Whining about old houses and men in suits

The loan officer was just thrilled to help refinance my mortgage, and pushed for me to borrow more than I planned to borrow.  My credit, at least with the bank, is excellent, 10+ years and never late with a single payment...

So then comes the man in a suit to turn up his nose at my old house, and he comes while I am on vacation with the house a torn up mess, Jake nose deep on his laptop (doing schoolwork) and Ben and I are playing with my truck.  Ya, it was not running and no truck means no building supplies....

So, he thinks the place is ugly and a mess, worth the loan but I should be made to use the funds as he  thinks is the best use.  Do remember that this man does not live here and he is not going to be making the payments on that loan.

I am not putting cheap vinyl siding on this place, it needs the old asphalt siding removed, the old clapboard siding repaired and then house wrap, insulation and siding. Stucco is top on my wish list for that siding but I could consider other options.  Throwing a quick and cheap siding job and then making payments on it for far longer that it will last is not on my list.

The suit thinks my kitchen floor needs to be leveled, which means tearing out the ceramic tile Mick and I put down, putting plywood sub floor down and shimming/tweaking it to get a flat, level floor and then what? I have some cheap vinyl flooring installed that will not hold up long but I will be paying for it too for years to come.  And I should put in cheap cabinets and counters, never mind how long they will last, and he just put over$17,000 into doing his kitchen.

But my loan officer does not agree with the suit, and so I will probably get to refinance and put in the kitchen I want to pay for, and do the other things my way.

It is annoying, he is right that nothing here is done, and that the current siding looks terrible but last I checked, I do not live outside the house, and I have all new windows, except for those current big holes with plastic over them.

The metal roof, all those Pella windows, the drywall and work in the attic, the stairs, wiring, central air and drywall was not done with any loans, and I have not paid a lot for the labor, a lot of my sweat and some of my blood, and plenty of what I earn working in a pork processing plant has made the mortgage payments and put all the improvements into this house and will continue to do so.

And the suit can do as he pleases with his home and his money, and leave this grumpy old woman alone with her renovation project.

Old house progress

I spent my vacation week trying to make some progress on this old house, getting the last old windows out, the damaged kitchen door out and repairs done so all are ready for replacements.  I opened up the wall between the kitchen and living room with shelving from the back of the bench height to about a foot below the ceiling.  They still need trimmed out and another cost of paint but I like what they have done for both spaces.

I put peg board in between the studs on the wall between the kitchen and laundry area, the first has the keys and charger cords, all handy and off the pot rack.  The other 2 spaces will be used to hang the coffee cup collection.  I doubt if they will all fit but I will get some of them out of a box and enjoy seeing them here.

It is becoming my home, my house, done to suit my wants and needs, the open shelves between the kitchen eating area and the living room.  The new kitchen windows and in time, the new cabinets and counters.

And I will find time to clean the grasses out of the flower beds again, it needs done several times a year and I am behind on that again.

I am tired of sharing the house with my much loved son but know he and I will manage a little longer.  It is livable most of the time but I look forward to my home to myself and going back to sleeping in my downstairs bedroom, and having my living room back

Going home

Right now, somewhere between MN and CA, Sam, James, Angelo, Bugs and Joanah are taking Cynthia on her final trip home.  I lost track of time, don't remember when she passed away, know Jake is more calmed down, know Ben has let go of a tiny bit of anger and resentment but my life had some major re-evaluation with the massive stroke and complications, and eventual long drawn out death of my sons step mother.

I shifted my priorities, thought over friendships, relationships, work and my time. Made a few changes, shifted a few things, sorted out some of my values and priorities and now, as they head to a funeral and look at picking up their lives, adjusting to all the changes it makes when you loose someone who is the core figure/force in several lives.  

I sit and deal with laundry and think about the huge air draft and damage our house dog has done to the front door, look at the plans for my landing from the kitchen door to the new patio, too big to be called steps, too small to be a deck, as I look out at our wet day ending, I think about how my life has changed in the past 16+ years since my ex husband married a mail order bride.

I would not recommend it, after seeing what that marriage has done to his finances and to his relationship with his older 2 sons, but it is his life, and I do not and did not have to live with much of what went on, clearly I managed to move out of reach.

