It’s All About the Prep

-Well, got a call last week about a position I applied for within The Electronics Company. It would be a move up, not a significant move, but a move up just the same. I’m hoping that if I get it, it will take care of the boredom, frustration and the cluster of “drunken retards” I’ve been supporting for the past year. I would be back at the level I was prior to leaving the bank. If I get it, be prepped, I’m taking ya’ll out!!! Ching!

-I got a call from my mortgage guy in regard to starting work on re-fi ing the house next month. My prepayment penalty ($3,000) expires in July then I can (hopefully) re-fi the house and lock the fucker down…Keep your fingers crossed on this too, this is the one that counts the most….I’m sooo not looking forward to this.


-I took my VO2 exam and my VO2 Max score is 35.47 which is good..
VO2 directly measures oxygen uptake while running. It was recommended that I perhaps train for a year prior to running a marathon. I guess I need to work on getting my VO2 score higher/my heart rate higher. I started on Tuesday. My heart rate needs to be around 146-150 bpm. It’s usually 135-146. I had my heart rate at 148 for 45 mins and my body was so sore I couldn’t sleep. I ended up sleeping on the sofa, with my legs pitched against the wall like a big L. I did it again the next day and it was less painful. I have also noticed that if I do a bit of yoga before I go to bed, my legs don’t hurt as much. However, what also came with that was the massive dehydration. I became so dehydrated I had a headache and had the urge to drink a lake. I don’t think I peed all day for 2 days…! Grr…

Things to do over the Weekend..?

Friday
Meet folks for supper 5p-7p

Saturday
Run 9am-10am
Airport 2p-8p
(?) BA show at Harriet 8p-?

Sunday
Run 9am-10am
Airport 1p-9:15p

In the String of Time…

My boss gave me a copy of the book “Excuse me, Your Life is Waiting”. The action made me want to cry. (I’m sure the reaction is menstrual)
The action is part and parcel to a string of decisions I’ve been making over the past several months. My life and how I really feel that I’m sort of “wasting” it since I’ve recovered. I mean I told myself during the process that I wasn’t going to be doing this anymore and at the time I meant it…Why hasn’t anything changed though?

1- First thing is first, I need to re-fi the house. Yep, gotta put the reins on that fucker and get it into a fixed. If I let it get out of hand again I’m screwed. I have about a year before the agreement I have with my lender expires, so I have to get my shit together. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the rates keep falling and perhaps I can maintain the same rate or lower.

The last time I spoke to my mortgage guy it was 6% and that was 3 months ago.

2- My debt. As Kelly told me the other day..”Everyone has debt..” I’m about $10,000 in it and don’t like. It’s the largest amount of debt I’ve ever been in. It’s all school, medical crap, car shit and the fact that when I was struggling to make payments on the house I pushed bills etc to the backburner… Anyways, I’d like to get some of it combined into my re-fi, maybe 3-4 thousand of it so I can pay off the rest and be done…

3- School… I have a year left on a double major and have been having a hell of a time trying to finish it up. I want a B.A. before I turn 40 and my Masters by the time I’m 45…I hope I can do it.
Some of the drama I’ve been experiencing at the airport got me to thinking more about this and how I want this to be the last time I have/need to work two jobs. I don’t want to be 50 years old and have to work two jobs just to pay my mortgage. I see myself on that path and would really like to take that hard right to avoidance and a better way of life.

4- Car… I have my eye on hopefully getting a newer car next year. I would really like a Honda Small Hybrid Sports Concept vehicle. It’s supposedly supposed to cost less than $20,000 and is said to be extremely efficient considering these next several years we are all needing to be less dependant upon gas. It’s also very “sexy” looking!!! Hee!

What the Hell??!!!

I came home from the airport last night and found a note from the post office indicating I had a certified letter from my mortgage company to pick up. Then I walk down to get the mail. I see another letter from the mortgage company, open it, read it and freak when I see this.

NOTICE OF DEFAULT AND INTENT TO ACCELERATE

Blah, blah, blah, yadda,yadda, yadda, As of 3/18/08, the total amount necessary to bring your loan current is $1,969.92. Yadda, yadda, blah. Blah.
If you have not cured the default in 45 days of this notice, (insert shitty mortgage company name here) all outstanding amount will be considered due and payable and the aforementioned property will be referred for foreclosure..

