Tuesday April 29^th

So my sweet darling husband decided to be nice to me this morning and allow me the opportunity to sleep in. He took Becca to school this morning so that I wouldn't have to drive all the way into town and back. So tell me why I'm sitting here checking emails, and writing an update at 7:30 in the morning? Oh and why do I have one hell of a lump on my forehead? I'll tell you why. DOGS! They suck and if anyone wants 2, please give me a call because I've had enough and I'm about to boot both these suckers out of my new home. I've HAD IT.

We all made a pact that we would become "upper class" in the new house instead of poor white trash (the way we lived in our previous house). Well, the only way to do that is to get rid of these dogs.... Or Becca and well, that's not ever going to happen. This past Saturday, Luna christened my beautiful wood floor with a trail of turds going across the room. Whether it was due to a sick belly or Chris failing to listen to her when she asked to go out, we'll never know. The floor had poop and I'm pissed. Last night, we picked up chicken wings from Publix. After dinner, as I was scrapping my bones into the garbage, I remarked to my very intelligent, very mature daughter to be sure to either "hide" the bones in the garbage or when she' finished scrapping the dinner plates, to tie up the trash because Pagan has been being very naughty lately and digging into the garbage. Bad mommy, I failed to double check her work AND I gave her options. You would figure that a child of almost 12 AND academically gifted, she'd understand that concept of keeping the bones from the dogs. NOT!

I never heard them leave this morning for school, I was able to sleep and enjoy the peace... until Luna's cold nose hit me in the arm and I shot out of bed and promptly dropped kicked her off the bed. As I was snuggling down I heard this gagging noise, still sleeping it didn't register until my stomach started turning with the noise, I jump out of bed and promptly scream because Pagan is now throwing up this huge pile of green slime. I start running down the stairs screaming for him to follow... he does, and promptly pukes on my stairs. UGH! I'm furious, Luna's barking like a mad dog and Pagan is puking his guts out all over my freaking carpet.  I get Pagan outside and Luna just sits there, right at the door refusing to walk outside. It's a game she plays; she wants us to believe she's in charge. If we tell her to go outside, she plays dead and refuses. NOT today, I turn around to see where she is and accidentally slam my head into the door jam. OUCH! That pissed me off even more, so Luna was then thrown out the door. SHE had the nerve to look offended. I then spend the next 10 minutes trying my hardest not to cuss, scream and bang the rest of my head against the wall. I've cleaned up the puke and find large chunks of chicken bones in it. OH BOY; is Becca lucky she's in school today. It gives me more time to think of a very nice punishment for her. I think today is a good day to walk the back yard and pooper scoop it. Don't you...

So today the plan is to spend the day here at the house and get it in order and for once, I seriously have the urge to go over to the old house and finish the projects there. Strange. I've got to get this house in order this week because my girls from Girl Scouts are coming over Friday for an "idea session" to figure out what we want to do next year as Cadets. I've told the parents they were not welcome, they were to go out and have fun and we'd keep the girls. Two of the moms that NEVER come to meetings, have decided that they were staying for the meeting this time. UGH! It drives me crazy! And no, don't ask because you already know the answer. I did NOT remind them that they were not invited. I just smiled and kept my mouth shut as usual.

14 hours later...... I HATE DOGS! I want them removed from my house immediately before I have them for dinner... Tonight is the 2^nd night I have left Chris and the dogs alone since we've been in the new house and this is the 2^nd time a dog has SHIT on my floors. This time it wasn't on the easy to clean wood flooring. NO! It was in the middle of the fucking floor upstairs on my beautiful grey carpet AND it wasn't just tiny little turds, this fucking dog had diarrhea all over my floor. I am so pissed. Why did I buy a beautiful expensive house and promise to become a step above white trash when I allowed these nasty vile creatures to come along with me. I am so freaking done with these two dogs. UGH!

Temper gone, Chris and I spent a few minutes scrubbing and cursing and we've got the stain up. Tomorrow I will go and purchase some woolite or some other deodorizer to remove the smell. Good thing the carpet has stain guard....I just can't win....

