One Life Story For Sale......CHEAP

Thanks for all the good advice. I'm trying to keep all of that at the front of my mind. Sorry to be such a whiner these days.

Actually, the twists and turns of this plot are getting almost comical. This week the school district was pressuring me to give them my formal letter of recognition. Evidently, they need to post the job as people are inquiring about it. I had to tell the principal that we are limbo and ask for a little time. They said to keep everything as it was and asked where my signed letter of intent was. Turns out that they came out a few weeks ago. I had already been told to sign one and then resign at the appropriate time, but I didn't think that they had come out yet. Found out that mine had not even been passed out by none other than that sweet secretary. The assistant principals were furious, but that's another story.

We let Hub's boss know what was going on with my job and she said they still need more time and that we should put off house hunting another week. Rumors are rampant of layoffs, new division lines, etc. There will be changes.

I finally felt myself come to the place I've been looking for. I'm tired of worrying about it. Whatever. I need to quit skipping chapters and just read the story page by page. I've wasted so much time and energy. I'm weary. I've taken off tomorrow afternoon and we are "getting out of dodge" as they say. We are going South to see our son. We will spend a couple of nights with family which is always fun. Right now we need fun and family more than ever.

Oh, and guess how the next page reads. I got a call a while ago from the people that want our house. They just got another contract on their house and wanted to make sure that ours was still available before they accepted. They need to know quick. Oh, brother.............

Later.

As the Stomach Turns

In the last chapter of "As the Stomach Turns", we found out that our sometimes heroine had just sold the old homeplace and had bought another. Or did she...........

• Sold our home to lovely couple.
• Put contract on lovely home in Arkansas
• Lovely couple had to terminate their offer as the the sale of their home fell through
• After a long 3 days of attorneys looking for loopholes, the relo company finally declares that our home is theirs to lose as we had already signed the contract over to them. (Whew!) We can continue with our plans.
• Hub flies to Arkansas for inspection of new home.
• What's this? Inspector's moisture meter registers 100% moisture in corner at front of house. Says that bad stucco job is to blame.
• Another home builder brought in. He says that it's the roof flashing.
• Builder that actually built the home came it. He says that it may be the gutters.
• Another moisture expert brought in and he says that possibly the window and seals had failed. Then he said the word that changed my world......mold (possibly). That's a deal breaker to me. My son has asthma plus you would have to disclose all of that on a resale.
• We had put an addendum to the contract that stated that the seller would have the front wall suitably repaired at their cost. My realtor put on there that we needed an answer by 5 p.m. on Thursday. This gave them at least 48 hours. Their realtor came back on Thursday and said that they would give us $1500 to fix it ourselves and they wanted an answer by noon. (Do I hear games being played?) Each of the answers that the experts came up with came with a price tag of $700 - $3200. It could even turn out to be all 4 issues.
• Needless to say, our heroine instructed her real estate agent to tell the seller to take the contract and their $1500 and ..............live happily ever after.

Now we get to fly back to Arkansas this next weekend and start over finding a place to call home. The movers are still scheduled for the last of May-1st of June. We may be able to stay on schedule if we find a home that is vacant. If not, at best we will get moved just in time for our son to come home. I REALLY want the extra time to settle before that big change happens.

Oh, and did I mention that Hub came home and there has been a MAJOR restructuring in the higher levels of management within his company. The gentlemen who was the loudest about wanting him in Arkansas is no longer with the company. There is a very, very slim chance that we wouldn't need to move. Hence, we are waiting until next weekend to go house looking.

So that's what I'm talking about "As the Stomach Turns". Probably should call it "As the Toilet Runs". Little son has been throwing up off and on for two weeks. We didn't know whether it was illness or emotions until he finally started running fever. Me....just chest pains plus nervous stomach and all the joy that goes with that.

Hub is just happy, happy. It will all work out. He says that my faith in God needs to be stronger. Probably so, but why does he have to go down to the wire on everything? I'm just frustrated. Thanks for listening. I probably should go to the bathroom again.

