Earthmom's Musings

About Life, the Universe and Everything

 

October 14, 2005

What a day yesterday ended up being!  Again, I was on the telephone all day.  I believe I'm just going to strap the damned thing to my head and rig it so that it answers when I jerk my head to one side.  This time, it was because the new payoff information was night and day from the payoff info we signed a day before.  So here I am living on the phone to the old mortgage company and each time I call, a customer service rep gives me an entirely different story than what I got from the last one.  All the more reason to bail on this company.  To my knowledge, we finally got it straightened out, except that we now have 2 different sources funding our property taxes, which are now due.  The old mortgage company is taking them out of our impound account and the title company is including them in the closing costs.  So now, the checks race to the tax collector and the one that gets there last will be returned to us.  That's $1200 (for a quarter of the year) that we have to wait on.  It's not exactly a deal breaker or a budget breaker since we do not have a mortgage payment for November, but it is definitely something to jack with my delicate Virgoean sensibilities when redundancy like that is at work, not to mention the sloppy figures from the title company.  In short, as before, I will be very pleased when this harvest is in from the fields and we don't have to keep going out into the world, even by phone, to reap it.

* * *

The little girl puppies are 5 weeks old and eating solid foods very well, so it's time for them to find their homes.  To that end, I put a sign up on the Post Office bulletin board yesterday.  Susan, who runs the Post Office, said she knew of two homes who had just lost older, beloved dogs and would likely want replacements.  Last night, a young man called looking for a puppy for his wife, whose older dog has one foot in the grave.  He took the smaller of the two little dapples and that leaves one unclaimed.  Delena is taking Baby and one of her friends is taking the other black one.  I have a feeling the last one will be claimed by the weekend, then Puppy Times are ended except for Baby and JoBu who we will still have.  I was very surprised at how sad I felt when the little girl was going away last night.  I thought about how she and her sisters are always together, whether they are in the hole (Belle actually annexed the Birth Hole with a bigger hole to the side) or out running in the woods and knew she would be lonely for them.  I know they will be looking for her as well.  :(  I know they need to go to good homes because we can't take care of 5 dogs, plus Belle, the elusive stray, but it was still hard to see her go. 

* * *

Today, I have to rush papers into the title company:  one that was incorrect at the signing (they wanted us to sign for a 3 year prepayment penalty phase when it was only 2 years) and one they "forgot" to include.  >:<  So they faxed over the papers and I have to fly down to Placerville and get them to that branch of the title company so they can courier them over to the branch of the title company that is handling our refi.  Since it is Dylan's day to go to town, I am going to be a bad mother and take him with me rather than sending him to school.  They don't do much on Friday and I really, really do not want to make another trip into town this weekend.  It will have to be the ambiguous, "Dylan has an appointment in town today" excuse.

Speaking of which, it is time to get Dylan ready for town and Nathan ready for school.  I hope all of you have a spectacular weekend!

Much love,
Katrina

* * * * * * * * *

October 13, 2005

And so it continues.  Thought the worst of the rushing and phone calls and back and forth was done, but today brings another batch.  I will be very grateful when this is all ended, but then, no one said harvest is easy and the crops don't just walk their asses up to your front door and jump into the freezer.  You have to go out there and do sweaty, uncomfortable, exhausting work to bring it in.  So I guess I'm OK with it.  It's just so far out of my comfort zone that it's disconcerting at times.

Papers were signed yesterday.  It was one of the easiest signings I've ever had.  We met the notary and our mortgage broker, who is a personal friend, at a Mexican restaurant in Placerville (35 minutes away).  Erica and I laughed and talked while I signed papers Eric pushed my way.  I even found an error in them, just to prove I was paying attention.  Today, I've been on the phone to the old mortgage company working through an error in the payoff and on the phone to the title company, as well as trading faxes, to correct the error I found in the prepayment penalty phase for the new loan.  It just goes on and on.  In theory, it closes on Tuesday and will be done.  I am so completely ready for that to happen but again, I trust the process.

* * *

No more bottles for JoBu!  Today, he started drinking from a bowl and is very, very happy at the independence it gives him to come and go as he pleases without having to wait for me to sit and feed him.  Sisters should find homes this week if all goes well.  I took the sign to our post office bulletin board this morning and the mail lady said she knew of two people who had recently lost very beloved dogs and would likely love a replacement.  I am very hopeful.  I feel bad because one of the girls is getting picked up this weekend and I imagine that is when Delena will want to bring Baby into the house as well.  That leaves the other two little girls wondering where their partners went.  They are very tightly bonded and do everything together, so I have a feeling it is going to be hard for them.  :(

* * *

Time to go clean house.  What I want is to take a nap.  Eric is with his friend, Jason, today which gives me a longer day.  Today, that is a benefit because I will have a longer time to get things done.  Right now, I want to get over the headache that being on the phone all morning has caused.

I feel a nap coming on.

Much love,
K