OK, here's the scoop. And I hope once I put it on paper it doesn't sound like I am a whiney ungrateful brat. Because I don't think I am. I am VERY GRATEFUL for all the blessings I have...
18 years ago I got my first horse. I've been married and divorced since then and lived in many small apartments and houses, always so I could keep my horse nearby or at home with me. I've been in some awful apartments that had wonderful barns, in big beautiful houses with barns, that cost me $3,000 a month....You get the picture. Anyway, when I met my DH and we decided to get married we looked and looked for a house that would satisfy our needs. Which were:
Horse Property (existing or suitable to build)
Within an hour's commute of his children (They live with their mother)
Affordable
Big enough for everyone (a bedroom for us, one for the girls and one for the boys)
After looking and looking for two years at 70 houses...we were just about to give up when we found one we really liked. It met most of our requirements. It did not have a barn and paddocks but it was big enough to do so. And it was gorgeous house. We loved it.
So we bought it. Or I should say, DH bought it.
He makes 5 times what I make and is worth much much more. Having been thru the wringer in a messy divorce, I had nothing left. Except my mare.
Anyway, he paid for the house, I said I'd pay to put up the horse facilities.
So I start planning and pricing and immediately go into sticker shock.
My plans for a four-stall barn go out the window. I settle for a two stall with a tack room.
I have fences put up.
I bring my girls home in February.
There is still much to be done. Fences need paining. Barn needs staining. Electricity needs to be run up to the barn and lights installed. Tack room floor needs to be done. Asphalt apron put around the front of the barn. Etc etc.
So, summer comes.....
We get married at WDW in June.
I fall off in August and have to have surgery.
I'm in therapy...still...but doing much better.
So now...summer goes.....
The siding on the barn gets grey.
We manage to get one lousy coat of stain on the barn. It looks awful. We never finish.
I manage to get a load of Item #4 delivered and I spread it around so at least it's not a mud pit in front of the barn. (BTW I do this still in the knee brace. No easy task!)
This past weekend we rent a trencher and dig a two foot deep 100 foot long trench and install PVC pipe to run wires to the barn for electric.
Then...yesterday...I got home and find a 100' long GORGE running thru my paddock! The rain had washed away everything we spent all weekend doing!
I just stood there, looking at it. Wondering where the For Sale sign was.
We should not have a house. We should move back to our condo.
He works too much, and I don't have the money to hire people to do things like I should.
Besides all this.....we have not yet done one single thing to decorate or paint inside the house. And we have lived there since October of last year!
All summer, and nothing got done.
I'm very disgusted.
So, it's no one's fault really. I just plain give up.