The Nightmare Is Over

Our refinance ordeal is finally over. What should have been a slam-dunk and should have taken only three weeks from start to finish, actually took eight months and ultimately required a letter to the CEO (something I have not done since I was in my twenties). I think I can safely say that the delay was not caused by us, but was caused by the bank (and, to be charitable, maybe even confusion on their part as to new rules brought about by the current economic crisis).

I won’t name the bank because I am very forgiving (and because in the end we got a really good deal…4.5% fixed, zero points and almost no other closing costs). Still, the eight-month delay cost us a total of about $10,000 and we could not refinance the higher interest loan used for the elusive one’s university education while the house refinance was pending. After five months, my favorite husband got so frustrated that he wanted to dump the whole thing and go somewhere else, which is probably what the bank wanted us to do, but I absolutely refused to give up that rate. So, persistence paid off and we closed on the deal last week. This should result in a savings of about $1300 per month…which also goes a long way toward making me so forgiving.

Now I have a plan to use that savings to pay off our other bills. I wrote up the plan a few months ago, but could not implement it until now. I think it’s going to be really nice to get rid of our debt. We hemorrhaged money this summer. There have been so many unexpected events since March, each costing between $500 and $1500…starting with the sad loss of Wolfie, going on to medical costs, two replaced clutches and a replaced motor mount, dental (OMG don’t get me started on that!), helping the elusive one get back to Scotland for his Masters’ Degree. My plan now is to cut costs and pay off the debt. It’s been a very stressful year, which explains, in part, my absence.

But I feel more like myself again. The stress is starting to let up quite a bit and I’m feeling really creative again, playing the piano, stitching, painting, reading…I hope the stars are properly aligned now for a new leaf on life. Now that the nightmare is over.

The Future Is Here

When I was coming home from work yesterday, I really wished I had a camera at my fingertips. As I was passing the new (well, relatively new) WWII Memorial, I saw one of our mounted police sitting astride a beautiful Morgan, as still as a statue...looking intently at his Blackberry.

I wish my own Blackberry had a camera on it! I decided against the Curve (which has a camera) in favor of the World Edition (which does NOT have a camera) because I wanted to be able to use it in Scotland when the Elusive Offspring graduated in June. I didn't mind not having a camera in the Blackberry then, because I always had my little Cybershot with me. But for everyday life, I don't carry the camera.

I can't wait until Apple decides to open up its iPhone to all providers. As soon as the iPhone is available on Verizon, I'm switching! Until then...I'll suffer through without a built in camera. Sigh. I do have an iPod Touch, which my wonderful son gave me when he got it for free as a perk for buying a new MacBook Pro for his graduate work. I love it. It doesn't have a camera either, but it lets me read books from my Kindle (great for waiting in the doctor's office), and I can watch movies on it (that was wonderful when I flew out to LA recently).

Technology is a wonderful thing.

Daily's Lost Companion

I didn’t mean to be cruel. It just happened. Daily was at the back door, yowling at Kira and my favorite husband, who were in the back yard playing with a ball. I was in the front of the house, in the living room, listening to his howling, and it sounded like “lemmeout”…so I sort of made the same sound. He ignored me. He knew very well I was mocking him. We went on like this for a few minutes, but then I ramped it up a bit, into the real thing. I am actually quite good at making a variety of cat sounds. Been doing it since I was 8 or 9. I can fool dogs, cats and people. This time, I made the same howl that Wolfie used to do when he went into the basement (don’t know why he used to do this, but he did). Suddenly, Daily came running into the living room, meowing expectantly, responsively. He stood in the middle of the rug and looked here and there, with huge, concerned eyes – and it was clear to me that he was positive that he would find his long lost buddy, Wolfie. My heart broke.

Cesar Millan says that dogs (and I would add cats and all animals) live in the now. I believe that. For two weeks after we had to euthanize Wolfie, Daily frantically looked for him, everywhere. Whenever we opened a door to leave, he tried desperately to escape the house because he was certain that Wolfie was out there and all he had to do was go out and find him. But then, after a few weeks, he settled down and seemed to be moving on. He and Kira have gotten pretty close.

But when Daily ran into the living room the other day, expecting to see Wolfie almost five months later, I realized that, although animals live in the now, they don’t forget. Wolfie may be gone, but he's not forgotten. I cannot help but wonder what Daily would have done if he had found Wolfie in the living room.

Finished Book Nine

I just finished the last Sookie Stackhouse novel (number 9)...ok. So, in the nine books, we have met vampires, shifters and were-folk, witches, fairies, an ectoplasmic recreation, and even a maenad. I can't help but wonder what's next, ghosts? Or will she just stick to the (in)human aspect of Sookie's relationships with the various men, vampires, weres, and shifters in her life? These are important questions that will only be answered when Sookie 10 comes out. When will that be? Let me find out...

OK, May 2010. Time to turn to something new. Been thinking about reading Gone With The Wind again. I still have a bunch of the old-fashioned print books hanging around the house (as much as I love my pony the Kindle, I love print books more). Barbara Pym... have her first book...that would be a good one to read. And the elusive one has a copy of C.S. Lewis' "Screwtape Letters." It actually looks like a quick read...maybe I'll start with that.

