House-hunting 301

The reason I named this post "301" is because we've been looking for so long that we are no longer novices!

I've got the greatest house-hunting story yet! This is taken from "Memoirs of a Desperate Couples' Search for a Better Life". Read on for a good laugh...

What we THOUGHT we would see...

Saturday Jarrod and I went to see another house. The ad made it sound PERFECT for our family: Adobe home on LUSH 1 acre, yada, yada...I had called and arranged to meet the owner . We arrived at HIS house, and followed him to THE house. As we begin winding through "scary town" in the North Valley, a much sought after part of Albuquerque due to it's location on the Rio Grande, Jarrod says, "I can tell you already, we ain't takin' this place!"

Truth Revealed..

(not the actual house...but you get the picture)

So, we arrive at the "Adobe House", which are very common in NM, and many times hard to acquire. It's 100 yrs. old- "for reals" (as they say here). Out of this nice big red pick-up steps this very short Mexican man with his hair combed from the back of the crown to his forehead in little curls. He is more than proud to be showing us the home he was raised in. This place looked like it should probably be condemned, but to be cordial we proceed. As we enter the house, Jarrod and I noticed that the saltillo tile floors were most likely just layed on top of the dirt underneath-no levels used here. Jarrod and I had to duck through all the doorways and hunch over through the whole house!! Obviously, this house was made by short little Mexicans like the nice man showing us the place... 7ft. ceilings!! This place is a definite NO. BUT!!!...

Then he wanted to take us on a journey through the LUSH 1 acre...of weeds! First we got to watch a "doodle bug" pit, where doodle bugs capture ants and throw dirt at them then suck them under the ground. No, I am not kidding here. Ok, that was interesting, but we STILL aren't taking this place.

Off to the "Back 40" where he shows us the old outhouse, with the door his Dad used to use for an extra table top at family gatherings! eeww.

Next we wind through sticker bushes and dead alfalfa hay to a spot where his grampa and uncles would heat up rocks until they were red-hot and throw them in this little pool of water for a steam hut. Again, not something I needed to know.

Then, further down were some big logs around what used to be a campfire. HERE, he tells us, is where he and his brothers would drink a 6-pack (bribed from some older cousins) and play their guitars (at this point he sits on one of the logs and begins playing AIR GUITAR!!!) You should have seen us! We were trying desperately not to laugh. I can honestly tell you that going through these experiences with Jarrod makes it so worth it all! We GET it. We laugh and cry together. It's so fun!

And the price for this lovely acreage complete with adobe hut??? $895 a month!!!

Tempting.