Progress Report, Vision Problems, n one hot mama

Here are some more landscaping in progress pictures. All the sagos but one are transplanted to the back yard, the magnolia tree and azaleas are all moved and the pergola columns are in place. The foxtail palms are in. Today the guys ripped the ivy off the front of the house and removed the rest of the bushes. Monday the pergola will be finished and painted and some of the new plants will arrive. Then they have to grade and build the two walkways with pavers, widen the driveway, do the patio, install the fountain, add the lighting, and finish with the new ground cover, shrubs, and plant beds. I can't wait to see it done. Then, we're doing some clearing out and replanting in the back yard and around the pool area. Today, Danny and I bought two fantastic Kennedy Rocking Chairs for the back porch and ordered a roller thing for our pool cover. We looked at a small spa/hot tub for the back porch as well. Fun!!

Not so much fun: the central a/c broke again. As I write this, it is after ten at night and its 81 degrees outside and 82 inside. I'm hot, hot, hot. Earlier, we ordered a pizza and after eating sat outside on the porch in our rockers with the citronella candles lit and the fan blowing on us watching Chili dive in the pool for about an hour and a half. That was nice. I called the a/c people and told them we'd suffer through the weekend but on Monday I want someone to come out and give an estimate on a new air handler and compressor. We've reached the point where its throwing good money after bad trying to keep our ancient system working. If we're going to be without central a/c past the week end, we can install the two window units we have as hurricane back ups- one in the kitchen/family room area and one in our bedroom. We'll cope.

Also not fun: my right eye is acting up. Two years ago, my left eye malfunctioned. It wasn't a detatched retina as it turned out but some untreatable condition with light flashes and annoying long black feathery floaters that took about six months to heal on its own. The current symptoms are the same. The floaters either look like a false eyelash floating on my eye or an arrow with a feathered tip, or a snake. Very distracting. Especially when reading on a white page or screen. The allergy medications I have to take make it worse as they dry out my eyes. Dang annoying.

I'm going to sign off now. Its just too stuffy in this room to continue. Live long and prosper.

dog parkin' n landscape in progress

Hey Bloggers,
Here's some pix of our re landscaping in progress.the rest of the plants across the front are being removed as well as the Magnolia tree. Miss Magnolia will join the azaleas that have already been replanted on the side of the yard. The sagos are being repositioned as well. The new patio is being staked out tomorrow and the pergola is being built off site. Then, they demo our existing walkway and do the new walkways in pavers. Lastly, the foxtail palm trees and all the new plants are brought in. At least I think that's the way it will go! Anyway, it's fun to watch the job.

The other photos are from the dog park on Memorial Day. I didn't know when I took the shots that a weird color enhancer thing was engaged that only featured greens and yellows. Now, I know. New camera folks. Deese tings happen, as my daughter used to say when she was a widdle kid.

The weather is hot but splendid. Looks like summer is here, and at least so far, no bad storms or swirling windy things. Live long and prosper.

A memorable memorial week end

Hey Bloggers,
We had a banger-rang four day week end. That's my way of saying terrific. The pictures above are from our Sea World visit. We got yearly passes. I'd not been to the park for years and found it prettier, cleaner, and bigger than I remembered. Activating passes was quick and easy, staff was friendly and peppier than Disney folks. We went to all the animal stuff: the penguin encounter, shark encounter, Wild Arctic, dolphin feeding area and nursery, manatee rescue area, etc. Saw the whale and dolphin show, which was funny as one of the whales escaped from a holding tank about 2/3 through the show and wouldn't listen to the trainers and go back. They had to stop the show. Couldn't put the people in the water or the dolphins. The misbehaving whale was almost better than the rest of the show, which had acrobats and diving and some silly story about a princess in a pink wet suit. The best thing we saw was the Pets Ahoy show which was amazing and featured dozens of dogs and trained cats (!!), a rat, potbellied pig and a skunk. That one is a must see each time we visit the park!

Aside from Sea World, we saw the Indianna Jones movie (already talked bout that), had several good dinners out, napped, slept in, went to the mall and hung out, took the Mutley Crew to the dog park, and had tons of ice cream. Fun!!

