Stop The World, I Want To Get Off

The visit with Ray was a great stress reducer I have to say, everyone has to behave in front of company with the exception of The Hostess who insisted on sitting next to, in front of and on top of the guest at all times. Ray has been our friend for years so he knows to bolt his door tightly at all times. We're currently back to the waiting game, this contingent thing is a bit of a pain as everything is freefloating at the moment. We can't really make a definate decision until we know for sure and we won't actually know for sure until the day itself is looming above us, just like something Big and Scary out of a Stephen King movie. We're juggling multiple plots and plans and attempting to live our everyday lives at the same time. I've started a little packing - I'm boxing up the not everyday stuff at the moment, we're sorting through what we're taking and what we're not - on and on. I'm going to be cutting back on working at least one day a week, there's no way I can call and inquire about jobs and so forth during the week if I'm not here. I tried doing it from the car but around here the cell service is in and out constantly so that doesn't work out either. We heard from Adam, he's still fine and adjusting well and Jackson continues with the DEP program - I think he's getting a bit antsy as the day grows closer. I'm having trouble with my journal again - when I put pictures on it all the text disappears or the picture itself just comes up black - one more thing to add to the list I suppose.

Yes You Can Eat Out Too Much

The "walk through" by the buyers on Sunday was a surprise for me - it was actually a "show off the house to every relative we have through" - Pearl and I were running late and they actually had to move a couple of the cars so I could get out  - every parent, aunt, sibling, etc was lined up to see the house so I'm assuming this couple is very serious. We're not dropping the price and that's alright with them so we still just have to live through the appraisal and them selling thier house. We are back to square one on the new house business for us - since the house we were so excited about turned out to be dog  we are on the hunt again, but we have "back up" houses and have started a back up plan so we're just rolling along. I am officially Per Diem and am celebrating by not going to work to spend at least one day with Ray, whoo hoo on that account. Since Ray came during the week we've been going out to dinner when I get home every night and today after going out to breakfast my stomach rebelled and that's all I'm going to say. But after the movie today we are eating in for awhile to give my poor system a rest. The house was shown AGAIN today and it's being shown again tomorrow, we having cleaning down to a science at this point. David is finishing up the odds and ends and is starting to sort and pack. I'm starting to box things up this weekend, since it will be awhile (and if this deal falls through it'll be a longer while) we're just packing up the stuff we don't use everyday of course, books not currently being read,etc.. Andy the junk guy is coming tomorrow for all the scrap left over and stuff David's getting rid of and then we'll be letting a least a bedroom suite go - if anyone wants that art deco set speak now! Ray is leaving tomorrow, it's been good having him here even if it's with work and the RE and so forth - good friends are hard to find.

The Heat Goes On

Well, I don't know about you guys, but it's been running in the 90's for the past few days, not a cloud in sight. Pearl and I have been making great use of the swimming pool, I think she spends more time in it than I do. The house situation changes daily - the aforementioned $20,000 was the suggestion of the inspector who just 'threw out that number" as per the buyers. Idiot. David has fixed most of the items on the list and they can buy their own damn microwave light bulb. Now we have to live through the appraisal and the rest of the ensuing activities. I've completely given up trying to sleep past 4. As of this  Friday 7 am I am no longer on call so that's one thing less to deal with. It's so weird thinking that I no longer have to work 5 days a week if I don't want to (well, except for that nasty eating and living inside preference I have.....), I can sort of pick and choose what I want to do. Although I won't get paid vacation anymore it's nice just to be able to take the days off I want and not have to worry about getting back. Jackson and Becky have been seeing each other pretty much every day so the old adage that Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder holds true. I cleaned out my car yesterday morning, it was so much of a mess I couldn't stand it anymore. I've been cleaning the house off and on all morning, the buyers are coming today to walk through without the inspector, I have no idea why,  but they are so I am obligated to Clean. Which sucks. David flew off to NJ on Thursday, he and Ray met with the RE there to look at the house we're really interested in and then a few that we're not- which turned out to be a good thing because the house we liked turned out to be a major dog. But that's the way it works, doesn't it? So David has a few possibilities and then we will look at area #2. David and Ray are coming back  today so I guess I'd better get moving.

