Is that a black widow?

Last week I went to Girls Camp with the young women in the stake. It was pretty fun, and I plan on posting more about it and even some pictures soon.

I was staying with the first year girls--24 twelve-year-olds, me, and one other adult leader. The second night of camp there had been a group that had lit a fire in the firepit next to my cabin. And like good campers, that group put out the fire before they left the area.

The fire came back. It was put out again.

A few minutes later, the fire sprang back to life again.

So I went to put it out again and in the process dumped all the water I had on it (probably close to 2 liters). I thought for sure it was out for good.

It took a little longer this time, but again, that fire popped up.

Out of water, I started scooping up fistfulls of sand from the surrounding ground. At this point I was really frustrated that I'd forgotten my headlamp--it's hard to scoop sand effectively and hold a flashlight at the same time. I put the flashlight off to the side while I dug through the dirt and sand.

It was about that time as I was trying to put out what I then considered "The Fire from Hell" that my cabin-mate asked, "Is that a black widow?"

Yes. Yes it was.

No more crawling around in the dirt and sand for me. And I'd just discovered another hidden bed of live coals too. I trekked to the bathroom to get some more water and finally got the fire put out.

Once I felt certain that the fire was out for the night, I thought it was my turn to be out for the night as well. I was exausted from the day, but happy that it was earlier than I got to bed the night before. (12:30 am as opposed to 2:00 am). I went to my cabin, turned out the lights, and not 5 seconds later there were 6 twelve-year-olds screaming...

Not done for the night afterall.

Moving?

In light of the recent posts by Ree and Boss, I decided to solicit some advice.

Marty and I rent. For the most part this is a good situation for us, but recently we've had some issues. We've talked about buying, but have decided to wait a while longer.

Last week we got a letter from our apartment complex letting us know that our lease ends in mid-September. It's time to decide now, though, whether we want to stay or move because if we decide not to renew our lease, we need to give them 60 days advance notice in writing. That means we've got about 2 weeks or else one decision is made for us.

I guess the main reason we would want to move and not renew our lease is that the rent is jumping up $60/month (last year the rent went up only $15/month). That's $720 more per year. That's almost one month's rent.

So we're debating, is it worth it?

I'm quite sure that we can find a place that rents for less than the new lease rate. But there's more than just that to consider.

When we moved in our security deposit was "waived". This means that none of the move-in fees we paid are refundable--$300 pet deposit, $100 administrative fee--completely gone if we move. We'd likely have to pay similar non-refundable amounts if we move somewhere else. And also perhaps a standard security deposit.

And finally, there's the hassle of moving. I don't like moving. I don't like the idea of boxing up all of our stuff just to move to another rental property across town. But, I admit, as I look at potential places online, I like some of the things I see--more personal yard space for Razor to run around, no upstairs or downstairs neighbors, etc.

So, I'm conflicted. What do ya'll think?