Friday, January 04, 2013
@ 11:10 AM
Good morning,
Our writing this morning
starts with yesterday’s note to Linda. It seemed the most succinct
way to catch things up. It’s now 11:11 AM and there has been no
forward progress with the real estate today. We are waiting on a
couple of calls back, so hoping that no news is good news. Primarily
we’re waiting for Chase Bank broker through Rich’s son’s bank who took our
information down yesterday (through Rich) and we’re waiting to hear from our
realtor if there was a nibble on the idea of a balloon arrangement with the
sellers so that we would put down a large payment and then pay them within 3-5
years.
Dear Linda,
I'm not sure if Dr.
Marvin will call or not today at 4:30 PM, but we didn't go in. It was too
emotional of a day. Linda we aren't house hunting anymore. Last Saturday we found
the place we wanted and have not let that go. We are trying to deal with
funding issues ... We have a $70,000 down payment on a $120,000 house (60%),
and Rich has a 750 credit score, AND Rich's brother will be co-signing if a
deal can be made, but our long-standing issue is income-debt ratio. Rich has a
low recorded income because of owning his own business and because His wife's
alimony of $36,000 a year. My finances don't seem to help because of being on
disability. Mark - the brother doesn't have any debt and has a $52,000 income,
but he pays cash for everything so hasn't built up a credit score. An offer is
being worked out with creative financing, but we might not know until tomorrow
if anything works out. The seller does know we're interested - just trying to
work out finances. It is in general pretty stressful and a lot of broker's have
been involved. There are outstanding calls that make us jump when the phone
rings.
I'm glad Teadora is going
well and you’re working on getting everyone treated out tomorrow. One row on
the quilt is progressive - congrats on that. We've been focusing our attention
on the above, several online projects and ironing.
Maybe we'll meet up
tonight.
Our best,
Ann
Ann
Dear Linda,
Update: We talked to Dr.
Marvin on the phone for about a half hour. And more talking has gone on with
other parties - mostly Rich talking to official people. Still won't know our
next move until tomorrow. It's like that a lot. 'Cept sometimes there's a lot
of crying in-between. It's hard to have so many big things up in the air and
not know what is going to happen - and it’s a roller coaster as to hopes,
dreams and fears. Sometimes you get into it with your partner, or at least we
do, because the power balance is all off kilt. We have been taking the role of
legwork and Rich has been the one communicating with official people - though
they email me if there's anything written down ... they seem to know we're
working together, but sometimes we feel at odds. Sometimes Rich wants to have
all the answers so if we suggest something that does not originate with him -
it goes through some emotional upheaval. Both of us are doing emotional
somersaults ... mostly it’s just me that cries. Part of that is that we are
trying to adapt to the thoughts of living with Rich and his mother at the same
time. Rich is trying to instruct me of things that will change ... like we
can't cry, be emotional, act like children and show irresponsibility. Ok, well
you know how well that is going over. The parts upset today didn't think he
wanted the REAL Ann to move in with him.
I guess that's as much an
update as for now. We're on a steady keel, ironing ... Rich just got done
talking about the Comcast changes with the Comcast guy and at 5:40 PM, he's
just starting to make dinner ... I think we're having hamburger, rice, veggies,
and maybe some soy sauce.
I didn't mean to jump on
you before, but we've been trying not to overwhelm you with things going on
because we know that you've been sick and that takes a lot of energy, concentration
while feeling under the weather. I really do think you've done a lot with
Teadora and that has been very good for her parents and Teadora. I know you get
a lot out of the visits too - AND we're going to hope you've gained enough
forward momentum so that it's been fun too. It is hard to be going through this
much without you to talk to ... so for selfish reasons ... we hope too that you
are getting better. Maybe we'll get a chance to talk at 7 PM or so. In just
writing this last couple of paragraphs I've felt I've evened-up some of the
discussions. Sometimes we just have to clear our chest. Thanks for listening.
Our best,
Ann Marie
Ann Marie
Good morning Linda,
Just me ... It's about
8:30 AM ... I see you’re on line, but not sure where your focus is. We just got
up about 8 AM. Rich was like stopped by to notice "sleeping beauty"
was up and before I got out of bed he was talking about business and it was
like whoa-whoa ... I'm not even out of bed yet! Pswhoo ... missed the bullet on
that one!
I'm pretty impressed with
late night grocery shopping. Did Teadora eat you out of house and home? Was
there ice cream involved? Do you think you’re going to be able to go out last
night AND this night? Wow! Wouldn't that be a treat! I don't know if we've planned
that far ahead ... Thinking Rich doesn't have games until like Monday.
Not sure what else is
happening ... I see that you're writing so we might get to talk to you in a few
moments. WooHOO!!! It seems like it’s been awhile. Thinking today for me might
include a load of whites ... just picking-up - haven't strayed too much here.
And, maybe some more ironing - we're giving ourselves permission to relax. Hmm,
forgot we were doing stuff on the Internet too. Hmm, I do seem to remember that
Rich said he had about 20 names he needed emails for ... might do that sooner
than later ... Part of me helping him out with the business. We have to try
somewhere.
