Honey, I love you but give me Park Avenue.

OK. So I just have to laugh. This has been a day of discovery. Now that I'm not working, I am trying to get the business of the move under control. Things like when and where and who. Things like electricity, phone, water. This is some of what I found out today.

• Our buyers are still calling wanting to close on the 13th. Today's the 8th. Now they have figured out that they will lose their locked in rate if they don't. Should of thought of that before. Anyway, house is closing early. We're not moving early. All is well.
• I have been trying to get the moving company to hold off delivery until after the weekend. We have some painting we wanted to do and have done before the furniture was in. Found out that the painter our realtor recommended said that it would be at least $2000-$3000. That is just for 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and the loft. No way, Jose. The movers can't hold off and are delivering on Friday. Oh, well. At least the main areas of the house were just done. We will get it done room by room.
• I called the Chamber of Commerce to get who all the utility numbers for the city. Lady was really nice and gave me a full page worth of numbers.
• Found out today that our new home is not in the city limits. You would think we would have known that, but no. Our address is one town, our school district is another, and we are somewhere out there. Big surprise! I found that out when I called the city to start services. After much talk and looking, she came up that we had no services with them. She said that they use to handle the sewer but they turned it over to the water co-op. She said that people in the trailer park would come in and not sign up to pay and they couldn't track them. Think about it. (Insert giggle here.)
• Found out that there is no trash/garbage services except for independent contractors. She gave me several names and numbers. Found another one on our disclosure papers. Can you imagine all of the trucks coming up and down the streets? I'm going to wait on this one until we are there and can get the "dirt" (pun intended) from the neighbors about who to use.
• Called the gas company to start service. Got the good news that you have to come to the office in person to get it started. The ONLY way to do it. She finally looked it up and said that she didn't show service to that address anyway. We have an all electric home. Didn't know that they still built those. Another thing we should of checked. Should have asked for the electric bill averages. I can only pray now.
• Called the electric company and got the same thing that I had to be there in person to get service. I asked about doing anything online or by fax. The lady said "Look, we are not in the 20th century here. You have to come in and we don't take cards. Bring cash or a check." I told her we were driving in from Texas one day and the furniture would be here the next morning. I really needed electricity and asked if there was any other way. She checked and the current owners have not put in a disconnect so she is going to write herself a note not to turn it off and just transfer it to us. She will even let me wait until Monday morning to come in to her office. Gotta love this lady. I just get a picture of Carol Burnett as Eunice.
  

Didn't get to the rest of the utilities today. I wanted to leave some entertainment for tomorrow. Can't wait to call the water and sewer people!

All I want to know now is .........WHERE IN THE HELL AM I MOVING TO? Green Acres? :)

Later.

Changes

Life is moving fast now. This will be our last week here. Movers come the next week. I still feel in denial. I guess it will become real when they start taking things out of my hands and putting them in boxes. We have been dealing with this way too long. I'm ready for it to be done.



I'm glad to be done with school. Not really school, but I am ready for a break from the school schedule. The last day went so fast. I did really well with crying kids, etc. I had decided that I am all cried out these days. I was wrong because in walked a first year teacher that will be leaving to go to graduate school. She came in with tears in her eyes, grabbed me, and fell into the ugly, sobbing cry. Who can take that? From then on, it was down hill. About 30 of us went to happy hour together. That was fun. We went to a restaurant a little bit away so that hopefully we would not run into any of our students or their parents.



Our air conditioning upstairs went off last night. Not a good thing when it was 100 degrees yesterday. I went down a flipped some breaker switches (the only thing I know how to do) but it didn't start. Somehow in the wee hours it came on. Maybe it froze up. Anyway, I have to get it serviced this week and pray it lasts until the other people move in. We are buying them a home warranty, so they can handle whatever. Hub left today on a 4-day business trip. You know that something else will have to happen. It's the law. Murphy's law.



