Welcome Home!

Upon our drive up the driveway to our new house, no less than 6 neighborhood dogs "welcomed us home". All in all, we are very happy with our decisions. This house is going to be great, and it's going to be home. At night, it is SO dark because we are in the country. It is so enjoyable to go sit on the front step in the morning, having a cup of coffee and listening to the birds while dreaming of what we want to do to our land. I can envision a walking trail around the perimeter already. We have an over-grown fire pit; I can't wait to have a bonfire and have a party. I have officially turned into my mother. ;-)

I say that because I remember moving to the country when I was 10, and never understanding why my parents wanted to be in the middle of NOWHERE. I literally hated it. Now that I'm all grown up, I completely understand! And I think their home is paradise now. Little did I know all those years ago when I thought it was jail. Jail = 20 minute drive to civilization.

The only sad thing that has happened is that the previous owners essentially abandoned their dogs. I know, I know, I cannot understand how anyone could do that either. There is an old yellow lab, a young and very sweet boxer, and a young chocolate lab. Apparently, they are supposed to be up the hill with a neighbor now. Huh. Well THAT plan hasn't worked so well. I really feel sorry for them because all 3 are really sweet outside dogs. Their owners just don't care. It breaks my heart every time I wake up and see them in their usual spots around the perimeter of OUR house. We know they aren't starving but we are not feeding them. I think eventually they will migrate to where they are being fed, and will only show up occasionally. I'd LOVE that situation. Occasional puppy visits would be fantastic! But standing right outside my bedroom window at 10:30pm barking is not going to warm my heart. Old Shadow did give us a house warming present though. She caught us a possum. She had to work *really* hard to catch it. Just for us. And Dakota brought us a mens Asics size 14 shoe. Just the left one. We have very thoughtful "neighbors"....

New Dreams

I find it interesting that my goals in life have changed. Not just minor goals, such as making a new recipe, going on a trip, or running a race. Major life aspirations are really to what I am referring. I just said goodbye to my "dream home". A house I thought I'd never have until I retire. A house so perfect in so many ways for us. I didn't actually say goodbye; I sped off into the distant horizon like my tail was on fire and didn't bother looking back. I'm not upset about leaving it because my dream changed.

I am so happy that I am OK with not having my "old" dream anymore. I don't care that I won't have granite counters or stucco siding or live in a big city. Our new place is going to be perfect because we are going to be happy there. All 4 of us + the future puppy + the chickens. We will have a huge garden, and we will have Italian cooking night, and life will be good again. We will be able to see friends and family. We will make a great new home for ourselves, and that thought makes me content. And crazy happy.

I Hate Roses Because Of Thorns

And honestly, they stink to me. I do not like the smell of most flowers. Roses hold no appeal to me because they hurt and they stink. There's one pretty part, but when you have to prune and care for the plant, it hurts you. Kind of like today's big mortgage companies. We try to do the right thing, and all they do is hurt us.

We had a buyer. It's no secret that the WORST state to own property in right now is NV, and if you are selling, it's at a major deficit unless you bought it over 15 years ago, then you might be breaking even. One particular bank wouldn't accept the short sale offer, they wanted more money. The potential buyer came up a tiny bit. Nope, the big bad mortgage company would not budge off of their dollar figure. They are not HERE. They aren't getting what it's like to BE here. My agent said there has been another slump in the market and the mortgage companies always play catch up because they base what they do on the past, and are never really up to date with what is currently happening. Reality is all I'm asking for, and reasonableness. They are letting that buyer walk. And we are leaving. We only had ONE offer; it's not like people were lined up at the door.

What incentive does a mortgage company have to have a homeowner? None. They are made whole no matter what. So when houses sit empty, they don't care--they aren't losing anything. And let me tell you something else. Those so called "government programs" are a frickin' joke. Nobody qualifies for them, and if you jump through all their hoops to try to play their game because you meet ALL of the qualifying criteria, and you could BE the poster child for whatever program, they just screw you around. Because guess who's administering the programs???? Those Bunch Of Asswipes and CHArlatans who can't even communicate within their own damn series of companies. And WHAT is their profit margin again?

Why Am I Holding On To This STUFF?!?

