Home Again.

I get asked on a fairly regular basis about flipping houses - David has done it for more than a decade now and although we are not setting the world on fire, we do ok. But it's not as easy as it looks and the reason David makes a profit is because he's able to do most of the work himself. I help - I've been trash detail, I'm not bad at reconfiguring to get the most out of the space - I'm often astonished at how poorly a small house can be laid out and how you can increase the usable space just by moving a few walls. I check every clearance pile I see, you'd be amazed at the things we get at a fraction of the price simply because no one looks - or because it's not perfect. I got a $350 tub for $40 because it had a small - and very fixable crack in the corner. We have to make every dime count so David scours the classifieds for building materials,  we reuse whenever we can, scratches can be buffed, dents can be hidden. And the house itself - finding a foreclosure is easy, finding one that you can fix, will make a profit and the denizens of the neighborhood will not be walking off with the construction materials, not so much. Buying a house never goes smoothly, there's delays, glitches in the title, crazy relatives that are super pissed off about the way the will was read. We bought one house that sat for 3 years, surrounded by relatives who would not take over the payments. Instead they waited for it to go into foreclosure, refused to pay what was left on the mortgage and then got mad when we bought it! They harassed David until he called one of them - she kept hollering about a Dirty Deal, David just told her they'd had every opportunity to buy it and he had nothing to do with any of that, if he hadn't bought someone certainly would have. That shut it down thank goodness. And finding one to buy requires scrolling through house after house on the internet, going out to look,then meeting with RE if it's viable, crawling through moldy, dirty and sometimes rather shaky houses. Some of them flat out stink, the East Stroudburg house was referred to as The Cat Pee House, the one in Bridgeport had such thick nicotine we had to wear masks to spray down the walls with straight Greased Lightening. We've made few mistakes along the way, financial and otherwise, but all in all, it's not a bad way to go. And it is fun buying yet another house, standing in the wreckage imagining what it will look like when it's rehabbed. The neighbors will often give you the history and David finds them often relieved he's there fixing it up, the old eyesore being turned slowly back into a home again.

Home Alone

Before David left we were talking about vacations , we both agreed one of our favorite things to do - is stay home. Which is what I'm doing tomorrow, just me and my dogs. We have never been big travelers, I'd like to go to Ireland or Iceland, but the actual chore of doing it - nah. I think part of it is we worked so hard to have this place. I trudge off to work 5 - or more - days a week, I leave at 7 am and usually hope to be home before 7pm. We cut the grass, shop, do laundry,etc on the weekend. When I get home after work I take the dogs out, some more house work, flop into bed, roll out of bed, off to work, rinse,repeat.We have a beautiful home that David spent months on -  bedroom with a soaring ceiling and recovered antique doors, tile floors,full exercise room in the basement, gazabo out back, all sorts of fun stuff. And when do you get to enjoy it? Sometimes you even hope to be sick don't you - not puking sick of course, but sick enough to stay home, but not so much you can't enjoy it. I've been running like a loon for the past two weeks so I am taking tomorrow off. I am planning on doing a little shopping and Need To Do Stuff, but also reading, knitting and watching movies I've seen 3 zillion times that David swears he'll vomit if he sees it one more time. I've also been taking personal time since there is no one to take care of the dogs. When we had Pearl we had a dog walker - they had a mutual love of each other and it was great not to have to worry about racing home. Reuben could do a dog walker of course, he is the Dude Of Dogs, but Molly - not so much. It would be sort of like the stand off in Waco, so no strangers but it kind of leaves me in the lurch. But knowing that I saved my time and it is nice to get home at a decent hour, even if it is only for a week. I do have things I need to do tomorrow but it's nice not to have to run through it. I've already mowed the paths back in the woods - yes, they are matured enough that I can actually mow half of it. I finished clearing a large area in the center and that will be it I think. I don't want it to get to the point I work on it more than I play in it - that would defeat the whole purpose. I take my ereader out with the dogs, they race around the paths and bother stuff while I sit and catch up on my reading. It's nice because I can relax after work and take the dogs out at the same time. David is having a good time back on Long Island, visiting family and what's left of our friends. Just about everyone we know has left the area, not much left. We discuss possibly moving in the future to be nearer to family, but it just sort of dissapates after a couple of minutes. I still have a problem leaving here - just thinking about it makes my chest tight, so we are staying put, for now.  

