I have resigned myself to the idea that we will be living in this house longer than I had hoped, unless the financial/mortgage/housing market makes a complete 180 in the next year.  I just highly doubt we will be able to get a mortgage with the black mark of bankruptcy on our credit until we can MAYBE qualify for an FHA loan.  Plus most of our savings is tied up waiting for nextbaby and our adoption costs, so a decent down payment is a thing of the future for us.

I suppose it is a good thing financially since it costs us less per month to rent this house than we would pay in a mortgage with taxes and insurance, plus we don’t have to pay for big repairs- we just have to deal with the “take-their-time” methods of our landlords.

But it is hard to not own the house we are living in, to feel restricted in what we can and can’t do to improve the property or make it into our home.

I called the people with the house back this morning.  I just asked if there was anything we could do to work out an arrangement as we really liked the house and location.  I told her we didn’t need a fence or to change out the dishwasher.  And they were concerned about the fact that putting up a fence could raise their property taxes, which are already higher because they do not have the “principal residence exemption” since it is a rental house, something I totally understand.  I also said if they were concerned about the bankruptcy, we understood and were willing to pay a slightly larger deposit or get a co-signer.  She then asked about our current rent and if we had ever been behind, which we have not.  I even explained to her that other than the situation with the house over a year ago, we were on time with all our bill payments until we filed.  She then said she needed to talk to her husband and would call me back.

She called back ten minutes later, saying they were willing to take the risk and rent to us.  We get to rent the house, starting April 1st!!!

I am very happy about this.  T and I were so frustrated the last couple of nights as we had no idea what we were going to about our living arrangements.  We can’t wait to get out of this apartment and have a yard again

First of all, last night we found out the “oops” baby of our friends made his grand appearance yesterday morning.  I am very happy for them,  considering the complications at the beginning of her pregnancy but at the same time, I still get those infertility twinges of sadness when I see my friends and family having babies, talking about who they look like, the amazing miracle of pregnancy and birth.  Bleh.

Then I found out the house is out.  We got some weird random reasons as to why they didn’t want to rent to us.  First, she told me it was because they weren’t sure what they were going to do- it needed a new roof because it had leaked in a corner near the basement over the winter, so they weren’t sure they were going to rent it until that was done because they didn’t want to bother the renters with it happening .  Then, when T called her to say we didn’t mind as long as the roof was going to be fixed, she told him well, they didn’t want to rent to us because we had asked, while walking through the house, if we could change out the dishwasher and, maybe, put up a fence in the yard- both things we would pay for and do at no cost or time to them- and they didn’t feel that they wanted us doing those things.  They didn’t seem opposed to those things when we asked, and besides, that was all we were doing- ASKING if we could.  We would have been fine with them saying no right then and there.

Whatever.

I think it is because we were upfront and honest about having filed for bankruptcy.  Even though they wouldn’t have known because they didn’t ask for authorization to run our credit, we felt they should know.  We could have afforded the monthly rent payments without any issues and we were willing to provide them with whatever they needed to show this.  And if this was the case, I don’t know why she didn’t come right out and say that instead of making excuses.

Probably better that we don’t end up having to deal with them as landlords.  But I’m still sad because the house was perfect for what we wanted over the next couple of years until we can buy a house on our own.

Now maybe I can fall asleep!

1.  We are STILL waiting for the official word on whether we are going to be able to rent the house.  I left a message yesterday on her cell phone (it was turned off as it went straight to voicemail) but haven’t gotten a return call.  The ad is no longer in the paper, so I’m thinking that is a good sign.  I just want to know cause we either need to get a move-in date from them or find someplace else.

2.  My sister (the one rubbing off on me) and I were talking on Thursday about how impossible it is to find any of the kinds of products we want to buy for our kids in our area and how we can’t be the only ones looking for natural toys, cloth diapering supplies, babywearing products, BPA-free bottles and organic cotton clothing in our area.  Yeah, there is the internet but I personally have a hard time deciding on what to buy without actually holding the product in my hand.  There are a few stores here and there that carry little bits and pieces but not one that carries all this stuff in one place. 

Then, we had a brainstorm.  Between the two of us, we have 14 years of retail sales and management, business, marketing, basic business accounting and internet skills.  Why shouldn’t WE pursue the idea of opening our own store?  Both of us made the comment we wouldn’t be in it for the money but because we want to provide a well-made, safe, natural children’s product to the public.  Granted, it means a lot of work at developing a business plan, pursuing some sort of financial backing, set-up and running a business for little or no money in income for the two of us for a few years as we got the store off the ground but we could do it.  I think of all the crazy stores in our area that somehow stay in business year after year and I really don’t see how, if we do it right, we couldn’t make it work. 

