Generalities

I am trying very hard these days to remain focused. Focused on the things that matter the most and those are home, family, work, education.....real life. It has been fairly easy to avoid the pc since I rarely have time to do anything personal on it. Work is non-stop - in fact I've cancelled a three day conference trip because I just have too much to do to be away from the office or family for three days. It was a huge relief.

Life is busy as we're still plugging away on the house. Things are slow since our lender - a close friend - is new to the industry and I think i know more than she does. But I'm confident that it will all work out. Seems we have a new paper to sign either for the realtor or the lender every day.

We're cleaning and packing whenever we can so that when the day comes we are well prepared. Still trying to sell the extra car. Just vaccuumed it out and then took six kids to the beach so needless to say it needs to be vaccuumed again. Siiiiiiiiigh....

I'm back to my Thursdays at the beach - except for this Thursday since I was planning to be away. My mom's covering that day.

Work is just all consuming - but I really refuse to do it outside of work hours. I mean if they want to give me a raise and make me salaried.... it would be expected. If they want to leave me as a dept. of one, keep piling work on me, and leave me hourly, then they can catch all the crap that falls off the table when there's no more room.

Thinking about things, or engaging in things, that are outside of the realm of general reality - that is to be chatting or blogging or e-mailing with people that I've really never met seems farther and farther from me. Those people who mean something to me - who have proven themselves to be truly great friends - I keep e-mailing them and including them in my life. I don't really care what anyone says but I think that's real - as real as any friendship that a person might develop. Otherwise it holds no interest for me. I don't think I could force myself to chat and actually enjoy it at this point. Even blogging is almost a chore.

I'm right now changing the subject because I am overhearing someone in a meeting w/my Director. It seems like it might be something like an efficiency study - determining who does what, how well and, with what level of expertise. Hmmmm...

ok that's all I have the brain for anyway.

Peace,
j

Safety, Security, Sensibility, Senility

We just put in an offer on a house. OHMYGOD! I am terribly afraid that we'll get it because it's at the very edge of our range of affordability. Naturally I am giving in to H's insistence that we can make it work. Duh Duh Duh! But then again there are many times I can look back and feel regret over not agreeing to take the risks he offered up because other people profited from them instead of us.

Still it's a scary endeavor.

It's a fairly small house with interesting and somewhat unique architecture. I have to admit that the inground pool doesn't hurt. The rooms are a tad smaller than I would prefer - I like it more open. The windows are a bit too average overall, but the doors are all original wood and are arched, and it has all original wood trim throughout. It has a "lovely" little 1/2 bath downstairs off the front entryway, a three season porch and a deck by the pool. PLUS PLUS - it's right on the parade and trick or treat route. Woohoo! Ok I'm sold. lol

Personally I wanted the 1847 farm house out in the middle of the country, a short bike ride to an historic single intersection town with a quaint lil ice cream shoppe. Yes - it was already renovated. I'm not a fixer upper kinda person. It was (probably still is) on 1.65 acres and it was 30K less than "this" house. But by the time we found it it was already gone. Oh well - they probably get tornadoes out there anyway and it would have been impossible to get the kids to school and me to work on time.

Still.... nothing's set in stone. Our offer hasn't been accepted. Our financing hasn't been finalized. Why? Why doesn't a bank just run you through the mill and give you an iron clad mortgage commitment up to a certain limit? Then all you have to worry about is whether the property is mortgageable. Instead they give you a pre-approval and make you go to the trouble of making an offer on a house before they'll run you through the mill and find out if what they've offered you is really still available. That makes NO sense to me. Our credit is suprisingly good though and I was pleased to find that out. I always expect the worse when it comes to personal judgement.

Right after we close, H might sell his business to finance himself through school. Wow! Now THAT's risky. Could I stop him? Probably not. Does it scare the crap out of me? Yup. Natch he might get a great price but likely that someone who would do this sort of work won't have access to that much financing or cash.

The future is so up in the air and I so don't love uncertainty. True, when I was younger I dreaded the humdrum of the sensible predictable guy. As it turns out the impulsive one's are predictable too - just unstoppable. Now I wish I could go back in time and find myself a nice McDonald's manager or something and live in my little subdivision house on my little city lot, where we'd collect our weekly paychecks and pay our monthly bills and live sensibly and safely ever after.

Now where's the fun in that?

Peace,
Me