Finding my way...
Holy moly.. haven't made a post in LJ since May 20th. Can't believe how much has happened since the last post. Even for the last 5 months, when I reflect back, I have NO idea how life has changed and gone topsy turvy so much. I've never experienced crazy chaos like this since 1993, and even then, I was a kid so I didn't have to navigate the adult responsibilities.
Loosing Tom, Neph's dad was really hard. Such a sweetheart of a man and so loving and giving to all around him. The memorial service was absolutely beautiful and all of Neph and Sae's hard work was truly appreciated. Not a dry eye in the house and the photographs and music selections were truly wonderful. The family that spoke and the open mic during the reception were helpful to those that may have not known Pop for the length of time that some of us have. Friends from out of town attended. Some I had not seen for over 15 years. A real trip to see everyone all grown up and responsible. heh.
More stress through the months.. but.. it DOES get better!
School was stressful to get everything completed on time for Spring qtr. I managed to pull a decent grade out of my ass and was firm in my convictions to take the entire Summer off. Nope.. I'm a glutton for punishment and enrolled into a communications class, at the last minute. Who would have known that "Hip Hop Theory and Culture" would be such a fascinating class?!?! Wow. Quite enlightening, in fact. And, my professor is incredibly creative at the curriculum. When can you say that you got an "A" for writing about 2-Live-Crew's lyrics? I mean, I don't think I've ever written "fuck the police" in a term paper before. My last paper, on female empowerment in hip hop, was over the top. I wrote something along the lines of "the age old cycle of women are bitches and men are jerks will continue as long as the game can be played" and my teacher even asked the question of the class referring to "T&A". OMG... really glad I decided to stay the course and take Summer classes.
Mom started work at Big B. She was stressed to join the ranks of a very large corporation. The largest she's ever worked for. I warned her about some of the stupidity that she will encounter and the frustrations she'll experience during the first few months of being there. She got a good helping of stupidity on her first day with dumbasses in charge. She gets really irritated at the cumbersome ways the company performs, but understands it is a process to get through all the prerequisite B.S. I'm grateful that her pay is better than her previous job and her benefits are out of this world. I rest easier knowing she'll be working for a company that will take care of her.
More stress came with the house. We were set to close on June 20th. Mr. Rockstar and I were ready, with our bank documents and escrow ready, to close on June 15th. The seller, a bank (GMAC), could not get their damn ducks in a row to close early. Well, little did we know that they wouldn't have their ducks in a row to even close on the 20th. Or the 28th. Or.. .July 13th.. or July 22nd. Turns out, the tax id on the house was mixed up with the neighboring house (also owned by GMAC). I saw this, actually, on May 6th when Mr. Rockstar and I got the preliminary title report. I thought.. hummmm.. this doesn't match the parcel map on King Co. public records map (yes, I'm THAT anal to actually check these documents). I wrote an email to my real estate agent and she contacted the listing agent (who, by the way, is a total imbecile). No response. I made another attempt at getting the tax ID addressed in early June, as well as June 17th with an addendum request to closing. Long story on this mixup.. let's just say that I literally ended up drawing up a powerpoint document with every messed up county document that needed to be fixed, with redlines, arrows, and what the correct data SHOULD BE. Sent the document to my real estate agent who then sent it to the Seller. No response. I mean, I fucking "fisher priced" everything for them.. it's their damn job and the idiots still did not get the hint. So, time for plan B... Mr. Rockstar and I hired an attorney. His very well-worded demand letter was sent and action began to finally take place. Back and forth.. back and forth.. more mistakes on the Seller's part. Finally.. everything was corrected and we signed papers on August 1st and got the keys on August 5th. Patience is truly a virtue. I have none left for the rest of the year, I'm pretty sure. Furthermore, just as I predicted, the house would only have one key... no key for the garage and no garage door remote openers. Damnit. Again, stupid ass Sellers. On the other hand, as luck would have it, my mom and brother purchased new fancy locks for Mr. Rockstar and I, so I guess, no biggie on only having ONE key for the damn house, right now....