I will post dog park pictures and in progress landscaping picture tomorrow.

Live long and prosper.

Memorial Day

Photos: William Harry Wayman, Master Sargent, USAAC, WWII, 1943-1946 and Dr. William Colvin Miller, Captain, US Army Medical Corps, WWI, served in France/Belgium.

Today, I remember those of my family who served and salute our brave men and women in uniform who continue to serve. God Bless you.

He's baack!

Thank goodness, Indy's back. He's two decades older, and has a lot more mileage on him, but he still has that great rascal smile. He can still crack a bull whip, outsmart and out quip the baddies, take and give a punch or three...and he takes us on the sort of wild wonderful ride we've missed since Raiders, Temple of Doom, and Last Crusade. In his new adventure, it is the late nineteen fifties and the bad guys are the Reds instead of the Nazis but never fear: there are car chases and motorcycle chases, boat chases, creepy bugs, snakes, quicksand, jungle ruins, an impossible quest and this time an atomic explosion...and yes, the 'truth' about area 51 and the little gray men. Watch for a quick glimpse of the Ark of The Covenant early in the movie.

Indy's got some help this time from sidekicks John Hurt as a 'is he or is he not mad' professor pal with the key to the mystery and Shia LeBoeff as the cocky Mutt Williams who turns out to be...aw heck I'm not going to tell you. But be sure Mutt can throw a punch, wield a knife and fence, and swing through the trees Tarzan style, keeping up with the Jones all the way.

Cate Blanchett does a dandy turn as Indy's Russian nemesis but, best of all, we have Karen Allen back as Marion Ravenwood. Marion has a secret, too, but I'm not telling.

Good idea, George and Steven, to bring Marion back in the picture. S'bout time. I give the film 4 stars for rollicking fun. Don't miss it. Pointer though. Don't get one of those giant drinks at the concession stand. You won't want to miss a minute of the adventure racing to the restroom.

Agility in the rain, house changes n stuff

Ginny and Danny had their last agility class tonight before summer break. I took lots of action shots, but it was raining and I was balancing an umbrella as well as the camera and I guess my hand shook just enough to make them blurry. So here are a couple of non action moments. Also a picture of Ginny and Chili snoozing on the sofa together.

Chili got her stitches and hat off today. We're all happier for it.

I'm so excited. Since my house is definitely lacking in curb appeal, as you can see from the photo taken back in '07 when it was for sale, I'm going to have some significant landscaping work done in the front of the house. Gonna have all the overgrown bushes and plants that hide all the front windows removed as well as those from the area outside the living room bay window. Move the three big sago palms to the side of the yard by the street and the little magnolia tree from the middle of the yard. Move the azaleas to the side as well. Redesign the walkway to the driveway and add one to the street in front of the house. Build a patio between the front door and the garage. All walkways and patio will be done in brick pavers. Put in lots of lower profile plants, ground cover of jasmine, crotons, and several boxwood type ornamentals. Three or four fantail plam trees. And best of all, a pergola "porch" with bouganvilla in front of the front entryway that will also span the patio. We're also going to add 'a water feature' ( area tbd) and maybe a pull over area for a car next to the garage. The front door is blue now and we're going to get some big blue and white pots for the patio. I think its going to be a big improvement! If all goes well, the work will start next week.

And thus do the second round of updates and redos begin!

All for now. Live long and prosper.

Jury Duty and Jigs

No jury duty!! No jury duty!! I had to call from home on Friday last to see if I had to report Monday, then again on Monday regarding Tuesday, and again on Tuesday for Wednesday. Each day the message line said, do not report tomorrow but call again next day. I was on call for two weeks. Finally, the message said, do not report, do not call again, you are excused. I did a silly Irish jig complete with clapping all through the house and confused the dogs.

It was inconvenient not being able to make appointments in advance for things, but the new way of calling from home sure beats the old way of sitting around at the courthouse for days, wasting time and twiddling thumbs and being bored waiting for Godot. So, today I made two long overdue medical appointments, called a window treatment place, called a landscaper, and a tile man. Emailed the handyman. I'm so glad to be able to start the house renovation projects again. Enjoy Memorial Day. Maybe go to Sea World or see the new Indy movie. Work on my manuscript n stuff. I feel so free to get back to my own life, which I haven't felt since just after Christmas when I had to spend all my time dealing with Mom's estate and house thing.

