It started with just kids walking home from school - even though there is a sidewalk outside our community into theirs - but it got worse - teenagers riding bikes through our yard, and even parents pushing strollers. The grass on both sides of the house became destroyed. The overgrown, lush and shady trees and bushes, just beyond our property line near the lake, became scarce. The ground was dusty, a clear trail could be seen, and whenever it rained, since foot traffic killed the grass, the sides of our house turned to mud.
We complained to both the owner and the apartment complex manager. I took pictures and presented them to both. Unfortunately, the owner only kept saying that they were "looking into it". The apartment complex manager claimed that it was actually residents from our neighborhood housing community coming into their apartment complex, and even breaking into cars there too. How outrageous! Why would people from a beautiful community - with our own park and basketball and tennis courts - travel into an income restricted community??? She also said that the fence was county property and regardless if her residences did destroy it, she had no obligation and was not going to fix it or make any attempt to rectify the situation.
It gets worse... My husband parks on the right side of the driveway - closest to the path people have made through our yard. In the past 4 months, he had three tires slashed - 2 within one week! It was always the same tire - front passenger - because that was the one closest to the path. We decided, after the 2nd tire slashing, we could not stay in that house anymore. It was creating lots of stress, and financially, we couldn't keep replacing tires. We decided that the only thing we could do was move. Since we rented, we didn't have to worry about a waiting period to sell a house, etc. But then again, if we actually owned the house, a fence would have been put up in the first week and we would have gone to the county already. We gave our notice we were moving out, sort of breaking the lease that was never actually signed (because it wasn't properly written).
The teenagers also banged on our windows as they ran through the yard - trying to annoy or scare us. We have never done anything to any of them. Heck, we hardly knew our neighbors. We kept to ourselves and took care of the house. Last week, one of the teenagers running through our yard hit a window in our family room. He hit it so hard, it splintered, cracked and shattered. Glass was everywhere. It wasn't a little window with panes, and only one of it breaking - no, it was one big window that shattered at 11:30 at night. We taped cardboard boxes up, both inside and out, not feeling entirely secure, but we were moving out in the next two days. The owner didn't actually get the window fixed until 3 days later - after a huge storm passed through the area. We did our best and taped garbage bags so water wouldn't get inside.
The day we turned in the keys, the owner said he talked to the apartment complex and they told him the exact same stuff they told us - no surprise there. He also said he was looking into putting up a fence. He was going to put up a fence! Two and a half years after we moved in and complained about people coming through the yard. He decided NOW, because now he is responsible for it, since we moved out! Makes my blood boil.
Turning in the keys felt so good! Like a giant weight had been lifted off our shoulders. It was an amazing price for a 3/2 house, but we decided to save even more money and move into a 1 bedroom apartment. This is extremely hard, because we have a lot of furniture and even more stuff - mostly kitchen, because I love to bake and cook. The organizing process/donating/spring cleaning has officially begun. We have a little pathway through the apartment and one box at a time, I am going through and unpacking. The hubby works 5-7 days a week - He works so hard trying to make a good life for us - so my "job" is getting the apartment set up - in between looking for work and an internship.
The food posts haven't been updated lately for obvious reasons - this post - but hopefully as soon as things settle down, I can get back into a routine and do what I love again.
Until next time,
Love & Confections