Not sure where we are at
with the house ... hopefully something positive will happen today ... It would
be from a broker or the seller saying they are going to be able to work with us
and our financial situation. Not much else there. We did get to talk to Dr.
Marvin last night and it was pretty much on the house ... and in particular the
3 hour melt down we went through yesterday ... It got better after that ... and
Rich pleased us to pieces after dark so that is always nice. Feel a
LITTLE more relaxed this morning and more optimistic again.
We're letting in some
more optimism because it seems like the right thing to do ... best thing is
that we're still "in the game" Just have to be patient.
So what will are you
doing with the day? I'm thinking you have one more day with Teadora? I saw that
you made another small advance with the quilting. That's a good thing, right? I
don't know what it would take to get us back in the sewing room proper. Right
now it’s hard to concentrate with house thoughts. We're working on it though.
I've been working with Outlook and a Microsoft program that works for sales
leads and stuff, but it's another hefty monthly cost ... maybe more than
anything it will help us give us ideas on how to do things, but we won't go
through the proper program. It's too expensive, but we've got a 30 day free
trial so should pick up ideas. We're also working with the Mind map called the
Brain for organizing our thoughts. We've had a good time with that ... in that
it really helps to find order ... we've used it for both the multiplicity
thought and for putting order into our last business meeting with Rich. It's a
start.
Aha ... you are on the
run ... I'll let you go through ... Please know we're thinking of you and
hoping a good day with you and your princess!
It is us … we’re back again
in real time. It is now 11:38 AM. We made it official
that the last three posts to Linda have started this blog entry. They
just have so much succinct information that we didn’t want to think new all
over again. We did add a picture of the front of the place we are
looking at. I think our building though is in reverse of this
one. Our seller had taken a side view of the garage. One
of the things that I don't think we’ve written about yet is that our realtor
talked to the condo board and they are saying that we have to present the chair
lift officially, but that in the past they have accepted such offers. So
that was a real positive thing. The condo we’re looking at is on the
second floor, but it’s all on one floor. We’ve probably said that
already, but we’re pretty nervous and we’re just running off steam.
We’re thinking it MUST be
popcorn time now … It will be ready in a few seconds. Ahh NICE!
Good good done with that …
been corresponding a little with my sister too. Today is her moving
day – at least the packing part … I think they get the truck today and pack it
and then move it tomorrow morning. Then they drive the 5 hours East
to West Bend and they are home again. I think they’ve been in MN for
the last year and a half or so. We never made it up that far, but we
did see her in-between when we met in WI to do the sewing. So that
was nice. We’re planning to get together for a dinner out on Sunday
for her birthday – so will be looking forward to that … What SHE has to go
through from now to then – SURE DON’T WANT a part of THAT! YEEKS!
We’re thinking now though
that we might want to jump in the shower. I have to keep working on
things to take the stress off … Doesn’t seem to make sense doing all this worry
… it’s not going to be moving anything along. Hmm, must have been on
the same plain as Rich … he jumped into the shower first. I think
we’re going to try not being so fearful. That is sorta what our
horoscope is saying today … it says it’s holding me back from something risky
and that if I get past it and overcome we might find something wonderful. I
think that’s really good advice. It is probably often stated to
people who are “Cancers.”
Hmm, maybe it’s just
trying, however, to get us past this afternoon by sending us to the shower
without our phone. That be a good deal too, right?
We’ve spent a few
daredevil-ish moments this morning by looking at the place from different
viewpoints. This is our best shot of the REAL front of our
building.
I am thinking we’re on the
upper left and that as we walk up and go through the door on the left, we are
then facing our front living room windows to the rear of the building where the
enclosed balcony is. I don’t have a very good layout of the interior
other than you can get to the bedrooms through the back of the living room or
through the kitchen and that the kitchen attaches to the breakfast nook and to
the one side of that nook is the family room and the other side is the living
room – so that means that all sets of those windows look out the same direction
(family room, breakfast nook, living room – and that sees through the windows
of the balcony).
There are a few things
we’re not familiar with other than the layout of the bedrooms and that
hall. Basically, there are supposed to be three skylights I don’t
remember – most likely in the living room, and that there is supposed to be an
attic attached – maybe through one of the closets. I’m thinking that
when you come into the bedroom to the left is the bed area and then to the
right is a bathroom and closet area … and then back in the hall – is another
full bath and that maybe it has two doors … one from the bedroom and one from
the hall. But I couldn’t bet on that – just that it’s the same
center section so that our bath and closet butt-up to the other one and our
closet and Rich’s Mom’s closet is in that same center section. I
think. I really don’t remember and the views we keep looking at
aren’t very helpful. If we were to sign-on this house … I would
definitely ask to see it again – this time maybe with a camera and tape
measure. Being us … we would want to figure out where the
furnishings are going.
I think the hardest part
right now is that I can’t seem to figure out how to do my sewing room – based
on the information that Rich is giving. He wants the desk in that
room AND he wants to put a guest sofa bed AND there is no closet and he DOESN’T
want me to put our shelves up off the wall. He’s saying lower
shelves, but there isn’t enough wall space for that.