Rolling Down The River

Well, they got the inspection report - there was nothing too terrible on it and it's not what you think either. I thought it was to make sure everything is up to code and safe - which it is, sort of , but it's also the opinion of the inspector who is working for the buyers. Hmm. Our agents were surprised they got the whole report (usually they only get a summary of what the buyer wants to negotiate) which includes such highlights as " the lightbulb in the microwave is dim", "the sink in the 2nd bathroom is out of date", "there are ashes in the fireplace" - you get the Nit-Picky idea. According to our agents we did extremely well as there were no structural problems, the moisture tests were all negative, but the potential buyers seem to think we should come down - $20,000! And no, I'm not kidding. So, we are dropping the actual price a little - not for them but our original asking price with the agency, our price with them still stands,and will wait and see what happens, that's what the RE thinks we should do and anyone that's selling a house knows the rule of thumb is to start off a little high because you can always got down to your real number. But on the upside we have the entire report so we don't need to do our own inspection and we have the rest of the summer. David took off this morning to go look at houses with Ray this weekend, he was looking foward to it after working nonstop on the house for the past 3 weeks. They'll be doing that and then will be heading back Monday or Tuesday for Ray to stay for a few days as he wants to make sure he sees Jackson before he goes in the navy. Jackson is enjoying himself, he spends his time bouncing between Becky and the Recruiters so he's been a busy bee. I'm just trying my best to survive until the weekend, I took my last couple of hours of personal time this afternoon. I had to drive David to the airport this morning so we left around 5 am, then I got back to my neck of the woods just in time to start work after driving 150 miles round trip - yee ha! I'm taking Wednesday off so I can spend some time with Ray too, we haven't seen him in ages. This per-diem stuff is already looking pretty good......

Stress? What Stress?

You would think that as we move along we'd be starting to breath easier, that is not the case. The inspection did occur yesterday and even though we know better we were still expecting a full copy of the findings left on the kitchen table (even though past experience tells it's more like a few weeks). David went to Lowe's with Miss Pants and ran into to get a couple of outlet covers, since he didn't wait on line she was alone for about 10 minutes in which she A) barked  her fool head off for the entire time and B) attracted animal activists. David returned to find what he referred to as "a couple of old bats" standing by his truck and Pearl barking very hysterically. The woman waved a cell phone at him and told she was calling animal control, David asked her why and she kept saying "How would you like to sit it that truck" - David pointed out he HAD been sitting in that truck, the windows were open, she had only been left in there for 10 minutes and it was only in the 70's. She refused to let it go soDavid told her he thought she needed to get away from his truck before HE called someone since Pearl was obviously fine and maybe she needed to find something else to do. Ack! I got home around 5 and went swimming with The Abandoned One, then finished cleaning the house since the RE was due in around 7pm. The agent showed up about 6:45, I gave her a quick tour since she wasn't familar with the house( the agents appreciate it and that way when the clients show up the agents know where everything is) and then we took off with Miss Pants again. Needless to say we are getting tired, I wish it was just over and done with. Jackson is due in today, David will be picking him, I'm pretty happy he'll be home finally.

Not Out Of The Woods Yet

The inspection is today, so David is scampering about tying up a lot of loose ends. We weren't concerned with things lying about as they are not inspecting our housecleaning skills, but then the RE called last night and the house is being shown tonight at 7pm (since we have the wipeout clause we're still technically on the market). After my two admits the weekend passed rather quietly with the exception of a call at 9 pm last night. My first thought was Oh No! but it turned out to be some guy wanting to know who I was and if this was the number he had (he had the wrong number). David's pretty much finished up that back room, there's just a tiny bit of tiling to be done and that's it. Susan didn't come over to swim yesterday because it rained off and on. Jackson will be back tomorrow, I'm pretty excited to see him, I can't believe it's been over 6 weeks! He's off to the recruiter's this weekend and I'm sure he and Becky have made plans, but I get to see him too! I'm oncall until Friday but then after that, no more - I can't tell you how much I'm looking foward to not having to do that. I won't mind helping out here and again, but not having to be tied to the phone every 3rd weekend will be a relief. As you can see from the pictures the blanket is very close to being completed, I started the first edge last night so hopefully it will be done by the end of the week!

