Come and go …

So what all has happened since last week? Let’s see …

The Child started 5th grade. I can’t believe she is in her last year of elementary school! Wasn’t too long ago she was 3 and I started this diary and started complaining of all the antics she was putting me through! LOL When she came home from her first day, I asked her if she had a good day and she said yes and that she couldn’t wait to do it again in a few weeks lol. Can’t complain I guess. It could be worse and she is giving us problems about the move. So I’m happy that she is happy.

Hubby has started his terminal leave now. (He is on "paid vacation" till his official retirement date of Nov.1, 2012) The first day of school to be exact. Even though weeks ago I had laid down law that he was not allowed to come home early or take any time off the 1st two weeks of school so that I could have some "me" time and put myself back on track. Well played Powers The Be … well played. Now if I can just survive till September 25 without having a nervous break down or killing him, all will be well. I had been counting on it being the 24th but the schools in Dodge City have a teacher work day on the 24th. Again, thank you Powers That Be …

We have arranged to turn our house key in on Sep. 20. We have a pre-inspection today at 4pm. That is where they will come in and let us know what all needs to be done for the final inspection (been there, done that too many times!!!) and to make sure we haven’t destroyed their house. Best thing? Hubby has to deal with them because I no longer have Power of Attorney! Woot! He made a comment about getting me one "just in case" … HA! Fat chance of that happening! I told him hell no! I don’t want the first POA and I don’t want to have to be responsible for the first damn thing. His ass is home, not working AT.ALL. so he can do all that is needed & I’ll just sit here and clean up his messes when he screws up lol. I did my time last year when he was in Korea. He can deal with this move since he changed plans up on us.

I did call and schedule our billeting room for the 20th. I was afraid he’d wait too long & then they would be out of rooms. So I was a nice wife and took care of that for him. Mainly because it affects me just as much and if there is one thing he has taught me in the almost 20 years we have been together, is that I can’t depend on him to look out for me and if I don’t do for myself, I’m screwed lol.

And upon my insistence, he has arranged for our stuff to be packed/shipped for the 17 – 19th. We’ll sleep here on air mattresses the 19th (Air Force won’t pay for hotel as long as we still have the key to the house). Then the hotel on the 20th and then God knows what/where after that.

Because you know things never go smoothly for me … LOL … the loan company we are were trying to use there in Dodge City was a piece of work! Talk about rip your hair out, punch a wall, kick a table frustrating!! I got fed up and made Hubby call USAA to apply for a mortgage loan with them and in 20 mins. we had everything we needed versus the 4 days of constant back and forth with Landmark.

Now remember I mentioned that Dodge City is small, kind of in the middle of nowhere. And the nearest military base is 2 & 1/2 hours away. So this town is not used to dealing with the military, which is fine. And apparently they have never dealt with VA loans either. That includes the Realtor and Landmark. What is so hard about a VA loan? We’ve used it before easy peasy so it should be the same now. Except we are dealing with people who have never worked with a VA loan. *sigh*

My final straw was yesterday when the Realtor called and said that Landmark was saying we would not be able to close on a house until after Nov. 1, 2012 because they want Hubby to be in his new job roughly 2 months. Apparently, Landmark can’t see past Nov. 1 when Hubby’s Active Duty Air Force pay stops and his retirement checks kick in. Forget that his retirement check alone will cover the mortgage payment plus utilities plus extra stuff. Nope, they want a guarantee that he has a steady job. Ugh! If he wasn’t getting the retirement check, I could understand their hesitation. But, nope, they want to be assholes. So of course waiting till after Nov.1 means we would be homeless till then. I don’t want to live in a hotel for 2 months!!! The Realtor said she spoke with a woman who has a 2 bedroom house that she was trying to arrange for us to be able to rent in the meantime (even with the dog) but at the time she had called with the Landmark news, she had not gotten a confirmation from the lady but was expecting her call at anytime. Then the Realtor said there was a house that would probably let us take early possession till the closing … we’d just have to pay rent till the closing. Which would be nice. And it just so happens that that particular house is on our list of houses to look at on Saturday.

So after I hung up with the Realtor, I ranted and raved for a few then informed Hubby of the news and that is when I said, screw it! Call USAA. So he did & now we have an approved loan … all we need to do is find the house we want to buy and hope the offer gets accepted and then all the balls can start rolling. When I called the Realtor to let her know how disappointed I was in Landmark, and that clearly they did not want our business, and after their attitude towards a Military Veteran, I didn’t want to do business with them, I went elsewhere and found someone who was willing to work with a Military Veteran and who wanted our business. She was amazed that we got everything done so quickly! I told her I didn’t have time to play games with ignorance and I had a 10 year old child to consider. So anyway, that part is now done.

We still have the fun part of actually finding a house lol. In the beginning I had 5 on the list. 2 sold last week and then the one I posted a link for in my last entry sold after an open house this past Sunday so now we are down to 2 houses. I really wanted that last one but I guess it wasn’t meant to be. But that is ok. This will all work out somehow. I’m not too crazy about the kitchen/dinning area in this house but I’ve been mentally working out how I can make it "mine" and be happy with it. Once I get rid of the awful wall paper, it will be just a matter of painting the walls and cabinets and paneling and then I will be happy. I told Hubby that if we end up with that house, I will go straight to work on those 2 rooms and won’t stop till I am happy. I wasn’t really wanting to do a "fix-er-up" but since our choices are limited, we have to do what we have to do and make the most of it to make it work for us.

Who knows, once I see it in person, it may not look as bad as I’m thinking it does. Two of the bedrooms that are shown, will also be re-painted. I promised The Child that as long as she does well for us these next 4 weeks, that the weekend we move in (assuming we move in the 21st), we’ll go get paint and we’ll paint her room before our furniture arrives. I went ahead and picked out samples of pinks that *I* like (that aren’t crazy, out of this world,neon/bright, etc) and told her she could choose from those colors. We are looking at doing one wall a dark pink and the other 3 walls a light pink. Of course you know I will take before and after pictures lol. So if we can move in the weekend we want (with early possession because USAA said it could take up to 45 days for the final closing), I’ll probably start on the kitchen/dining room also because I know Hubby will be bored out of his mind and will need something to do also. He can make everything up to me by providing the muscle for all the hard stuff (like removing wall paper!!! LMAO)

As most of you know via Facebook, my Dad is in ICU with pneumonia. He is doing much better this morning and is expected to be transferred to a regular room as soon as one becomes available. He refused to be put on a vent so they tried something else and that seems to be working for him. But only time will tell. His lungs don’t want to work properly because of the cancer and previous chemo and radiation and is therefore putting a major strain on his heart. Damn stubborn mule has a DNR so he thinks he doesn’t need all this stuff they are trying to do for him to get him well. I’m glad I am here because there is no way I could stay sane while watching him die in front of my eyes. Yet at the same time, It kills me that I can’t go get one last hug from him. Or smell his cologne. Or feel his arms wrapped around me in a bear hug, making me feel safe and cherished the way Daddy’s do for their little girls. And let me just be selfish here for a second and just mention that now is not a good time for him to die, when he is 1120 miles away from me. I can’t afford the time and money to be traveling to SC right now. After we get settled

And as I was typing those last sentences, my Step-Mom called to let me know they were sending Daddy home from the hospital … with Hospice care …

Dear God, I’m not ready to lose my Daddy …