An old house, 11+ years in the same meat packing plant, the same small river town, even the same phone number for almost 12 years.  A bit boring probably but this life works for me and I like it.  I like this old house, despite the work it needed before the dog added front door frame damage.

And I like where I work and most of the management, most of the people I work around and know they do not impact my life very much, I don't have to let them be part of more than my work days.

I tried but couldn't get Cynthia to accept that I existed and that I was a very involved part of the lives of those boys, she thought she was getting motherless orphans and instead got Maggie's boys.  Who came with their bonding to their mom, not something she expected and not something she could find a way to accept.

I am working on not having my head so set in stone that I cannot adjust or am not willing to flex a bit on some issues and with some things.  But, I do have to be true to myself and I do have to like myself, and that does mean being who I want to be, doing what matters with my time and my life.

It is not a rich and wonderful life, and it would not suit many but it fits me and I manage the rough spots and manage to tweak what needs tweaked, and I treasure and value every minute of each and every day that I have.

Life and getting through it

I m trying to pay debts done, work on this old house, keep the bills paid on time and cruising EBay is not a good way to keep things going in a stable manor.
I have plenty of dolls and looking at dolls that I would not be happy with once they were here and I could sure add to the credit debt that is way higher than I like now.  I just want stuff, or want to buy myself stuff or am feeling a bit down and do stupid things when I am down and being moody.
Life here is good and it works for me, even on the days I make or almost make poor choices with credit. But for now, I shut down the web page and found something else to do instead of drooling over dolls I don't need and most likely would regret putting on a credit card after it was done.
Life here is quiet and the phone is not ringing, I think Larry is stepping back, I do like him but I don't have the ability to make the space/place for him in my life that he deserves in a relationship.   I need to walk my own road, do the stuff that makes my life work and meets my needs in so many ways.
The water heater has a new lower element so will keep working for a few more years, I have a job that pays the bills and gives me some extra now and then.  I have the scooter and Rebel to ride, the flax at Clayville is drying and I will probably be removing the seeds this coming weekend. Ya, life here is good and I will try and not mess up the budget with dolls or other stuff

Pain and awake in the night

Boy, this has not happened for a long time, enough pain/discomfort that i am not sleeping good and am awake in the night to get something for pain and tea.
But i am ok with it, know the aspirin will kick in and i can sleep late.  I had a good Friday with production off work due to , disease killing baby pigs.  Cargill cannot buy pigs for our plant if the pigs did not live to grow up, so we will see some short weeks, which i have paid vacation days to use for.
The boys are in MO with their dad, visitation is today/Saturday, but i am not expected/required/need to attend so will stay on my side of the river.   Sam and her sons will take her body home for burial and mine will not be going.  Then Sam and her sons will figure out their life and what to do.
Pal Kim and I ended up going to Springfield to play, we found her needed case for her free Kindle Fire HD, at Tuesday Morning, I found a grill cover for my new grill at Menard's for under  $16, and sandals and a huge dog bone for the dog at Scheels and then to our favorite all you can eat stop.
The mowing did not get done but it will and i probably will run to Clayville and check the flax and do some weeding.  and I will bind off the socks I have been making for pal Julie.
Normal little life here, help gone for the weekend so no landing started, spent money on myself that did not need to be spent, and had a good day, ya, that works for me, single and in charge of my own life.

A death and life changes

My ex husband married a woman from the Phillipines and let me know, often, back before he married his 'mail order bride' and after they were married how much better a wife she would be than I was.  She would be harder working, she would be more thrifty about money, she would be far more content with his life style and she would help him build the ranch better.

They have had over 16 years of marriage now, and she has passed away today, at 50, complications from a massive stroke she suffered this past winter.

They have a son who is 14 now, and he worried about leaving her a widow with a child not yet grown.  Now, it is him, at 68, left to finish raising that boy.  

The ranch, sold, debts paid off, a big move to the Phillipines where life was not good, her family often stole from them and it took a loan from our youngest son for him to return to the States, with their son. She had already returned so she could work and build up her social security benefits.  Or so the story I was told goes.  They were not in the Phillipines 2 years before returning to the USA, broke, and it only took her a few months to start building up credit debt again, in about 2 years she has built that debt up to $20,000 or more.  This does not include the 1/2 million or so in medical bills.

