The most requested thing for dinner around here? Noodles. With butter.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Almost there...

The utilities have been notified.
The mailman has too.
The moving van has been procured.
This thing is almost through!

The dog has found a foster home
until we move for reals.
We'll be "camping" with my mom and dad-
Homey is how it feels.

Boxes fill my current house.
Soon all will be stored away.
How long, you ask, how long?  I shrug.
Try asking B of A!



Thursday, May 16, 2013

Still waiting.

Maybe tomorrow I will hear if the bank accepted my offer.  Yeah.  Where have I heard that one before?  I hope it is tomorrow because I am having a garage sale on Saturday and I will sell a bunch of stuff that isn't needed for the new place.  Unless the new place is not the one I hope it to be. Then I might need some of that stuff.  Sigh.  It's all so messy.

In the meantime, kiddo has been fast enough to represent her grade-level girls at the All-Star track meet next week.  Pretty cool.  She's impressed the coaches enough that they want her to play flag football next fall.  Yikes.  Can you just imagine?

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!!!


This is my mom's wedding dress.  She wore it to get married in 1959.  Since then, it has quietly stayed tucked away in a cedar chest in the guest room.  Well, it made an appearance at the 50th Anniversary party, but other than that it has had a very small role in my parents' lives.  

Until this past week.

This past week, mom took the dress out of storage, folded it neatly with a note to its new owner, and boxed it to go to Haiti.  You see, there are women in some of the slums of Haiti who are seeking a new start.  They are seeking to follow the Lord which means leaving their lives of prostitution and starting to set a better example for their children.  They are marrying the fathers of those children, setting up households and finding gainful employment.

But most of them have no money for a wedding dress.  Nothing that will help them mark that very special day with all the pomp and celebration it deserves.  Nothing that tells the watching world that they have a fresh start in life, and they are a bride, and that they are loved.

Until now.  

Mom isn't the only one in our church who has donated her dress.  And, like she says, it's about the relationship, not about the dress.  But it still wasn't that easy.  She thought about all the granddaughters- would they want to wear it for their wedding?  No.  Most of them have very different fashion ideas or are the wrong size.  They would do just fine with dresses of their own.  (And I always said I wanted to get married on the beach wearing white jeans, so I was out of the running.)

And so she took a deep breath, made her decision, packed up the dress, and enclosed a note to the new recipient of the dress encouraging her in her new life and wishing her 50+ years of marital happiness- just like she has experienced.

Mom, you never cease to amaze me.  Happy, happy Mother's Day!!!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Short sale is really a LOOOONNNNNGGGG sale

I know "short" means that the owner will get shorted on any sort of profit they might get out of their house, but it is tempting to think of a short sale as a sale that won't take too long.

It actually takes longer to buy a short sale house than a regular house.

Lots and lots and lots of people are involved.  There's more paperwork than you can shake a forest at.
Banks in Texas must be consulted.  Letters must written to convince banks to take offers.

I just passed yet another hurdle on the way to townhome ownership- the signature of the previous owner.  She accepted my offer and has even written to the bank in Texas to ask them to please accept my offer because it might be the only one they will get.  After all, the house has been on the market since last June 6.

So, I might hear back from Texas tomorrow.  Or, Monday.  I hope it is tomorrow.  Makes the weekends go easier.

Here's another hurdle you might enjoy:


This was a practice run.  I wasn't able to get onto the track for pics during the race, so I asked her to show me and she obliged.   She's cool like that.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Dirt Jump

It's really the long jump, but she forgot the name while she was telling me about it, and it came out as the "dirt jump".

Not bad, eh?


And in other news, the bank needs more than my first offer, so I offered what they wanted.  It is pretty much the top of my budget, but it does help me accomplish my goal of downsizing my mortgage and my life.  Mostly.
We'll see what happens tomorrow and what sorts of fees and things they might gouge me with.

And for those of you thinking about a short sale... don't.  Everything takes longer than you think, and working with banks is not nearly as nice as working with regular people.