Fall into autumn

It rained much of this past week, again.  We certainly are not in a drought this year!

Yesterday was Oklahoma City's Pagan Pride day.  It was lovely, as usual, to be able to go shop the vendors and see the good turn out, and to know that I am not alone in central Oklahoma!

I was invited to be one of the performers again, but turned it down again.  I don't really do the style of dance people at PPD are interested in.

A friend of ours went with us this year, because she had friends there who were vending.  I think she had fun, too.

Then, we went to one of the local breweries that was doing a fund raiser for prostate cancer awareness and treatment.

Came home, watched the Cubs game, made dinner, watched Svengoolie, used the hot tub.... It was a great day/night!

Today, I will finish laundry, mow the back while Dave goes to check on his dad, and then, hopefully, I will have some time to dance while Dave mows the front.

I got the vacuuming and bathroom done yesterday morning before our friend arrived, so that's already taken care of.

The weather, when it hasn't been raining, has been spectacular.  Today should be picture perfect.  MAYBE we'll get on our bikes some time today, too.

Happy Sunday!

Switch back

There isn't too much to report this week.

My monthly trip to the clinic was non-eventful.  Blood counts look good, and I told the doc that the tendon pain SEEMS to be a little better.  The hip pain is completely gone!

He assured me that the intense hot flashes should abate over time, like they did with the previous changes in hormone blockers.

My scan day is Oct. 19

We got up early  yesterday and went to the Farmers' Market.  Then, Dave went and did a couple of other errands while I did laundry and mowed the back yard.

He mowed the front after he got home, and we watched the Cubs game.

Then, we went out to get me a new cell phone.  THAT process literally took almost 4 hours, and wasted the entire rest of the afternoon.  We didn't get home until after 7 pm, and I was too worn out and hungry to even think about cooking dinner.

Fortunately, we had some frozen entrees from Trader Joe's in the freezer.

Anyway.... several years ago, Dave got a company phone and left our "family plan" to just me.

Before that, we had both had iPhones, and were on AT&T.  We had started to become extremely frustrated with AT&T's HORRIBLE customer service, and had already turned off our land line and their Direct TV service.

Dave's company phone was an Android, and he decided that he really liked it.

I remained with AT&T with my iPhone for a while, at what I considered a HIGHLY inflated rate of over $140 per month for one line.

Eventually, Dave talked me into switching to an Android.

I got an LG, and it was a piece of shit from the start.  I hated it, but I kept it for a long time.  It's been so long, I can't recall all that was wrong with it, but I seriously DID NOT like it.

Eventually, though, I decided that I also hated having to pay so much money to AT&T for service, so I chucked them AND the LG, and switched to a Samsung at Metro PCS ($56 per month), the newest carrier in town at that time.

I've been with Metro ever since, and, in comparison to the LG, I liked my Samsung. Though iPhone was still my preference, I had come to think of it as a phone for the elite who had lots of money to spend on a phone. BECAUSE DAMN!  Have you seen how much they cost???

I kept that Samsung until it started to also be a pain in the ass by no longer RINGING when calls would come in, and no longer updating.  3 years maybe?

I went into the Metro store in our neighborhood back in May, and got a new phone.  The clerk assured me that the new LG he was selling me would be a vast improvement over my old one years ago.

He lied.

I am either just not compatible with LG, or this one was a "lemon" as well.  I've only had it for a few months, and I am already screaming at it, and wanting to smash it to pieces. It also doesn't ring sometimes, and the optics on it are "off kilter," so that when I text, the words that appear on the screen are ALWAYS wrong.

I hate the fucking thing.

SO.... here I am, back with AT&T, because they had the best deal going for an iPhone (they spread the payment on the crazy high price out to a monthly amount that goes on your service, so it's less painful), and I have a new iPhone!!  AND I can upgrade every 12 months.

Fortunately, it's no longer over $140 a month!!  But it IS almost twice what I was paying Metro for my android service. That bothers me, but we can afford it now, and I'm worth it.