I went to see Amy and Baby Alex this afternoon, then to an art festival board meeting. Chili gets her stitches out tomorrow and we have Ginny's last dog agility class before summer hiatus.

Life looks good again. I may even have time for a lunch or two with friends. I may do another jig.

Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite.

Week end Update n stuff

Some fun photos to start: 1 and 2 from Stephen and Casey's recent baby shower in Lakeland. 3 Chili and Abby in a cuddly moment. 4. Danny's niece, Lexi Thompson looking very comfortable in an odd position apres theme parking during her visit last month. 5. Laura's dog, Cody, in snorkle gear.

Hidy Ho, Bloggers,

Danny and I just returned from Ikea, that wonderous bastion of Swedish merchandise and home of a darn good Swedish meatball and mashed potato dinner. We actually set out to see an exhibition of Norman Rockwell paintings at the Orlando Museum of Art, but I'd forgotten it was Fringe Festival week and there was no parking in the lots the museum shares with the Civic Theatre and the Shakespeare Theatre. So, what's a girl n guy to do but head to Milennia Mall Land...actually Danny was all but drooling at the idea of Ikea's meatballs from three o'clock on so we didn't even go into the mall proper to our usual required stops such as the Apple Store and Yankee Candles. Whenever I go to Ikea I wish I needed furniture. Their stuff is just so darn cool. But, I enjoyed the displays, ate, and bought some Swedish food in the grocery section. Fun!

Moving backwards through time, yesterday on Saturday, Danny spent most of the day installing networks and computers (from his Free Geek organization) at a school for autistic children in Oviedo. I took pictures with my new pink digital camera, then came home to clean my house. It needed cleaning.

Friday, after work, we ate Mexican and looked at tile for my new flooring.

Earlier that day, I finally got the letter from the lawyer stating that Mother's estate was settled. It was a year to the day that she died. Coincidental or just weird? You decide. Now, I have to try to get a half dozen or so of her remaining stocks transferred into my name ( a gargantuan task in the Land of Confusopoly), attempt one more time to get her life insurance policy, and do a few other last tie up things. Since Danny can't take the time off from his new job to do our planned road trip to Pennsylvania this summer, it looks like I will have to do a quick fly up trip with Mom's ashes.

I hate to fly commercially. I always did, even before 9-11 when air travel was much more pleasant and probably safer. Guess I got really spoiled back in the day when we had our family airplane. Just grab your purse, get in the plane and go straight where you wanted to go was pretty rockin'. Plus, I knew I had an excellent pilot and a very well maintained plane. These days, well you know just how horrible flying is. Bad service, bad prices, bad employee attitude from the airlines, long waits, and the increased security crap. Yuck.

Oh well, one commercial flight in a dozen years can't be that bad can it? Don't answer. Anyway, Amy and hopefully Laura will go with me. For a week end maybe in early fall. Our guys can stay home and look after all the dogs and Baby Alex.

As it turned out, I don't have to report for jury duty tomorrow, but I do have to call the juror number tomorrow to find out about Tuesday. Everybody, pray for me that I don't have to serve. I'm really so anxious to get started on the next round of house renovations and get my book ready for print. Don't need no two weeks of wasted time sitting around a courthouse. Okay, okay, maybe that's a bad attitude. I don't care. That's why they call it DUTY. Cause don't nobody want to do it, that's why!

Chili is finally mending. I had to take her back to the vet on Thursday. Her stomach was badly abscessed and the vet had to put in a drain for the infection. But, she's doing better now.

Well, that's all the news my way that's fit to print. Live long and prosper.

