad.
Last week I received an electric bill that almost gave me a stroke! I'm not joking, my blood pressure went sky high and I started having chest pains again. I called the electric company to see if there was any way that we might could work something out. All I needed was 5 more days. Just five. The problem is, I'm still paying land notes on the ranch and for the past 14 months I have been paying electric bills before land notes. I mean, you have to keep your electric, right? Well, the electric company was not cooperative and the representative said, "You have to have electric, so even though your disconnect date is February 21rst, I know you'll figure out something. You can borrow from relatives or take out a loan somewhere, but you'll get the money." I asked, "And what about next month, and the month after that?" The representative said, "Maybe you can borrow again." At that point my whole life seemed to flash before my eyes.
All of my life the electric companies have held my family and I hostage. When I was a child, my dad, like my husband, worked construction, and there were times when the money was lean and hard to come by. Time and time again, my parents, my brothers and I, then later my husband and I, and our children, have had to do without necessities JUST to keep 'the lights on'. It never mattered how frugal and careful we were with electric, the prices continued to escalate and we have lived in constant fear of 'having our lights turned off' for late or non-payment.
And for what? Just so we can make our lives easier, maybe even more comfortable? And to make matters worse, the electric companies KNOW that they can charge whatever the heck they want to charge and the people will suck it up and pay.
Take for instance out here in western Texas. For me to get electric to my cabin I am looking at a charge of around $80,000. JUST to get electric to a pole on my property! Next I have to 'buy' a transformer, then a pole with a meter loop that is determined by the electric company, and if that passes their inspection, then I get to pay a deposit and a connect fee, and then I get to pay a monthly fee which includes basically TWO bills in one: a provider charge and a transfer fee.
They know that you can't live without electric and they know that you will pay them whatever they demand.
Well, not ALL of us!
Some of us are just TIRED of the crap! My husband and I are among those who have just HAD IT with electric companies!
And, so, we made a major decision and now we are in the throes of major changes in our lives. By the 22nd we will be living full time at the cabin, Out Where the Wild Things Grow! It will not be easy, but it is necessary. Our land will come first, followed by propane, water, taxes, etcetera, and we'll be making monthly payments to the electric company with what is left over until they are paid in full and out of our lives.
I meet with a realtor tomorrow to list my in-town house and I will spend the next few days taking the necessities out to the cabin. Hopefully we'll be erecting a temporary fence to keep the dogs in and the critters out this coming weekend. My son loves school, so he will start riding the bus a week from today. So many people, including him, think that this is horrible, but I just keep reminding them that 30 miles one way to school isn't 'horrible'. When I was a kid my brothers and I rode a big yellow school bus loaded with bullying brats one hour and forty-five minutes twice a day. My son's bus is a Ford Explorer with a total of maybe five kids and I think her round trip for the route 2x a day is an hour and a half, maximum. Eventually we'll have a satellite phone, maybe even broadband internet. I'll still haul water regularly because drilling a water well in our area can be upwards of $60,000. and that isn't guaranteed. We will be adding water catchment systems as soon as possible, as well as adding to our existing battery bank and solar panels.
But for now, we'll live carefully and minimally until we get things, such as debts, under control.
I am both excited and very scared. Thankfully I have neighbors who have been living off-grid for years and they are encouraging us greatly! I don't know what I'd do without those wonderful people! I am so blessed!!!
I will post again, just not sure when that will be. Until then, Be Blessed in All that You do!