What the fuck?!!! I OVER paid for the month of February and haven’t paid for March as of yet.. I just had this re-negotiated and sent in March 14th!!!!
I called them and it seems the “arm isn’t talking to the hand” so to speak. I am still waiting for my “case worker” to call me about umm, ANY of the questions I’ve left messages on… I have no clue what amount I SHOULD be paying for March!
At this point I should fucking sue!

Relief at Last

Well, I received the best birthday present a girl could get; I received a renegotiation letter from my mortgage lender about the house, proposing my mortgage payment be modified to what it was when I originally bought the house for a time period of 19mos. How? Back in October I filed paperwork to have my payment renegotiated, sending them letters of hardship, check stubs, debt/income ratio stats etc. I haven’t bugged them at all, until recently about the status. They told my mortgage guy and I about a certified letter they sent and was delivered that day with the results. I was floored, did an hour long “happy dance” and lay on my stairwell with my feet on the wall-grateful that I could/can keep my house for a while longer.

The following day I took the proposal to my mortgage guy for him to look at. I had issue with some of the verbiage and want to have it fixed before I sign anything. Once we had a few things cleared up, we forged ahead with our plan. See the loan was set up with a pre-payment penalty-which means that if I re-fi before the duration of my loan is up I get penalized 3% , which for me is $3,000. In July this will expire and save me $3,000 which I won’t have to roll into the re-fi.
Granted the housing market could really tank but I have read in the paper lately that FHA is coming out with a few things plus the Feds are working on a few things as well. This doesn’t leave my second lender off the hook and I have a plan for them as well, so stay tuned!!!!

I think this has been the first time in 6-7 months I’ve actually slept!! Thank God!!!


P.S.-Thanks to all who wrote about me for my birthday! I gots to say this has been the bestest birthday ever!!!!!!

I’ve Been Calm About It….

My car died on me again last Friday on 494 and Robert St….I spent $50. to have it towed to my mechanics house and then brainstormed ideas of what to do about it with Das, P and my dad. Good news is that the timing chain broke and that was basically about it. No damage to the block, pistons nothing…So the timing chain will be replaced, a few minor things fixed on the inside and all done by March 6th or 7th. Begged (at least my idea of begging) my folks for the use of one of their cars until the green machine is fixed and then me working, selling and consolidating to be able to pay for it all.

Prepping for the “worst case scenario” on the house. I have an appt with my mortgage guy and hoping to hear from one of the lenders on payment negotiation and try to get a hold of the other one on the status of the renegotiation I submitted 6 months ago. Either way I want all my debt gone before any of this hits which would be in April/May. In case of “worst case scenario” I have hired someone to manage my finances. I’m gone so damn much I never have time to pay my bills which then everything for months gets behind…

Submitted my taxes and am hoping to get those back by next week and will throw that on a large chunk of my debt.

Have a couple of interviews with people I’m considering to room with me for a couple of months…
Hoping to get back into the clinic at the end of the month for the second part of my leg surgery and finally completing the last in April so I can have my legs back by summer. Wanna really get into training for some light 5k’s or half marathons this year….not sure if I can pull it off until everything’s put to bed.

I know I said I was pretty much over my latest “Crush” but I lied! In seeing him this last weekend etc made me change my mind-again. Finding out that the girl that said was his g-friend- wasn’t, and a few other things that were unfairly told to me….seems to open up the world a bit. Now with the new info given to me recently I have become more intrigued and find that we have more in common than I thought previously…whatever that means….so we’ll see what happens, I AM patient and so mellow people are lulled into a false sense of security-so it’s been said.
Also found out that a guy that works for TSA at the airport has taken a liking to me as well. He looks like a bald Russ Crowe. AND he’s an athlete AND works out 5-6 days a week!!! I likey!!!

I Vomited on my Shoes...

OK, gotta tell ya that dealing with my mortgage or even talking about it for that matter makes me physically ill. I’ve been writing about how for the last 6-7 months my mortgage adjusted and it’s been making my finances really tight….How I can’t refi because the market etc is so bad…My last attempt at a re-fi tanked because within a 4 month period my house depreciated by $25,000, well I found out just the other day that the value of my house depreciated again, now to be worth less than what I paid for it. It certainly doesn’t help that 7 properties in my community are in default.