Chili in Elizabethan Costume with Ode

Yes, Chili is once more wearing her e-collar hat. As you might imagine, it's getting pretty battered by this time. The constant cost of patching her up is beginning to seem like the Donald dealing with an ex wife. $$

I had to take her to the vet ( again) this morning since her sutured rat rumble wounds are real red and swollen on one side of her abdomen. Infected, apparently. So, she's now on double mega antibiotics as well as medicine for pain and swelling. And, the anti seizure medicine. You'd think she'd be sleepy. She isn't. All she wants to do is lick the sutures and scratch the itch.

Despite her physical misery though, she tried to' take out' a female Scottish Terrier in the vet's reception area. Wasn't interested in the parrot, ferret, three cats, or meek spaniel but the Scotty had the temerity to bark at her. Chili roared, lunged, then backed out of the e-collar and leash and I had to grab her and put her on my lap and hold tight. That's our Chili. Dumpster diving diva, busted hip acrobat, epileptic, obsessive/compulsive ball chaser, food fanatic, barky and bad to the bone.

I posted this poem once before a long time ago, but it seems appropriate again.

Australian Cattle Dog

by Nancy Wayman Deutsch

Bouncy, busy and bad to the bone

a foxy, fervent, split atom dog

quick-silver whirlwind, chaos personified

dust devil, whirling dervish

dingo spawned hell-dog

no rules, just right mate

one speed fits all at warp four

boldly going where no dog has gone before.

Live long and prosper.

Chili's down again but not out

I meant to do a blog about Mother's Day yesterday, but I was too tired. Here's why: Saturday evening around eleven thirty, just as we were watching the Cloverfield monster destroy Manhatten on DVD, our rats came back to the pool area. Remember the rattus rattus clan who took up residence in my rarely used gas grill? Well, as you may recall, I chased them away but didn't kill them. They were apparently nesting in the wild part of our backyard and I guess I disturbed them while gardening the other day. While ole Cloverfield Godzilla was flattening the young and upwardly mobile cell phone camera wielding New Yorkers, they decided to make a break for it through the hole they previously chewed in my pool screen and head back to the old grill hacienda. The dogs, who had been expecting the gambit for an hour or two and who were laying in wait poolside, went crazy. Somehow Chili ended up on her back in the middle of the dog/rat rumble and got her tummy ripped open--probably by the other dogs' claws while they were trying to get at the rats.

There was nothing for it...she had two deep cuts that obviously required stitches...we had to suck it up and head over to the Emergency Vet Clinic. Again. We got there at midnight. The place was full. Three hours later we saw the vet who said Chili would have to have anesthesia and stay till morning. We dragged our tired bodies home. It was three am. I went to bed. Danny watched some more of Cloverfield. He picked up Chili at eight on Sunday morning. Only $450.00 dollars this time.

We abandoned any plans for dog parking, or museum going to nap off and on all day Sunday. Still tired at dinner time, we went out for Mexican at Amigos none the less

Chili does not like wearing her e-collar again. And, oh, the rats got away.

Graduation Day

Today was Graduation Day at Rollins College for my daughter, Amy Deutsch Khoury (BA in International Affairs). Some photos, taken by Danny of the ceremony, and some of the family attending. Pictured are Amy's husband (Elias) and son Alex, her Deutsch grandfather (Paul) and Aunt Lesley Deutsch, as well as me. I'm sure my mother and father were smiling from Heaven.
Congratulations Amy.

Brief Update

Hello my little bloggers...its been a busy week! On Monday which already seems like a long time ago, I spent the morning walking dogs and on 'business' stuff and then, ran errands and shopped for Mothers Day and Amy's graduation. I do remember thinking how great it was not to have to be cleaning out and packing up and moving Mother's household goods. Back to having a 'real' life again! Tuesday, I finally got to clean up Danny's computer work station after...well after a long long time. Then I went to the end of the year luncheon and mtg. of the ART Guild and to another fun party that evening thrown by our dual WP/Colorado friends before they return to Durango for the summer.

Wednesday, I spent about six hours out in the hot sun and humidity, in the smelly dirt, and dodging nasty bugs while hacking my way through my backyard jungle. Raked krazillions of leaves, too. I found a dandy wickedly sharp set of pruning things at my parents carport storage area that will cut anything! Tree limbs, palmettos, you name it. Chop. Chop. I really went to town on the plants! Our dandy handyman, Shawn, put together a storage shed for the side yard. Yard man Willie trimmed trees hanging over the house roof, trimmed sagos, cut down dead stuff, etc. I was tired and disgustingly dirty and sore, but it felt good to battle the yard and win.