Also, AT&T is an actual network vendor, NOT a piggy back, and I will be able to get phone service no matter where I am, including overseas, if we ever manage to make that trip.

This was all at Dave's urging, because HE is switching back to an iPhone though his company account, and he knew that I would be insanely jealous!

I've reached a point in my life where I am trying to allow myself to have the nice things that I want and can afford.  This new phone represents a step in that process.

Today, I will make up for lost time, and prepare the meal I didn't get to make yesterday.  It will go in the freezer for our lunches this coming week.  I also have receipts to enter into the check book, and some tidying I want to do.  Maybe also wash the bedding, if I can get the cats off of the bed.

Dave will take care of his pop today.  Other than that, it should be a nice, low key day.

It's been disgustingly hot all this past week (heat index hit 102 on Thursday or Friday), but there is rain in the forecast for next week, and some predicted highs in the 60s!!  Can't wait.

Re- financed the condo

Hey, I forgot to blog about the process of re-financing my Illinois property.

This post is going to be long... If you already know all of the story, just skip it, HA! If you only know parts of the story, read on for the glorious details!

In early August, I got a notice from my mortgage company that I MIGHT qualify for a HARP re-finance before the program ends at the end of this September.

So, I called.

I had been told previously that I could not re-finance under HARP for a rental property, but I was now told that I would qualify.

I decided it would be worth it to eliminate my monthly shortfall, and moved forward.

At first, it was just a lot of paperwork being sent back and forth, and waiting. Something would be missing or wrong, and I would have to re-do it.  No big deal.

Then, right at the end, when I got the mortgage disclosure in the mail to sign on hard copy, I noticed that they had my name wrong.

I was able to just scan it back to them via the scanner at work to notify them that they had made an error.

None of the other stuff I had signed prior to that time had been wrong.  I am not sure WHY they did it, but on some of the items, they had changed my middle initial back to H.
(It has been B since I remarried in 2008)

In order for THEM to correct THEIR error, they advised me that I then had to provide evidence of my name change that took place 9 years ago.

I asked why I had to do that when they had changed the name themselves NOW, at the end of this process-- with no prompting from me-- to one that was not correct.  I never got a satisfactory answer.

I found a copy of our marriage certificate showing my name with the middle initial H, and I sent a copy of my Social Security card, showing my name changed to middle initial B after the wedding.

That was satisfactory to them, and we moved forward.

I was told that closing was scheduled, and that I could have it at my own dining room table at home at a time of my choosing that day.  A notary would come with all of the paperwork for me to sign, and the notary would take it from there.

Great!

The day before the closing, I got a phone call from the notary.  "Ms. Brown?"  I corrected her, but she didn't seem to notice or listen.  We confirmed my appointment.

A little while later, she called again... "Mrs. Brown?  I didn't realize you are married.  I see here your spouse's name is ____" and she spelled it out.

I said "Yes, and that's MY name, too.. it's NOT BROWN.  I'm not sure where you got that."

She also said that my husband would need to be present, and provide two forms of I.D., for the papers that HE would have to sign, blah blah....

?? No one had said anything about him having to sign anything, since this is a property that he has no ownership of in any way.

But then....She paused.  As if she suddenly heard what I had said about my name.

Then she said "Oh my, they have your name all wrong on this paperwork."

I about went off, even though I knew it was not her fault.

We hung up (this is all happening while I am at work mind you), and I got onto the closing agent at my mortgage company, while she got with her third party company supervisor and told them what was going on.

My mortgage company rep apologized, and said she saw the errors right away, it was being corrected, and they were scanning the new documents over immediately.

As it turned out, they had my name three different ways, one of which was COMPLETELY incorrect!

Okay, so we thought everything was fixed and ready to go.

Closing day came, and the notary arrived right on time.  She brought the paperwork out, and started to go through it.

She asked us for our copies of our I.D.s, and Dave asked "Why do I have to sign anything on this?"

She tried to explain it, and said that because we both live here in the house, he would have to sign, too.

Dave and I looked at each other.