I made an appt to go into my mortgage guy’s office at 10a to contact both lender’s and see if they can shave off $7,000 between the two of them, that way I can re-fi into a 30 year fixed and finally have payments be a bit more manageable…

We call the first one-twice and got an answering machine… We called the second and got a chick named Stacey. What a cow! She laughed and then asked “What’s the incentive for us?” My mortgage guy laid it out and she basically told us that if I default or not matters not to them for they will get their money no matter what. If she were me she’d sell the house and pay them their share of the money…. At this point I was pissed. I instantly shot back, “Hey, this isn’t funny, nor is this fun for me. I’d rather be doing something else other than dealing with this. I think a little empathy is in order here and if you’re this apathetic you must be very good at your job…” I told my mortgage guy to mute the phone and freaked out about how what a jerk she was being about it. I understood that they need to play hardball but to tell me that they’d go after me for “everything I’ve got” Is just plain out mean and unnecessary. She could have cared less if I was dying on top of the house as long as I keep paying… By the time the conversation was over both hands were covering my mouth and tears of anger were streaming down my face. This is why I had to have someone speak on my behalf. I know enough about myself to know I would either cry or get pissed. My mortgage guy came up with another alternative, to re-fi at the 30 yr fixed and then set me up with a small loan for $7,000. I immediately cried and said no. I felt it was taking a step backward and I still need to pay my folks a large chunk of debt they are taking on for me. With a couple of days to think about it. I think to be able to finally put this to bed, I’m going to do it. Just to be able to lock down the rate.

We are in process of negotiating with each lender to see if they'll take off money of each loan and I can re-fi with taking on any more debt. He seems to thing I have a shot in hell so I’m hoping we do and can move forward with this…I was so damn upset this whole thing on Wednesday I literally barfed over the side of the parking ramp before calling my ex to have him “talk me down” to sanity enough to drive myself home.
I’m certainly not happy that I will have to work the airport job until summer, not happy that I have to now find a roommate until summer and that I will in debt again and have to wait on buying a car until summer. All contingent on whether or not these lenders will play ball. I’m not sure if I feel all that comfortable with anyone or anything controlling my life this much, but I love my house so I guess I better get used to it.

Tid-bits

Life

Things are getting better and the light is now visible at the end of the tunnel. Thanks to all of my friends for “being there” and the many offers of assistance-it means more to me than I can express. Thanks to Hensch for the offer upon offer and patience you’ve shown me-I owe you a good leg sister! Thanks to Steve my jack of all trades! Eternal gratefulness to my parents who are and have been helping me to make ends meet and have been my sounding board through all of this! Finally to P-you are the greatness and goodness of what all human beings should strive to become.
I can’t give any details but it seems things are falling into place now and that my finances will hopefully ease up in the next month or so. I will try to re-fi the house again next month, the car will be done and fixed by week’s end and I have my new legs that I’m “slowly” breaking in.

Post Surgery Workouts

I’ve been finding now that I’m working out again that I am better, stronger and faster. I managed to stay at a pounding heart rate of 180 for 45 mins at a 3% incline…all while listening to Van Halen, Whitesnake, Cheap Trick, 38 Special and the Outfield…not to bad I don’t think… I’m still trying to get back to “lifting” the weight I had before but am 20 under it for the time being.
I’m planning to contact Dr Kass in the next few days about a follow up, the insurance to proceed with phases 2 and 3, and the numbness I’m experiencing below the insertion site (my shin) on my left leg. Other than, I’m kicking it in on the working out and my legs have lost 1” on each. I’m thinking it’s the swelling I had going on for such a long time finally subsiding….