Today, I paid off my mortgage with some of the proceeds of the sale of Mother's house!! Yes, I am now, and hope to be forever, mortgage free. Thanks to Mother, I was able to pay it off ten years early. I ate a chocolate frosted chocolate cake donut to celebrate.

After dinner, took Ginny to agility class. Tonight the trainers set up an actual course for the dogs to run. It was funny: the dogs all know the individual things like a- frame, tunnel, jump, dogwalk, weave poles, etc, but they got so confused by the order on the course that they either shut down and just stood still or ran around the field in crazy circles. One dog just kept going on the dog walk over and over. Ginny favored the tunnel.

Well, that was my week. Tomorrow, we get to go to Amy's Graduation dinner party and graduation at Rollins College's fieldhouse early Saturday morning. We are so proud of Amy.

Live long and prosper.

Dog Parkin' n stuff

Yes!! Back to real week ends again! No house staging. No house clean outs. No packin' up. No sortin', no discardin', no savin' stuff...and apparently a dearth of 'g's too. A Saturday afternoon movie. Sunday morning at the dog park and Sunday supper with Laura and her guy. The Mutley Crew (aka The Salt and Pepper Gang) was soo excited when I said those glorious sentences: "Wanna go for a car ride" and "Wanna go to the dog park?" We haven't been able to go for months.

For those of you deprived of the blessing of dog company, the dog park is the canine equivalent of Disney World and Islands of Adventure. Today was sunny and warm and there were hundreds of wet, dirty, smelly, panting dogs running to and fro after tennis balls and each other, crashing into the lake, reading Pee mail and smellin' butts. The music of bark filled the air. It must have been 'reduced admission' for Great Danes and Labs and Akitas today. You never know what breeds will predominate when you go.

Our three girls ran the wilderness trail twice and crashed into the lake multiple times. Chili fetched a tennis ball from the water until she couldn't swim anymore. She revived for a quick game of herd and intimidate the annoying yapping poodle. Ginny made friends with another 'hoola named Jax.

The park restored my sense of harshened mellow. 'Bout time.

Whenever I walk the woods with my dogs running the trail ahead it takes me back to my days in the Pennsylvania woods with my childhood dog, Lady. Always a good feeling.

This week I have to deal with a little more Estate business but am looking forward to the end of year theatre guild luncheon and an evening party on Tuesday and Amy's graduation party on Friday. Saturday, our little Amy, now a grown up married lady and new mama, will walk across the stage in cap and gown!! Life is looking rosy again. I don't even dread jury duty....not too much anyway. Can't wait to get the tile for my living, dining rooms and foyer and rip out all the old damaged and dull hardwood floors! Summertime's almost here and the livin' is good again.

Our good friend and co author of Florida Shorts, Karen EcEnany Phillips, has an article in today's Sunday Sentinel paper on the first page of the local and state section...complete with byline and photo credits. Karen also writes the Stetson's Corner column published regularly in the Sanford Herald and Oviedo Voice. Congrats, Karen!!

Live long and prosper. Hug your dog. If you don't have a dog, I can't help you.

This n that

Photo: The Ironman cometh! More 'bout that below.

Lo, my little Bloggers. Lovely day here in my neck of the woods. Hot, clear n sunny. Just the way I like an early May day to be. I slept at least eight hours last night instead of my more usual six and woke headache free at last. After breakfast, it temporarily became a morning of minor frustrations. I missed being here for a pick up of a computer Danny had repaired (the man arrived about 45 minutes late just when I had Chili out on a potty walk, didn't wait, didn't call, just drove back to Apopka and then Danny had to take it to him after training a client in lake Mary, wasting time and lots of expensive gas). Then, I managed to lose the house keys after I came in from walking Ginny. But, as Laura used to say when she was little, "Lax, deese tings happen". I found the keys, Danny got back from Apopka, and we treated ourselves to a showing of the film Ironman.

