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.

When you need a friend....

We drove out to see Hub for the long weekend. It was a long drive, but we were really glad to be together as a family again. We just got back last night, and it already seems like ages ago.

We FINALLY got to see The Blind Side. We all wanted to see it, but didn't want to go until we could all go together. Loved the movie...loved Sandra Bullock....loved the guy who played the lead.

I spent some time driving around on Sunday afternoon and looked at different neighborhoods. We did look at a few houses. Went into one house that I have been keeping my eye on. It is finished out really nicely. Granite, hardwoods, built-in wine chiller and a master closet that could be rented out as a room. It has gone into foreclosure. Wish we could move on it now. What a coo that would be! I really liked it and it is in a premier gated neighborhood. One of those that when you pull in you think "no way can we afford to live here". We would definitely have the smallest/cheapest home in the neighborhood...and it's at the top of our budget. Ha! Anyway, I'm not going to get my hopes up. I'm sure it will be scooped right up.

I'm in the process of interviewing for a new realtor. One is suppose to call me tonight and another is coming over tomorrow. I hate being in a situation where people are buttering you up. I will be so glad to get some fresh opinion. My current realtor really stinks. Can't wait to clue her in on that little secret. ;)

I need to quit complaining though. I got an e-mail today that an old friend is dying and only has a few days to live. Her boys, all grown up now, are flying in to be with her. I haven't seen her in years or even really kept up with her. But she was someone that "made the effort" to get to know me and to be my friend. You know how it is when you're the new person and someone is especially nice and compassionate to you to help you fit in and find your place? She was that person for me. We never really became "running buddies" or anything, but I always appreciated and respected her for how she showed love to others. She's ready and wanting to go, but she will certainly leave a hold in a lot of hearts. Guess the best way to honor her is to intentionally try to follow her example.

Later.

Life as we know it.....

I've completed my first week as a "temporarily single" woman and lived to tell about it. Although Hub has been gone during the week just about every week for so long, this just seems so different. Still nothing going on the house - not even shown this week - so there is no end in sight. He was complaining this morning that he didn't like waking up alone in his apartment. Tonight, he had dinner at Hooter's as that is the ONLY place that he could watch the ballgame with other fans. (That's a WHOLE other story.) We plan to go see him next weekend.

This week did have it's challenges. We are having some crazy weather for this area. We have had the lowest temperatures in 20+ years. Even had a day of closed schools due to ice. The roads weren't bad where we live, but this week proved pretty stressful at work, so I welcomed an extra day off.

On Monday evening, my son and I thought we were locked out of the house after the door shut behind us and would not open. Luckily, the back door was unlocked and our problem turned out to be that the front door knob was broken. This had happened once before and Hub had "fixed" it after he couldn't find another doorset to fit the holes already drilled in our front door. The deadbolt still worked so I decided to wait until the next day after school to look at it while it was still daylight. Hub texted one of his friends who was planning on coming over on Thursday and help the "damsel in distress". On Tuesday, I got out the screwdrivers and took off the doorset and started looking at it. I took it all apart and then spent some time on google and youtube looking for diagrams on how to put it back together. Finally, I put the puzzle together and back on the door. IT WORKS! I am woman; hear me roar! I did have one spring left over that I couldn't find where it went. I've saved it and hope that it doesn't become problematic.

Last night, my son had a friend spend the night. When I got up to make the boys some breakfast, I found that there was no water coming from the kitchen faucet. Again, I felt like a big sissy loser as I had forgotten to do anything as a prevention for frozen pipes. Luckily, we checked all of the faucets and the kitchen was the only culprit. The hot water would work so I ran it for a bit and finally decided to run the dishwasher and that seemed to help. I also went back to my trusty google and looked up frozen pipes. It suggested wrapping towels around the spigot and pouring hot water over that. I poured and poured and finally started heating the wet towels in the microwave. I ran upstairs for something and all of sudden heard rushing water. I was afraid that a pipe had burst but instead my deck was being flooded as the pipe thawed out. My deck is now covered in ice, but the kitchen water is running and I'm better prepared for tonight. Again I say, I am woman; hear me roar!

I have always taken care of the "business" end of our family. Things such as bills, doing the taxes, insurance enrollments, etc. This past year, I really pushed Hub to take care of the insurance from his company. I took care of the school insurance which just meant taking everything free and not enrolling in anything else. His company had changed insurance providers and he said that he basically signed up for the same middle of the road plan that we had. We finally got our cards this past week. (How loud can I scream here?) We are with a major insurance company and now have a really large deductible before there is ANY benefit. We have been accustomed to the $20 copay for a doctor visit, etc. They don't even seem to have contract prices with the docs. I also had a new script with my son's asthma meds that I had been holding for the new insurance. If I had mailed it in before, I felt that I would just have to get new scripts to change providers. Now a med that once cost me $25 would now be around $800!!! This is nuts. I don't know what Hub signed up for, but this doesn't work. Now we have to try to undo this next week. Wish us luck. Sometimes the insurance companies only let you make changes once a year. I certainly know who will be filling out our paperwork next year.

Life seems to be delivering some really strange, tough twists to our family in the past few years. I have to admit that once I really felt like a very lucky/blessed person. Now....not so much. Maybe that is my whole problem and God's just teaching me once more that it's all out of my control. I hate these lessons! I really thought that things would be so much simpler at this stage of life. We would be settled; smarter (ha!); richer (ha-ha!), etc. I do realize that we aren't alone in this and truly have no problems compared to so very many. I guess I have just been a little pissed and bitter lately. I can't bring myself to say who I am mad at, but I'm just tired of dealing with "stuff". I keep thinking that things are going to smooth out and we will coast for awhile. As much as I long for July and my son coming home, I know that it will also be with a lot of adjustments for all of us. We just really need to catch our breath a little. Enough already.

Didn't really mean to go off on that tangent. I guess that is where the "personal journal" part of this blog comes in.

Later.

Dark Clouds

I have to admit that there have been several times in 26-1/2 years of marriage that the thought of sending my husband packing didn't sound all that bad. Thank goodness we never got to that point (just right up to it). Today, we have started that process and I don't like it at all. It seems so strange to pack a box with the coffee grinder and his favorite coffee beans; go through the pantry for easy to fix things that he would like; put in his favorite throw to snuggle up with while watching TV and pack some family pictures. Anything to make sure that he doesn't have to go out for wings at Hooter's; but that's another story. :)

He's not even sure that he is taking the cat as he was looking forward to. He had talked to one agent at the apartments and she said that with a declawed cat that our refundable deposit will cover. Today when he called to confirm, someone else said that there was a $250 non-refundable deposit. The latter actually makes more sense from apartment living years ago, but still $250 is too much to lose right now. He's really disappointed. He may try to sneak her in, but then there is weekly maid service. (I should be so lucky!)

We have moved many times before and we have been through this type of separation, but those times I knew when it would end. We got word we were being transferred; put the house on the market; flew out and found a house within about 3 days and came back and waited for the movers to come. Time from notice to moving into a new home...about 6 weeks. This time it is open-ended. I don't know when we will move into a home together or even exactly where that home will be.

Anyway, this just seems so strange and wrong that I just had to put it into words. Thanks for listening...or reading.

Later.