Saturday April 26^th

So, I had my first fitting today for my straight jacket. It should be ready within the next day or two and by then I believe I will not only be ready for it but willing too. The week sucked and the weekend is getting suckier. I woke up early this morning to get ready for our Girl Scout field trip. I had emailed the moms early in the week to remind them to get to the school for car-pool no later than 10:30 as we needed to head out to Gainesville for our 12pm activity. Twenty parents and not one of them realized my screw up, except one, at 8:21 this morning when she called to ask why I changed the time from 9am to 10:30am. Would we have enough time to get there? UGH! Couldn't she have said something sooner? So, we get to the school and I start booting out the girls to head on down to the field trip as they came in. As soon as a chaperone showed up, I'd fill up their car and they'd head out, hoping they'd get there in time to say - we're running late. The last girl shows at 10:29 and we fly down to Gainesville, getting there at 12:06. Oh well, at least we weren't the last troop right? So we spend the next 4 hours outside in the blazing sun watching our girls make rockets and craters and the solar system and so on. The girls are more interested in the swings than learning of our universe. Oh well, at least they are out and active right? I got a ton of pictures and the girls had a blast. We left at 4 and they put me... ME in charge of getting us back home. DUH how stupid are they right? Well, we got lost in Gainesville and never found 301 until oh say, 5? Then of course we had to find a McDonalds because the girls were STARVING to death. Another 50 minutes eating freaking fast food and we're back on the road. The girls were supposed to have been home by 6 HA! I dropped my last girl off at 7:30 and all I had to show for it was the side of my car covered in gum (someone thought it'd be smart to toss their gum out of a moving vehicle and it stuck on the paint) and a wet ass because some moron of a leader allowed the girls to have Mcflurries in her car. One of the girls thought the driver side seat needed some M&M milkshake and spilled it all over my seat. Oh I just love my life. UGH! I am so ready for a melt down. I'm on that edge and it won't take much more for me to tumble over. So, I get home, eat some real food and climb wearily up the stairs to my big comfy bed. I'm exhausted, drained mentally and physically and so ready to just curl up in a ball and cry my eyes out. Life sucks, my heart aches, my body is weary and I want my mommy! The phone rings, Lord you would figure with a two story house and the only phone with a ringer is down stairs on the kitchen counter that you wouldn't hear it upstairs with Chris playing his music in the loft, Becca playing music in her room and the dogs showing off for me in my bedroom, but the phone rang loud and clear and I thought to ignore it but decided I'd better check to see if it was my dad. It wasn't. It was a wonderful person that I haven't been able to talk to, see or hear from in AGES! My rant about lost ones....Well, one came back to me! <GRIN>.

I picked up the phone and spent the next hour, or two, or was it three talking, bitching, laughing, cracking up and.....relaxing. The tears in my throat melted away, the pain in my heart receded and I was able to just forget and sit back and enjoy for just a little bit.  THANK YOU LENA!

Tomorrow is a new day and though I fear the day will only bring me more and more disappointment, hurt and crushing heartbreak, I know I can stand up tall and stand up for what's right. It's a wonderful and scary feeling standing up for myself and others. Especially when the urge to run, scurry away and crawl back in my hole to hide and protect myself is so strong it makes me crazy. To close my eyes and just pray the past week, the past month will just disappear and everything will be alright is pushing me back into hiding. I want to go back to the "I see nothing, I hear nothing, I SAY nothing". But, I won't because in the end I'll only disappoint myself more than any other.

