Tuesday, August 25, 2009

things i love about living in a trailer park

i was hoping to de-clutter the house enough today to put up some before and after shots, but its looking more like tomorrow. so, without photos, i would still like to share some of my favorite things about my new life as trailer trash (for those of you that thought I made fun of North Carolina too much, you will see I can find the negatives anywhere I live). :)

-free massages. when i run the washer or dryer and sit back on the other end of the house i still end up getting a nice vibrating massage. very relaxing.
-the color orange. we are on a well. apparently, it has issues. its a good thing we are BSU fans because otherwise we might have been very upset when the water turned all our underwears orange.
-speaking of the well, who doesn't love the smell of sulfer in the morning? nothing like a rotten-eggs shower to get you feeling clean. (its actually not too bad, and we are supposed to be turning over to city water in october).
-its a 3 bedroom trailer. but does it really count if one bedroom is 14 square feet? good thing babies are small.
-someone told us that it looks a little silly when the chandelier in the kitchen is worth more than the rest of the trailer.
- i thought it was very convenient when painting that i could easily reach up and touch the ceiling. no ladder needed for me. although, each time i hit my head on the light fixture hanging from the ceiling the enchanment of low ceilings fades.
-bugs. first, we thought our problem was wasps. still is. then it was mosquito eaters. they come inside, drop their legs off around the house, but don't die. i find them struggling for life, legless, each morning. also, I didn't know it was possible to bring my laundry in from off the line and find over 7 lady bugs in the beforementioned orange underwears. earwigs. i will never get used to them. i hate them. and recently they have been enjoying the place. tyler and i have really honed in our hunting skills. i killed 2 flies with one smack yesterday. this morning, when i went outside to water my strawberries, the entire front yard began to buzz louder with each step i took. i realized the ground was alive with flies. disgusting. and i don't think that slugs qualify as bugs, but we have HUGE banana slugs living under the trailer. out of sight, out of mind.
-privacy. living in a trailer often feels like living in a fishbowl. we are still working on window-coverings, but until then i can tell you whether our neighbors ordered pizza or chinese last night. they order delivery for one of the 2 nearly everyday.
-the fishbowl has led to some other amazing neighborhood experiences-
1-watching a domestic dispute. when you are married and live with your parents and look like you are 16 and scream F-bombs at one another up and down the street someone is bound to be entertained. we were.
2-the discovery that my child will never get ot play in the front yard. the neighbors that order delivery each night have a friend who comes over often and he drives a truck. with a beer in his hand. every time we see him.
3-tyler looking like a pervert. the first week we were here we painted the living room. tyler was edging around the windows and the grandaughters of the neighbor behind us were playing outside (which they do every afternoon). they are 2 and 4 and they decided they like playing in the kiddie pool naked. as tyler was kneeling at the window to paint he suddenly discovered how creepy he must look as a new neighbor, kneeling at the window, staring at naked little girls. he found a new project to work on.
-we actually really like most our neighbors. but i do have to mention the trailer on the corner. if you walk within 30 feet of it you know the people that live there are heavy smokers. if you walk within 200 feet of it and the head of house is outside you know that he looks like santa and has a large plumber's crack issue.
-it wouldn't be a trailer park without the token purple house, the lit-up american flag, the neighbors whose porch is overfowing with keystone light boxes, yappy shitzus, and camping trailers scattered about with no apparent owner.

without the sarcasm
-i really do love having my own place that i can do whatever i want to. i didn't even have to call and ask a landlord when i painted or made tyler tear down walls.
-rent. lot rent is about a third of regular rent.
-having a yard. i have strawberry and raspberry plants!
-sheds. i love when we have somethign we don't know what to do with and we can now say, "eh, put it in the shed."
i'm sure there is more, but this will suffice for now. pictures of this amazing place are coming soon.

6 comments:

Marina said...

Thank you Katie. This list is amazing. I am looking forward to pictures! I especially liked the "orange underwear" and your neighborhood experiences. And Tyler-- have you shaved the 'stashe? If so, please watch the following video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdgFisYCPHs

I miss you guys!!!

Shawn AND Chelsey said...

Katie you sure are a trooper!! I don't know that I could deal with orange sulfur water!! :)

Suzi Q said...

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Kara said...

We once lived in a house with Orange Sulfer Water that turned all our underwear orange--well, Dave's underwear were still yellow from his mission since his parents didn't hook him up with NEW underwear when we got married--but that house was in a 3rd world country and we depended on RAIN for all our house water.

Something is wrong with this picture...

:) So glad to see you living it up. Think of all the great stories you'll be able to tell!!

Rebekah said...

ok, reading your list kept making me laugh out loud, literally!! you are such a good writer...your imagery was perfect! But it really must be nice having your own place...i have been apartment living WAY too long!
love, Rebekah

Scott, Aimee, & Emily said...

Hysterical! I didn't think that you guys were serious about doing the whole trailer thing during school. Your stories are really funny and I am sure bound to get better. the pictures look great! You guys have put a ton of work into your place. Looks great!!!!