Later.

Never can say goodbye.

We just got back from a going away party.....for us. Really nice party. The very best friends. Good time. I hate this stuff. I guess I am still in denial that this is really happening. Where once there was a little excitement of the new adventure now lives concern and apprehension of the unknown. I'm already feeling a little lonely and distant. These were friends and neighbors who became family. We have been together through the loss of parents; birth of children; learning to ride bicycles without training wheels; first puppy love. Our kids have hunted Easter eggs together; trick or treated together; decorated pumpkins and Christmas cookies; loved each other and hated each other. Did I mention that we became a family? I hate this stuff.

Later.

Crazy times and crazier people.

Bad blogger buddy! I've been a bad blogger buddy! For some reason I have not had it in me to write at all lately. If you are reading this, thanks for still checking in. I've kept up with you guys but have been a bit of a lurker. So....these are my thoughts and happenings, for what they are worth.

• I guess our big news is that our home is sold. The sweet couple that wanted it all along bought finally sold their home so that they could buy ours. The crazy news is we had been making updates all along. ie. Wallpaper gone; walls textured; neutral paint, etc. They liked the house just the way it was and are disappointed that the wallpaper is gone. All of that work and money gone. Guess we should have had a little more faith. We had a lot more interest after we did those things, but no one had made a decision yet. I'm so happy that this family will be here though. They loved the house. They even showed up in the middle of a snow storm because they "wanted to see what the house looked like with snow on it". Isn't that the cutest? The little boy is trying to get us to leave the cat. Not today! They emailed and said that it was "okay" with them if we didn't moved our bench and fountain off from the entrance. No to that, too. Nice try though.
• We went to AR last weekend to buy a house. Two and a half days, no pressure. We saw a few different houses and actually felt we had some better options than we thought. We even looked at a half completed spec house that would be a really nice home for us. We really didn't want another brand new house. We've done that twice and they come with another set of issues. We found a home that was really fabulous in every way except that it was 3 bedrooms. Hardwoods, stainless appliances, granite, large rooms, nice back yard, good landscaping, 3 car garage....it even had plantation shutters in every single window. Hub was thinking he could sacrifice his office for a 3-car garage. We saw it the first day it went on the market and another offer was made that day. Our agents talked and they were holding a response until 6 pm the next day to let us finish looking and make a decision. The last home on the list the second day turned out to be "it". Hubby and I both just walked around in silence for awhile realizing that this home felt good. It was located in a nice golf club, in the city we wanted to be in, 1-story, 4 bedroom, 3 bath plus an office. No 3-car garage, but an extra large 2-car garage with extra storage and permanent stairs going up to the floored attic. No more pull down stairs to go to the attic. The funny thing was that we seemed to keep coming across this one builder in our search. He builds a really good house, but most of his new construction was out of our price range. They had advertised that this home was built by a builder for his daughter to live in. Of course, it would be well built and had many extras. After we looked at it and fell in love, our agent called the other agent to let her know we would put it an offer. She started laughing and said "Guess who the builder was?" We ended up with one of his homes after all. It was meant to be.
• Now the dilema. We close on our house here the middle of May and have to be out then. The house in AR closes the first week of June to allow everyone to finish school. We are just now realizing how complicated and expensive it will be for us to stay in a hotel for 3 weeks with three people, two dogs and a cat. Are you thinking ZOO? The company won't pay for that time (new news to us) as we had already used our interim living budget for hub to be in AR. We are trying to see if there is a way to speed things up here and then will check with the owners in AR to see if they can accomodate. Crazy times.....crazier people!