Friday April 25^th

It's been one heck of a week and the weekend is going to be even worse. Monday we had our 10 day inspection, where our consultant from the builder came by to see if we had any issues to fix. We had a cracked window needing replacement and our flood light outside didn't work. So far we're quite happy with the new house and just wishing we had some pretty new furniture to go into it. We brought the dogs home last weekend and WOW, they are having a blast in their new home. Pagan is NOT happy with a back yard full of grass. He picks up his paws as if it's something icky he's stepping in. He refuses to even sit down out there. It's hilarious.  Luna is having a ball running around like an ummm "luna"tic and loves trying to catch all the yummy ducks in the pond. We met some of our neighbors yesterday and their little babies. Pagan is the only boy so far and their two dogs are seriously letting him know he's NOT the boss. Our neighbors seem pretty nice and have welcomed us with open house and open arms. I SO love this area! We thought Pagan would have an issue with the stairs in the house but so far he's doing pretty well. They both fly up and down the steps but Pagan has learned to slow down before he hits the bottom step, Luna hasn't, she hits the hard wood floor at full speed and skids all the way across the hall and slams into the wall EVERYTIME! It's hilarious. Unfortunately, we're having an issue with Luna trying to race us up and down the stairs. I almost broke my neck twice today because she cut me off. Becca wasn't so lucky, she ended up falling up the step and twisting her baby toe, poor thing she sits there crying hysterically and Luna is just looking at her like, "What? What'd I do?" Oh well, they'll both learn soon enough how to walk up and down the stairs.  

Tuesday I spent the day at Becca's school doing volunteer work. It was their quarterly honor roll luncheon and I volunteered to help with all four lunches. I'm so dumb! Becca made the principal's list this quarter WOO HOO with straight A's. She actually acknowledged me this time and even introduced me to her friends. I guess I wasn't too much of an embarrassment this time for her.

Wednesday was Girl Scouts and a Jacksonville Humane Society presentation. The lady was awesome and the dog was beautiful and so patient. Twenty girls running up and trying to pet her all at one time and she never snapped once. Of course, the meeting didn't end until 8 and with all the running around and dropping off of kids, Becca and I didn't get home until 9:30. This new home away from Arlington is starting to bug the crap out of me. The drive SUCKS!

Thursday was a drama filled day that I just so don't want to get into right now. Let's leave it at it so totally sucked and if I could erase it from my memory I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Today, well, it was a good day and a bad day. Not much else to say on that.

On a bit of sad news (because I'm not sure if I actually posted this part already or not) we lost the contract on the old house. Apparently, the potential buyers had a pre-approval letter and after they put the binder out on our house, they went back to the bank to get their final approval and were shocked to find out that their loan officer was terminated due to fraud. YIKES! They lost the approval and we lost the sale of the house. On the good side though, we got a copy of the inspection that was done and we are now able to make a few repairs unofficially so that will save us money on a licensed plumber, electrician and carpenter. Anybody out there a plumber, electrician or carpenter willing to work for CHEAP!!! We spent today cleaning up the bathroom "mold" and yuckiness and bought the supplies to repair corroded wood, damaged wood and weather stripping. Hopefully, we'll be able to get everything done before the next inspection and hopefully the next inspection will give us a good report. Oh by the way, did I mention we got another offer??? WOO HOO! And it's better than the last one. They even offered us more than what we were asking and already have the closing date scheduled. HAPPY Anniversary to us... It's scheduled on our 16^th anniversary! FINGERS CROSSED I hope this one is a done deal!

The end of the year of school is fast approaching which means more school activities, projects and reports and a ton of activities needing to be completed for Girl Scouts. Our entire troop is bridging up to Cadets this year so we not only have to complete our usual end of the year mess but we now have to attend additional meetings with current Cadets. We had a meeting this past Wednesday, have a field trip tomorrow, a meeting this coming Tuesday and another meeting next Friday. UGH! I'm running out of time in the days.

Tuesday April 22^nd

Question... Can a dream physically touch you? Can you wake up from a dream and actually feel something that happened in a dream?

I had a dream last night that totally freaked me out.