I have never worked this hard before in my life. Ever. This move has shown me how much STUFF we still have and don't need. I knew we were packed with stuff, just because it was jam packed to overflowing almost everywhere. I will continue my purge-routine well into our new home. Who needs this much STUFF anyway?

I have stuff from my childhood. A pencil shaped plastic pencil keeper with a zipper around the top from Florida (I remember that trip: the electricity in the restaurant went off during a hurricane and then later we were all huddled in the camping lot bathroom and I kept thinking there are MEN in the *ladies* bathroom). And I have a stuffed dolphin from the same car trip. I have a cheesy little purse my mom & dad brought back from their first trip to Las Vega$. I STILL HAVE MY TOOTH FAIRY PILLOW PEOPLE!!! Why am I hanging on to this crap? Nostalgia and memories from my childhood, I guess. I admit it, I had the best childhood ever, and I am very lucky. But hanging onto this crap doesn't make my childhood any more or less memorable. It's just cluttering up my life and collecting some serious NV dust. It's time for me to get rid of this Barbie doll. Even if it does remind me of playing with my Aunt Janet. Which I SO LOVED to do with the intensity of a thousand suns.

Getting There

Quick Update: We are making great progress getting things ready for The Great Migration Back To The Midwest. When I got here, I was in a state of shock. There are paths through most rooms by which you can pass to get to the next room, but Geez. I had no idea how bad it would be. I got over it by the next day and actually enjoy seeing everything ready to be packed and loaded up. It's like everything is ready to "get home"!

I was confused as usual my first morning that I woke up and thought, "who are all these people in my bed?", teehee. I could hear Abby and Todd softly snoring. Then I thought, this is how it should be every morning.

I am exhausted from all this manual labor, but not to fear that I will waste away to nothing. Quite the opposite actually. We are eating at some of my favorite places. We have been to Spicy Pickle and M&M Fish & Chicken shack where I tried "greens" for the first time and LOVED them! We will be going to In-N-Out, The Lake, Albita's for Mexican, Jim Boy's for Mexican, and possibly Pinnochio's. These are all places I really enjoy, but the dishes I love the most we will recreate. Except for In-N-Out, which I will seek out whenever we travel. There is nothing better for comfort food than a hamburger "animal style", fries "light" so they aren't crispy matchsticks, and a neopolitan milkshake. Seems like there is a restaurant that I am forgetting about visiting, but I'm not worried. We have a way longer list to visit in KC.

Cheers to a quick and easy move "home"!

Homemade Version

Looks good, huh, Becky?!?!  This was my mom's *healthy* pancakes with fresh fruit, whipped cream, and a little maple syrup.  I decided to skip the drizzle of chocolate.  It certainly didn't need it.  This was a plate of Heaven.  It reminded me of Serendipity 3 in Las Vegas.  ;-)

I took this picture when I was in Oklahoma over July 4th and realized I forgot to blog about it.  It's certainly worth it!  Yummmmm

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is the birthday of the world's greatest mom ever.... mine! She really is the best; and has always been supportive. She's always there for Todd and I both. She's a lot of fun, too. I wish everyone could have a mom like mine. The world would be a much better place. She's one of the biggest rocks in my foundation and I am so thankful.

What Positive Side?

Why do I as a consumer have NO RIGHTS?  Why am I at the complete mercy of a huge, messed-up, inefficient, ineffective, completely incompetent financial services company?  Let's just call them for the sake of this rant, a bunch of asswipes.  As of today, they didn't even have our short sale "in their system".  It's like the last 30 days NEVER HAPPENED, to them.  Meanwhile, I literally have the days adding up on a big wall sized poster, because those buffoons have my life on hold.  This is so unfair.  They have so many different companies within their global empire, and so many departments within their companies, that they can't communicate.  And who pays for their incompetence?  Me.  Every day.  I wont go into the details here, because what the hell does it matter?  Not one damn bit.  I just have to keep taking it.  As they deal it out.  However they see fit, whenever they think about getting around to it.  I hate asswipes.  It's like using grainy, thin, practically-unprocessed, bargain-basement toilet paper on a big throbbing, bleeding hemorrhoid.  I wish I had a preparation-H pad big enough to wipe all the pain away they have ever caused.  But that isn't possible.

This too shall pass, this too shall pass, this too shall pass.  Just like a painful bowel movement.