The Unwieldy Traveler

SO, David is home for the week visiting his family. He had wanted to for awhile, his parents are now in their 90's and he didn't want to keep saying "next year" - and then have it be too late. We've been having some upheaval at work so after looking at my schedule I told him to book a flight for this Saturday and I would see all of my clients at warp speed for the next two weeks, scheduling one for Saturday around 10am. That way I could drop him off, grab some coffee and see the client. The week he was gone would be more lowkey and I could use personal time to get home to take care of the dogs. Note to self - NEVER let David book his own flight. He took what I said as written in stone and did indeed book a flight from Sat to Saturday. The departing flight left at 5:50 - AM people, AM. I asked him (hysterically) if he realized that the flight was departing from Pittsburgh, an hour ride from our house - he did but didn't think it would be that bad. I asked if he realized he needed to be there 2 hours PRIOR to the flight leaving - oh, oops, yeah, no he didn't.  This meant of course we needed to be out of the house at 2:30 in the morning, I would get him there by 4 AM IN THE MORNING and then be free to dork around Pittsburgh until 10 am when I saw my client. Hmm. The dogs were another issue, there would be no one to let them out until noon, I tried to explain it to them but Molly kept thinking there were biscuits involved and Reuben just feel asleep. David called our kennel but they were full - but then he called back and said they could share a kennel since it was only for one night - thank goodness! David was able to drop them off Friday early afternoon and it was one less thing to worry about. We tried to go to bed early but the sun refused to set so I fell asleep at the usual time despite my best efforts.  So we bounced out of bed at 1:45, staggered to the shower, I tried to make my hair look like it had NOT be styled by a chimpanzee with a meth habit and went scootering off to the airport. David is not a good traveler so he worried and fretted til I kicked him to the curb at the airport. Then I was free to....hmm. Starbucks was not open. Panera Bread was not open. Apparently it is only NYC that is the city that never sleeps, Pittsburgh apparently does not know that rule. So I got coffee at Sheetz and read for an hour or so, then Panera opened. It was not too bad, I got my grocery shopping done and dorked around the waterfront for a little while but I was glad to get done and heading home - boy I was tired!!. I picked up the inmates around 11:30 paying cash and paying extra - I was extremely grateful to the people that own the kennel and accomadated us. I have no idea what I would have done without Kritter Cutz and Kennel. I got everyone fed, out and settled, did a few things around the house......and the electric went out. I was way too tired for that, seriously. I called and  it came back on an hour later, thank goodness. We had an uneventful night and a pretty good day. Hopefully the rest of the week will stay that way til I pick up David on Saturday next week - at 11 o'clock - AT NIGHT. 

The Unkindest Cut Of All

We only had our Scout for a short time, not even a year from when we found him abandoned in our garage. Maybe the person that dumped him thought he would find a home with us - he did, after David cut him out of the wall he'd sought refuge in. He was terrifed of course, crying himself hoarse and hiding when we came near. No animal deserves that treatment, the party that dumped him did him no favors.  After a few days we finally got him to accept us - and brought him in. We fed him, had him neutered, he was our boy and despite his short time on this earth, he had it pretty good. Had we not found him so quickly things could have gone south for him, but we did and things didn't. How he ended up on the road is a mystery to us - we never saw him in the front. Every night when I called him in he came from the fields next door, after a hard day of terrorizing the mice. He was a sweet silly cat and I miss him greatly. I know everyone likes to say Never Again, it's not fun having your heart shattered every once in awhile. But , I'm not sorry - I gave a stray kitten a fighting chance, he did not ever starve, suffer an injury, no one threw things at him, he spent not one night cold or hungry. I would have liked for him to live his full life, to grow old and skinny like my Vincent who is currently working towards the sunset of his long and uneventful life.  But it was not in the cards. Our neighbor called and let us know he had been killed, after seeing the poster David put up and for that I'm grateful. The only thing worse then having a pet die suddenly is not knowing - imaging them lost and crying, I called him for days, every morning and evening hoping to hear his hilariously loud call back to me.  I'm sad that he's gone, but grateful he went quickly, without suffering. And no, I'm not going to look for a cat - I know one will find me. 

So, who bought this?? - When This Girl Accepted A Strangers Friend Request On Facebook She Didn’t Expect What He Would Do. Her Poor Daughter..

This recently appeared on Facebook - I found it  misleading and offensive, It was beyond belief that someone would go to the trouble of posting it - and then thousands of people would share it "to save a life". Why was I so upset by it? First of all - it's lifted from an episode of Criminal Minds and it never happened. But like most urban legends there are parents out there that are either crying over this poor fictitious girl or are frantically re-posting it in an effort to catch the criminal trolling for kindergartners to sell over seas. I find it amazing anyone would even buy this - the premise of this story is a  parent has befriended a cute guy on Facebook who after seeing a picture of her kid E bays the kid, snatches her from school, throws a bag over her head and zips her off to South Africa. Hmm. Been to a school lately? I have - I do visits to schools in my job. I have to have photo ID, sign in with time, make or car, color of the car, and then go through a metal detector. And this kidnapper not only manages to make off with the kid but flies her all the way to South Africa with no ID and a bag on her head. Absolutely amazing!