AHA! Shower is
done as we’re closing in on the 1 PM hour. Better take our medicine
too.
Ok, ok … that’s all
done. There’s been a small break in that we told Rich in passing
from his shower to ours that we’d have to have shelves.
Ok, ok … we’re good to go
now … It’s quite a while later. It’s 2:33 PM. We still
haven’t heard anything from people but Rich is now saying that the realtor and
the bank person are not going to be in today – and it might even be until
Monday. Oh man-oh-man … PLEASE do not get any offers over the
weekend. This is a hard spot to be in. But, it seems
we’ve been around the bend and back. We were at a site that was
crazy good in giving ideas on built-in bookcases. The site allowed
us to go from one picture to another and they were all beautiful. I’m
pretty sure gauging the cost of the homes that they were way out of our
category to build. We looked up builders around Joliet and that got
scary too … so then we backed down and looked at bookshelves that were
available by store, but then in the long run – the ones that were economical
were still “assembly required,” and then we came full circle to thinking … you
know there is nothing wrong with my bookcases that we have primarily here in
the living room. They aren’t full height, but they are a good 6’T-2 ½’W-1.1D. AND the thing is that
Rich already said we could have two in the LR – one for our good books and one
for our school books. That’s actually a pretty good deal, because
that leaves four bookshelves – we have 6 of the above for the Family room – IF
we get the place. Thing is that it makes things workable.
4 shelves x 30” is 120” and
the room is 144” wide (12’). That means we have 2’ to spare so we
can either center the bookshelves or leave 2’ on one end or another. The
room is 15’ long … that means we could put our desk where they had put their
desk – 64”W and then we could add a typical 8’ long chair (96”) and then we
would add the 13”D of the bookshelves which would mean we’d have 7” between the
sleeper sofa and the bookshelves. SO … it would go 64” desk, 96”
couch, 7” empty space, and 13” bookshelves. That way there is a
slight amount of room so that when you pull out the couch there would be
room. AHA! This is even better!
This is 1 1/2’ more narrow,
but it is still a Queen size sleeper … it turns out with the 5x6’ mattress
pulled out, that the bed would be about 90” long (7 ½’). That would leave 90
bed plus 30” for table depth = 120” and the room is 144” wide so it leaves 2’
from the one wall to the other with 2’ between end of bed and sewing. PERFECT! And,
then figuring out the other dimension … Well first … 36” + 30” is 66” minus
room width of 144” so there would be 6 ½ feet normally between the closed couch and the
table. That works. And now 64” desk +
78” sofa width + 13” shelving depth = 180” (15’) so 180 – 155 = 25”…
Hmm, that’s good and bad …
it would leave about 2’ on either end – or the couch would be centered leaving
1’ on each end, BUT it would mean that we couldn’t leave the one sewing table
up if we had guest … because the table is 30” – so we’re about 5” short of
space. The tables would go in an L shape like they are now with one
part of the L – the 96” side facing the window wall across from the sofa
sleeper and then the shorter side – 90” would be directly in front of the
shelving unit. The table has fold down legs so that wouldn’t be so
bad, but underneath the table is three of the under-bed storage
containers. That would have to stay … ok, let’s measure that. Ok,
push come to shove … they are 20” and we have 25” between the bed pulled-out
and the bookshelves … so that means we’d have enough room to stack them behind
the folded-up table and we’d have 5” to leave the table on its side with legs
folded under … that works for me … IN the pinch we have a sleepover like if
Jillian, Thom or Mark slept over. Ok, it’s working pretty
well. Now we’ve got to think one more thing.
The depth of the desk is
24-28” depending on whether it is flush against the wall or pulled out because
of cord storage. Let’s say 28” since we can’t really move the desk
for cords if we needed to get in there. So the desk is 28” and the
couch is 36” both in depth – meaning the desk is 8” narrower than the
bed. SOOOO, do we put the sofa bed and desk in which order? Does
the sofa bed OR the desk come first? It is a 12’ (144”) room width …
and with the 2nd table up – that is 90” of space = 144-90 =
54”. 54” – 36 = 18” between the couch and the table or 26” between
desk and table. Hmm, but thinking here that the desk has a chair and
is that much wider … so we’re GOING to need to put the desk first so it is more
across from only the 30” of the first table … 144-30-28” = 86” or just over 7’
for the chair and space between it and the sewing machine. There’s
another consideration though because we would still like to add 40” to the 30”
so that we could have an ironing station like we have now with the little sewing
table. So that would be 86”- 40” – 46” so there would be in that
little U-shaped square 3.8’ for the chair. Looking at that
now. Using the desk, the chair normally sits 36” from the desk
although the chair is 23” deep. Ok, that would work … it’s a little
constricting, but that leaves 10” for the chair to be pushed toward the little
sewing table. The chair would be used for both desk and sewing sooo
it would seem when the chair wasn’t being used – you could leave it in the more
open big sewing table area and then there would be the 3’8” opening to the
inner square of the room – especially if someone wants to enter the area to sew
or sit on the couch. GREAT!
