Waiting Again

The good news is that BIL is not getting laid off. The other news is that he is not able to get a loan until after the middle of December. So we wait until January to put our offer on the house, assuming it is still for sale then. The seller's employer is purchasing the house, though, and retaining their RE agent, so at least we know who to talk to.

In other news, Pearl woke up without nursing today! Hooray! And she is interested in how things die, if there is blood, and how they are killed (i.e., by a predator, by a person, etc.). As you might imagine, this makes for interesting conversation.

Dad is not doing so hot, but hanging in there. He and Mom are going to start him on dialysis soon... I don't wish that on anyone for any reason, but as my mom says, it's that or death - with the assumption that death is the absolute worst thing that could happen. And who am I to determine that for anyone else? But I will say this: quality of life is something that you have to be ready for, bad or good. The consequences of our acts of living are many times irreversible, but not always tragic, and certainly not (nor am I arguing that they should be) for the benefit of others. I hope that I can support my parents through this difficult time. And SIL made it through her surgery just fine, which of course takes a lot of worry away from my brother and my parents.

All in all, we are just sitting and waiting for the move. I am decluttering slowly, looking for ways to get rid of stuff now instead of January when it's really cold and with snow. I have gotten anal about budgeting because someone has to do it - and Chris is thankful. Retraining the adults about spending money is more difficult than I imagined. And we are frugal! But frugal as we are, we are not very disciplined about spending; or rather, both of us are not very disciplined about spending. It's not that bad, but breaking in new habits is a challenge.

And this is my 200th post! Lucky you.

Help a Family in Need through Mothering

It's Holiday Helper time again!

Over at the Mothering discussion forums, members (and moms) organize an annual giving program for families in need. Families register with a list of needs, and anyone -- even you! -- who wants to help provide the family with warm clothes, new books, shoes, gas cards, whatever you can give and whatever they need.

Here is the list of families who are already on the list. Usually 200 or more families receive help around the holidays from the generosity of strangers. Helping goes through the end of the year. The families have NO idea who is helping, or what they will get. In this program, when a mom in need registers for the list, it's like someone chose you for their secret admirer and then they all send you things you really need or things that will make your life a little happier. And when you are flat broke and need everything, this usually moves you to tears.

So go to the list and see if you can help, or email me and I'll organize help for a family if you like. But I need help to do that.

money stress

Now BIL might get laid off. We don't have enough money to get us through our gas and non-food purchases this month because Chris worked fewer hours in September. And I had to go to the food pantry today to make sure we had food after tomorrow - because I just won't go into debt to buy food. Ah, the hidden costs of traveling to see my parents... And you don't want to know about the quality of food at the pantry. But at least we aren't going to be hungry. Hooray!

Hopefully it will be a little better next month. But we still can't get some of the things we need for the girls. And, if you have a non-rusty dutch oven you're not using, send it my way, OK? If I had one, I could bake no-knead bread (my wrists are trashed from office and temp work many years ago) and not have to buy it! I hate the teflon factor of bread machines. It's another of those popular but toxic products of this modern life we try to do without.

Hey, I learned today that we make about a third of the income considered poverty level for a family of four. How about that?

And yes, even though we are trying to get the money from Tata's dad's estate, we don't have it yet. We are broke until then, and even then every penny has to go to support the family/house/move/future. I'm not feeling too hopeful, and wondered if I need to be on the christmas gift lists at the local food pantry.

Bleh. Off watch some bad movie or other.

Mad Scrambling

We're all scrambling like mad over here, trying to figure out how to purchase a house and some land. That's right, we're mad scramblers.

So tired of renting, and living in too-small houses. So tired of mildew and mold that seems to be the standard in older homes in Wisconsin, especially those with basements. So tired of worrying about not being able to grow our own food and set up the land for growing medicinals the way we want. It's frustrating to be on the verge of being able to feel more self-sufficient and feeling stopped by circumstance.

So we found a really nice property that is out of our price range. And it is awesome in many. many ways: all appliances included, all two years old; new construction as of 2006; cedar siding; tons of hardwoods and open land; a seasonal creek and a pond; privacy, and beauty. Trying to rustle up some cash, we called all the places possible that provide low-income [which is SO our situation right now] loans and services to home buyers. We more than qualify for everything possible, hooray! Oh, but we want to live outside of the city. AND we want more than 5 acres. The powers that be figure with more than 5 acres we could make the land income-generating, and therefore not need special help to get a cheap, stable loan. I do understand the concept of limited funds going to the most needy, blah blah blah. I've lived my damned life by that mantra for years now. However, my paranoid mind has come to the conclusion that it is dangerous and/or unpleasant for the poor to 1) have too much land, and 2) live outside of the easily-controlled cities and towns. You can argue reasonably with me all day long, and I will agree that organizations have to cap their services somewhere. I will agree. But I am still left with the sinister feeling that the poor shouldn't have too much power, according to the money-lenders of the US.

So there.

Here is the property we really want.

And now we wait for Brother-in-Law to get his shit together and pay Tata his half of the value of their dad's house, which has been sitting in Chicago, rented for several months (almost a year), and for which Chris has received NOTHING in more than a year and half. And which we need in order to secure a small loan to pay the difference with a little extra for infrastucture and installing a wood stove. And which said Brother-in-Law doesn't want to pay the full amount to Chris because the market is so bad now. And which he agreed to pay twice before and never did.

But I'm not going to this bitter, ugly place today so I don't have to feel angry again.

[skipping] La la la, isn't it a nice day? Beautiful fall weather, birds, leaves, wind, etc. You can sing with me!

So join me in our mad scramble, and wish us the best of luck! And if we buy this house, you all can come on up and party with us.