Work

Just something inside me lately has just wanted to shut down for a bit and just take a break-reset so to speak. To not have to worry about the time, money, my job(s) and just sit at home for a couple of days and read those 4 books on my nightstand, go see some great music and meet people…perhaps I just need a vacation.
I’m still not thrilled with working at the Electronics Company. They have more bullshit meetings that I have to partake in…it’s crap all the way around. I haven’t figured out though if it’s the company itself or the Dept. I’ve always hated HR etc but other than the Diversity Dept; I have no clue how anything in the other two depts. benefit our stores. I’m thinking of transferring into the Music or Marketing dept after December. I like the people in the depts., I hate the depts. It just feels as if I have no purpose and that I’m just sitting here spinning my wheels…

I find that again, I’m getting myself into trouble at the airport. We are in the middle of a merger and the new company is a bunch of assholes. We’re having to re-apply for our jobs, retake our drug tests, background checks etc, reestablish pay rate, are being put on a new pay schedule and have to take 2 classes on basic HR crap. Unfortunately for me this means I need to take 2 half days off to take these classes. They are unwilling to budge to assist me in working out a schedule. I was told to “do it or be terminated”. I also made the mistake of miscounting and adding an additional $100. to my deposit. I was able to correct the issue throughout the day by “over selling” to make up for the $100. and came out $33.85 over. I was told that if I do this after the merger, I’d be fired. (sigh), just like I was to be fired if I didn't wear a belt..


Dating

Shannon and I went out to see one of our favorite bands and have drinks last week. She and I are dealing with something similar and I decided to take her out since she was feeling a bit down. Many shots of Jameson, tears and several beers later I decided to give up on “Mr. Online” and relinquish any attachment I have to any guy that is married.
So that means:
“Mr. semi famous Online”- haven’t heard from him in 3 weeks, hurt my feelings and lied about being married…over it!
Mgr at Electronics Company (Mr Berkley Professor)- MAJOR wuss! Too much sunshine for me and he’s married…over it.
Guy I met 3 weeks ago at Hairball show (Mr. “Are you Slow?”)- He’s very smart, very cool and has already saved my ass with the car. Unfortunately I hate his lifestyle. He parties too much, isn’t structured, ambitious, creative, and doesn’t take care of himself being that he’s in his forties. He seems too easy to manipulate and I certainly don’t want someone like that. So we decided to remain friends. He’s a friend that I can go to a sports bar, drink beers and watch a football game with..can’t beat that!

However, in the course of the past year I have slowly developed a slight “crush” on one of the members of a local band the girls and I see. He seems funny, a bit introverted but is “the consummate entertainer”, smart, ambitious, creative, he’s my age and not MARRIED! He’s not in great shape, extremely hot or anything, just a simple guy that probably drinks straight out of the milk carton just like any other single guy.
I’m trying to play this one logically and practically, since I didn’t with “Mr. Online” and it got me nowhere. There’s a lot of competition that’s also vying for his attention so I’m thinking my odds are zip…but never hurts to try…guaranteed I’m smarter than 90% of them anyway..
When Shannon and I were out he approached us. He focused his energy on speaking to Shannon and glanced at me twice. ?? This leads me to believe that he is either disinterested, or intimidated. Neither one I can figure out… If disinterested, why talk to us at all? If intimidated; why ?? I’m not scary; I’m just a nice girl that won’t put up with your shit …

I Hate This Life-Can I Have Yours Part D-oh!

I’m recovering more and more each day from my leg surgery and due to go in tomorrow to have the other one worked on. However I’d noticed in the last couple of days that my car was not “kicking in” when I shifted it into gear and I was having issues keeping it at 60 mph going home. I was hoping to keep it going until Friday, since I have Friday evening off. It became increasingly worse last night coming home from the airport to the point where my dad convinced me not to wait and just bring it in.
To make a long story short, I was on my way to meet P at the body shop and the car just stopped moving. The engine was running the car just wouldn’t move. So I called the body shop to tell them that I was bringing it in, called the towing company and then called P to come get me. As we waited in the car for the towing company, I broke out in tears. See, if you’ve been keeping up you already know that I’m $7,000 in debt and my mortgage jumped up and I am hanging on by a thread to make sure I don’t default AND I just had minor leg surgery 2 days ago. Now this. I’m pretty sure he’s going to tell me that my car is now toast. If it were February and I had my tax check in hand, I’d be golden, but that’s 3 months away and I have no car and am a hair from losing my house. In my hysteria I screamed that I wish I had died when I had cancer 2 years ago. It would be a hell of a lot better than this crap. MISTAKE! P went nuts and started screaming at me about how dumb I was for saying that, that I am his family, he cares about me and so do other people, that by wishing that I was being quite stoopid and selfish. He held my hand and promised that he, I and with perhaps some help, will work it out. I actually believed it for a second. I just can’t figure out how.