I was in a dark room with no windows. A room filled with candles and in the center of the room was a fire with a huge cauldron hanging over it. There were a bunch of women huddled around the fire and I swear I heard "bubble bubble toil and trouble". It was crazy. The wind was blowing causing my hair to blow in my face and make me shiver as I stood back from what was going on. The women were urging me to step up to the fire and complete the circle. They insisted I be up with them by the fire. I kept hesitating saying I wasn't sure I was up to it, I wasn't worthy; why did they think I was the final link? They kept telling me I was the one, I needed to step up and complete the circle. When I hesitated too long, one of the "elder" ladies stepped behind me and slapped me on the back to push me forward into the circle. The dream ended as I woke myself up when my body arched off the bed from the slap on the back. It didn't hurt but the hit between my shoulder blades caused me to arch and I woke up. As I lie there in bed (at 3am) I cautiously roll over to see if any part of Becca or Luna touched me because I felt the imprint of the hand still on my back. Becca was at the far side of the bed, wrapped in covers with no possible way of touching me, and Luna was at the end of the bed sleeping on Becca's feet. Who touched me and why did I lie there for several minutes still feeling the imprint of the hand on my back? What did this dream mean? Did it mean anything? It's funny because it's rare I ever totally remember a dream but this one was just so vivid and I just can't get it out of my mind. I feel like Dorothy when she said, "and you were there, and you and you." All the ladies in my dream were women I know, some from festival (most) but some in my ordinary daily life. It was strange. Sad though, my mom was not there.  Anyone want to help me out? And still hours later as I write this I can still feel the hand between my shoulder blades. I keep checking in the bathroom mirror to see if there is a mark.

Am I going crazy?

Monday April 21^st

First off, let me say I'm feeling like crap, very cranky and irritable. That being said, I've got the urge to rant, throw a temper tantrum and all out scream at the top of my lungs. I hope none of you readers hate me by the end of this rant.

I spent the day lying in bed trying to get rid of a nasty head cold that crept up on me this weekend. I spent my time catching up on old emails, updates and blogs. Unfortunately, re-reading several blogs have some how caused a major irritation and I need to get a few things off my chest.

I was brought up, practically from the womb to not be confrontational. "Let it go Louie, Just let it go." I've stood by that phrase my entire life, except once. I had the balls to stand up to a bully and let him know he wasn't going to push me around ever again. It felt great. I lost my job but I felt great anyway. Those I pissed off with my moment of strength either got over it or moved on. It just goes to show you who your true friends are. So tell me, why do I stand back and allow the same thing to happen over and over again to myself or others? Why do I sit here week after week, month after month and read over and over the same complaints, same situations, same issues and do nothing? I keep quiet, voice my concern and sympathy privately but I never step up, never just scream Enough is Enough? Why don't I stand up for my family, friends, loved ones? Why don't YOU? Why don't we? I'm so tired of hearing - What goes around comes around, they'll get what they deserve, one of these days they will understand what they are doing." Its bull shit and if no one else has the balls to do it, then maybe next time I will. Maybe... no, not maybe, I WILL be the one to step up when the situation arises again.

The comments I hear is; I don't want to hurt other family members, I don't want to make others uncomfortable, what about the innocent people?" WHAT innocents? What about the innocent people we aren't protecting? The ones that get their asses kicked, feelings hurt or confidence smeared into the ground? Who is protecting them? How can we allow one person to destroy so many feelings without SAYING SOMETHING! I'm disappointed in myself, my family and my friends because we all have allowed this situation to get so out of hand. We're not protecting our loved ones; we're showing them that there is no way out, no way to say STOP IT YOU BITCH and GROW UP! You would figure that the behavior recently shown to us all would prove to us, as adults, family and loved ones that it's way out of control and needs to be reigned in. But no, we say what we always say, it's just...... "Let it go and everything will blow over." Well, sorry folks, it's not going to blow over until someone takes that first step and says, "HEY, Sit down, shut the fuck up and listen to what we have to say." Stop and take a look folks... the loved ones you are worried about? They're hurting already... Can't we do something to ease their pain a little?

Is it going to come down to a fed-up teenager gathering up the nerve to be a little "disrespectful" and slap an adult down a peg or two? That's what's going to happen and who's going to get the blame? The child.. I can guarantee!  Who is next? A poor decrepit old lady? A paraplegic? A defenseless little puppy? What is it going to take for us to step up and fix this?