If you want to protect your kids never mind Dr. Evil, look around you. Did you know that according to FBI statistics the children snatched by a stranger account for 1/100th of a PERCENT? And they note that most likely is not accurate as a family or individual covering up a murder of a child will report that child as missing to cover their tracks.The term "stranger" also covers people you're in contact with or people that see the child physically. Someone brought up Etan Patz but the man most likely responsible for his abduction actually worked in a store in his neighborhood - a stranger that was acquainted with the victim. The person most likely to victimize a child unfortunately, is a family member, a family friend or someone in an authoritative position such as a priest, teacher, scout leader. Look at the Duggars - it was not a stranger that molested those girls - including one as young as 5 years old - it was their own sibling. And it was not some outside agency that helped their brother continue with his crime - it was their own parents, not some "stranger danger". And more sickeningly they continue to downplay it - that it was a "little touch on the outside of clothes" which does not jive with the police report that stated "forcible fondling of the breast and vaginal area".

I guess it bothers me because it's just one more reason for Helicopter Parenting to continue - because of things like this being repeatedly shared til people think it's true. We've ended up a nation afraid to let our kids out of sight. EVER. My kids played in the neighborhood, they rode their bikes without me staring them down, walked to friend's house. If it was on our road they could go by themselves, any further and it was either both kids or with a friend. Do that now and I'd be looking to be arrested. But I knew where they were and really, now with cell phones, they're just a call away. We've managed to turn an entire generation into people that cannot be self sufficient, eternal teenagers. I"m glad my kids were up and gone before the internet took that away from them. And yes my kids were "free range" and still are!! 

To Be Or Clot To Be, That Is The Question.

 SO, I got the results of the Leiden Factor 5 blood test back a couple of weeks ago. I waited for a few days and then finally called - the person cheerfully was "hmm, Julia L-e-s-t-e-r, oh there you are! It's positive so I guess we'd better make you an appointment with the hematologist. Hello? Are you there? Hello?" I was a bit astonished as the only thing I thought would be positive would be, well me being negative. So they sent my results to hematology and I had an appointment on Wednesday. First of all it's in the Cancer Center which was a bit daunting, I felt very out of place to say the least. They had sent me the forms at home so that was all done. I had brought what I consider my "car sock" - I leave it in the backseat so if I have spare time I just knit on that. They called me and did my weight, my vitals, etc - it was very weird as there is nothing wrong with me, I was asked if I was ever tired or had fallen lately. I actually lied on falling question but technically my falling is usually related to a Common Sense Deficit such as standing on a tippy chair in the woods trying to reach something. Or chasing the dog through the mud and going ass over tea kettle into a ditch. So in order to cut to the chase I said no. The doctor was very nice and told me I only had one copy of the Factor 5 gene which is a good thing. However, having had clots in the past and my family history that is a not so good thing so I have to have MORE blood tests. I am only on baby aspirin twice a day so that was a super fun thing. I bought the little orange chewable ones which was not a good idea as I ate 6 of them the first day. They are very good. They also remind me of my friend in 4rth grade Kathy Turner from Arkansas - she was the baby aspirin addict. Her mother tried to keep them out of her reach but if you slept over Kathy's house she would push the chairs up to the counter. She would stand on her tiptoes reaching way to the back of the very top shelf and there would be the orange baby aspirins that she would split with her guest. I'm surprised we didn't bleed out some weekends. ANYHOW, I have to get more tests done, then another appointment in 6 weeks and hopefully it will remain a couple of little aspirins a day. That I can handle.

what A Week!!

wow,what a week! It started out ok, the house was going to be sold Monday,Tuesday I had my first doctor's  appointment for a baseline. Monday came - not a peep from the RE, nothing nada. We had a lovely blow out fight of course, David dragged the Afghan and his share of the dogs and slept in the guest room. The next morning things had calmed, my  MD appointment  went well, we decided to go to Morgantown to shop and relax, then phone range when we got there - closing at two. Quick food shopped, David dropped me and the food off and then went to the closing. He returned triumphant, money in the bank. Easter was Sunday so we planned a quiet dinner to celebrate the sale and the holiday. Wednesday I got a text from my sister's wife that Janet might have had a TIA, but she was stable. Thursday morning the shit hit the fan

I had left my phone in the car at work so went down to get my phone and found a text from Diane that Janet had a stroke. After a 20 minute meltdown I spoke to my boss, finished my work, quick got my oil changed for the trip ahead and the next morning drove straight from my house to Riddle hospital. Janet was up and talking much to my relief - Diane hoped she would be released that night but they weren't done with her yet.Our family has a genetic clotting disorder but she had tested negative so they needed to look further. In the meantime Diane had managed to cut her finger badly enough for stitches. Yikes! But things got better, Janet got sprung in the morning and in the afternoon I got to go to the pickle store AND a yarn store. I stayed for Easter dinner, it was nice having dinner with family. I took off around 3, loaded with an Easter dinner for David, he ate late, but he got dinner too.On Monday I got labs drawn because our family has a genetic clotting disorder. I called the doctors office this morning and surprise, I have it. So I will be visiting the hematologic next week, but better to find out this way then to throw a clot.