Last weekend was filled with various chores - fixing the small annoying items like the two non-working doorbells, polishing the floors, and painting the living room, kitchen, den and bedroom. Wow.. what a difference a coat of paint can make! We purchased new garage door remotes and plan to get miniblinds, immediately. I have to keep reminding myself that the wait of 5 weeks was worth it. We got an amazing deal on a beautiful house in a fantastic neighborhood. The house was built in 2005 so it really doesn't need a whole lot of work, just some of the cosmetic touchups that make it feel like it's your own. Neighbors still have not closed on their house. Sadly, they went with GMAC financing and so much for any sort of expedite in the closing they were promised... they are still waiting as of today. So sad. Thank GOODNESS Mr. Rockstar and I went with BECU. They have been amazing, to say the least. Their customer service and compassion was unsurpassed. We're lifelong customers, that's for sure.
Did manage to get in one small vacation this year. We went to Portland a couple weeks ago for Oregon Brewer's festival. Wow - 85 breweries all in one spot. I do think beer has become my new hobby. I need a "real" vacation, tho. Somewhere to decompress and relax. I think we're going to sneak in a trip to Cannon Beach in early October, if all goes according to plan. Open house is set for September 17th to show everyone what we worked so hard for and why we had so many sleepless nights... finally glad to be able to show people that our patience paid off.
There is a silver lining to almost every cloud. I'm glad that I have the friends and family I do to support me and Mr. Rockstar through probably the toughest challenge (and God willing, the last) we've faced so far in the nearly 5 years we've been together.
Looking forward to the fun a house can bring. A Halloween party, football shindigs and the Winter holidays. I can almost see it now.. Mr. Rockstar getting giddy at the thought of being able to buy a real Christmas tree that is over 3' tall, for once.
Well - I better get back to school homework. Also, have to be to work early again tomorrow. Class at work has been early mornings for the past few days. Grateful my work pays for my tuition and the opportunity to take some really good classes while being on the clock. I am so blessed even if I'm stressed. ;-)
Loosing Tom, Neph's dad was really hard. Such a sweetheart of a man and so loving and giving to all around him. The memorial service was absolutely beautiful and all of Neph and Sae's hard work was truly appreciated. Not a dry eye in the house and the photographs and music selections were truly wonderful. The family that spoke and the open mic during the reception were helpful to those that may have not known Pop for the length of time that some of us have. Friends from out of town attended. Some I had not seen for over 15 years. A real trip to see everyone all grown up and responsible. heh.
More stress through the months.. but.. it DOES get better!
School was stressful to get everything completed on time for Spring qtr. I managed to pull a decent grade out of my ass and was firm in my convictions to take the entire Summer off. Nope.. I'm a glutton for punishment and enrolled into a communications class, at the last minute. Who would have known that "Hip Hop Theory and Culture" would be such a fascinating class?!?! Wow. Quite enlightening, in fact. And, my professor is incredibly creative at the curriculum. When can you say that you got an "A" for writing about 2-Live-Crew's lyrics? I mean, I don't think I've ever written "fuck the police" in a term paper before. My last paper, on female empowerment in hip hop, was over the top. I wrote something along the lines of "the age old cycle of women are bitches and men are jerks will continue as long as the game can be played" and my teacher even asked the question of the class referring to "T&A". OMG... really glad I decided to stay the course and take Summer classes.
Mom started work at Big B. She was stressed to join the ranks of a very large corporation. The largest she's ever worked for. I warned her about some of the stupidity that she will encounter and the frustrations she'll experience during the first few months of being there. She got a good helping of stupidity on her first day with dumbasses in charge. She gets really irritated at the cumbersome ways the company performs, but understands it is a process to get through all the prerequisite B.S. I'm grateful that her pay is better than her previous job and her benefits are out of this world. I rest easier knowing she'll be working for a company that will take care of her.