Now, if you keep up with me or have looked in my archives, I’m usually in some kind of debt. That’s part of my life I guess. It’s not debt from shopping sprees or lack of money mgmt but usually car issues or overpaying on my debt that makes me go into debt. I took on a majority of P’s debt at one point and it never ended after that. Then it was my car that was my debt for awhile, then school, then adjusting my finances from a $600/mo apartment payment to a $1075./mo house payment to $6,000 in medical bills, heating costs from last winter and car issues. I’d love to take the bus but the bus stop is 5 miles away on the other side of town and I have the job at the airport….. The last bus that comes into my town is at 7p, my job at the airport ends at 9p.


Anyway, I’m caught in a situation where I need to decide between my house or a car, I can’t afford to do both. So there it is…black and white.


A job as a stripper is looking pretty good right now I gotta tell ya.


Self pity aside, my friend Stacey is currently facing breast cancer….show her some love and sign her guest book.. Love ya and hang in there Stace!

I Hate This Life-Can I Have Yours?

Updates upon updates!!!

The House

I was on my lenders website yesterday when lo and behold there was a notice indicating that “if you are having difficulties paying your monthly payment due to you’re loan with us adjusting, please call us at xxx-xxx-xxxx to re-negotiate your payment.” Now, you KNOW I was on that phone talking to them. They determined that I do qualify and all I needed to do was send them 2 pay stubs and a letter indicating why I needed help (even though I thought that the call and my credit would be a good indicator). In the next couple of weeks I will be in talks with U.S. Bank about a consolidation loan so I can keep my debt in one chunk and not have to constantly rotate payments around since my mortgage has gone up. That ought to help things a bit. My frig had also gone out around the same time Laura’s did but I couldn’t afford to fix it at the time. I got onto Home Star plus through my energy company and now can have them come fix it, along with the dishwasher that, for whatever reason won’t drain! So I’ve been eating out of a box for a month and it’s taken its toll on my pocketbook as well. Enough to have to beg a few friends and family for money.

Singlehood- The on going trauma to find Mr. "Close to perfect"...

Well for what I thought was a break up with Mr. Online, has taken a weird turn. He called me at work (which has never happened) and the lame thing is every time he calls me it’s only for 10 mins and I do all the talking….WTF?!! So now I hardly ever get an e-mail and once a week or so a 10 min lame ass call that sounds like he’s calling me between appointments…Please don’t bother, seriously!!!

Rachael, Beth and I were at a Hairball show and this random guy comes up and starts talking to us. Just as he starts talking to me the band starts up so all I see is his mouth moving. I lean over and I hear "What are you?-slow?" This instantly prompted me to flip him the bird and tell him to fuck off. He spent the good part of 15-20 mins apologizing profusely in an attempt to correct the situation. I finally relented and within 10 mins he says “Wow, you’re very cool and a very smart girl, more so than the other girls in this bar.” I also informed him that I hadn’t been drinking and that when you do you lose I.Q. points per drink. Hence, I’m the smartest person in the room! He asked for my number, called me on my business trip and asked me out over voicemail-not preferred by the way!!! We were to have met again at the Hairball Costume party but he wasn’t feeling well and cancelled.-Whatever!

Update 11/5- Just wanted to put it out there that RSB is very -ehm, nice AND he likes Vampyres!- if he only knew!! HA!

Jilly, my boss at the airport decided to take me out for a drink at Bennigan’s for helping her through another successful inventory session at our store. Some random guy who happens to also work at the electronics’ company, starts talking to me and then proceeds to make comment about “how big” my legs were. Then has the nerve to ask to get up so he can “check me out”..??? Once he was put into check by Jilly and I he goes back to his table of friends. He comes back over 30 mins later, fully loaded and proceeds to ask if he and I are going to get married, because I’m so cool and all. He asks me for my phone number-“umm, no”, my position at the electronics’ company- “no”, and if he can call me at work-“did I mention I work for the Director of HR?, no!” Apparently after I left he asked Jilly if she liked sex and would having some wit him, she rolled her eyes and left.