And I have been thinking a lot about us actually doing it.  Ever since I managed the small specialty toy store, I have had this desire to have my own children’s store.  In fact, if I had stayed there instead of quitting after college, I might have been the one owning that store now because I would have been first on the list when the owner decided to retire a couple years ago.  I know this because I was first on the list when I left and I had a hard time deciding whether to leave or stay because I knew I would likely lose my chance at owning it.  So, this just might be it: the job I’ve been wandering about trying to find for the last 7-8 years and it has me excited about the whole idea!

3.  And on a work-related note, I’m almost done with my job.  Two more days   T and I were going over our money/budget and we realized that we are, in fact, losing money on me working.  Yes, I make enough to cover daycare and contribute a little to our finances but we are also paying for a car for me to drive, car insurance, work clothes, going out to eat once in a while because we both worked and neither of us wanted to make dinner.  So, we decided to surrender one of our cars in our bankruptcy (because we can do it now and not be stuck with the balance after it sells) and be a one car family for a while.  There is no way I can work without a second car because T’s job requires him to be on the road nearly every day, so I can’t take him to work nor can he drop me off at work and pick me up as he never really knows where he is going to be and when each day. 

It actually won’t be too long before we could go back to having two cars because we will have freed up enough money in six months to either pay off T’s car, meaning we could conceivably get another short-term car payment, or buy an inexpensive car for me to run around town in.  It does mean I really want this house with a yard, a park nearby, and our friends living about 2 1/2 blocks away, so being home all day every day won’t drive me totally insane over the summer.

4.  Last but definitely not least, we know how we are going to be able to afford the majority of our next adoption.  Let’s just say that some property worth a substantial sum of money due to its location owned by T’s family has been sold.  Once our bankruptcy is completed and we are six months past everything, we will get our share of it.  They don’t want to mess up our bankruptcy because it won’t be anywhere near enough to make a dent in the debt we had but it will be enough to let us focus on saving for a house and building a real emergency fund instead of trying to save for those and another adoption.  We hemmed and hawed about what to do with it but we decided to use it for the adoption fees because we know we won’t be able to buy a house for at least two years anyway and we already have a small emergency fund built up from our tax refund this year.

T and I are struggling with apartment life.  We knew it would be an adjustment and we both thought we’d get used to it.  Yeah, not so much.  Part of the problem is having an upstairs neighbor-first we had Chimney Lady above us, who would go out on her balconey to smoke literally every 15 minutes this summer (I kept track one day). so her smoke/ash would float nicely in our air conditioner vent or our slider.   Now we have Weird Family with Mom, Dad and Son plus a little dog and a big dog.  Dad is apparently a sound technician with weird hours, got a new subwoofer for Christmas and thinks the prime time to play it is from 10 PM to 2-3 AM since as he told us, “my wife lets me sleep on the couch so I can listen to my music”.  Yes, we did complain to the property management, which apparently sent a letter and our neighbor then comes knocking on our door, in his pajamas while the temperature outside is maybe 5 degrees, apologizing while implying that he has to put up with our screaming kid who slams doors so we should have to put up with his racket.  Widget may be a “spirited” child but screaming and slamming doors are very rare around here.  Needless to say, T & I both looked at each other and said, “I can’t wait for our lease to be done.”  The next night he came down and offered us leftover corned beef and cabbage.  We declined.

And it would help if the parking lot and sidwalks were PLOWED in the winter, before people have to go to work.  They either do it at about 2 in the afternoon or 11 at night.  I so enjoy wading through 6 inches of snow on the sidewalks to get to my car in the morning. 

Plus I missed having a yard a lot more than I thought this summer.  So did Widget.  The only positive: the heated pool and central air since we didn’t have that at our last house.

Anyway, we are having a hard time locating anything to rent that is in a neighborhood we feel comfortable living in.  And then what people want for rent is outrageous!  I mean seriously our house payments before were just about the same except the disastrous refinance payment that didn’t include property taxes.  We’d still have to pay all our utilities, we just wouldn’t have the maintenance (supposedly- my sister and her husband got screwed when they rented a house because the landlord NEVER fixed anything that broke).  And they all want large sums of money for security deposits/last month’s rent and so on.