There is one other
consideration though that is coming to me now. The big table is 96” wide
(8’) and the room is 15’ long … we already know now how the desk, sofa sleeper
and 7.5’ table and shelves are going to go … but where is the other table going
to be centered on the 15’ wall? If it were centered … there would be
3 ½’ on either side. If it were butted in
front of the 2nd table as is now. It would be 13”
from the bookshelves – which would leave it 71” from the edge of the room which
is almost 6’ – again about 3’ on either side or the 6’ at the end. I’m
thinking now about what else might go on that 6’ wall between the family room
and the kitchen. What comes to mind now is the drafting table, the
stool, the small fridge, and what else … OHHHH, wait a minute … we’ve still got
to work out the printer. How is that going to happen. That
is sitting on a horizontal drawers that is 34”W and 21” deep. That’s
going to have to go somewhere and we still have to come up with a place for the
10 drawer piece which is 12”Wx14”D. I suppose these are the really
small things, but have to be thought out as to the layout of what we do. AND,
there is the matter of the ironing table. It is 67” long. I
guess that really answers what is going to have to go in that space?
I’m not sure … have to
think another plan … in that we have to consider where it goes and if it is
going to be used in the living room so we can still do work where Rich
is. This gets a little confusing, because it also covers where
Rich’s mother is going to be. She’ll have basically seven different
spaces. She’ll be in her bedroom or bath, kitchen or breakfast nook,
dining room table or balcony and she also needs that one spot in the living
room which is comfortable. I think she would use the walker to get
from place to place, and is at this point feeling most comfortable with the wheel
chair. That means we’ve got to keep a path open for that …
Around the kitchen table it
seem best to leave an opening nearest the door going to the balcony. That
gives her access to the door for smoking, to look in the sewing room and to
look in the kitchen. I think she might even have a view to the
dining room table, but the room might be to set-in to look into the living
room. As to bedroom, bath, balcony and kitchen we’re not going to
worry so much about that for now because those rooms are more open to
possibility. I’m also going to assume although she could get in my
sewing room and our bedroom and bath … most likely that won’t happen
often. As to the bed and bath – they are our private spaces with
Rich, and as to the sewing room … she’ll be much more comfortable in the
kitchen looking in. If the ironing board was right on that 6’ wall
between the sewing room and the kitchen, she would be best likely to be hearing
us and the desk chair would be in about the right space. That would
give us a comfortable thing to do if she was just talkative so that we could
still be working with our hands. There is also enough room so that
we could pull out the ironing board to sit in back of it so we’re faced into
the other rooms rather than looking at a wall. That sounds good so
far. But, it would mean we needed to move the table to the living
room if we were going to work around Rich while watching TV. We
might want to consider that if we were going to be in the living room with
Rich, we might be more likely to be reading – though distraction with the
TV. The table is moveable and we’d have to think that out … it
doesn’t seem there is much room for it in the living room without really being
in the way. That would be a loss not to iron around Rich
though. I think so far – it still seems best to iron between the
sewing room and breakfast nook on the 6’ wall.
That leads to the next
question. Basically, we are thinking about the placement and use of
the living room to incorporate all three of us comfortably and being open
enough for guest without seeming too strange. We’re thinking at this
point, that we are going to get Thom’s table back. CS wants to get
rid of it and it seems like a nice table to put in our dining space. Our
kitchen table will go in the breakfast area nicely. Thom’s table is
bigger. Because it is Rich’s mother … she’s going to want a table
cloth on it so we won’t get the advantage of seeing it as a glass table, but
that is ok. The nice part about the table is that it doesn’t have
traditional table leg problems because it is held up by some architecture
toward the middle of the table. That means that Rich’s mom will be
able to pull up her wheelchair – OR, sit in something at the table. We
would still have to obtain chairs, because CS gave the others away – or
Nathan. I think the table is able to sit 8 comfortably which is
really a nice number … and it still allows the other table sitting 6 to be up
in the breakfast nook for guests. GOOD DEAL … saw that one right
away. I’m thinking that the two Baker’s racks will sit next to each
other where the current owner has the dining room cabinet. It isn’t
really fancy, but it will do. I’m thinking that we’ll put up my
Grandmother’s dishes, and then Rich might get his Grandmother’s dishes from his
ex’ house, or if that doesn’t work, we can make a space for our other
Grandmother’s dishes. It will be a while before Ame is ready to use
them, and I think Maury wouldn’t mind having them at our place until he gets
settled some day.
I’m thinking that the two
current couches – the one in our LR now and the one now in our sewing room
which were meant to be together might be put in the living room where the
current owners couches are. Ours are a little bigger – because they
are full size and we’re thinking now that the two LR bookshelves that Rich is
allowing with our encyclopedia set and school books can go on either side of
the couch against the long wall between the front door and fire place. I’m
thinking that I don’t know where the treadle and the tea cart are going, but it
is a possibility that the treadle machine goes in our bedroom or against the
wall leading into the bedrooms as a standalone – night stand for a lamp and the
teacart could go between the couches in the 90 degree corner in front of the
one shelve closer to the door than fireplace. I’m thinking now
between the two couch ends. I’d like to keep the couches balanced
with three seats each … I’m imagining that the one I sit in (lounge) will be on
the floating side toward the center of the room.