She drove my sons away, or at least she did 1, and the other hung on, despite her abuse.  They call her the witch and think she has ruined their father's life.  They thought he would go first and then they would tell her just how badly they hated her and so forth.  Now, they have gone to try and help support their dad and be there for him, because they love him.

I thought his getting married again would free me of the guilt trips he often dumped on me, and I would get my life back.  I wanted his marriage to work, to be good for both of them, for her to love him and be better for him than I was.  I failed to measure up to those marks he put for me, but I wanted her to surpass them, I thought she was so brave to come so far, to such a different world to make a new life.

She hated me, before she even married him, she hated me, and she was jealous of me, silly stuff, that jealousy, it made no sense to me.

I prayed for her happiness, and for her healing after the stroke, and for more than the past month, for her recovery or easy passing, not a long and slow, drawn out dying that she has gone through.

In time, I hope my sons find forgiveness for her, and that Ben finds forgiveness for his dad, he is holding grudges still.

I pray that their dad and younger brother, her older son and his family, all get through this very hard time, that they find the closure they all need and the road ahead they need to walk.

And every day, I thank God for my life here in central IL, for all the healing I have had since the car accident almost 4.5 years ago.  I am thankful for my job, and the people I work with, for the old house I live in, the friends I have, the balance my life usually has.

I think they deserved better than what their lives became but I know it was not an accident or natural disaster or someone else, but their own choices, their credit debt alone makes my credit and mortgage look like a hill of beans, easy to get over or sort out.

Choices, we make them and we live with the results. I know, since her stroke I have been working on better life choices, better financial choices, better direction for my long term happiness and know slow and steady will get this old house in better shape, the debt load shrinks a bit at a time and I am doing things with my non work time that really matter to me, that make me feel good about myself and about the future.

Off to bed, my day starts early, and my life goes on, mostly quiet, probably boring for many people but it works for me, I like who I am and I do know I didn't fail that marriage, we had problems, partly because of a huge ranch relocation and he would not work on the problems he was having with depression and adjusting to a new location, and he would not work on our problems, it wa my problems and his way or the highway.

I deserved better than that, and was a better wife than he admitted, and more careful about money, harder working, I lived for his dreams and for his life, I made it be my dreams and my life.  Now, I live my life, and treasure it every hour of every day.

Busy weekends

I had different plans for my 3 day weekend than reality has given me.  Hopes of more drywall on the attic ceilings turned into a long drive to Columbia MO and back home Friday and today it was some weeding in the flax patch, a lesson on making brooms, register the Rebel, mow the lawn, off to Jacksonville with Jake and Ben, collect the girlfriend, watch How to train your dragon 2, home to take Ben out to pizza and up to Rushville where he is currently living, home to wash 2 loads of laundry, the first is in the dryer.

I hope my Sunday is quiet and I get some sewing on my Clayville clothing done.  I need my 2nd shift ready for the hand work and I need my cap and bonnet ready for the hand woke and made to fit my small head.  I need my waist pockets done and ready to wear/use.

With most of the other work done, with the laundry already well started, I hope Sunday is an easy and lazy day for me.

The cap still needs cut out, the shift sleeves need cut shorter by at least 2 inches, but it should not be hard to have most, if not all the machine work done.

And the trip to Columbia was the right thing to do. I took Jake down to spend some time with his dad. Sam is down at University Hospital, where the much hated stepmother is in cardiac ICU, and in very bad shape.  I don't know if I ever hated her, but I sure hated the damage she did to my sons and to the relationship they had with their dad.  I sure do not hate her for what she has done to Sam or his ranch or his financial situation.  I think he had a huge part in bringing that about or in allowing it to happen.

I am not bitter or jealous but I am practical and honest.  Sometimes those scales in life do balance out, and sometimes a person does get what they have earned, the bad and ugly along with the good.

And I thank God often for the good life I have, and for helping me through my ups and downs in life, for all the blessings and for helping me not hang on to hate, anger and bitterness.

It is way past my normal bedtime and I am falling asleep.