Of course, I’ve driven by at least 3 houses I like for sale with decent prices in the neighborhood we want to move to but as far as I know we can’t get a mortgage now since we filed for bankruptcy despite actually being in a better financial situation than we’ve ever been in before.

Add to that, I don’t really relish moving twice in the next few years- moving to a rental home, then buying a home but I cannot imagine staying here without it driving all of us crazy.

We had a fairly calm New Years this year.  We went to our friends until about 11, which was the point where their daughter and Widget began to spend more time whining and crying than playing.  We had hoped we could lull them to sleep with a movie but it was to no avail.  We gave up, came home and were in bed a freckle past midnight.

We have tried to have a fairly calm week after all the Christmas festivities over the last few weeks.  I did end up rearranging the living room furniture after we took the tree down, moving a bookcase into our room and shifting the tv into a corner so it is no longer the focal point of the room- not that it has reduced the amount of time the tv has been on!  Something we need to work on

I don’t generally make New Years resolutions because they are usually out the window within a month, although we are definitely going to be working on managing our finances better.  We did start watching the Financial Peace University Bankruptcy course on Dave Ramsey’s site last night and I think we will get some very useful information from the course.  It seems much better than the crappy online credit counseling we got in order to file.

I would also like to get Widget fully potty trained soon!!  She drives me bonkers because she knows when she has to go but we have gotten nowhere with actually training.  If she is bare bottomed, she will run to the potty and go (although she did pee in one of her snack bowls yesterday!).  If I put underwear on her, she just pees in it like it is a diaper.  Pullups just make her lazy, she never tries to use the potty while wearing a pullup.  We have a  little potty, we have a seat that goes on the big potty.  We’ve tried stickers.  We’ve tried bribes. We’ve tried treats.  We’ve tried talking about how she will be able to go to school when she goes in the potty all the time, something she is always asking about.  We praise her every time she goes.  We tell her how her cousins uses the potty, how her friend uses the potty.  Nothing is working. It may be the one thing that drives me insane *lol*

And now Widget would like to play video games.  I regret the day I showed her them on the computer.  She may become as addicted as I am to this darn thing

Since we filed, I decided that I would answer the phone calls coming in from our credit cards due to our missed payments, so I can give them our filing information faster than if I had to wait for them to received the official notice.  Once they know, they are required by law to stop calling.

Two things strike me as funny:

1.  I know they do automated dialing but do they really think that when people answer these calls, they are going to sit and wait on hold for “An important message from X credit card”?

2.  I answered a call from one, which was completely automated:

 Press 1 to verify who I am. 

Enter my last four digits of my Social Security number.

Press 1 to make a payment

Press 2 to make payment arrangements

Press 3 to say that a payment has been sent

Press 0 for an credit advisor

I follow the instructions and press 0 to pass on our information.  The automated voice says please hold.  I hold for less than 10 seconds.  A new voice then responds “We’re sorry.  Our office is now closed.  Please call back during our regular business hours.”

Gotta love it

Today we officially are filing for bankruptcy.  All I have to do is drop off our certified check to the lawyer’s office for his fees and they will electronically file the documents today.

Our credit will take a hit but the end is in sight.

you are very elusive tonight.

Maybe it is how much my heart is aching for my parents, who actually seem to be going through with it this time.  I keep crying.  I missed work last week, literally because I could not stop crying that morning while I was trying to get ready.  I’m trying really hard to understand and respect their decisions with regard to this but inside there is still this little girl who sees her family falling apart and it hurts as if my whole life up until now was just pretend.  That everything my parents raised me to believe about marriage isn’t true, since they are giving up on theirs.

Maybe it is how overwhelmed I feel as we fill out the bankruptcy paperwork, notating each and every creditor, adding up and sorting out how much we really need to live, how much we have been spending to live, what is necessary, unnecessary, whether we should keep both cars or only one, should I keep working or finally quit and stay home like I want to do.

Maybe writing this will help stop my mind from thinking about budgets and dollars or imagining my parents growing older alone or how we are even going to get through Christmas this year without it feeling so very bittersweet.

Of course, it could be because I ran out of Seroquel, my “help-me-fall-asleep” medication and since I don’t have any extra cash and can’t use credit, I can’t afford to refill it right now.  I still get the prescription grant through the end of the year but I have to front the cost and then I eventually get reimbursed.  I was kind of hoping that when I ran out, I would discover I don’t need it after all but since this is the third night and I am still awake at 1 AM, despite being sick and feeling exhausted, I think I do.