I am playing with the
pictures. There are two ways it can really go … either left arm,
straight, right arm against the wall and then floating straight, straight, and
lounge … that way there is ends on both sides of the wall and an open couch
toward the tea table in the corner. The other way is to go open,
open right arm against the wall and then left arm, straight and then
lounge. That way there are arms not only on the lounge, but toward
the ends of both couches toward the 90 degree turn toward the table … and then
there is an open couch nearest the fireplace. I think I like the
second choice better. I like that the two inside corner people can
be leaning on the arms talking to one another. The teacart is in the
perfect position there for coffee or whatever. There is no doubt
that in the middle of the couch area is going to be the round table. I
like it now more that the sewing machine is toward the little wall between the
front door and the bedrooms. We’re thinking it is like a hall piece,
but still in the more open room. It puts a nice light toward the
back too.
I think the next question
is concerning Rich’s space. To keep the rooms open between the
dining room and the living room – we really need to put the couches where just
discussed. It seems the space now in contention is the space between
the glass windows with the dining room buffet on one side and the fireplace on
the other. That space has two chairs. There is no doubt that Rich’s
chair will sit in one of those positions. It will be a decisive move
whether though the TV will remain on the consul it is on now next to the
fireplace in that Rich wouldn’t have a good view of it from his chair. He
might have the best angle if he’s sitting where the stuffed chair is toward the
dining room and the TV is on top of the fireplace. That is my
preference at least. I think it would be good in that Rich’s chair
swivels, so that it could be faced toward the TV (if left a little from the
wall (standing light would be closest to the wall), and then he could swivel
toward the dining area where most likely his mother is going to be.
A couple of questions then
arise. In the inner stuffed chair place, could we place the drafting
table? Will it be in the living room or fairly banished? It
is like 4’ x 2 1/2’ and Rich’s chair is closer to 3’ x 3’. If Rich
was sitting at it with the long side up against the windows (balcony where his
Mother would be smoking) then it would seem ok. If he were sitting
in his chair looking over it to where the TV would be on the fireplace, it
would seem ok. But if the table was pulled out so that a chair could
sit in back of it … it would be out in the room by about 3 more feet. This
would seem better in that he could look out though it wouldn’t be a good
position to watch TV. I think he has in mind using the table when
doing work during the day where now he’s using the kitchen table. He’d
have from one view the balcony and outside, and he’d have from the other view
the full living room – and looking to the right toward the kitchen table and in
back of that the family room. But would it make a difference if the
table was out in front of his chair when looking in towards the living
room? Another option for a better view might be that his chair go
next to our lounge toward the middle of the room, but even with the dining room
table pushed back to that wall, it might become a barrier for Rich’s Mom
walking from the front door to her spaces. We could think also of
not having the drafting table and that Rich would sit at the dining table for
his office. I feel that is the better option, but not sure which
Rich prefers.
If it would be me at the
drafting table at night when Rich is …
Ok, that wasn’t good. Rich
just got a call from Chase and they said no. Rich didn’t want to say
much because he was still digesting the call, but he has to know that we need
to digest the call too. This puts more pressure on other
options. Rich has called Charlie about an hour ago too and he’s
going to try following up with a call to the other realtor to see if the
balloon idea might work. Rich said it was the same thing with Chase
and that the low debt/income ration of Rich and his brother not having
established credit were the two strongest factors in their saying no. I’m
trying not to be negative though. I think if neither of these
options worked and now we now at least one won’t – it means that we either
close down the dream, or look further. Optimally, we would hope next
for the sellers to saying yes toward financing us … but if that didn’t work
either … we’d be at a really lower point. I think the next option
Rich would use was to ask his brother to finance with his part of the
inheritance. I don’t know if either would consider it. It
certainly not the best option for Mark, in that it ties up his own money with
his family for 3 to 5 years. Rich’s mother has $75,000, Rich has
$25,000 and I’m the lightweight at $10,000. That would mean offering
the sellers $10,000 less than it is being asked. Perhaps between
Rich and his brother and his mother they could try to squeak out a few thousand
more, but then maybe we could too … Rich is holding an extra couple of thousand
for us that could get thrown in … we still have an emergency dental care if my
dental can’t wait.
Rich and I just got
together to talk a bit. That was nice. We’re both down a
bit, but still determined to make it work. I think he’s thinking
like me and that we’re going to have to go with asking Mark to loan us the
money. It would be his half of his mother’s trust. I know
that in like 3-4 years he’s going to want to retire and buy a place too, but by
then hopefully we would pay him back because we’d only be paying about $300
toward insurance, tax and condo assessment. I think we might need to
lean on one of the mothers or Mark to help us get the stair chair in. We
are also going to need moving and for that Rich might have to borrow against
his business debt. He figures that it will take about
$2000-2500. There are also a few other things like we need to buy a
bed for Rich’s Mom. She wants her dresser moved and a particular
crystal light which are no problems. I’m thinking that we have a
flat screen TV and that it would be mountable, and then we’d put the TV stand
in his Mom’s room. We’d have one in the sewing room as it is now and
then we’d probably have to do a little $100 flat screen for Rich’s mother and
most likely it would sit on the kitchen table where she’d be most
comfortable. It’s fine to say she can use the big one, but most
likely Rich would be in the living room and there wouldn’t be TV on during the
day while he was working. It seems then that we’re all zoned into
our own spaces.
