Catch-Up Time

Hello, Married With Kittiehs. Long time, no chitty. And I have no excuse for my lack of proper attention. None what-so-ever except that... Well, I along with my husband, am attempting to align all aspects of my/our life into some semblance of order in a universe that consists of pseudo-chaos most days. Each time I attain a small taste of victory, life leaves another steaming pile of poo on my back step (metaphorically speaking. Of course the cats like to present us with similar gifts of the tangible and stinky variety).

Josh and I, along side countless numbers of friends, family members, peers, and neighbors, are trying our best to better our lives, station-wise. My school work keeps me busy and challenged yet becomes exponentially difficult as the weeks race by. The flood damage in the basement is 95% complete but the renovation overhaul is pricey and inconvenient. Josh's health is improving all the time however, his team, and I do mean team, of physicians has yet clear him for workies. The red tape to keep the
lights on is borderline oppressive.

My school keeps me continually occupied and equally stressed. I remember, just a few short months ago, boasting to my classmates, peers, and mentors that I could take college level classes as a payed occupation and remain content and stress-free. I honestly cannot comprehend how those of you who manage to balance: school work, full or part-time jobs, children, and other obligations concurrently. I know I have the reputation of a frumpy disliker of children and I forget sometimes to give credit where credit is definitely due. Therefore I tip my proverbial hat to you ladies and gents collectively who succeed in pulling it off (or puffball ponytail, as-it-were). That having been said, let me warn you all that I will soon be hounding you for study dates and begging your company for working lunches. Thank you all in advance and to those of you that have helped me pick up my feet these last few weeks. I hope I get a chance soon to return the favors and provide something of use. Moving on to the condition of the house.

The contractor I hired last Summer to pour a slab of concrete meant to stave off minor, once-a-year flooding turned out to be completely incompetent. Made my previous contractor look like Ty Pennington. I requested that my back stoop be re poured at a 2.5% grade toward the slope of the driveway and away AWAY from the foundation of the house. He poured it in the exact opposite direction. That day it rained. The front corner of the basement, located directly under the back/main entrance of the house, was damp from the lamenent flooring, up through drywall, smootching the ceiling, down to the 2X4s. There was significant evidence of brief flooding throughout the basement along with a few standing puddles. I flipped the hell out and called up Damon-who-goes-by-"Red" and told him about the aquarium that plagued half my home. He said he would be by to fix it the second the sun rose the following morning. I did not hear from him again for 48 hours. In the meantime, it rained eight more inches and my friend Erin was furious due to a badly poured concrete slab in her backyard. A slab poured by Red the day before he did mine. And like my instructions for the work to be completed, he completely disregarded Erin's request for a level slab in which to install her kid's pool and a basketball goal. What she received was chunk of cement, at the wrong angle, in the wrong spot, not properly braced, with the wrong finish, and not a level square foot to be found. Now he's hiding from both of us. I got him to call back by threatening to call the union and report his illegal side-business. By the time the issue had been resolved at my house with a re pour that looked like hell and a completely ruined basement, Erin was getting phone calls from the concrete company. Red had put a stop on his personal check made out to the concrete folks for Erin's slab and they were coming for their property if she didn't pay up. Wait. What? Erin took Red to court over the concrete money he stole by cashing her check and stopping his own. My homeowner's insurance failed to cover contractual douchbaggery and the inspection I had could not lay the burden of guilt on my badly poured stoop.

The damage removal process has been expensive and time consuming. We tried very hard to salvage as much material as possible to save on costs down the road.The people we have working with us on the house are hardworking and trustworthy if not cheap. So far ,we have all the sub-floor plumbing in place
and have purchase two toilets and a tub with all the trimmings for our soon-to-be full and half baths. Our six month to one year plan involves a full conversation of the basement living space into an income property where Josh and I will live, opening up the main floor as a rental. The main floor is fully renovated and gorgeously decorated; I've come a long was since purple and metallic gold thanks to my straight guy with the queer eye (its okay, they're taking it back). I think my upper floor living space would make a lovely home for one to three people, if they're a good fit.

