Ramblings of a Wayward Goddess

You know how they say, anything worth having is worth fighting for? Well, I better have 10 glorious deliciously blissful years in this house. I’ve been fighting for it since March.

Our house in NC finally closed. And the clouds parted and the angels sang, and it was good.

Until it wasn’t.

We were supposed to close on this house on Aug 29th. On Aug 25th I got an email from my loan processor saying that he was being transfered and our loan was going to someone new. What?? We are supposed to be going into underwriting and we are passed off to someone else???

I had a couple of items I needed to send in and no one to send them too. Finally got through to the new person and there was one last thing she needed. Closing was pushed to this Friday but only if she got that last item by close of business on Friday (29th) well, my husband had that, and he was on a plane. He managed to fax it in by 4pm, our time, which was 3pm thier time. Only they were closed. No one told us they were closing early. Then we went into a holiday weekend and all we could do was wait.

Tuesday morning I shot off an email asking if they got the info and were we stood now. We were in underwriting, should know somethig by the end of the day.

End of the day – underwriting needs more verification from employer. Thesame information they have already recieved but couldnt understand.  Why isn’t perdiem pay showing on the W2? Because it’s not taxable. You know it’s bad when the CFO of your company says that your loan processor is stupid. But I digress

Next we needed a Power Of Attorney. It’s just impossible for my husband to tale time off when he is in DC and our closing date keeps getting changed. So, I have his POA and get to sign for this thing all by myself (that means its really and truely my house, right)

Yesterday we went back to underwriting with the assurance that we had jumped through enough hoops and that it would come back in the morning “fully approved”. We’re on the schedule for Friday at 1pm.

So now we wait…..

I dont even want to talk about all the crap that is going on here. I’m trying to stay positive. 2008 was supposed to be a GREAT year. So far it’s been the Year of Struggle.

Our closing in NC is balancing precariously on the edge. It’s been delayed so much that I am having trouble staying positive now.

Our seller here, who we pay and very generous rent to, decided to smoke crack and pull a dumbass bitch move.

We got word that the man she was living with was facing forclosure and she needed us to hurry up and close. Hello, we’re working on it. You agreed to a 1yr lease so bakc the fuck off. So, the other day I got an email from her Realtor asking for me to let her know when we close and that she knows we had had some delays but hoped things were moving forward now. I shouldn’t have replied. She’s NOT my agent and doesn’t represent me. I SHOULD have made her go through my agent. Instead, I replied. I said that we had another delay but I would let her know when we closed.

Today my husband calls in a panic. He got a call from our Realtor saying that she was getting calls saying that our rent check bounced, twice. Oh hell no it didn’t.

In seconds I had our bank account up on the computer which confirmed what I already knew. That check cleared on Aug 7th. No bouncing, at all. I called my Realtor back and told her that it was BULLSHIT. The check had been paid.

Then I got on the phone. I called up my bank and talked to a real live person who confirmed what it said online as well as on the automated phone thing. The check CLEARED and was PAID on the 7th. It did not bounce. She also confirmed that the check would not have “bounced” anyway, as per thier policy to pay the check and deduct the money and fees from your account. You go negative, but the check gets paid.

Then I took the check image from online and emailed it to my agent and surpressed the urge to email the sellers agent and ask what the FUCK her client was smoking.

Now, I don’t trust anyone. Rent will be mailed registered mail, signature required, return receipt requested. As per our contract the seller can’t kick us out without 60 days notice and paying us the equivalent of 12 months rent. The way to get out of that is to get us to break the lease. I think that’s what she is trying to do, make it look like we broke the lease by bouncing the check. Seriously, she has no idea who she is messing with.

Today was school orientation.
We left here around 10am to head to G-man’s school.
Met the school counselor and Principal in the lobby. They were as friendly and bubbily as you would expect elementary staff to be. We found our way back to the 3rd grade wing (all of the schools are huge) and met G-man’s teacher. She seems really nice, but I’m not sure if she is a good fit for him. I’ll give it a chance, they might prove me wrong. She is from Argentina and has a heavy accent. She talks kinda fast too. G has some struggles with school so I hope that he can keep up with her. But, like i said maybe she will be just what he needs.

After meeting the teacher we wandered around the school some more. We paid our $2 “donation” for the agenda, then made our way to the cafeteria. I signed up for the PTA, paid for the first week of lunch, found out the bus number, bus stop, and pick up time in the morning. I was also given info about becoming a bus driver

Next we stopped by the house because I was out of checks. As I walked to the house i heard my dog’s tags jingling. I looked and she was coming from across the street. I have no idea how she got out. I could have sworn she was in when we left. Anyway….got her in and my phone was ringing. It was the attorney handling my closing in NC. They needed my mortgage information so they could get my pay off and know where to send the check.

Next was off to the middle school. It’s GIGANTIC. 4 stories and all kinds of twisting halls. Good golly. They had the grades broken up, 6th grade from 12-1:30, 8th from 2-3:30 and 7th from 4-5:30. We made our way, following the heard to the 6th grade wing…..ALL THE WAY ON THE 4TH FLOOR. Wind our way through the maze of the “Lime Wing” and find Libby Lu’s class. The teacher was really nice. Lib had a stick up her ass. Refused to speak or even look at the teacher. The teacher said “Well, if someone wants their locker, combination, and schedule, then I guess someone will have to come over and introduce themselves”. She finally went over and got her schedule and locker stuff. Her schedule isn’t done. They said we registered too late but they should have it by Monday. Geez.