Rich takes over the living
room, Rich’s Mom the breakfast nook and balcony, me the sewing/writing
room/guest room – we all are in and out of the kitchen and for privacy we have
the separate bedrooms and baths. I think we could really make it
work … I feel like we’re on bended knees. Please let’s hope that
this still happens and we’re not going to lose the place to another, or that we
can’t make some kind of finances work. Rich and I would be fine
because we’d just stay here, but there’d be a lot of days left where he’d have
to run overnight to Rich’s Mom’s and Bud’s place. I still don’t know
if they are talking. It seems that’s really the major purpose of
this all is in giving those two some space. Without that none of
this would be a life priority. Rich and I still have a place we can
do with the apartment. AND, while we’re here, we still have some
privacy. There’s no doubt we’ve appreciated that a lot over the
years.
I’m trying to think if
there wasn’t anything else we wanted to remember from Rich and our
conversation. I think we’ve covered the basics. He wants
to allow that we might need to get yet a smaller place and he reminded me of
the places at Pembridge in Joliet. There is one being offered for
$69,900 and another for $85,500 neither have a small LR/den/office that could
be made into a bedroom on the first floor. There is the one lived in
by the cowboy also on Harbor like the one we want …. That one is for
$117,500. It needs more work and doesn’t have an enclosed
porch. The rooms are longer and not as squared off, but there is a
nice wooded area in back of it. That would be one last failsafe
attempt – hoping that at least he might carry paper on it … This is by no way
an easy thing to go through.
Now it is after
dinner. Rich made BBQ pork, potatoes and beans. It was
good but too much meat. We stayed and finished a NCIS and now he’s
watching a fishy show. He’s proud he worked 10 full hours at the
table without too much rest. He woke up early to get a good
start. Now he has four shows in front of him on his schedule he
wants to watch. We figure we’ll finish up here with the writing and
then move on. We missed Linda for a good portion of the day. She’s
been with her Grandchild most of the day and from what we heard had an early
dinner with Tony and she’s looking officially now forward to the weekend with
him.
There was one more call
that was made in that Rich talked to his son Chris and the two we’re trying to
get psyched up on some foreclosures. I think it is a hard thing to
chase dreams like that … and there is some guilt for doing so at the misfortune
of others. I think the realtor also stated that because people are
trying to pick them up who are investors it’s hard to be in the right place at
the right time.
Hmm, we were looking at
homes again … we saw a few interesting ones, but not much for less money – none
than I like better than ours. Ok, yes, we’re getting a little
possessive. We’d like to think we can still do this. I
think we’ve worked ourselves up to popcorn again. It’s 8 PM and
Rich’s show is almost over. He’s going to have some popcorn too and
we’re both drinking tea, but it warmed me up too much. I’m thinking
we’re wrapping it up in a few and might do some ironing next. I
don’t know if Rich is still planning to watch one more fishing show. I’m
not sure if that would make me try to write a little longer. Not
much to say at this point – if your still reading … you worked through our day
with us.
I don’t know if we could
really think through a good summary. I liked it today that there was
so much time put into writing in that it was better concentration than I’ve
been able to do lately. Hmm, Rich just stopped by and asked me to
watch TV with him after he makes his popcorn. That’s a good deal …
definitely the ironing then. But, as to the summary? I
think we really paid attention to the horoscope … I know, I know. We
teased Dr. Marvin about paying so much money to him and then following the
horoscope. Silliness abounds. Today the focus was on
trying not to be afraid … and for that it meant that we continue to dream about
the house we want instead of just staring at the wall more like happened
yesterday. We’re not unreasonable so if this didn’t go through we’d
put our thoughts toward working out the next place, but we really want this to
be OUR place. Even down to it being on the second floor WITH the
chair lift … it’s perfect for us. I did look back at the more
traditional – especially the ones with the lofts. There was one for
a little more, but it was 2 bedrooms on the first floor and a large loft being
the only thing on the second floor. But, we forgot to mark it and
don’t know how to get back … tried again … didn’t find it don’t remember if it
were Joliet or Lockport or other.
Well not much of a summary,
but it is now 11:11 PM. Rich has gone to bed and is there reading,
and we’re just finishing our ironing and we seem to have David Letterman on …
it’s a lot of noise. I might turn it off? Seems a good
idea. There done deal. We had had a large pile to go
through that was set there last night. We had started, but today we
finished our pile. I’ve got three stacks to be sorted and one extra
stack of the 6x6”. Feeling pretty good about that kind of
productivity. There’s no extra word about real estate and we’ve been
able to forget about it for a couple of days. That’s a good
deal. I really did enjoy working with the fabric. We
watched a couple of shows with Rich and that was nice too. We teased
him because it had been a long time and we’d not said anything to each
other. Lord only knows what we get from watching TV together. I
suppose if my hands weren’t busy with the ironing, then we’d be massaging him,
but sometimes that needs a little break too. I’m thinking that about
now we should be getting this entry posted. It’s a pretty long one –
stretching out to about twelve pages. I think we’re going to take
one more positive look at the condo.