Update 11/5- This retard walks past the gym everyday to see if I’m working out.

Oct 22-23 I went on my first business trip with my department to Memphis for Diversity or “sensitivity” training. We stayed at the Westin-awesome tub, shower and a bed so soft I felt like I was sleeping on a cloud-but I digress. We visited the murder site of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Museum. Part of this training is that we get into groups and talk, really immerse ourselves into the topic. I’m not real comfortable with that type of discussion and had completely over dramatized it in my head and that we were going to end up beating drums in the middle of some forest getting in touch with out hidden emotions. It wasn’t as intense and the experience I found extremely profound. I cried a bit but mostly I fell for my Diversity manager. Yep. No shit and he’s married. I found that in his concern to keep me “protected” emotionally during this that I took/ am taking it as more than it is/was. He reminds me of one of those older, hippy, liberal, Berkeley professors, with the long curly hair, cardigan sweater (ala Mr. Rogers) full beard and mustache and a bit overweight. It doesn’t matter because in our 2 days I found that not only is he kind, but fucking brilliant. He gave me insight to shit I haven’t thought about and a new perspective on how to see most people instead of automatically thinking they are dumb. He asked me provocative questions and I found that he’s also a talented musician-go figure?!

Now that we are back in the office, it just seems awkward. Granted he has no clue that I feel this way and I’m slowly trying to get past it. I find myself seeking him out just to say hi-which is so stooped and beyond me! The man could care less since he has told me time and time again that he is married and seems to truly care for his wife.

Working out

Well have lost a lot of the bulk I put on after my "not so brilliant" 300 program. I’m just back to basics at this point. I’ve been lifting for an hour M-Th or M-F at the electronic company’s gym, on the weekends I run 1-3 miles for about an hour and am back to eating the basic stuff-veggies, chicken, fish and a bit of fruit. I haven’t lost any weight yet, but my legs and hips are toning up which is what I want. I’m due to meet with my trainer again next week for a run down and to change up my work outs again, since my body seems to adapt fairly quickly to whatever he comes up with. I figure in 3 months of this type of dedication I should be Olympic shape…

I have decided after about 2 weeks of marathon training to discontinue.

Reason 1- Matt confessed to falling for me which is why he volunteered to train me…..

I think I’ll stick to just having him walk me out of the airport, if that.

Reason 2- Life, as usual is getting in the way of my plans and

Reason 3- not enough time to train for the Rock n’ Roll marathon.

Amongst Other Things

In all the stressy mess of trying to re-fi my house I came up hitting a brick wall. So, I managed to talk my way into getting my old job back at the airport and am going to really pull on my financial apron strings to make it up to February. Once I file my income taxes that should take care of any debt I have and the money should be a bit looser. Perhaps then I can re-fi.
I’ve had to drop out of Capella U and St. Kate’s for the next several months to work this out which means I’ll be turning 40 by the time I receive both my degrees…I’m not happy about this but it’s at least doable.

In lieu of this, my workouts are sparse to say the least. So I’ve joined the gym at the electronics co, so I can lift for an hour during the work day and when I get home Matt (my cop friend) will be waiting to run with me. Matt has made a deal with me: to train me to run longer distances if I would be willing to run the Rock n’ Roll half marathon with him in Phoenix. Done! I love a challenge! Besides I can then pay a visit to Pete and Sherry and Calvin and Laura. All of whom I haven’t seen in forever!

I will also be looking at transferring out of my dept in HR at the electronics company to a more suitable dept. This will of course be contingent upon my brother’s need for assistance in building his business. I’m hoping to be out of HR by Christmas. Most seem to think the idea is a bad one considering the stress level I dealt with at the bank and my on going health issues. I can assure you that I will try to maintain my stress levels or go to stress management as my doctor suggested.