Ok, so we leave the classroom and try to find our way back to the front of the school. End up all the way downstairs in the cafeteria, but we found the bus info there, so it was ok. Walk around in circles forever, not finding the way to the front. Finally go up another flight of stairs, wind through some halls, go back down a flight of stairs and there is the front.
We couldn’t go to C’s classes until 2 because they were having meetings. So we went to the lobby to wait. Lib asked if she could try to find her class on her own. I said sure. She needs to figure it out anyway right. After 30 mins when she hadn’t come back down, I sent C to look for her. He couldn’t find her. So I went looking. Couldn’t find her. Came back to the office and had her paged, just as she walks down. She had been walking in circles for an hour at this point. She said she asked for help and they sent her to the cafeteria. Then she couldn’t find her way back.
By this time it was 2 and we could go to C’s class. His teacher seemed pretty awesome. All of the classes are in blocks and they all lead to each other. He just has to go to the 4th floor for gym, and the 1st floor for lunch. Oh, and his schedule was complete. Go figure. I registered everyone the same day.

So, now I’m home and it’s POURING rain. I sure wish I had my rain barrel.

I’m weathering.

It seems like every hurdle I get past there’s another one just ahead.

Our NC closing got pushed back a week. We were told that our buyers buyer’s bank was behind on paperwork and it was going to take another week to get everything together. No big deal. We managed.

We planned to go back up to NC this past Friday evening after my husband got off work. Instead, work needed him to fly up to Ohio for the day. It would put him home too late to drive the 6 hours to our house in NC. He wanted to be home on Sunday so he could have one day to relax before flying back to DC this week. That meant driving 6 hours to NC, being there for about an hour or two, then driving 6 hours back all on Saturday. Not what I want to do for fun on a Saturday. Well, we called our Realtor to make sure we were still on for next Weds.

That’s when the fun began.

I left a message and got an email back that the buyer’s buyers were having trouble getting thier loan approved so our buyers couldnt buy until thier house was sold. Only problem is, there was no contingency in our purchase agreement. They wanted to extend the clsoing dat to the 14th. At that point, its costing us money. another mortgage payment, our home owners insurance renewed, and because the 14th is past our lock in period for our new mortgage, we woudl have to pay nearly $250 to keep our rate. We were willing to extend the clsoing date, but we wanted something. We asked that they pay for the Home Warranty.

On Friday, I got a call from the Realtor. She said that when she talked to the buyer’s agent, that agent replied “So, your sellers are willing to risk the sale of thier house over a $400 Home Warranty”. When my agent told me this, I lost it. Yes, I was ready to walk away. I know the economy sucks, and I know this market is shitty, but tat doesnt mean I have to bend over and take it either. So, I told my agent since they were already in breach, they could agree to our terms, or we woudl walk away…with thier earnest money.

So, it was presented to the buyers that they could either buy thier own home warranty, go without one, or the agents could get together and buy it. We really didnt care which.

Saturday and Sunday went by without an answer.

Today, around noon, I got a call that not only did they agree, but they are ready to close on Thursday. We went from one point to another. So now I was on the phone with the atorney’s office trying to co ordinate getting the deed to me, then to my husband in DC, then back to them. Oh, and there is the issue of the last few items we have at the house.

Oh, did I mention Open House for the schools is Thursday. I have to be here to go to that, get the kids schedules and find out the bus info.

So, the attorney is sending me something to sign here, and my husband something to sign in DC. My mother-in-law is going by the house to pick up the last of the stuff, and hopefully this leg of our journey will be finished on Thursday.

One hurdle crossed, another one up ahead….

2 weeks in DC turned into 3 weeks in DC.  On top of that they tried to keep him out another week. He told them that when an emergency situation occured, he dropped everything and was the “good company man” and went to work. He was basically told to suck it up and that’s what he did. Now, it’s thier turn to suck it up, he was taking a week off.

So…..NEXT weekend, I’ll head back to the NC house. We’ll pack up the rest of our stuff, mostly cleaning stuff, the push mower, and my poor plants which I hope survived (shit, I just realized next weekend marks a year since my dad died). My realtor is supposed to be preparing the deed for us to go ahead and sign. She’ll sign the HUD sheet at closing so we wont have to travel back up on the 31st. Things on that end seem to be going well.

Things on this end are nuts. Since my husband has been on the raod, he hasn’t been available to sign the paperwork needed for the mortgage loan. Add to that all the instability going on in the banking industry and, well, I’m starting to freak out. I’m glad we were able to get a 1 yr lease here so we have time to work things out. BUT!!! I want my OWN house. I dont want to live in someone elses.

I managed to get the kids registered for school. They started Aug 11th. Not soon enough! They need to get out and make friends. I’m trying to get my youngest to sign up for soccer again so he can meet people, but so far he’s been reluctant.

The pool is still not swimable. I am doing one more week of scooping, vacuuming, backwashing, and treating, if that doesn’t clear it up, I’m calling in the pool guys.

I’m slowing taming the jungle that is the back yard as well. We have so much space, but it’s been so neglected for so long. It’s an overwhelming process. My neighbor across the street owns a landscaping company and his crew takes care of a couple of the yards on the street, but I’m afraid I need so much done that it will cost me a fortune.

We’re also working on getting the kids involved in thier various activities. We are going to check out a few dance studios next week. We have a Family Sports place here that offers Dance, Gymnastics, Martial Arts, and Music Lessons. I’ll check it out, but it seems a bit generic. I could be wrong. We also have a branch of Swim Atlanta here so I might sign them up for swim lessons

So much to do, but with each thing down this place feels a bit more like “home”