Okay, so I've spewed my anger and probably lost a handful of friends and loved ones in the process but... what can you do? I'm tired of sitting idly by, I'm tired of doing what others tell me, tired of just "letting it go."

Wednesday April 16^th

WOO HOO! We have moved! I'm so tickled to be able to say that FINALLY!

Friday the 4^th of April we headed up to DC to tour and pick up Becca from her program. We had planned on leaving the house early in the morning so that we could check in at our fancy hotel and tour a little Friday night before getting up early Saturday morning to sight see with my dad and Liz. As usual with Chris and me, all hell broke loose Friday morning and we didn't get out on the road until noon. We spent over two hours at the bank trying to get a new gift card for Becca so that she could do some shopping before the end of her trip. It was an absolute nightmare but we were finally able to get a new card minus the $5 lost card fee. During our stay at the bank, my phone rang continuously and drove us crazy. Our loan officer lost paperwork, needed additional information and just basically wanted to irritate the mess out of us. Our last phone call from him that Friday was when we hit South Carolina and he decided to inform us that he could not find Chris's 2007 W-2's and needed us to fax him a copy ASAP. Uh how the hell were we going to do that? He actually had the nerve to tell us he would have to put off our Monday closing. Chris went ballistic and almost crashed the car. Needless to say, as I'm writing this blog in my new home, we were able to bring our W-2 information to the closing and kept our Monday closing time.

We hit DC around 9:30 and made it to Becca's hotel room right before lights out which made her happy because she was able to get a quick trip into the gift shop before they made her go to bed. We got to our hotel room around 10:30 and even had a little bit of time to run down to the bar for an $11 margarita (that sucked) and a midnight snack. The hotel was awesome but very intimidating. We had a bellman come out and pull our suitcases out of the car, a valet take our car and park it and a very nice front desk man who never even cracked a smile when we asked about tipping. The view from our window was amazing and the bed was so comfortable. I realized I'm just simple folk and that was totally intimidating!

Saturday was a wonderful day. I was able to see my dad and Liz and visit all the interesting sites of Washington DC. Liz kept me laughing as she was just so NOT interested in the monuments... she loved the pretty clouds and the cute little duckies in the ponds. TOO FUNNY! We walked until our feet ached and then headed back to the hotel for an amazing dinner.

Sunday we crawled (achingly) out of bed and picked up Becca from her hotel then had breakfast with Liz and Dad before heading back down to home. We made it home early enough for Becca to shower and relax before heading to bed for school.

Monday we closed on our wonderful new house and began the process of moving out of Arlington. What a mess. Chris and I worked our butts off trying to empty out the old house. It was hard work for two very out of shape people. We spent Monday, Tuesday and most of Wednesday emptying out the house and setting up the new house just in time for Chris to leave me for festival on Wednesday afternoon. Along with all the moving we had to do Monday-Wednesday, I had a training class for Girl Scouts on Monday, Girl Scouts on Wednesday and then another training class for Girl Scouts on Thursday. It was a very rough week.

Chris left for festival Wednesday afternoon, and after picking up Becca from the bus stop, we returned to the old house for cleaning and other things until our Girl Scout meeting; Then on to the new house.

Thursday morning had me driving Becca to school, picking up my sister from her house and driving over to the new house to clean. Karen offered to help me clean and disinfect the house just so it looks nice for the new owners. She helped me out quite a bit. I'd have never finished without her help.  Tammy babysat Becca Thursday night so that I could do my training and then we were finally able to head back to the new house.

Friday morning I woke up early so that I could make a few desserts for festival. I had planned on making them the night before but with the new kitchen, it was a disaster. To make fudge, I needed a can opener; to make Rice Krispie treats, I needed a bigger bowl; to make my oatmeal candy, I needed cocoa - all of which were at the OLD HOUSE! I was furious with my self.  I planned on heading out to festival before noon, and barely made it out there for dinner.

