Sunday, June 29, 2008

We are bonified

Looks like my husbands silence was golden...

We got the house.

Friday, June 27, 2008

windy

My Mother In Law has a great magnet that says

"One day the wind stopped blowing in Nebraka, and everyone fell over."

It is true, I have hardly combed, or brushed my hair since I arrived.

My hair is fine, and naturally curly.

No point in it.

I may get a cool wig or something.

However, the other day when we driving I noted this...



any guesses?

It is the blade of a wind turbine.

I am thinking about trying to figure out how to generate energy with The Collective next.

The house in question...


Realtor jedi mind tricks plus hotel hell = stiff drink

OK.

I just got a call from the seller of the house.

A counter offer.

For the love of Pete, how I loathe this bungled process.

I really do.

When I sold my home, the buyer and I were up front and honest about what we both needed.

A one page contract and waaala. Done. Both parties were pretty much satisfied.

Well the party I happen to be buying from, is also a realtor in his spare time. (Cripes)

He felt the need to involve a third party realtor in the process.

Yesterday I had to make a 45 minute visit to a "sellers agent".

18 pages later I had an offer in...

How freaking ridiculous.

Folks, this is an irritating process to me....not kidding.....

I am an honest person, to a fault.

And this back and forth crap....well it is ridiculous in my book.

If I get to irritated I will be done.

We have 2 other homes on the back burner, and I am glad. One never knows.

pussy footing is not a sport in my book, it is a waste of time, and sheer ridiculous.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Adventures in house purchasing, and hotel living Chapter I forget...

In good news. Sir Rowland, can now dive under water, and retreive things from the floor of the pool.

Pink Ninja, is not far behind, and can swim 5 feet under water.

May sound like no big deal, but these skills have been acquired quickly, and simply from spending an excessive amount of time in the water.

I am proud of them and amazed.

I caught Sir Rowland awake at 3:00 this morning, flailing about on top of the bed, as if he was in water. He was sleep swimming. Something I have never seen.

We finally dropped an offer in last night on the house this morning.

We were waiting for all of the #'s to come.

In insane house searching news, I spent 2 hours trying to call my Dad yesterday (he was not answering the phone), and frankly with his current heart condition, I was worried. Worried enough I called the hospital to locate him. He was not there. At about 4:00pm he called me to let me know he and his lady friend were here in town. Not to see us, but to look at the house. So I gave him the address. I thought, well heck, he will drive by and give it a looksee.

WAS I WRONG.

He and lady friend stopped in. YES, they went inside the house. They also did not have the sense to tell the owner, they were just looking. My Father told them, "I am her DAD.".

Seriously.

I am not sure what that did to my negotiating power, but I am guessing it did not help much.

After all in my Father's eyes I am like 15 some place in his brain....



Instead of ringing his neck....or throwing a fit, I had to gently remind him we have not started negotiating.

#2, I had to prevent my poor DH from having a stroke, or killing my Father.

Oye...

Probably not a big deal, but seriously....

Living 12 hours away from familiy made me forget that some folks like crossing the line, because they do not see it....

OK I have to call the 3rd party involved in this to negotiate....

And then it is off to the pool.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

lessons...

The other morning we went to The Farmers Market again. I found myself at the Burkholder Project once more. A favorite of mine...and when she is there in her studio I like to watch her paint...


I went downstairs with The Collective, which I normally do not do, and found a local artist by the name of Dick Budig. He is an oil painter, and I enjoyed his paintings so much. He actually sat down with The collective and gave them a quick art lesson....

While browsing through his studio, I noted several clippings, and photos of military men, of course I inquired, and found out the artist does paint potraits of fallen Nebraska soldiers.

You can watch the video here.


You can read more here.

hotel hell.....

It is nothing like that movie where Jack Nicholson and his family stay in the hotel where blood is seeping out of the walls. The Shining?

No one is chasing anyone here with knives or the like....

Frankly it is me.

I have done the calculations....

In the last 2 years I have spent 12 of those as a single head of household, because of military schools, and now the change in DH's job...

I wasn't keeping track, but the other day I really had to step back and wonder why every little thing was killing my nerves...

I suppose, it is sort of an accumulation of responsibilities etc...

but living out of suitcases, well it is not for me.

I keep thinking I might not mind all of the "down time", if there was a plan....

I am really trying to BE . Before I know it I will be working 40 hours a week with The Collective in school, I should consider this my vacation.

It might be the fact that we are homeless, living in a hotel (which is NOTHIING like the Eloise books) Maybe if I had the $$ to stay at the Waldorf, but we do not.