Tonight I am going to bore you with an evaluation of our appointment with the bankruptcy attorney last week.

First of all, he was a very nice guy.  He seemed very honest about his desire to help people avoid bankruptcy if he can.  If not, he works with them through the whole process and makes sure that they leave with a good budget plan for the future.

Secondly, we do qualify for chapter 7 based on the new median income test.  I think there is one other “means test” we have to qualify for based on our expenditures and income to file.

Thirdly, based on our general estimates for debt, household expenses and income, he seemed to think we probably would have to file. 

Since we talked to him, we have spent the last week gathering the required documents to bring to our second appointment, doing the required bankruptcy credit counseling online -a big joke that cost me $50 for our required certificates- didn’t even copy the information I entered into our paperwork accurately (I’ve decided we are going to use Dave Ramsey’s Bankruptcy Pre-Discharge Program for that part, hopefully it will be worth it!) and just analyzing our expenditures on household, groceries, dining, clothing and so on.

What we discovered is T’s income, which is steady and very secure (Thank God!), is more than enough to cover our household expenses.  So that means what I make pays for child care and debt reduction.  Now, that brought up the question of whether I should work full-time to “save” us from bankruptcy.  However, after evaluation, we determined what held true last year holds true this year, my earning potential (at least if I were to stay at the same job just full-time, the easiest option) is not enough to offset the additional costs of full-time childcare, work expenses and add enough income to cover what we REALLY need to pay off debt.

Truth be told, I’ve been living in dream world about how much money we need to live without increasing our debt.  These last few months, we have truly watched our dollars at the grocery store, going out to eat, clothing etc. well, other than Spam-a-lot tickets and the reality is we cannot live on the money I had planned out.  We’ve managed to skate along the last few months with various methods- with a 5% interest rate till the balance is paid off check (bad choice), because T did an outside computer job for his old boss and because we had a referral to our apartment complex meaning we got a 50% credit on our rent for the month (both of these don’t have a lot of prospects for future money).

Yet, another almost missed day

For your quality excitement, I have to report that I spent the majority of the day organizing bills and paperwork to take to the bankruptcy attorney appointment we have tomorrow morning.(Yuck!) Needless to say, the real total number is very scary.

Then I went to my favorite oversized store (Meijer) to get my supplies for what I am bringing to Thanksgiving.  And after standing in line forever, I just get up to the cashier and my nose starts gushing blood.  Gross and embarassing all at once!  Fortunately, I was alone and the woman behind me had some extra kleenex and wipes.

And now I must wrap Widget’s birthday presents from us for tomorrow!  Her actual birthday! Three years old, I cannot wrap my head around it.

Made it with a couple minutes to spare!

Well, after much prayer and consideration, T and I are 95% sure we are going to file for bankruptcy.  We still have to actually meet with a lawyer to verify that we can, in fact, file chapter 7 (we fall under the median income for a family of 3  for MI, so we should be able to) but the more we evaluate where we are financially, the more we have realized we are likely putting off the inevitable.  I hate the idea of it but there is also a part of me feeling some relief because we really can start over.

Oddly enough if we eliminate all our unsecured debt minus students loans since you can’t file for those, we would be just fine on T’s salary alone, we could even save money!  And that means I could quit working, something I have really wanted to do since Widget came home 3 years ago but never felt like I could with all the debt hanging over our heads.  I don’t know if I will.

Plus, I had a thought about a possible self-directed/work from home kind of thing, but I have to do some research.  It may end up being a volunteer thing initially but turn into a paid type position if it works out well enough….

Yeah, I know a second post in a day when I have 29 more days to go but I just ran across this story “Cuomo: Subprime Mortgages Deliberately Inflated” at CNN Money.com.

This so happened to us.  You just need to look at the paperwork from the appraisal, from the listing of solds and listed at the time of the appraisal for our neighborhood.

Now, if only Michigan’s Attorney General Mike Cox would get his nose into Arbor Mortgage and just see how they are really “helping homeowners lower their monthly payments”.

Boo hiss, my keyboard is having some issues as in random letters and symbols appearing or suddenly typing in all capitals and ye olde iMac’s cd/dvd drive is having some real issues.  Darn thing needs to last for just a few more months.  We have discussed using a portion of our income tax return to replace my computer.  In the last 3 years we have gotten a fairly healthy check back with T’s mileage, child tax credits, and our adoption credit.  The last 2 years, we’ve used it to pay property taxes.  This year, our goal is to finish off what we need to for our “$1000 emergency fund”, replace my computer and pay the rest to our debt.