We had a great time at festival except for the mosquitoes and the usual drama. My legs are covered in little tiny welts and my head and heart ached from all the nastiness that flowed through the site. I'm kind of disappointed in what I saw this past weekend. Before I attended my first festival, all Chris could say to me was how wonderful the people were, how "familylike" the community was and how friendly and warm everyone was to each other. He was so happy and so content, WHAT HAPPENED? Nothing happened to me personally this trip (I had an amazing time) but it was heartbreaking to see and feel the tension in the air with all the others. There were hurt feelings, cold shoulders, vicious comments about teens and adults alike.  People I've come to care for felt like they were being pushed out of the community, shunned and treated like lepers. People I've known for years acting childlike and hurtful, people I've just begun to know feeling hurt and disillusioned, young girls who've loved each other for years now fighting and not communicating. I'm still an outsider and I could see it. It breaks my heart. These people welcomed me with open arms and now are being pushed aside because no one is willing to take the first steps in fixing the problem. This isn't family to me because family sticks together and don't hold grudges. My sister and I fight, my brother and I fight but we get over it. Why can't the community get over it? Over the past few festivals we've lost so many friends, sisters, brothers, people I've just begun to get to know, love and now, we never see them because they refuse to come to a place where they aren't welcome and "we" as a community refuse to let bygones be bygones.  I personally have issues with a person or two but during this time away from the mundane world, I let those issues go, they aren't forgotten; they aren't forgiven; but I make sure my feelings stay to myself during this weekend of fun with family. I don't want my personal issues interfering with my need to be with new friends, old friends and family. I don't make those people feel unwelcome, unloved. I don't allow others negativity to effect my feelings towards those in the community. At least I hope I don't. I want to just relax, have fun and be with new friends and old. I want to meet new people and try to open up just a little more each time. But it's so hard when you just want to hide in your camp to get away from the tension and hurt feelings. It rolls through the air in waves and it's so heartbreaking, I just want to cry.... For those of you gone - I MISS YOU GUYS! For those of you leaving - YOU WILL BE MISSED!

Okay, now off the drama....

We returned home Sunday to the new house and continued with trying to get it set up to our liking. Monday we took Becca to school and then came home to wait for the POD to be dropped off. When the POD was dropped off we began the strenuous work of emptying it out. When I left to pick up Becca from school, we still had about ¾ of the POD left to empty. When I got home and hour later, the POD was completely empty and all of the big items were taken upstairs and put in their proper place.

A BIG BIG THANK YOU TO JEFF, KAREN AND BAM! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!

My sister, Jeff and Bam came over Monday night and worked their butts off. Our first official meal in the new house was shared with our three hard workers. They were awesome. Of course, they totally destroyed my walls going upstairs but who's to complain about a few messed up walls when she didn't have to drag all that crap upstairs right?

Tuesday I went to work and Chris headed over to the old house to begin the process of emptying out the shed. I didn't realize how much crap he's accumulated in there. It'll take us forever to empty that out.  The lady I work for told me when the house was ready we needed to have a housewarming party. She said I'd need to register. Register? Why? I want a party, I don't want to register. She told me a friend of hers registered at Pier 1. Said if I had rich friends I should register there, but for her "regular" friends, I should register at Bed Bath and Beyond or Linens and Things. No registering here though, I just want a heck of a party.

Wednesday we spent the morning at the new house waiting on the POD man to come and pick up the POD. We then headed to the old house to empty out more of the shed.  Chris talked to our neighbor when we got home; he wanted to let us know they'd be having one heck of a party very soon. Chris wasn't sure if that was an invite or a warning. Our Brinks guy said these people had some crazy parties. So, who's to say what he meant?

Today we sit at the new house waiting on Bellsouth to hook up our phone line and internet. I CAN'T WAIT! The house is looking better and better every day.

Thursday April 3^rd

Well, I've put off writing updates because I wanted my next one to read: WOO HOO we're in the new house! But unfortunately that's not what happened and right now I'm so pissed I need to vent.