I’m really appreciative of
how clean the unit is and what great shape the carpet is in. I also
really like the mellow colors of pale yellow and green. I know it’s
not very exciting, but it seems just right to us. I know that we spent
a lot of time today going over the particulars. I’m grateful for
your patience in going through it with us. Tonight while looking
into the rooms we also see the shape of furniture, the dream of turning on the
fireplace for the first time, looking at the beautiful lights and drapery and
wondering what it would really be like with Rich’s Mom in the house and how
that all would feel. I’m thinking in general it will be a positive
experience and although she still drinks, smokes and yells, she’s still 82 years
old and there is something blessed about that. Hmm, we’re thinking
now that the TV would fit on the ledge of the mantel. Never thought
of that before. I suppose one could worry about it tipping, but it
takes up just so much space and it’s never tipped on the cabinet we’ve had
it. The base is actually about 9” and the TV itself is only
3-4” It be really cool if it would just be that easy. It’s
really a nice fireplace … It’s all sandstone brick and the inside pit part is
covered with a black screen and there is a little ledge to sit if you are small
enough, but also maybe to put your feet up on … it’s a perfect fire place and
on a really nice angle to the room that duplicates the front door. I
think we talked about the perfectly scalloped drapes and such and again the
nice lighting that’s over the two tables. I still don’t know where
the skylights are, but thinking they must be toward the tip top part of the
vaulted ceiling. Again, we too … don’t know where the attic is, but
if it had a floor, we could see pushing our books up through it. I
don’t have to have them displayed, I would like to know they were there. Maybe
one day if we could keep the place after Rich’s Mom passed, we would be able to
make the 2nd bedroom into a study/guest room. It
would please me to again have the books up, but for now they can rest.
I like the color of
cabinets in the kitchen – like a light oak and I like the white tile floor and
appliances. We just noticed this morning that the sink has THREE
parts – double whit larger sinks and then a middle shallow one for
vegetables. Man oh man … I keep finding new ways to love this
place. I also like the peninsula in the kitchen facing the table and
imagine Rich standing there with all his bowls and cutting utensils in order.
Wow! Another thing! I didn’t notice it before, but there
is a pass through over the kitchen sink to the dining room. Oh man
oh man what a wonderful new surprise that is! I didn’t remember that
part at all! I Just LOVE IT! How could I have missed
that? Lordy where’s our brain? It has a nice wide cut-out
the size of our double sink and it has a nice wooden ledge in between that
matches the wood work.
I don’t think there is anything
new in the family room. We already knew it had really nice wooden
floors. I am noticing now though that it seems the curtain – just
the top café part appears dark or maybe even the same red as the one in the
breakfast nook. We might have mentioned it before, but we think
there is a ceiling fan in the family room and both bedrooms. Rich’s
Mom’s bathroom is very much like ours but everything like the appliances are
white. I do have to remind myself that it doesn’t appear the washer
and dryer are part of the deal. The master bedroom has a little bit
of a cut-out area that is big enough for a queen size bed. We’re
thinking that our bed would really fill that area nicely. Wow! That’s
another thing we didn’t notice. In actuality, the master bathroom is
to the left. I thought it was on the right. You look and
look at these pictures and it’s hard to imagine you could miss so much.
I’m thinking too there was
some kind of area in the hall for towels and medicines and that there must be
some kind of front hall closet. I’m thinking that the only thing we
use our closet for is storage though it holds some old coats and officials
clothing for Rich. I can’t remember the size of the closets, but I’m
thinking it was a bit of a walk-in … Think we remember that we thought it would
work for both Rich and us. The next question would be – Could we
make it work so that the front hall closet would be used for our fabrics? We
really have no idea how the bedroom doors connect with the hall bath, linen,
utility room and front hall closets. I would really like to get back
in there again. One more small thing we’re noticing right now. I’m
not sure how the bathroom is done … it seems the toilet area is through its own
door. So we’re guessing on the other side of the long sink is the
whirlpool tub and shower. The thing that seems new is the color of
the walls in the bathroom. It is a paler, but very complimentary
color to the curtains in our sewing room. I’m thinking that over the
tub area, we could easily hang the curtains so that it gives the appearance of
a window in back of the tub. Looking at the tub picture now … we’re thinking
how pretty that would be. It’s like one of my favorite colors right
now … it’s sort of coral. There is also we’re now noticing a nice
tile on the floor, surrounding the top of the tup and up the side of the
tub. Whoever designed this place was really good.