Go see it boys and girls. It's got ton's of great special effects from Industrial Light and Magic (George Lucas' company), good storyline, and solid acting from Jeff Bridges, Gwynneth Paltrow and the extremely talented Robert Downey. Tony Stark, as played by Downey, is my kind of superhero. Good music too. Watch for a cameo by Stan Lee and don't leave during the credits. It's even better than the first Spiderman and as good as Batman Returns. Danny used to read all the comics and knows all the superhero stuff. I didn't, but I enjoy the movies when they're as well done as this one.

On another topic: Mother's 86th birthday would be tomorrow. She would so enjoy Baby Alex and being a great grandmother. I wish it could be. But, as our Pastor Tom said, "It's not our call."

The whole bad taste in my mouth from the house sale last Wednesday is fading. A dear friend emailed me congratulations and some sage comments this morning which helped put all in perspective. As she said, selling the house in one month in this market is quite a coup and no doubt my parents would approve.

After all, the house, while a nice house in an nice neighborhood, is isn't any of our historical family homes from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Philadelphia, Schellsburg, and the Pittsburgh area-- most sadly disappeared with time and 'progress'--or the sweet little home my father and mother built after he returned from war. Our little clapboard house( nestled next to my beloved woods) with the stone wall my father built with the foundation stones from his great uncle's farmhouse is still there, added onto a bit, and well cared for complete with a grove of very tall pine and spruce trees in the yard that once were our 'live' Christmas trees each year. Those trees are a fitting memorial to my Daddy, although my woods are no more. The things people remember about my parents...and hopefully my stories....are a sort of memorial too. Walls are just walls. They shelter, but they don't contain the lives of those they shelter.

Unlike me, I don't think my parents really considered Florida 'home' despite living here for decades. My father moved here because of a job and always hoped to return north. Unfortunately poor health prevented that in life. He asked us not to bury him in Florida but in the little mountain cemetery near Schellsburg, Pa. where my mother's people have rested since before the Revolutionary War. I will return there with Mother's ashes one day, hopefully sooner rather than later, to return her to her people. And to Daddy.

The closing was very unsettling though, as I wrote before, aside from the moment of locking the door and walking out of the house my parents shared for thirty years.

I felt like it was poorly handled, although I'm not sure who dropped the ball exactly. First of all, I never got to see the closing papers prior to walking into the closing-- which I didn't know would happen on the right day or not until five minutes before it started. I walked in just having been, as I said before, told by my realtor that the father said I'd left the house junked up. Not happy, I was my little Padawans! The closing agent obviously wanted to hurry up and go home as did the banker. Nobody wanted my closing questions. I felt rushed and pressured and the supposedly unhappy but outwardly genial father kept asking me social questions which slowed me down and made the closing agent and the banker more impatient. Danny was home by this time and I was getting hungry. When the frelling closing thing finally ended...and it seemed to take years...my bank was closed and I couldn't even deposit the check. Then, the realtor, harped on the junk thing again. Ach der lieber! As my Mammaw Wilhemina used to say, "It's a great life, if you don't weaken." That always makes me laugh. And its true. She also used to say, "Can I put a potato in the oven for you?" That one was not helpful, since Frau Geib Wayman had no actual domestic experience or skills whatsoever. Oh well.

When I told him, Danny said, "I'll bet your chin was down the whole time." It probably was. My chin goes down when I'm angry and I want to act like one of my Viking or blue wode tattooed Celtic ancestors and I have to be civilized. I always get a headache after from neck strain. Thursdays headache was a doozy.

But, the young couple who now owns the house were obviously excited and happy and very nice and I wish them much happiness in the house. And my handyman, Shawn, was so happy when I told him to take whichever of Daddy's tools he wanted from the carport work area. He said they were almost antiques and very special and he couldn't wait to get them home and clean them up. The painter was glad to get the never used gas grill and the patio chairs too. So, I'm not going to care anymore what the father or anyone else thought. Some folks are hard...maybe even impossible to please and why should I anyway? Oh yeah, oops, Mama brought me up to always do things right. You know, always return your library books and your Blockbuster videos on time, turn your term papers in when they are due, wear clean underwear in case you end up in a car accident (?), never lie, be a lady, etc....problem is, I really want to be a warrior or a dragon-slayer or maybe a pirate ( but with a good dental plan.) So, I'm at odds with my true nature. Probably why I write. Come to think on it, not such a bad thing after all.