The loan officer we have now sucks big time. We've had many issues with this lender and it just keeps getting worse. The newest issue was that they wanted proof that we had the down payment on the house. My argument was that I needed an estimate so that I could get the down payment. Telling me I need between $12,000 and $30,000 for a down payment literally freaks me out. How the hell can I get that much right? So, I tell them I need a better figure and as soon as I got it, I'd put the money in my account. Long story short, I put the minimum amount in my account and forwarded a copy of my bank statement. A few days later we get a call saying our Wednesday's closing is put off until Friday because now we need a "gift" letter. MORON'S - couldn't you have said something sooner? I asked about the damn thing weeks ago and he said to wait. So, we rescheduled for Friday morning even though we were scheduled to leave for DC early morning. We could put off the trip a few hours right? We can close Friday morning and then immediately head out of town to DC - no problem right?

Tuesday, we go out to the new house, do our walk through and sign the completion form. The house is SO mine! I sent the lender the "gift" letter and waited for confirmation. I ended up emailing him to confirm they received the letter. Final approval was to be given immediately and our good faith estimate should have been sent to us this morning. Well, it's 4:15pm on Thursday and we were just given the news that it's been put off again because of the hold up in underwriting. NO closing tomorrow morning and we can't do it in the afternoon because we're heading to DC. When we return from DC, Chris is supposed to head out to festival, so when do we close? By now, I'm throwing a pretty good temper tantrum because unless we blow off festival, the next available date to close is April 14^th. Our moron loan officer suggested we do a power of attorney and just let me come in and fill out the paperwork. NOT! SO NOT LIKELY TO EVER HAPPEN! So, Chris gets on the phone to deal with him Man to Man. He put his foot down telling him we've already lost a weeks worth of vacation because Chris took off this week to move. We've already screwed up our plans for tomorrow because we thought we'd have a closing and we've had this April 2^nd date set for weeks. What the hell is the hold up? It looks like our loan officer has the rest of today and all of tomorrow to fix this and get all of our paperwork together. He's planning on us closing Monday morning. Gee, golly isn't that wonderful? We've got 3 days to put the electricity in our name, we've got to get all of the necessities out of this house and into the new one before the electricity gets cut off here; plus deal with school, training classes, girl scouts and festival all in one week. There's just no way it's going to happen. No way this can be done.

We've had to lower the price again on the house. We've had 2 offers and found out today that yesterdays' showing showed interest in buying it also. Hopefully within the next few days we'll get something positive out of this part of the chaos.

Becca is in DC and we're heading up tomorrow to pick her up. She's had quite an adventure so far but is looking forward to the day we pick her up and bring her home. Last night she called in hysterics saying she lost her wallet with all her money, ID and room key in it. The only purchase she made was post cards and now she has no money for souvenirs. She's devastated. The leaders are working with hotel staff and security to see if they can find the wallet (since she said she left it in her room) but it doesn't look good. She still has her camera and cell phone but lost $160 in cash and credit cards.  She wants us to pick her up early (Friday) instead of Sunday because she misses us. Poor thing, she's having a rough time being independent. What else can go wrong?

So, to give a break down of the next few days and the chaos we're living in... We leave for DC Friday, sight-see with Dad and Liz on Saturday, pick Becca up Sunday morning and head home. Monday morning we take Becca to school, close on the new house (hopefully) drop off the rental car, pick up a U-Haul, pack up the U-Haul and then throw everything in the new garage and start setting up the new house making sure to pick Becca up from school. Sometime Monday Chris needs to run out to the camp site and set up our area and then of course drop off the U-Haul. Monday night I have a 3 hour training class for Girl Scouts so Chris will be in charge of getting Becca ready for school the next day. Tuesday we'll take Becca to school, finish up what we can in the house and finish packing up to get ready for festival. Wednesday I'll run Chris out to festival, come home and get ready for our Girl Scout meeting. Thursday I have another 3 hour training class in the evening and Aunt Tammy is watching Becca for me. Friday (depending on class work) Becca and I will head out to festival to enjoy a relaxing weekend with our friends only to return home Sunday to continue with the chaos. And during all this time, I need to find the time to sit down and finish my final course of Child development so I can begin the process of getting my license.