Anyway, I’ve been reading Jean Chatzky’s The Ten Commandments of Financial Happiness:Feel Richer with What You’ve Got in the hopes of gaining some additional perspective and motivation with our finances.  Something I found interesting was, based on a research survey, people who pay their bills as they come in have a greater sense of happiness and feeling of financial control.  I am totally a person who puts them away until they are due or even after they are due, then I sit down once or twice a month and pay them all, feeling completely overwhelmed at the amount of money going out the door.  I’m always so paranoid about not having enough money, so I wait.  But I end up spending some of the money I was supposed to save for bills on some “essential” and then I don’t have enough to pay them all.

I’ve always liked watching Jean Chatzky do the money segments on the Today Show and I do think she has a lot good financial advice.  She just seems very down to earth and realistic.  I skimmed her Pay it Down: From Debt to Wealth on $10 a day while we were on vacation, though right now finding even $10 a day seems nearly impossible.   In fact, I’m trying to figure out how to find $10-15 every couple of weeks to pay a babysitter so we can participate in our small group from church, something I’m feeling a bit disgruntled about because we have really enjoyed the times we got together this summer bringing Widget to play with their kids (she’s the oldest of the 6 kids) but now most of them apparently feel like they wouldn’t be able to do a bible study if their kids are there.  We want to be a part of this group, sigh, but none of our family will commit to watching Widget on a regular basis, except the day my MIL watches her while I work (and even then I wonder if she really wants to do it or if she feels obligated now that she has been doing it for the last 2 1/2 years).  I don’t know any kids of babysitting age to ask, bleh.  It kind of gives me a headache to think about it.

Dear former Mortgage Company,

Thank you for your kind letter regarding the serious personal matter we have with you. As much as I would like to be able to send you a check for the full amount due as per your request, apparently you do not realize that we do not have this money. We are not keeping a secret stash from you. I promise. In fact, if you know where this money might be hiding, would you kindly let me know as it would come in handy during our current financial situation.

If you really would like this money, I shall direct you to contact the mortgage broker and his f***ing appraiser who scammed us in order to sell us a mortgage, which you then bought. In a way, I feel you brought this situation upon yourself by not properly reviewing the documents and recognizing the predatory lending practices that were prevalent in the origination of this mortgage.

Thank you for your time,
Your former mortgagees

******************************

Yes, today we received a letter asking us to please remit the full amount due on the difference between what we were able to sell our home for and what we owed. AS IF.

Do they NOT get it? If we had the money available, we would not have needed a short sale. Duh.

I swear companies are out to screw the consumer over. Add this to the $90 charge I got on our first phone bill with the new phone company (slogan: Your world. Delivered.) Their explanation: we had to send a technician to make sure a dial tone was available through the telephone box. I asked why I was not notified prior to installation. Response: We didn’t know if we would have to send a tech. Had I known this, I would not have made the change. I left a message for the woman’s manager, explaining that I would not be paying this charge as I was never even notified that this was a possibility. And the gas company crap. And yet another HOSPITAL bill from my *retreat* nearly a year ago.

I think I’m going to take another retreat and pretend that there are no bills or debt in my life. Maybe I’ll live in my mother’s world since she informed me she decided “Money was not going have a hold over her life.” Uh, yeah, Mom. Brilliant.

My session with #5 this week was better than I thought it might be. Lots of him making me evaluate and look at what things I’m stressing over that I might be able to take steps to get answers to. Plus we talked about my great ability to stew about stuff. I said I excel at stewing, which made him chuckle

My anxiety has been awful lately over the whole money situation. Every time I think we might be able to get on track, we end up in another tight money crisis. On paper, it looks like it should work but it never seems to. We are still agonizing over whether to file bankruptcy or wait because I am picking up an extra day starting in September and I got a whopping 40 cent per hour raise, which will help but we don’t know if it will truly help enough. Whether my “sanity” can take another day in the world of Thermoblah, I don’t know. And of course, we are continuing to get some phone calls from the “friendly” people at our old mortgage company, and since they won’t talk to me and they call my cell phone to talk to T, I guess they are s*0*l. I figure if I get a chance to talk to them, I’m just going to say they might as well give up now because if they do push us for it, we are going to file for bankruptcy protection which we should qualify for with no problem, so either way, they aren’t getting jack from us.

