To Grandmother's House We Go

I have to clarify that it's not really my grandmother's house, but I believe she was someone's grandmother before she passed away. Okay, let me explain:

A while back JB and his brother were looking for a place to move to right around the time a client of his had a grandmother pass away. She was left this house in Citrus Heights, in a horrible market to try to sell it, and needed someone to watch over it. Pretty good timing for such a travesty. He tried to arrange payment with her and she would have none of it. So basically JB and Rich have been living there, paying only utilities for about a year and a half now. All of the original furniture was left in the house (including this Jetson's-esque dining room table), but the owner cleaned out the rest. Fortunately some upgrades were made to the kitchen and bathroom cupboards and counters in the last couple of decades.

Back when I first started this blog, JB and I had just approached the topic of eventually moving in together. Well, if you had seen this house like I had, and most of his friends can attest, you would know that moving in there was not even an option for me. I figured we would find a cute apartment or house to rent until we were in the position to afford our own home. I never thought I would move into a house that had no dishwasher, no microwave, and no dryer, let alone have it be my idea. But alas, I am smart enough to see the greater good that comes from paying zero rent. We can obviously save more money, and it is only temporary after all.

So, after a lot of organizing and cleaning, I moved in to grandma's house 3 weeks ago. And I should emphasize that the cleaning was everywhere, but the organizing was only in JB's room. See, I had heard these stories that most boys are just gross and will live infinitely in their own filth, but I had never really seen it first hand. Until grandma's house. I don't know that the house had ever been cleaned since they moved in until right before the first time I came over there. And even then I think JB only really cleaned the bathroom. Before a month ago, the last time the house was thoroughly cleaned was in December when I enlisted JB's help to clean the house together. In case you are unaware, a month ago was the beginning of August. That means the house went 8 months without being cleaned and it's occupied by 2 boys. You can imagine my hesitance and anxiey leading up to our date of cohabitation. The week before I moved in, I cleaned just the bathroom and the kitchen and it took me 3 HOURS!!!!

I have to say, things have been going well thus far. Well, I guess I can't really speak for Rich. And I am sure that although he loves having me there, JB doesn't really like having to make the bed every morning and put his clothes away when he takes them off or do the dishes right after dinner. But it isn't nearly as bad as JB or I pictured it being as far as me freaking out every day and really hating living there. I think we both expected the worst given the circumstances, and actually things aren't all that bad. There is a place for most of my stuff and I have settled into my routine and all is well. Also, I have noticed that I have so much more time now that I am not splitting my time between life and love.

Of course, it has only been three weeks...