Which brings me to my health… Those closest to me know that my right leg and torso have been personal hang ups for me for some time. Well I finally went into a vein and laser clinic in downtown and they have claimed it medically necessary to have my legs worked on and corrected. All I will need to pay is the deductible and the insurance company will pay for the rest. We had a consultation and ultrasound to which the doctor is suggesting I have the surgery as soon as possible. The surgery will be outpatient and non evasive so I feel pretty good about it for the most part. Once this has been completed then we will discuss what can be done about the “bruising” on my torso and hopefully get that taken care of. I’m hoping by summer all issues will be fixed and I will have my old body back for the most part.

Enough Already!!!!

OK, still dealing with re-financing the house, alas with no luck. I’m unable to get the same rate or a lower one, which means my payment, is going to go up regardless of what or how I rearrange my finances…Grrr! I’m going to have to get a part time job-again. At least for a year, this stinks because of school, and new job.

I have passed my school audit and had my evaluation and have completed my registration.
My graduation is set for December 2008 or at the latest March 2009. That is without “testing out” of some of the Marketing classes either. Depending on how many classes I can test out of will change the graduation date-obviously. I was hoping less time, but whatever, it can be done.

The job at the electronics company is ok. I’m learning and tooling along trying to learn as quickly as I can. I have to say that I’m not really into it. I’m not sure where the lackadaisical attitude is coming from. I walk in everyday with the “Eh, whatever.” Attitude. I find that I’m suffering mostly from being scared and the culture shock of all-still. I’m not feeling overwhelmed just not informed enough and that I’m having to rely on my memory mostly. Things here move very fast and if you’re not on the train, you’re left behind. Everyone wants me to hold their hand on everything. They want me to update their meetings with who is attending and who isn’t, which for 50 people is a lot since this company likes to have meetings. I can’t say I feel comfortable moving things around on calendars…I’ve already screwed up a meeting re-occurrence, the list goes on.

Stressy Mess

Well, what a stressy, stressy, mess June was, but it seems I’m coming out of it.

Job

In lieu of all the issues with the bank etc, I had decided to apply- not only for other jobs within the bank but outside of it as well.

I accepted a job from a large electronics corporation that’s based here in Minnesota. It’s also much closer to the house and offers a ton of “stuff”. Discounts, decent 401K, good benefits, free parking, on-site workout facility, etc. It’s a campus so the benefits of that are great compared to the bank. Shit, the bank only has running water in the bathrooms and we have to either pay half to take the bus/train or pay a fortune to park. Not working for the bank will save me more money in the long run I think.

However, I’ve worked for the bank and the Marketing dept for 4 ½ years so I am sad that I’ll be leaving and will miss the friends I’ve made there. I have been unhappy since last December now that the new Conference/Trade show Mgr took all the creative aspects of my job away. It’s left me doing spreadsheets, calendar management, and travel without any of the creative stuff I’d been doing for the past 3 ½ years. Part of my meeting with the VP several months back was explaining to her all of this and she basically told me “tough shit”, deal with it. So the vendor issue was just an extension of K being unhappy and not caring too much. Anyway, I’ll be making about $3,000 more than what I was making at the bank, which should help with the housing situation and all of that.

School

I had the choice of St. Kate’s or Capella and decided that Capella would probably be faster. They are currently in the process of auditing my degree program and just by casually looking, they are projecting 6 months. Hopefully! Then I can be done for the time being.

I was also informed that my schooling for most of last year I will need to pay back the bank for….I think it’s my punishment for leaving the bank early for if I were leaving in January 2008, I wouldn’t owe anything.

House

I recently found out that I was screwed on my home mortgage loan. How it was explained to me was that it was a 3 year adjustable ARM that would adjust after 3 years, but if I decided to re-fi before the three year term I’d have to pay a penalty of $2,000. Which seemed reasonable at the time. Well, that information was skewed a bit. The loan is truly an adjustable 3 year and I still would pay $2,000 for re-fi’ing before three years; however, it adjusts in 2 years instead of 3 years. Not only does it adjust but it will adjust to increase my payment by $357./mo. I thought I had a year left so I bought a sofa in February, charged some school and have been slowly paying off my Visa. The plan was to pay off everything when I received my taxes in February. Basically, my credit score is crappy. When I found out all of this I freaked out, called my dad on my way back home and in the drama of it all proclaimed that the only way I could pay all or most of it off was to “become a stripper”. After much discussion and frenzy, my folks and I have come up with a plan to be able to obtain a better mortgage rate and keep my house all without having to resort to “undesirable part time jobs”.