• I think that I told you about my aunt that passed away on Super Bowl Sunday. The memorial had to be postponed due to heavy snows here and in the Northeast where her grandaughter lives. It had been rescheduled for yesterday. My brother and sis came up and it was good to connect with that side of the family. I had not seen her granddaughter since we were both kids and played dress up in my aunt's closet. My aunt had a nice life filled with fancy evening gowns and furs. Great fun for little girls. We still recognized each other right off. She is now an international attorney and has lived and lives a life really different from mine. We still have the bonding of two little girls who played together though. There has been a lot of sadness and disfunction in this family. Auntie had 3 children who I will call Greedy, Beauty and Crazy. Greedy and Beauty only had 1 child each. Crazy had 2 with an even crazier, greedier woman. Crazy died a couple of years ago and Beauty was killed in 1991 by her 4th husband for her money. Greedy is somewhere in NM living with the results of a too fast and hard living. Beauty's son didn't even come to the service. Greedy's daughter is the one I played with and loved and she was the guardian of her grandmother. I will call her Smarty just to keep things straight. So you can see it is a very small family. One of my Crazy's sons (a daddy now himself) is so hungry to connect with family. He cried when he saw us. I cried because when he smiled it was exactly like his dead father. Crazy's son just returned from military service and is working at a night manager at a convenience store. He is also driving a new Hummer. Doesn't add up to me. His sister was at my wedding almost 27 years ago but she was an infant then. I had never met him. Crazy's wife was a really weird bird. My aunt was quite wealthy and Smarty told me that she had received a call from the bank that Crazy's wife had shown up at the bank, using Crazy's name and wanted her share of the estate. Crazy had already once kidnapped his mother to get her to change his will and leave him everything. Luckily, Smarty had taken care of all of that and made it where she could not touch it. Sounds like Smarty has her hands full. She was glad to reconnect with semi-normal family. Compared to them, we seem like the Waltons.
• Speaking of disfunctinal....is anyone else sick of Jon & Kate Gosslin? The all American big family has just gone down the tubes. Is anyone really taking care of those sweet kids?
• Spring is definitely springing at school. OMG these baby teenagers are going wild. We are having more and more DR's (discipline referrals) coming in. I got two last week that really made me laugh though. Two of our long haired hunks came in with DR's. They were written up for telling the athletic director that they wouldn't go outside because it was humid and it would make their hair frizz. Seriously? Crazy stuff! Actually, I'm REALLY going to miss these kids. :(
• My son's birthmom called the other day. She has decided that he will come live with her in AZ and become a motorcyle mechanic. She found a school for him that will just cost us the bargain of $26,000. Of course, she is unemployed, on food stamps, and renting a room from a friend. She's also dating a man/boy who is 2 years old than my son. Oh, and she wants to be there when he gets out and come hang at our house with him for just a week or two. Needless to say, I am less than enthusiastic. We deserve to have him by ourselves for a while first. I tried to remind him that he will be going through a HUGE adjustment and that might be too much, too soon. She says that why he needs to be surrounded by our family and her. Anyway, he does need to get to know her for himself. We have an airport pass waiting where he can go one way and come back as soon as he's ready. I give him 3 weeks tops. He will be out 1 month after we move. Looks like we will have a really busy summer.