There is the daily trips to the rehabilitation hospital to see our strong Uncle try and communicate with head nods, as you watch his big Sister massage his contracted hands.

The daily calls to my Dad to check on his BP, his progress at cardiac rehab. Only to hear he is out mowing, and bagging grass like a shit.

Almost all of our comforts being in a storage unit.

But one never has to look far do they?

The other day at the park, I saw a Mom witha 2-3 year old little blonde boy with a tiny wheel chair. the little boy had a trach.

There was the mom at the rehab center with her 6-7 year old boy, who she had lifted out of his wheel chair, set on a blanket out on the front lawn so they could enjoy the sunset.

The young amputee woman who was running down the road the other day. Frankly much faster than I have ever been able to run with 2 healthy legs....

I need to remember these things at 12:31am, when I am unabel to sleep, DH is snoring, and The Collective are telling me they are not tired yet in the whiniest voices.

We are all healthy....

We are together...

I never need to look far.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

oh and P.S.

the Collective have taught themselves how to swim underwater....

Amazing, how they can go from scared to asking to be thrown in, in 5 short days.

bidding...

Curious thing this media induced mortgage crisis.

Last night we went on a second go through of the house.

Someone also came for a second go through 2 minutes after we left.

ughhhh....

Today is filled with the ugliness of paperwork.

I have to fill out an offer, go to the bank and get my earnest money, and call my mortgage company. All ugly and no fun I assure you. I am sick of realtors, banks, and legal jargon that is "contracts"...

pooey.


In non complaining news....

It really is a great house, in a great neighborhood. For those of you who may be curious, I will try and take photos at some time...oh and guess what? The garden is almost as big as the one I left. We will get the schools we WANT There is a huge deck made from tekwood or something...which means, no freaking washing and sealing it...the deck is also covered! Ceilings in basement are 9 feet tall, which frankly means it does not look like a basement. 3 car garage. Corner lot in a suburb with 1/2 acre. Ahhhhh....no one can hear me flush.

And the master has a tub....which I will live in.

Bad news, they cannot exit for 30 days.



We also have to switch hotel rooms this morning!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

House Hunt day (what feels like) 2,178......

Ahhhhh house hunting.

Decisions.

What are you looking for?

We are looking for a home....

There are about 300 homes that fit the requirement for the basics, but then as with all things, it gets weird.

Bedrooms are too small, garage is too small, kitchen to small, lot too small...or too big. It seems to go both ways.

I have insisted on having a bath tub in the master bedroom. I bathe. It is my vice. I do little in my free time, but I try and take 30 minutes and soak every day.

I also wanted a newer home, on a lot that had a large easement. I grew up on an acreage, and do not appreciate the 5-20 foot easements. ICK.

I think we might have found something today. We have to go back and take another look. All of us liked it upon entering, and that says something.....

Cross fingers....

Thursday, June 19, 2008

The benifits of driving your children across the country 2 times?

a 2 1/2 hour car ride is nothing to them....

nada, like a walk in the park.

No movie, no games, nothing required.

Today we saw one american Bald Eagle on the Loup river.

WE also saw a UP train, scare 2 Huge doe out of the woods, and we watched them run across the highway about 30 yards in front of my car...

"Yes Virginia, there is "the internets in Nebraska."



First off, the economy cannot be too bad.

Lincoln, Nebraska is home to "Licorice International".


I have nothing against licorice, or the sale of such. But I promise you, if I was given ANY business to open, and international licorice importing store would seem sort of risky. Then again I am a SAHM, so WTF do I know....

The surprise? The darn place is FULL of people buying licorice. I enjoy licorice as much as the next guy, which means, not enough to spend more than $1.00 every 6 months on the stuff.



In other news. We are still trying to "stabilize my Father's BP. Now it is so low that he is scaring the crap out of everyone. Yesterday it was 63/36...I called the Dr. And now his cardura, and toprol is on hold, his lisinopril dose cut in half. He is suffering terrible with orthostatic hypotension, so my Father who is used to physical activity cannot do much without getting lightheaded, or feeling "fuzzy". I did manage to get a referral to The Heart Institute, and will get him there for an eval as soon as I can. Today was his cardiology appointment in which we learned that in perhaps 2 years or less time, he might be a candidate for a pacemaker. He is also not supposed to pull weeds or anything else that might exacerbate his orthostatic hypotension.