More stress came with the house. We were set to close on June 20th. Mr. Rockstar and I were ready, with our bank documents and escrow ready, to close on June 15th. The seller, a bank (GMAC), could not get their damn ducks in a row to close early. Well, little did we know that they wouldn't have their ducks in a row to even close on the 20th. Or the 28th. Or.. .July 13th.. or July 22nd. Turns out, the tax id on the house was mixed up with the neighboring house (also owned by GMAC). I saw this, actually, on May 6th when Mr. Rockstar and I got the preliminary title report. I thought.. hummmm.. this doesn't match the parcel map on King Co. public records map (yes, I'm THAT anal to actually check these documents). I wrote an email to my real estate agent and she contacted the listing agent (who, by the way, is a total imbecile). No response. I made another attempt at getting the tax ID addressed in early June, as well as June 17th with an addendum request to closing. Long story on this mixup.. let's just say that I literally ended up drawing up a powerpoint document with every messed up county document that needed to be fixed, with redlines, arrows, and what the correct data SHOULD BE. Sent the document to my real estate agent who then sent it to the Seller. No response. I mean, I fucking "fisher priced" everything for them.. it's their damn job and the idiots still did not get the hint. So, time for plan B... Mr. Rockstar and I hired an attorney. His very well-worded demand letter was sent and action began to finally take place. Back and forth.. back and forth.. more mistakes on the Seller's part. Finally.. everything was corrected and we signed papers on August 1st and got the keys on August 5th. Patience is truly a virtue. I have none left for the rest of the year, I'm pretty sure. Furthermore, just as I predicted, the house would only have one key... no key for the garage and no garage door remote openers. Damnit. Again, stupid ass Sellers. On the other hand, as luck would have it, my mom and brother purchased new fancy locks for Mr. Rockstar and I, so I guess, no biggie on only having ONE key for the damn house, right now....
Last weekend was filled with various chores - fixing the small annoying items like the two non-working doorbells, polishing the floors, and painting the living room, kitchen, den and bedroom. Wow.. what a difference a coat of paint can make! We purchased new garage door remotes and plan to get miniblinds, immediately. I have to keep reminding myself that the wait of 5 weeks was worth it. We got an amazing deal on a beautiful house in a fantastic neighborhood. The house was built in 2005 so it really doesn't need a whole lot of work, just some of the cosmetic touchups that make it feel like it's your own. Neighbors still have not closed on their house. Sadly, they went with GMAC financing and so much for any sort of expedite in the closing they were promised... they are still waiting as of today. So sad. Thank GOODNESS Mr. Rockstar and I went with BECU. They have been amazing, to say the least. Their customer service and compassion was unsurpassed. We're lifelong customers, that's for sure.
Did manage to get in one small vacation this year. We went to Portland a couple weeks ago for Oregon Brewer's festival. Wow - 85 breweries all in one spot. I do think beer has become my new hobby. I need a "real" vacation, tho. Somewhere to decompress and relax. I think we're going to sneak in a trip to Cannon Beach in early October, if all goes according to plan. Open house is set for September 17th to show everyone what we worked so hard for and why we had so many sleepless nights... finally glad to be able to show people that our patience paid off.
There is a silver lining to almost every cloud. I'm glad that I have the friends and family I do to support me and Mr. Rockstar through probably the toughest challenge (and God willing, the last) we've faced so far in the nearly 5 years we've been together.
Looking forward to the fun a house can bring. A Halloween party, football shindigs and the Winter holidays. I can almost see it now.. Mr. Rockstar getting giddy at the thought of being able to buy a real Christmas tree that is over 3' tall, for once.
Well - I better get back to school homework. Also, have to be to work early again tomorrow. Class at work has been early mornings for the past few days. Grateful my work pays for my tuition and the opportunity to take some really good classes while being on the clock. I am so blessed even if I'm stressed. ;-)