One last thing in the last
picture we didn’t put together until now. There is two desks in
Rich’s Mom’s room. We saw two chairs in there I’m sure, but never
registered that it was two chairs. Interesting. It’s like
new sight tonight. I also don’t remember what the windows were like
in the bedroom though it seems the bedroom walls and most likely the hall areas
are white. We can see the double windows in his Mom’s room, but
we’re noticing this time they seem to have the kind of panes you turn in a
circle which are really the best kind in my book. Looking one more
time at the living room and we’re thinking that the four windows have the pull
down shades behind the scallop and that the up and down shades are part of the
outside of the screened balcony … Man … wouldn’t that be nice … A view AND
privacy. We are also noticing that the railing part and the framing
of the balcony is there, but that the upper and lower parts are sky colored so
we think that it must be a full window? Could we have missed a floor
to ceiling window? Maybe just like we missed the pass through and
discovered earlier today that there is a pantry at the end of the
kitchen.
Man oh man – what a
discovery tonight has been. We’re pretty sure that Rich has gone to
bed and we haven’t been talking to him today at all about the place, because we
don’t want to jinx it. But, I’m really going to push tomorrow I
think that we make an offer on the place AND that we do it by asking Mark to
bank roll us. Again, I don’t know if that’s possible and I’m not
sure if they would accept something less if not accepting the balloon, but we
really have to try. Maybe all this time waiting is good for us, but
maybe it is just enough to drive us crazy … ok, we’re not going there
again. We weren’t going to be afraid.
AHA! It’s now
midnight exactly. We wanted to read our new horoscope before going
to bed. Let it be soon that things all works out. Ok,
we’re going for it … gotta read it, right?
Ok, good … good … This is
what it says (we can email it to ourselves and then copy/paste here J). We
are Cancer and Rich is Sagittarius.
Cancer Jan 5 2013
You can make big, positive changes in your life this year, Moonchild. After the difficulties of last year - with each step that felt like an uphill battle - you may find this hard to believe. You may have come to feel oppressed or unable to help yourself. But you are strong and you are resilient, and this year you will be inspired to move forward toward an auspicious and happy future. And when you need a little help, the universe will step in and provide what you need, as long as you keep trying and keep believing.
You can make big, positive changes in your life this year, Moonchild. After the difficulties of last year - with each step that felt like an uphill battle - you may find this hard to believe. You may have come to feel oppressed or unable to help yourself. But you are strong and you are resilient, and this year you will be inspired to move forward toward an auspicious and happy future. And when you need a little help, the universe will step in and provide what you need, as long as you keep trying and keep believing.
Oh man oh
man! I believe … I do believe!
Sagittarius Jan 5 2013
You may soon find yourself filling the role of a host or a hostess for a group of people. Usually, Sagittarius, this is a task that you are well-suited for. You can be gracious and welcoming. You are certainly organized and a great planner. But this particular group may contain a person or two that you don't really care for. Let's face it, you aren't always the most politically correct person, and you have a tendency to speak your mind when someone gets to you. So this should be a good exercise in self-control. If you can master it, you will be able to make something wonderful happen through a connection you would never have expected.
You may soon find yourself filling the role of a host or a hostess for a group of people. Usually, Sagittarius, this is a task that you are well-suited for. You can be gracious and welcoming. You are certainly organized and a great planner. But this particular group may contain a person or two that you don't really care for. Let's face it, you aren't always the most politically correct person, and you have a tendency to speak your mind when someone gets to you. So this should be a good exercise in self-control. If you can master it, you will be able to make something wonderful happen through a connection you would never have expected.
As for Rich … we are going
to look at it most likely for the new day … that I’m thinking at least that his
host position is going to be with his family and the hardships they sometimes
cause each other. One way or another … between Rich and us … we’re
getting vibes for inspired, move forward, auspicious and happy future if we
keep trying and believing AND that wonderful things are going to happen through
and unexpected connection. I’m going to put this down to bed tonight
then … that Saturday – today is going to be a very good day. Might
as well believe, right?!!
Nighty nite.
OH MY GOSH!!! We
did it … we hit over 10,000 pageviews!
(10,038/1,627)
One thing more ... the day after. We figured out for privacy?? We're going to for sure take the drapes from the living room here. There are four panels and they are each 60" wide so that is 240" or 20' and the space between one sewing room wall and the other is 12 ' so there can be 8' of gathering, but in general if someone were to stay at our place, we could shut the drapes on a bar between the sewing room and the breakfast nook. We still have the sashes too to pull the drapes back toward one side of the room or the other. That's a REALLY good idea ... We're really adamant in that Mark stays with his mother sometimes like 3-4 times every 4-6 weeks. That would work out for us to have him stay at our place. I'm pretty sure from what Rich is saying that he's not going to want to stay with Bud. Although there is an empty room, Mark is pretty upset with the guy too. It looks like the same pinkish/coral that is in the curtain is in the tiffany type light above the kitchen table and the upper cafe curtain in the window ... thinking that's going to be a good deal and especially because the curtain has a rubbery padding on the back so that no light can get through. It's not a perfect "bedroom," but it's enough privacy so that your not startled by someone next to you at the kitchen table directly. WooHOO!!! This is a good use of space - Ann!
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