Tis the Season
Happy New Year!
2007 ended up to be a major downer for me and a lot of my on line friends it seems. Though there were downs, there were ups also. I think it’s the yin and yang of it all, the pendulum swings so to speak it just swung a bit more lopsided towards the end.
2007 started out positively for me financially, we took our house off the market and decided to add on. Nothing in the county was moving the market was very soft and I didn’t want to end up giving my house away. Houses like mine and even nicer were going for 30,000 to 45,000 which is 20 to 15,000 less than I bought the house for originally. Surprisingly we were able to get a small mortgage and a good fixed rate. So we paid off my credit cards with the money and the rest went into adding a new kitchen and master suite on to the back of the house. We figured we would stick it out for another few years. Kitchens and baths are always assets in homes and we upgraded from a one bathroom, small eat in kitchen to a two bathroom, walk in closet and a large eat in kitchen and dinning room (old kitchen became dinning room).
We got our mortgage in May and they were able to break ground in July, but mother nature had other plans. We disconnected the AC to move it and dug the pit for the new foundation, when mother nature decided we were out of our drought and the skies opened up. 3 weeks of rain with temps in the 90’s at 95-100% humidity. We had to beg the contractor to get the AC guy back out to hook the AC. The pit filled with water and the walls started to cave in. We keep pumping out the pit but with all the rain it just keep filling up again. The local wild life decided to move in and we had black, tree, green frogs and last count was 5 baby snapping turtles. We finally got the pit drained and the turtles and frogs out by the middle of August and the foundation finally could be put in. RJ was funny he was fine with the baby turtles until he found out they were snappers. Then he was like freaking over these half dollar size animals. We took them down to the lake and let them go. He said now he knows for sure he isn’t swimming in there.
We were fortunate that not to much work had to be done to the old foundation so the foundation part once started went rather quickly and the rest of the construction started moving along. A job that was supposed to last 6 weeks has lasted 6 months and counting. All that needs to be finished is the trim work and some concrete work between the house and the garage, which will have to wait until spring at the earliest.
Last April my brother was diagnosed with diabetes and prostrate cancer, both they caught early enough that he could be treated before the diseases could do any major damage. We thought we dodged a big bullet until November, when my mom was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. They can’t do surgery because of her heart so they are just going to do chemo and radiation therapy. Then last month we found out my 21 year old niece has cervical cancer. They think they have caught it early enough that she should be ok. (knock on wood) but the end of the year has been devastating to the morale of my family. My sister was going to fly up to spend x-mas with my parents when she had to have her gallbladder removed. She is fine and did make it up in time but it was just something more to add to the stress of the year. One of RJ’s favorite teachers was in a critical car accident just before thanksgiving. This Holiday season has been a sad one, because I have a feeling this will be the last one I will have with my parents. My folks are so close that when my mom goes I think my dad will be right behind her.
However, on a positive note, Mike and I finally decided to get married. We haven’t told his side of the family yet and wasn’t going to say anything to my side but my mom was getting so much bad news I thought I would give her some good. Its not going to be anything big 15 dollars and the justice of the peace, around the 18th of January. We tried to figure a date so Mike would not miss any work. I know really romantic. My parents seem happy with the news so hopefully, this will start the New Year on a more positive note.
I hope everyone else has a Happy, healthy, sane and prosperous New Year.
2007 ended up to be a major downer for me and a lot of my on line friends it seems. Though there were downs, there were ups also. I think it’s the yin and yang of it all, the pendulum swings so to speak it just swung a bit more lopsided towards the end.
2007 started out positively for me financially, we took our house off the market and decided to add on. Nothing in the county was moving the market was very soft and I didn’t want to end up giving my house away. Houses like mine and even nicer were going for 30,000 to 45,000 which is 20 to 15,000 less than I bought the house for originally. Surprisingly we were able to get a small mortgage and a good fixed rate. So we paid off my credit cards with the money and the rest went into adding a new kitchen and master suite on to the back of the house. We figured we would stick it out for another few years. Kitchens and baths are always assets in homes and we upgraded from a one bathroom, small eat in kitchen to a two bathroom, walk in closet and a large eat in kitchen and dinning room (old kitchen became dinning room).
We got our mortgage in May and they were able to break ground in July, but mother nature had other plans. We disconnected the AC to move it and dug the pit for the new foundation, when mother nature decided we were out of our drought and the skies opened up. 3 weeks of rain with temps in the 90’s at 95-100% humidity. We had to beg the contractor to get the AC guy back out to hook the AC. The pit filled with water and the walls started to cave in. We keep pumping out the pit but with all the rain it just keep filling up again. The local wild life decided to move in and we had black, tree, green frogs and last count was 5 baby snapping turtles. We finally got the pit drained and the turtles and frogs out by the middle of August and the foundation finally could be put in. RJ was funny he was fine with the baby turtles until he found out they were snappers. Then he was like freaking over these half dollar size animals. We took them down to the lake and let them go. He said now he knows for sure he isn’t swimming in there.
We were fortunate that not to much work had to be done to the old foundation so the foundation part once started went rather quickly and the rest of the construction started moving along. A job that was supposed to last 6 weeks has lasted 6 months and counting. All that needs to be finished is the trim work and some concrete work between the house and the garage, which will have to wait until spring at the earliest.
Last April my brother was diagnosed with diabetes and prostrate cancer, both they caught early enough that he could be treated before the diseases could do any major damage. We thought we dodged a big bullet until November, when my mom was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. They can’t do surgery because of her heart so they are just going to do chemo and radiation therapy. Then last month we found out my 21 year old niece has cervical cancer. They think they have caught it early enough that she should be ok. (knock on wood) but the end of the year has been devastating to the morale of my family. My sister was going to fly up to spend x-mas with my parents when she had to have her gallbladder removed. She is fine and did make it up in time but it was just something more to add to the stress of the year. One of RJ’s favorite teachers was in a critical car accident just before thanksgiving. This Holiday season has been a sad one, because I have a feeling this will be the last one I will have with my parents. My folks are so close that when my mom goes I think my dad will be right behind her.
However, on a positive note, Mike and I finally decided to get married. We haven’t told his side of the family yet and wasn’t going to say anything to my side but my mom was getting so much bad news I thought I would give her some good. Its not going to be anything big 15 dollars and the justice of the peace, around the 18th of January. We tried to figure a date so Mike would not miss any work. I know really romantic. My parents seem happy with the news so hopefully, this will start the New Year on a more positive note.
I hope everyone else has a Happy, healthy, sane and prosperous New Year.