Last Call

Since I'll be per-diem soon I'll no longer have to do call on the weekends - that will be a great relief and I think will reduce the stress quite a bit. Of course since it's my last weekend I am uber-booked and was attempting to track down my admissions for today last night - you would think that people that just got out of the hospital would answer thier phones, wouldn't you? One is a definate for 9 am, one is still in the unit so if I was taking bets that would be a long shot and the 3rd one is on the lamb apparently - then there's a visit and he also apparently cannot pick up the phone. THEN I have to worry about patients calling in to be seen for some problem on top of that......can you see where the stress is? Speaking of stress David has been in overdrive and nitpicking away for the past 5 days due to the inspector coming with the buyer on Monday, Jackson flying in on Tuesday, him flying out on Thursday.....busy busy. And in the midst of this I am actually binding off the blanket and after that it's just the sides and it's done. I don't know what I would do without my knitting sometimes, it's one of the world's best stress relievers there is and these days I need it.

I Needed That.

Yesterday was really very nice. We dropped my car off at the Honda place around 8 am, came back and did some stuff. Then we just did errands, David went to Lowes and picked up the last of the carpeting while I went to the mall, we went to Gabe's (of course!) and got a bedding set for $19, not bad. Victoria's Secret at the mall is ruined for me as all I can think is I can get ALL of that stuff for about half the price online. We did Giant Eagle and then off to Sam's Club, with Jackson not here the shopping there is much less frequent. We now only go about every 2 to 3 and just buy the stuff we use a lot of (cat food, papertowels,etc). We went out to lunch at the crappy chinese buffet which David hates more than yarn and I LOVE so every once in blue moon he bites the bullet and we get to go. I suppose I could go by myself but that would be no fun. I paddled around in the pool and called Sam's about thier health insurance plans - did you know they offer  that? I didn't. Boy did I - and the insurance agent - get knocked for a loop. Jay the agent did the numbers and with us living in WV for the same exact plan I have now- but with a limit of ONLY TWO doctors visits per person yearly, the tab is - $930 a month which is only $54 less than I'll be paying for the 3 of us on COBRA. After we move to Pa - that number falls to $466 per month for the two of us, but that's with dental and unlimited doctor's visits, can you just puke or what? Even the insurance agent was flabbergasted. The RE called last night, the inspector is going to be here on Monday so we have to ix-nay from 1pm to 5, not a problem for me as I'll be working but David might have to drop Miss Pants off at the dogsitter's even though I'm sure she would love to hostess that event. My car came back from the shop with new wires and all tuned up, as it gets older the repairs and maintenance get more frequent, but until we are out of state I have  to hang on to my little CRV as long as I can.

Touch Me And I'll Scream

 

Actually, you don't even need to touch me, I just scream randomly at this point. Everything is piling up, too much going on at once. We have people coming to look today to look at the house (since we have a wipeout clause with those other people, the house is still on the market)so we still have to be busy bees. I got my COBRA paperwork, ouch is all I have to say on that subject. David has been making phone calls to the dog sitter, car rental, yadayadayada. My car goes in the shop tomorrow for my last vacation day for a tune up and new wires. David flies out to Newark not this Saturday, but next and then he'll drive back with Ray. We will be going to LI after that for a bit. Jackson is flying back this coming Tuesday and then he has to go to the recruiters for the paperwork and further training. When I asked about Becky (since he's planning on seeing her right after he gets back)  all I get is "it's complicated" (translation - butt out!) so I leave that alone. Work is just a screamer in itself, but as I've said before I don't think it's them, I think it's me. However, it's not helping that they're changing my schedule at 4pm after I've called and set up all my patients for the next day.I'm on call for the last time this coming weekend, you have no idea how much I'm looking foward to THAT. I have a list of agencies to call in the area we are most likely to end up in, that will be on Wednesday too. I'm in the home stretch on the baby blanket, the last row of trees is finished, now just the edge and the borders.