Its raining now. No dog walks. I'm off to work out...have to be strong you know...just in case an Islamic terrorist or a dragon happens by or a crew opening comes up on the Black Pearl...Ta.

Two bad days but the sun will come out tomorrow

Well, bloggers, I'm about ready top pack it in for the night. Made it to dog agility class tonight which really helped restore my good mood and sense of well being after a stressful Wed and Thurs...Ginny did great and so did Danny. They make a great working pair and I love watching. Dogs and dog people are my kind of folks.

Yesterday was a bad day. I've already written a bit about the closing and how hectic and frustrating it was. Not entirely unexpected. What I didn't expect and didn't write about was my realtor's comments prior to the closing. She reported that the father of the buyers was pretty upset and unhappy about the condition of my Mother's house during the walk through. My guess is (and its just a guess) that he is involved in the financing. He certainly appeared to be the captain steering the ship. I was shocked, insulted, and a maybe even a little angry with what was admittedly a hearsay report since I'd worked so hard on the place. The house didn't look junky to me when I left it for the last time. Her report ruined any joy I might have felt at closing. I wanted to say, "You don't like my mothers house. Fine. Walk." But, of course I didn't. Couldn't. The man was perfectly nice at closing. The young couple was delightful. But, the realtor's comment stuck in my craw (whatever that is, sounds good anyway).

I did leave some tools, cleaning materials, and a few incidental things behind, thinking that they might find them useful. Maybe that's what he was ticked off about. Don't know. Maybe the realtor misunderstood. Maybe he wasn't really ticked off at all. Stuff happens. Don't know. I calmed myself down. Then after the closing when everybody else had gone, she asked me when I was going to go over and clean up the junk! A yoga breath helped there. Of course, I refused, legal liability notwithstanding if I entered what was now somebody else's property, the owners didn't ask me for anything.

I love my realtor. She's great. Don't misunderstand me. She's competent and caring: great combination. Well intentioned. She's obviously more of a people pleaser than me. Probably nicer too. Maybe, probably, "neater". I know she didn't mean to upset me. Stuff happens.

Anyway, I went home, went to dinner, walked dogs, went to bed. Woke up two hours later with a stress induced killer migrane and an irrational feeling of sorrow that I had sold my parent's house. Feeling like I had somehow betrayed them and erased them. Dumb, but I couldn't shake the sorrow, or the regret, or the migrane which lasted all day until I finally gave in and allowed myself a good cry around seven pm. Tension broke and I was fine. Sometimes, boys and girls, its okay to cry.

Earlier in the day, I got myself up from my bed of pain and went to my bank (who holds the mortgage) to deposit the check from the title agency, intending to pay off my mortgage. Its late, maybe I'll go more into that story tomorrow. Or not. Suffice to say, that one hour and forty five minutes after i arrived there I left the bank having accomplished virtually nothing. Yes, I deposited the money. That's all. I could possibly have done that in five minutes at the drive through and taken another dose of Excedrin. I dunno if the young loan officer was honesty as confused as he seemed or playing a corporate part in the art of confusopoly. I gave up for the day, sent in my May mortgage payment and went home to bed and tears.

I will deal with them by phone in the morning when I don't have a headache as a handicap. I may be down but I am not done. I now understand though how so many intelligent people got rooked by the banks into the subprime mess. Doesn't matter how smart you are. I have a BA and a Masters plus 30 graduate hours. My IQ is up there. It doesn't matter. They just keep going round in circles at you until you get tired. They don't want me to pay off my mortgage. They want to give me more loans. Tough. Today was a minor setback in the game of Nancy against chaos though. Stay tuned. The sun will come out tomorrow, like Annie sang. In any case, its Friday. Week's over. No house to clear out. No bleeding fingers. No migrane. It can only look up from here.
'
Ta.