In good news, he has lost 15 pounds since his hospitalization. I have weaned him off of salt, and he has only had red meat 1 time, since the heart cath. He has been riding his bike, walking, and actively cutting his portions. Which has to be hard for him. In case you have not noticed, I am a foodie, from a family of foodies. WE are almost all good low country cooks. I have gained a pound go figure.

OK, we are in Lincoln, looking at houses AGAIN. It is a tedious process to me. We are actually looking at energy star homes now, because they promise to be efficient, and a good investment. WE have looked at some "newer, not new" homes, but frankly the pricing does not make sense. We are back to looking at new homes. Oye...

The Collective are being pretty good considering that they have been living out of a suitcase for a month or so...

DH's Mom is here so she could check in on her young brother who just sufferred several TIA's. He has been to 3 hospitals in the last 2 weeks. He is now at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital. They are a fantastic facility, and actually are active in treating TBI, and PTSD. They have weaned him off of his ventilator, and have started the arduous process of physical rehabilitation. We are prayign and hoping for the best, as he is a young and active man....he is at one of the best places he can be right now.

I will try and check in more frequently this week, and will have limited access as seems to be "the usual..."..

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Today in Lincoln





Today was knit in public day....




And I thought of Sarah....

so many thoughts of Sarah...

house hunting....






OK...

We left Northeast Nebraska yesterday and headed to our new home....

Lincoln.

I missed it here.

I forgot.

We have been having a great time despite looking for houses, which is not so much fun to me.

Here are some photos from the drive....

Thursday, June 12, 2008

CEU's complete

On a side note, I took 15 hours of CEU's today!

Done.....

Breathe...

Forward march.

Figuring out the Serenity Prayer, leading horses to water and something about drinking.

You know the part about changing what you can? Making horses drink? I guess I can drink right?


I am figuring this one out.

OK Dad update. He remains stubborn, and 6 years after my mother's passing he is used to being alone. A lovely mix! (insert sarcastic voice). My Father's ateries are sclerotic. A genetic predisposiiton. His cholesterol is fine. Probably better than mine.

I am trying to get him to convert to turkey bacon, egg beaters, when he is hungry for bacon and eggs. (ain't gonna happen) I introduced him to the wonderful world of grilled pineapple, and Mrs. Dash. He remains less than impressed.

I figure, I can do what I can here. I know I cannot stay forever and take care of things.

He is from the "old skool MidWest" which means, bread on the table every meal, red meat almost every meal, every day.

He did take 3 short bicycle rides yesterday. Which was nice, if he would keep it up. I cannot make him do it.

He seems to have VERY short term memory. The other night as he lay on the gurney in the ER with unrelieved chest pain, well I could see him bargaining with God, I watched it. I saw him more fearful than i have ever seen him.

So, essentially at this time, he just needs to build periphreal circulatory systems, which is not easy at 67, and you are not getting much oxygen to his heart in the first place.

His BP, seems to have leveled out. Usually about 126/68...or there abouts. His cardura remains on hold.

The Collective annd I are headed to Lincoln over the weekend. We need to find a place to live, soon. the market seems to have slowed down.

I have broadened my search to include 2 story homes....

Hell it won't hurt me to climb stairs right? Particularly with this cardiac monkey on my back...

Ummmmmm......trying to find something brilliant to say, and do not have it in me at this time...

See you soon, miss you all...

Tornadoes here last night, I am sure you have heard about the boy scouts....

pray for them...

Monday, June 09, 2008

Spin

Long story, but brief update....for what that is worth.

Dad, well he had 2 stents, was sent home, and then ended up back in the ER that night at 11:oopm.

His chest pain was worse. a 6-8 on a 1-10 scale. Little or no relief with nitro paste, morphine, etc....

EKG, normal, lab normal, BP high, pulse normal, enzymes slightly elevated, nothing crazy and that could have been from the heart cath...

He is now on on a new SLEW of meds, and we are monitoring him for hypotension now. A couple of days ago his BP was 70/40...holy crap.

Called the Doc, held the cardura for 2 nights.

I did manage to talk to his GP and get him a referral to the heart institute in Lincoln. Good news, medicare will pay. I just think we would all be better with a second opinion at this time. He needs a cardiologist here for acute situations..

His spirits are good, but he is freaking stubborn as hell, and is irritating at times.

DH and brother mowed his acre the other night, while I sucked up maple pods (yes he was in a snit about his lawn, and the damn maple pods....)

Yesturday he insisted on mowing the rental property.....even though I threatened to kick his ass.