T is leaving me again this weekend for more canoing. This time he is going for one of our friends’ 30th birthday. While I’m glad he is getting some time to do guy stuff, I’m kind of dreading having the weekend to myself with Widget because she has been a bit of a pill lately and having his help on the weekend is sometimes very essential to my stability. I was thinking about tackling potty-training since we would have the weekend with no plans but I haven’t committed myself to it yet. I still don’t know if she is really ready or not (I think I was agonizing over this a year ago, with no progress. Ha!) and it seems like such a huge project.

This is another rant about the poor state of our finances. If you do not want to read about how badly we have managed our money, you might as well skip this post….

***************************************

I hate that banks can process checks in the middle of the night when I can’t physically enter the bank and deposit money.

Case in point, apparently our rent check went through faster than usual and before they had processed T’s paycheck, (which comes by MAIL- an incredible anomaly considering the fact they are an IT business). Since we had no where near enough money in there, they bounced it and charged me $30 according to my web banking records. Now I’m praying that the bank will just reprocess the check on Monday since the deposit is there and not send it back to our landlord’s bank. If they do that, I have another $75.00 in fees to pay to our landlord.

I do not have an extra $75.00. In fact, I don’t even have the extra $30 the bank charged me. I just sat down to do our bills/budget for the rest of the month and we are still short because of all these stupid extra things. We have no room for extra bills, like the bill that showed up for the deductible from the hospital for an urgent care visit we made earlier this spring after Widget got her 3 middle fingers pinched in a very, very heavy wooden door in a restaurant and that was only the radiology bill (where the radiologist asked if she had gotten her thumb pinched too because she “saw” something there, her thumb was fine).

This is on top of having to pay my entire bill due to our old gas company, when they failed to tell me that I had to pay the first payment within 4 days of setting up a payment plan for the giant final bill, otherwise they drop the plan and refer you to collections. I paid that first payment within a week. And then started getting calls from the collections people the next week asking when I was going to pay the rest of the bill. They called everyday, acting like they were someone I knew/wanted to talk to when they called, DESPITE the fact their number showed up as unavailable,

“Hello?”

“Is Erin there?”

” Speaking”

“Hi, Erin. How are you? Are you having a good day?”

“Not since you called.”

” This is so & so from old gas company collections people. I was wondering when you would be paying the rest of your bill. Tomorrow? Can I put down that you are paying the bill in full tomorrow?”

“No. Do you have a payment plan?”

“No, we do not. Bill must be paid in full. And we will call every day until it is paid.”

“Oh for pete’s sake, I’ll put a check in the mail Friday and THANK YOU for using my cell phone minutes up with your pestering.” (This was after they had called me every day for two weeks.)
They called me on Friday to verify that I was, in fact, putting the check in the mail that day.

I really hate to say it but I’m truly beginning to think that if we don’t file for bankruptcy, we may never get out of this mess. It is like a sinkhole and all the scrabbling we do to get up the sides ends up just burying us further. I know that if we can get out of this hole, we would be fine financially, but at the moment, it feels like it is pouring financial crises on us. I’m feeling very discouraged by the whole thing and very guilty for the mess we are in.

Plus it worries me about our future ability to adopt, if we have the black mark of bankruptcy on our credit.

The bank took our short sale request and approved it basically because the appraisal they did came back $25,000 less than the appraisal that was done last year, which makes me even more suspicious that the other one was jacked up- while values have gone down, they have not gone down that much.

And they gave us NO indication that we are liable for the difference. In fact, the woman at the bank said we should just proceed to close as we would with a “normal” sale except they take the lower amount as pay-off. I would assume that if we owed money, she would have said something.

Yes, this will be in writing. A letter was mailed to our realtor, which she said he should hopefully have today.

I am so relieved, even if I am not looking forward to returning to apartment life but once we get settled, I’m sure I will be fine. You should have seen me prattle on about my relief during my session with #5 today (then we got onto my mother/parents, not so much relief there but a very good discussion about what is MY responsibility in all of that crap and what is not!)

Thank God!

We got an offer on our house.

It is a bit of a low ball as in $11,900 less than listed and $17,000 less than we paid for it 3 years ago (A LOT less than we owe thanks to the bad, bad mortgage refi we did- I have a lot of words about that- none of them nice, some directed at me for letting us get taken in by a shoddy group). I don’t think values have dropped that much but maybe I’m wrong.

We decided, though, it is in the mortgage company’s hands- well, once we get the paperwork in tomorrow. Who knows what they’ll do.