I guess that is enough to catch up for now. Life is busy with houses, moving and baseball right now. Please hang in with me for the next few months. I think I'm really going to need some confidants more than ever.

Later.

My Week

Just a quick update....

1. Hired a new realtor. I think I've made a better decision this time. I feel good about this. I've really enjoyed a little break from obsessing over the house. Guess I need to get back into it if we want to sell though. She has given me some more staging suggestions. This has turned into a full-time job.

2. More snow forecasted for this week. Are you serious???? Crazy weather this year.

3. Son had bad asthma attack last night. Really scary for both of us. I have stayed home and watched him all day. I'm worried about him having pneumonia. His coughs are so deep.

4. Hub didn't come home this weekend, but will be home next weekend. Really miss him. We will go see our son next weekend while he is here. Makes for a lot of car time, but at least we are together.

5. I had unexpected company this week. My brother came by and spent the night with us. So good to have some quality time with him.

6. Son went to a birthday party Saturday afternoon at one of those jump places. He got a little more than he bargained for when a mom literally whipped down her top and started breastfeeding next to one of the jumps. He and his friend think they are scarred for life. :)

That's a bit about my life. What's up with you?

Let it snow. (NOT!)

Snow, snow, snow! Would you Canadians and Northerners PLEASE come take it back? Sure, it's really pretty. And yes, we don't have to live with it as long as you do. It is just being an inconvenience today. You see native Texans freak out over two consecutive snow flakes. Just two, that's all we need to start a run on the grocery stores like it may be the last time for weeks. So far, we have 6-1/2 inches and 10 more hours of snow forecasted. This snowstorm will be talked about for years.

I may be just a little cranky as I sat at the front desk at a school for 8 hours straight (minus 1 necessary potty break) talking on the phone to frantic parents and checking out hundreds of students for early dismissals. Count them....HUNDREDS! School has already been called off for Friday and then we will get the calls about "Does this really count as an absence because it was snowing?" Then you speak really slowly as you explain that if you were not here, you were absent.

Oh, well. I guess that I have gotten that off my chest. I came home to a driveway that I could not get up and the roof of my gazebo was caved in. But my house is warm and I have an extra day off making a 3-day weekend. Hub is on the way home. He is driving into the storm, so when he gets homes safely, all will be well.

Stay warm and inside. (Excluding you in Florida. Enjoy the sunshine!)

Later.

Makes me stop and think.....

What a weekend! The game of Life....you just can't play it sometimes. Hub came in for a long weekend and actually stretched it until he was here most of the week and then came back Thursday night. Pretty sweet! He leaves again tomorrow. :(

I had a house cleaner come in and do a "Spring Cleaning" on Friday. Hub was to re-stain the deck and a couple of honey-do type things while he in town. Then I planned to have a realtor over on Saturday and get the house re-listed. That was the plan anyway. The house was cleaned on Friday; it was too cold to stain the deck and I was gone Saturday to come home to Hubby asleep on the sofa and three boys having a blast upstairs. Then Hub decided to sand and repaint a window sill in the kitchen. There was a cloud of dust in the air. Need I say more? Sometimes you just can't win.

I got word on Wednesday that my cousin's husband had died. He was only 57 and they think that a virus hit his heart. No warning. He was fine Sunday morning and then he started feeling bad and shortly thereafter, gone. I went to his funeral on Saturday. (Hence no realtor visit and Hubby asleep on the couch.) What a legacy the man had left. He left his mark on his community and his family. His accomplishments were many. Close to 600 people signed the book at his wake and more than that to the funeral.

Came home from church today to get an e-mail that my 90 year old aunt, that I was named after. had pneumonia and was not suppose to hang on much longer. We had only recently found out where she was and my brother and sister visited her the weekend I was in Arkansas. We have been gone so much lately that I had not been able to go see her. I drove over to Dallas to visit her today and the hospice nurse said that she probably would not make it until the next work shift. I stayed and talked to her as long as I could. Not sure if she heard me, but at this stage it was probably more for my own peace. She and her husband were extremely wealthy and lived a privileged life; yet there she was in her nice retirement center with no one here but a hospice nurse. Everyone has either died or is crazy. Literally. What a legacy!

Really makes me stop and think. Both of these people lived the life that the world today thinks would make you happy. By worldly standards, they were big successes. My uncle was in the ground floor many years ago of the Alaskan pipeline. He made a killing. They had three children. Money took their toll on them. The oldest turned into an alcoholic that doesn't have a relationship with his lonely overachieving daughter. He is off living by himself in a hotel. Howard Hughes on a much smaller scale. Another died last year after living a life scarred by greed. His children seem to have learned the same. The daughter took her money and brains and made herself a big success. Several years ago, she was murdered by her husband that married her for her money. He almost got away with it, too. So there is my aunt....passing by herself....leaving a next generation with their own wealth issues. Some want it, but can't get it; some get it but let it ruin their own lives.

Two very good people with such different endings. I'm not sure where to go with this, but it does make me stop and think. My aunt's wealth took the souls and even the lives of her children. My cousin's wealth afforded him the means to serve and make a lasting difference on the lives of his children and others. A lasting difference......that's what I hope to choose.

Later.