Monthly Archives: April 2016

and full speed ahead!

Looks like I have a house. Am I excited? Am I nervous?

Well of course I am. So much so that I was checking around for a different option. Something closer to Hillsville to make things easier for both me and Robbie. Didn’t happen, but at least I looked. Bob says he will trade some landscape work for the bike. I guess I’m in moving mode. Can’t remember being this excited – scared – HAPPY – ever.

Money will be a little tight for a while, so I’m trying to start selling stuff on eBay. Gotta get a light stand, tripod and light box out of the garage so I can take pics tomorrow. Want to sell a bunch of stuff so I don’t have to move it.

Started exercising a few days ago – doing the Cize dance system. I really don’t have enough room in the den because I’m afraid I’m going to smack the ceiling fan. More, better room in the new house. Went bowling with Kathy and Ernie today and had a blast. Actually went to the trouble of a little mascara before going out. I had forgotten how a little makeup can make you feel better. Helped that I can get in smaller jeans today. Barely in them, but in them! Next is to get where they fall off when I take my belt off.

I started the day on such a high note. I haven’t had a real dip in my mood in several days. Should have seen this coming. Maybe I saw it and hid.

Today I hoped to hear back about my house. Of course, still nothing. Monday I had it in my head – and my heart – that I would get good news today, and it would be from Bobby. Today is the second anniversary of his passing.

I wanted to come home tonight and tell Bobby what we did at work. I miss having a companion-a forever friend. Someone I don’t feel like I’m bothering when I want to just talk about stuff. Like Paul had us go out and get pictures riding motorcycles around Grayson County. Four of us on bikes and Charles taking the pictures. Really a pretty good afternoon. I want someone to share that with.

Then I came home. Got ready for bed early, and wondered what else to do. Walked around feeling a little lost… feeling lonely. I called Mom and talked. Still felt sad. Called Janice and talked… same thing. Called Irene… was really able to talk to Irene a little more than Mom or Janice. I told her I was missing Bobby – missing discussing my day at work. She asked about my day and just tried to make me feel a little less lonely.

It’s storming right now and Majik is having a fit. She does hate storms, but I don’t know what to do for her. We’ve turned the ceiling fan on for white noise – thought about throwing a blanket over her crate so she can’t see the lightning. Yes, the blanket has been implemented. Maybe the storm will pass quickly.

Going to be a long night.
I miss you, Bobby.

I am just so infatuated with that house – I really couldn’t have designed one better to fit my needs and wants. I’ve already cleared out a little more yard all the way around in my mind. Trying to decide if I want to put a ceiling in the unfinished part of the basement to make photos easier… and where to put the dog bath… and do I want to allow dogs in the house or make them stay outside except in extreme weather… and where I’m going to put that invisible fence thingy… and outside water for the dogs…

And yes, the goal is to pay that off in half the time (or less), but I can only guess that might happen. If eBay takes off – no brainer. Between what I’m hoping eBay will do and what I know the phone book can do, I would be just fine.

All this may be for nothing. After talking with their attorney, the sellers may decide they have to have 225,000… or more. Until I hear back from them, everything is just speculation. Heck, the attorney may decide he wants it for a vacation home…

Mom really likes that house — she’s not crazy about how far it is from “a paved road.” I’m not concerned with that. I want a long driveway and out in the sticks. Don said it was a long way to walk in the snow…

I do want that house. Just not sure it’s a good idea when I’m 55 years old, and all I have to fall back on is my own resources, and we’re talking about paying a mortgage off when I’m 85 years old. If I only make the regular payments, there will only be a small dent in the principle balance in 15 years. Even if I sell then, I won’t be any better off than I am right now UNLESS I can make substantial paydown. And what happens if I need a new vehicle? 30 years is a long time to keep that Lincoln… 🙂 Yes, I’m hoping I’ll get a few raises in the next 15 years (gonna push for one this year after the website is done), but once again, no guarantees…

STOP IT! Life doesn’t come with guarantees. All we can do is make the best of what we’ve got. Should I just pull back into my hole like a night crawler and pretend like everything’s okay? Or I can push forward into a new adventure and make the best of the bad crap that crops up. Because there will be bad crap (like the roof on this house) no matter where I am or what I’m doing.

You like my roller coaster? Wait till you see it with a huge mortgage attached!

Am I just getting cold feet? Or am I stepping back and really thinking about this. I’ll be paying around $1000 a month for the next 30 years… I don’t know if I want to do that. I want to retire and enjoy life and do things. Not tomorrow of course, but in a few years. There’s no way I can make that kind of a mortgage payment on retirement income especially if I put most of my 401K into the down payment.

Dennis “patched” the roof on my house today. You should have heard him!! He fussed and cussed and fumed “No wonder it leaks – I’m surprised there’s a roof at all…” just kept on and on. SOOOO – this roof is a disaster. Apparently they stripped the asphalt shingles and felt off and just screwed the tin to the wood. While he had the tin section off, he took me in and had me look up through the hole in the ceiling where the chimney was. I could see blue sky! He put the felt over it and caulked the places he knew were really bad. Told me if I was planning to stay in this house, I need a new roof within a couple years. Then he put insulation over the hole in the ceiling so I don’t lose all my heat/cool through the roof. And we’ve been living with it like this for 15+ years.

Now what to do? Sit back and think for a day or 2? Or just go into a “fraidy-coma” and do nothing.

Feeling just a little guilty for not telling Robbie of my plans. Afraid he will use my moving as an excuse to “blow off” the post office job. He hasn’t called to check the status of the job… and he hasn’t done anything else toward getting a car.