Our son will be home in a little over a month. Doesn't seem real after so long. There will be a lot of changes for all of us. Little brother has been an only child for a while now. I don't think he will like giving that up. Things are so different now and it will be a hard realization for our son. He left here a boy with us taking care of him that way. He is coming back a man. I'm afraid that he will be disappointed when he tries to come back into a life he remembered. Tough part of growing up and he will have it all at one time. He used to get between Hub and I. I'm not looking forward to that game. Don't get me wrong. Our family has been broken without him here. I want him here. At our table, and with us. It is just that it was really, really bad. We dealt so much with the drugs instead of with our son. I don't know that I really remember how to act like a "normal" family of four any more. Our dynamics will certainly have changed.

When you think about it, send up a little prayer for our family. We can really use it.

Later.

Exhaling

Thanks for bearing with me during my own little meltdown. Life, as we know it, just became too much for both of us. Much talking, apologies, more talking and praying and things now seem a little better. I've been with this man too long to throw it away. Don't know if he ever read all of that or not, but it was pretty raw and really truthful. Wouldn't take back a thing.

Hopefully, we are on a straighter course now. We still have a job and are still moving. We went to Arkansas this weekend and after much looking found another home. I think I like it even better than the first. The inspection came through today and it is great. Our picky inspector just found a few minor things. We should be there on the 21st. Just a couple of weeks before our son comes home. What a summer!

We just have two more days of school. I'm so ready. I also found out today that I still had two days of leave that I will lose and not be paid for. Sure is tempting to call it a day. Actually, I just want to have time to say goodbye. I am so going to miss these kids. The ones that know that I am leaving have been saying that they were sad that they couldn't come back and see me. Me, too! They have made a difference to me as I hope I have made to them.

So the synopsis is....still married, still employed, still moving, still leaving.....still breathing.

Later.

One more time.....

OK So I thought I was through with whining. Bear with me, I'm trying.

• Typical stressfull, busy morning at school on Friday. End of school is coming quickly and trying to get everything done so that I could take off 1/2 day and get out of town.
• Mid-morning I receive a nasty, poison e-mail that my husband has sent to me, his two sisters and their husbands. He's mad at everyone (including me) and says that no one but him has supported our son (including me) and that he is through with the whole bunch (including me). He will not be seeing anyone this weekend or any other.
• I come home, ready to talk him off the ledge again, and find him mowing the lawn. Some physical activity is good to get agression out....or so I think.
• He comes in; takes a shower; and tells me that he is going to see our son and that I am not welcome to come.
• Then he drops the bomb that the marriage is over. We have a buyer for the house so let's sell, divide the funds and get a divorce. With that he throws clothes in a suitcase, takes the ATM card and flies out. What do you do with that?
• So I'm left here with my son who thinks he leaving school early to go on a little family trip and once again try to explain his father's actions that there is no good explanation for. He's twelve. He doesn't need to deal with this emotional roller coaster. He has enough to deal with in the move/no move game. He's a smart, sweet boy and for all of the covering up, he just came in and said "is Dad mad again?" He ended up spending Friday night and a lot of Saturday with a friend; his own escape. He was very sweet and concerned about me. Wanted to know if I was okay.
• Hub did finally say he was sorry and wrote an apologetic e-mail to his sisters and brother-in-laws. May be too little, too late.

Hub, if you are still reading my things, please stop. Sometimes this is all I have. I need something that's just mine. I'm not okay. You really hurt me. Life is hard for all of us. Not just you. I'm tired of picking up the pieces when you go off half-cocked to get it out of your system. You talk about how much healthier it is than suppressing like I sometimes do. Throwing up on the ones you love is not cool. Watching you explode would make anyone want to keep things in. This time you didn't just do it to us. You did it to the rest of your family. You may never get that back either. Our lives really kind of suck right now. No blame, just a fact. I'm going through it, but not with a crazy man.

Later.

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.