Nothing like near death to bring proper perspective huh?


at 8'ish pm, I was in the back of his truck, with a pitchfork in tow, throwing grass out into the neighbors field...

Tornadoes, and rain here.....weather has followed me.

I am freezing, it is 73 HIGH today....BRRRRR


DH's Uncle was med evaced to a neurology institute in Phoenix, and had surgery, they are unsure on his status, or if, or when he will recover from his TIA's...

Have been trying to take care of a few debts, which is not easy when there is no internet....

Also trying to find a home, which is hard, since I feel as though I probably should be here right now....

The Collective are wild as hell. SR has began making a fortune off his Mom from starting a swear tax. 25 cents a word....I have been caught for Hell 3 times in the lat 24 hours...

I am pooped, tired as hell. Things would be smoother if I had computer access, as I am needing 15 hours of CEU's this month to "renew nursing license in Arkansas, and then I have to transfer it to Nebraska....

All of the banking I am doing seems to be complicated by going to town...

They only have freaking ethanol gas here, so I am having to pay 4.14 for gas....

puke...

OK...

there was the roundup...

If it sounds like I am scatterred and busy, well it is because I am...

My Fathers BP is better than mine right now...

In my head all I see is sand, and no people, and ocean....

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

waking late...

The Collective slept this morning, and I let them....

they were up late, as they are weirded out by hotels.

We spent the night in Springdale...

headed north today

9 hours left.

Sissy called this morning, sounds like a heart cath this am...

Dad still has chest pain, even after wearing a nitro patch all night...

not good.

unsure what in the hell the Dr. is thinking.

Prayers...

I closed the house at 4:47pm today....a little later I received a quick call from my Sissy.

It seems my Dad is in the hospital with chest pain, which started Sunday night at9pm....he went to Dr. at 12:30pm today. I am unsure why he waited so long.....

He did not want my Sis or Brother to tell me, seems he was concerned I would drive 100 mph. to get my @$$ there, frankly I know better....

They went ahead and notified me...thank you.

Unsure what is going on, but as a frequent cardiac patient, I am concerned. I have not called the hospitals yet and checked his labs, or any other results yet. I do know his blood pressure was quite high, for my Father 185/85 Frankly, I have dealt with this hospital more times than I can count bones in my body. I will wait until I get there to start asking questions.

He is currently in the ICU. Prayers please.

Also DH's Uncle whom I love dearly and is only 52 years of age is also in ICU, and has been for 2 weeks with a series of TIA's which have left him on a ventilator, with paralysis, apraxia, dysphagia, and now just plain unresponsiveness...

Please offer prayers for him as well....

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Did I say dark?

uh....

currently at a hotel...

why?

title company cannot gets its $#!* together.....

I might be able to sign papers tomorrow at 3:30pm.

Ya know I was melancholy about leaving this place off and on over the last week or so....

And then that good old Arkansas efficiency hit me like a ton of bricks over the last 3 days, and it was a good reminder.

I actually feel like when we cross the state line, I should moon the state at this point.

Things that have not happened efficiently this last 2 weeks...

#1 title company, after calling them over and over again, making sure they knew we wanted to be out ASAP, and making sure they knew DH would not be present for close, we wanted him to pre-sign....

nope.

The gal, did not return my phonecalls, not once. NOT once. when i did catch her in the office, she said SURE not a problem.

Ha!

Hilarious.

I might be ble to sign papaerwork at 3:30pm tomorrow. although there was no way to communicate with them this weekend, so who knows.

#2 A storm blew through today, leaving us powerless from 2pm....until possibly 11:00pm tonight. After they promised it would be back on at 5pm...

Mind you the wind was about 20 mph, that is it. But when you fix things like you are a cat with scotch tape, well yeah 20 mph winds screws things up.

I tried to clean the house, for the buyers in the dark, not fun or effective.

I have to go back tomorrow now, and do what could have been done today.

Hooray Entergy! You suck rocks.

#3 I still do not have the title to my car...nope, I was supposed to have it 2 weeks ago, and mind you I also called them, stopped in, ad naseum.

I also had an extra key made, and it has yet to appear.

In this case once again I did not recieve a call back...


If the old addage "you get what you pay for is true, hell I have no idea what to expect, all of these folks have been paid tremendous amounts of money. Huh?

So when I finally leave, I will be thrilled.

Tonight we are in a hotel. that boasted high speed internet, only to find I keep dropping off...

Schedule for tomorrow...

clean the house

take the kids to the pool

and close on the house

go to the bank

get the freak out of here..

drop trou on the border