As I mentioned, Josh's condition is still improving. He rarely needs his O2 supplement and rarer still for more than 20 minutes give or take. Our first evening in Florida, Josh walked just over a mile and trodded further still the following days. The fresh air, warm temperatures, good company, and fun outings agreed with us both and collectively was just what the doctor ordered.However, the demo/reno taking place in the basement is spewing dust and gunk throughout the house, reeking havoc on two sets of human, six sets of feline, one set of reptile, and oodles of fishy lungs. I keep getting sinus infections that make maintaining my perfect attendance a challenge some days. The hot/cold snaps are confusing the local flora and fauna into all sorts of shenanigans that makes my eyes water and my nose a faucet.

Despite the aforementioned tribulations, Aunt Beckie is still asking "please, Jesus, leave a message at the tone" followed by "to leave a callback number, press 5." She swears she's not done yet and could she please have some more time; I see her as much as I can but not as much as I should. This business with the refinance for the house is absolutely exhausting. I could have a student loan cleared almost immediately and would abandon the whole stupid process if I could afford to loose $500 in earnest money. Correlating our tax information is a fret noir in its own right. Josh has more W-2s than we have cats and I have no idea what manner of tax bracket in which we Will fall. Our budding paranormal research group is doing just that. Budding and sprouting and scattering our best talent and good friends in the wind as army families are want to do.

Throughout our own personal hurdles, Aunt Beckie keeps powering on. Some days, when we visit, you wouldn't even know she's been ill. She's as tough a gal as I've ever known and motivates me to persevere. Even as she lays in her hospital bed, day after day, unable to move her legs, she encourages me to study hard, continue to live a healthier lifestyle, love my family with all my heart, and speak up for those who can't always speak up for themselves. I love spending time with you but would prefer to do it chilling on the couch while eating gluten free snacks and watching "The Simpson's."

I recently (read: last December) began the tedious task of refinancing my mortgage. I understand that the market is in the toilet and the credit crunch has elevated scruteny to a TSA level figurative molestation. There can be no secrets remaining between myself and my loan officer. Apparently, having a combined credit score of 795 and paying my mortage on time every billing cycle since my closing date almost twelve years ago has no bearing in obtaning a promissary note from my bank of 15 years for signing. I really want to bail on the whole project and go with a student loan instead but Chase already has 500 buck-a-roos of my cash, from a check I wrote at the tail end of 2011. What month is it again?

Our over-all financial situation is a total cluster-f**k. In addition to our bank account getting ransacked and our line of credit maxed out by a cyber-thief, we didn't get a check from Purdue (Josh's employer for over five years) for ten weeks. Purdue started paying Josh again shortly after threatening to cancel our health insurance unless we paid them almost $900. This was just in time to completely destroy the chance of having a simple and quickly processed tax refund in my favor. Not gonna happen now. Hopefully, the $20,000.00 in tuition paid will allow for some respite in that department.

Lafayette Paranormal Research Society is fantastic on all accounts aside from the fact our most promising talent is packing up and moving away on military assignment. We are currently seeking candidates to fill the void the left by the Barlow and Jacobs families. Our group is rooted in scientific theory and organized experiments designed to obtain measurable results. If your one wish is too sit in a dark room with candles burning around a Ouija board while chanting: our group is not for you. On the flip side, if you would like to work with a professional team, shoulder some of the workload, and learn how to handle equipment then shoot me a message. Let's get together and chat.

The good news is that the bullshit with our stolen cash and credit due to the cyber attack on our finances has been fully resolved. We received a certified letter in the mail announcing that the charges on our accounts were indeed fraudulent and they considered the matter closed. Well done on that one, Chase. Well done. One down and infinity to go. I can get through this with the support and friendship so many of you have showed me these many months. Again, I hope to show my appreciation to all who have offered to help. Am looking forward to spending Easter with my family. I can't wait for Jenn to bring her handsome beau home so I may greet him in Klingon and present him with gifts. We have some great stuff picked out so far. Bill and Connie will return from Florida soon and hopefully will be bringing Spring with them. Peace be with you. Thanks for reading.