So there you have it, what’s been going for the past several weeks…

Home Ownership

Ahhh, the trials and tribulations of home ownership. You get pulled into a false sense of security and just when things are humming along…BOOM! Shit happens, and inconveniently at that. Your guard is let down and the funds that are usually spent on leisurely things are now spent on said broken item(s). It seems everything goes to hell all at once, and it's pretty much guaranteed that the fixes are expensive and you’re not going to have the money to fix them.

When I say that all my money goes into my house I mean it. I have about $100 at the beginning of every month to spend on ….gas, food, cat issues, house issues, going out….

The latest issues seem to be piling up just as I was getting used to not working a second job… (sigh)

1. Mortgage-I received a call from “some guy” from “some mortgage company” a couple of months back wondering if I was planning on selling my house or to rewrite my mortgage. He “noticed” that I have an adjustable rate ARM on the larger of the two loans on the house. WHAT?! I’ve been fairly calm until recently I pulled out my mortgage info and yep, sure enough I have an adjustable rate ARM that is due to adjust in August. So I have yet to sit down with my dad and discuss (calmly) what I’m going to do. I’ll most likely have it rewritten but I’m looking for another job just in case. I don’t want to lose my house due to foreclosure and because I was to stupid to completely understand home loans.
2. The Garbage Disposal- I was making dinner a few weeks back and it just stopped working. My folks indicated that it wasn’t that expensive, but I have to wait until mid-June to buy a new one. Thank god my folks-the great parents they are, bought me one and are installing it on Sunday. Now perhaps my sink won’t stink anymore…ish!
3. Carpet- I was hoping I could shampoo the carpet in the house since the carpet is white and in dire need of a good cleaning. I’m hoping that cleaning the carpet will also help in keeping Gabriel from breaking out. Yes, my cat gets acne too!
4. Ceiling Fans-The money I’m wasting not having a ceiling fan/light in the bedrooms is killing me. My last electric bill was $200. I did get an estimate and to put one in my bedroom will cost around $200-$300 including the fan/light. To install one in the downstairs bedroom/office will cost me a fortune because there is not a way to get above the room to install the electrical and I would prefer not to have the wires etc attached and blended into the wall and ceiling. Since the electrician will have to cut a panel into the ceiling of the closet and may possibly run into issues; it will cost approx $300-400 including the fan/light. Ugh!
5. Doorbell-So my dad and I figured out that the mechanism that is inside the house is broken, not the button on the outside of the house. This is great since most home owner’s associations only fix things that are on the outside of the house. Grrrr.
6. School- Ok, this isn’t directly house related but I attribute the fact that I don’t have a degree to be the reason I have issues making ends meet. I’ve made arrangements to transfer to The College of St. Catherine’s in the fall and for financial aid. I’ve done audits and with the credits I’ve earned at Normandale and U of MN-Mankato, approx 132 credits will transfer out of 135.6. To give you an idea of how many credits are needed to receive a B.A or B.S.; it’s approx 108. So I may just attempt to get a B.A. and B.S. since I’m very close to receiving both. However first thing’s first; I need to transfer, have the college do a degree audit, and have a schedule made for the next year so I can get an idea of how far the horizon is-so to speak. For now though, I’m stuck paying for 20% of the courses I take between then.
7. Gabriel- In the tireless quest to figure out what the hell the poor guy is allergic to continues. First it was red ears, then swollen lips, and since we moved he’s been pulling out his fur. He’s been tested, poked, nipped, and scanned. The only things they come up with are that 1. He’s allergic to his food and 2. That he’s got some anxiety/depression issues due to acclimating him too quickly to the house and with another cat. I previously had him on some hypo-food but it didn’t really do the trick or he didn’t like it. Now, that I’ve taken him to a specialty cat clinic, the really “hypo” hypo-food (aka bland as all hell) is going to cost me an arm and leg for I can’t keep Katie from eating it too. If it is anxiety issues, the vet wants to put him on Prozac. I know, I know, but she claims it will chill him out. I think I’m going to end up with a stoned cat that walks around bumping into stuff.