My How Things Have Changed

We have had no lookers this week, a bad thing because we haven't completely sold the house but a good thing as David has been burning the candle at both ends getting everything from the gutters to the old hot tub room finished up. I had a very nice, very quiet weekend which given the stress I've been under lately was a very welcome change. I got some bad news at work just to top off the week, I will be making another little chemo hat in the coming weeks, there's plenty in life that isn't fair but this really stinks. The chances of remission are good I think, I hope. I heard from Adam a few days ago, he's really doing well, he's been making friends and plans and paying his bills so we're quite pleased with him. Jackson will be back next week, I can't believe how long he's been gone, since the end of May! David finished up his bathroom and did a bit of painting so that should be cured by the time he gets home. I was looking through the old pictures I have saved on my computer, it's almost shocking to see what the house looked like when we first moved in and what it looks like now. I've been teasing David that it looks so nice maybe I'll buy it!

In The Dud Of Night

Well, the 4rth was  a rather large Flopperoo around here,it rained steady so they must've cancelled the fireworks in town (we can see them from our deck here usually). We did pretty much nothing, we got our usual Friday night pizza and stayed in for the day. It was too rainy to do anything fun and I was on call until 5 pm which makes me afraid to go more than a couple miles from the house. Past experience is all Murphy's Law, as long as I stay put the phone doesn't ring, the second I get 10 miles down the road my cell starts going crazy, so I try to make sure I have stuff to do at home. That's whyI'm really looking foward to being per-diem,no more on call weekends. They bother me a bit, but lately it's been bothering me a lot, I'm just too stressed out for it with everything that's been going on lately. David is on the home stretch house-wise, it's supposed to not rain Monday so he's planning on spending the day frantically mowing the ever growning grass. The only good thing is all the bald patches from where the septic was repaired is all grown over. I haven't taken the cover off the pool in a few days, but I will tomorrow as I have to test the water and so forth. We're going to Clarksburg today for David to go to Home Depot and I want to to go the the Nest and pick up some knitting needles and stuff as we got our Economic Stimulus Check. David seems to think we should just keep it in the bank but I have pointed out that George Bush PERSONALLY sent me money to go stimulate the economy and the last thing  I want to do is look like a bad american.

Can I Throw Up Now?

We are working under the Domino Effect these days - all wheels are spinning freely. I handed in my sort of resignation - my boss appreciated it to no end by the way since I'm not leaving them high and dry. I hate when people give 2 week notice when they've known for a month that they'll be leaving - you have to tell them anyhow so why not make it easier on everyone? My last day as a full time employee is the 22nd so they can offer the job to the person they already have on per-diem (as long as I occupy that position they can't offer it to anyone else), then I go per-diem so they won't be instantly short staffed. I get to keep my job so I'll have no 'splaining" to do on my resume and I get brownie points on my references for not being a mean girl. Interim has not been perfect, but looking back, I can't complain too much and there are very few jobs that are good all the time. We have someone to buy that house - sort of  - we signed on an agreement with a wipeout clause. The people that want to buy our house have to sell thiers, SO we have an agreement with a closing date in the beginning of Sept contingent that they sell thier house to buy ours. What that means is our house is still on the market but if someone comes along that wants to buy the house the first people have 48 hours to pony up the money on the agreed upon price, if they can't the next buyer gets the house. It's a good thing and a bad thing, we have someone who wants the house but if someone else comes along and offers us more money if the original buyers come up with the amount we signed for, we have to take that. But as they say a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.  Now we have to sit through the appraisal which has me on pins and needles - what if it appraises below what we're selling it for? We are also possibly entering into the same deal with the house we've found, that we will buy that house if the people can sell thier house and then buy our house...... so I exercise a lot. I am maintaining my weight, I now weigh about 148 as that's what the doctor said I should weigh. He said between 146 and 150 is ideal for me and looked a little taken aback that I thought 135 was a good weight. Hmm. but I have to admit, that weight is much easier to keep and I'm not going up and down all the time anymore. Well, at least one thing is settled....