So...that's what I'm going to do now. Start a new book.

Finished Project

This is a photo of my stitched, but not yet framed project, "Arabella Reborn," a Michael Boren design, in the original Fraises du Bois pink! It is a lot prettier in person than it is in this photo. I'll frame it when I finish stitching the companion piece, "Daphne Reborn," which I have only just started. I did Arabella Reborn in two full days. Maybe if I spend this next weekend stitching, I might also finish "Daphne." Somehow I doubt I will have the time, but I'll try. I also want to finish stitching a couple of other projects this year. I'll try to photo and post them as I complete them.

There But For The Grace Of God

Saturday night we (my favorite husband, the elusive son and I) went out to eat at our favorite sushi restaurant (Shiki Sushi in Ballston Commons) and then to see a movie (Star Trek, which the EO had not seen yet). It was a wonderful family-time evening, and on the way home, the sky was crackling in preparation for yet another beautiful thunderstorm.

The night became disturbing when, nearing Lee Highway, we saw a man in the median of the road. He had fallen and could not get up…in fact he started crawling. He had no shoes on. It was clear that he was either very drunk or very weak/ill. Either way, we could not leave him, so we stopped in hopes of helping him. When we got to him, we could tell that he had been drinking, heavily. We got him on his feet, and it became obvious that he was in no shape to continue his journey on foot (or knee).

He looked to me to be in his sixties…but he could have been younger. I just could not tell in the dark. Then again, I don’t know if I’m a good judge of age. He was dressed in clean, decent athletic clothing, and had a very nice pair of glasses on, and we did not feel like he was homeless, so we asked him what his address was. “Four one four,” he said, and then repeated: “Four one four.” But no street address. “Should we look at your license to see where you live?” I asked him, and he said that his wallet had been stolen…and in fact, he did not seem to have a wallet on him. No identification at all. But finally, we got the name of his street and we put him in our car. Yes, we put him in our car. That’s a real iffy thing to do, I realize. I mean, who was this guy and what were we going to do with him if we didn’t find his home? We didn’t want to take him to the police. They would put him in jail and then he would have that on his record. And we could not leave him there in the median…it was about to storm. He could have been hit by a car, or struck by lightning, or he could have fallen again and ended up in a gutter and drowned. It could happen.

We drove around looking for the 400 block of his road. It didn’t make sense, because we were in the 4000 block, which made me believe he probably meant 4014, not 414. Thank goodness that was correct, and at last we got him to 4014, where it turns out he lived in a basement apartment. It was quite dark by then, and, leaving me in the car, H and EO walked him (one on each side) to his apartment. It was so dark and late, I was afraid someone would think they were burglers and shoot them or something (yes, I’m a worrier…worrier, I say, not a warrior). As they passed the man’s car, they found his wallet, keys, a half eaten hotdog and I think they said an empty Vodka bottle (but could not find his shoes). They took these things and the man into the apartment and helped him into bed. Then then came back to the car and we went home.

I hope the man stayed in bed. I hope it was his apartment (haha). In the morning, he would have absolutely no recollection of what had happened the night before. Which is fine by me.

Kindle Time

I have not done much writing lately. Earlier in the year, I was so busy with a pesky case that I hardly wanted to look at a computer, much less write anything. But we settled that case, and less than a week after the settlement was filed, my favorite husband and I went to Scotland for the elusive offspring's graduation from St Andrews. We leased a flat on North Street for a week and what a good idea that was! We were able to entertain EO's friends and their parents, as well as lecturers. We were able to prepare our own meals, clean our clothing, spread out and stage EO's move from one flat to another (he is continuing next year, getting his Masters Degree). I didn't have access to a computer for writing, although I actually had time to write. Instead, I spent my down time reading books on my wonderful Kindle. I find that I have been reading so much more since I got the Kindle. It's so easy to carry from place to place, and when you finish one book, you can immediately start another one, without going to the bookstore. I am still reading physical paper books as well. But I have become very attached to the Kindle. In the last three months, I have read all but one of the Sookie Stackhouse novels as well as a few other books (to remain nameless for now). I should be starting that last one tonight. Next on my list is Anthony Trollope's "Claverings" and then Dennis Lehane's "The Given Day."

So ... we are back from Scotland (photos to follow...eventually), EO is home for a while longer, and I have time to get back to writing again. The house is looking quite nice, now that the wonderful Sara comes to clean it every two weeks, and we keep it so much neater now. I have about 12-15 boxes to go through...mostly paper. They are all stacked in the hallway for now because we are using the "project room" as a guest room (a friend of EO's from the UK is visiting right now). The project room actually looks very nice, too, with everything tucked away in pretty cabinets, behind doors. It seems like I have a couple of bags to take to Good Will every week or so. Who knew you could collect SO much stuff!

Yes, there is time to write now. And yet, it's not easy! I have so many things to write about, but I just can't seem to get going with it.

For now, I'll start my return with this rambling entry. Little by little, I'll get focused and back on track.