He does nice things like I was having a time with the lawn mower so he went out to see if he could get it running. I guess I just ran it out of gas. Was in a bad mood because the dog was barking at a horse and rider traveling along the fence line and she (Majik) refused to listen to me. Gonna have to put the collars on and leave them on. They do hate those collars but they have to learn to listen. Pepper came running when I called, but Majik was just too “in” to the horse and rider. He knew I was upset and instead of ignoring me he tried to help.

Then he came out later and offered to finish the mowing. He can be a very good person… he just isn’t motivated to work. I don’t want him to miss his opportunity, but I don’t want me to miss my opportunity either.

As soon as I know this is happening, I think I will sit him down and have a talk with him. See if we can talk it through – work this out. He’s got to stand on his own 2 feet.

Again – too excited to sleep. Realtor emailed that we should be able to do this without a lot of negotiation. Sellers are checking with attorney regarding the bills in the estate to see how much is needed to settle. Does that mean they will accept something close to my offer?

Been looking at furniture online. And auctions. And liquidators. And thrift stores. For me and for eBay. Gotta get to bed. Might sleep in just a little tomorrow… well, today.

Haven’t heard anything yet from the sellers. Getting a little – concerned. BUT – I have been looking and there is a home for sale just down the road… 1320+/- Sq Ft – MOVE-IN READY – 13.31 Acres – for just over what I offered on 1408+\- sq ft on 4+/- acres. SO I am in the ballpark. “My” house needs a little clean-up, some paint inside, and some attention to the decking and porches. Plus I’ve walked some of the ‘other’ 13 acres and the land is nice – very nice. I really need to walk this 4 acres – maybe this weekend.

Wondering if they are trying to decide if they want to put it on the market instead of taking the first offer they get. Going to try to call the realtor before I go to work this morning.

Just talking to Janice a few minutes ago. They were not real impressed with the ‘liquidation’ place in Sparta. Thinking we can probably do better. The ‘liquidators’ are going to be auctioning their inventory once a month, and we discussed getting my auction license back. Been a few years and I will have to go through the training again, but it wasn’t a problem then and shouldn’t be a problem now. . . I hope.

IF I DON’T GET ‘MY’ HOUSE, I CAN DO SALES AND AUCTIONS IN MY GARAGE TO START. So, there is a ‘win’ regardless of where I am. Just a little time to determine which it will be. Janice is saying if I don’t get “my house,” we can completely gut this house and redesign the interior. Still expensive, but less than buying that house. And this one will be ‘my’ house!

We’ll see.

Pre-qualification letter received! Now we just need to meet somewhere on the price.

Already planning my move. Hope I’m not totally crushed by their reply. This can happen. More than just a little scary, but what a thrill. Can’t concentrate. The waiting is really hard.

Well, yesterday started on a really “up” note. Melinda had said something last Friday that I wondered if she was upset with me. She caught me first thing Monday morning and told me she wanted to be sure I didn’t think her comments Friday were directed at me. I was honest and said I thought she was mad at me, and she assured me it wasn’t me, and that was that. And actually although I had been upset about it, it hadn’t hurt my feelings. No chest hurting or anything. Maybe I’m growing up.

Then I get home and Robbie and I are heading out to look for a car for him to deliver mail in. He tells me the Galax post office called him for an interview. I was SO EXCITED! I could sell this house and get the other one. But he told them he had already accepted the job at Hillsville. But he isn’t going to call. And that’s that. He was in a foul mood once we got back because he ordered a computer case and it is not what he hoped. He was screaming and yelling – not at me – but still my feelings did get hurt. Mostly because I thought I had a chance on the house then that got pulled out from under me, then the ‘fit’ he had about the computer.

That was yesterday. Today was a better day. Not so much a great day at work, but I got through it. Then off to take my 2014 taxes, last week’s pay stub and driver’s license to the loan office. On to Janice’s house. Still haven’t had the heavy chest – achy feeling in my chest – feelings hurt thing going. Wasn’t exactly a happy camper to start, then Janice and I went to our 2nd ebay class.

Now I’m excited. I have worried up one side and down the other over what might happen if Fox Creek closes and I have a mortgage. Serious thinking here – I’m too old to get another job as good as the one I have. Probably too old to get any job. But not too old to dream.

SO….

I’m back to this can happen. I can have my place on the mountain away from people where I can let the dogs out the door and just holler at them to come back in. No worrying about them barking at people and keeping the neighbors up. Or waking them up.

Roller coasters can be fun. When you are on the up anyway.

I was planning to sleep in a little while today – at least until 8. But I woke up at 6:30. Off to groceries, called Vickie to ask her to think how I might be able to get this house and still help Robbie…

Off to Mom’s – ate way, WAY too much.Gotta get back on track. Came home and push mowed the front yard – well, half of it anyway.

All I think about is getting this house. It is just too perfect for what I need. I don’t know if I would have made much different if I had built it myself. (Other than to build it on property that had a pasture and stream.) Front porch. Side deck. Back deck wired for a hot tub. Terraced gardens. Rock walkways. End of the road on Bullhead Mountain. Sunroom. Walk-out basement. Place to put a dog bath in the basement. Gas logs and gas heater in case of power outage. Heat pump. Gas cooktop. Privacy and seclusion in a beautiful home. One mile off the Parkway. Needs a little TLC – mostly just paint on the inside. It has new paint and roof on the outside. Deck and porch could use a little pressure washing and maybe some paint.

There’s a place on my face that is starting to worry me a little. Need to go to the doctor to have it checked out. Not far from the place they had to remove for the cancer on my lip. Could be just a zit, but doesn’t really look like one. Will call the dr after I hear from realtor and loan officer (tomorrow, maybe?)

Off to bed. Up early again in the morning.