I interrupted her, and said "This loan is not for THIS HOUSE! It's for a property that I own on my own in Illinois!"

This time, the error was her fault.

She looked totally confused, and started going through the papers. Dave and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes.

She exclaimed "OH, I had not even noticed that!"

REALLY???

She got on the phone with her supervisor, and explained that we were questioning Dave's having to sign anything, blah blah blah.

She also demanded that I get on with my mortgage company, even though I explained to her that they were already all closed up for the evening.  I sent an email that I knew would not be answered.

Ultimately, it was explained that BOTH Illinois and Oklahoma are what's called "spousal states," and that, even though he is not named on the loan, he DOES have to sign certain forms for ME to be able to get the loan.

Okay, whatever, let's PLEASE just MOVE ON.

She started handing me papers.

First was another copy of the mortgage disclosure.  She said to review it and make sure that the name was corrected.  It was.

She never had me sign it, or hand it back to her.

Dave and I signed everything we were told to sign, I had to correct my name myself on two forms (!!), and she MOVED THE MORTGAGE DISCLOSURE FORM off to the side, packed up the rest of her stuff, and left.

I was told that I would be receiving a check for $250, for the difference.  Cool!

FINALLY!!!  It was all over.  The whole process took about six weeks, and was kind of a pain.

Well, first thing the next morning, the notary called me.

"Do you have the mortgage disclosure I handed to you last night?  I must have walked out without it."

I said "You gave that to me first, to make sure the name was corrected.  You never told me to sign it or hand it back to you.  I even watched you move it to the side when you packed everything else up."

"Oh, no.  I need that, too!  How can I get it from you?"

"Well, I am at work until the same time as yesterday, you can come by and get it at 5:15."

Within minutes, her boss called me and asked to email the documents to me to sign and scan back to her.  Sheesh!

SO I did.

FINALLY DONE??

Nope.  At 5:15, the notary knocked on the door.  She said she still had to have the forms with my original signature on them, the scanned one was not sufficient.

I am glad we came home instead of doing an errand first, because no one told me that this was going to happen!!

I went and got the papers, signed them, and handed them to her.  She said that she HAD to get them to UPS before 6 pm, or the whole thing would fall through.

It was Friday night, too, and we were out of time.  Dave and I, once again, looked at each other and rolled our eyes.

As she left, she called over her shoulder, "Thanks, Belinda!"

BELINDA?!?!?!  Oh my EFFING GOD!!

Anyway, I heard on Monday that all was well.

FINALLY DONE!!!

A week later (this past Friday), I got the check in the mail.

It was made out with... you guessed it... the WRONG middle initial.

As if that was not hysterical ENOUGH,  my name was also on the check STUB, and THERE, it was correct!!

I just endorsed it, and took it to the bank without pointing anything out.  They took it, and deposited it.

That story is just too good not to tell.  Thanks for sticking with me to the end of it!

Apparently, I am Belinda H. Brown!!

The only other news is that we had a great day yesterday.  We trapped our first feral cat in over a year!  While Dave was taking him to get fixed/vaccinated/ear tipped, I went out and did errands.

I went to the weekly (all year!) Farmers' Market over at the OSU/OKC campus.

We had gone when I first moved here, and I was disappointed.  A friend of mine has been talking about it lately, though, so I went to check it out.

Oh my goodness, our weekly shopping process just changed completely.  I will be going every week.

We also tried the online shopping offered by the grocery store we usually go to.  That was amazing...order groceries on line, go pick them up. Done.

The only drawback is that they charge a fee (first time is free).

But with the Farmers' Market, we may very well not need much from the grocery store anymore. Maybe just for packaged goods.  Either way, this makes our drawn out Friday night errand routine MUCH easier.

I've been fighting a virus most of this past week, thanks to the stupid attendance policies at work.  Co-workers come to work sick, because they have no more "occurrences" to use, and the person with the compromised immune system gets sick.
Every. Time.

Thanks, puppet master!

Feeling better today, but still dealing with annoying congestion and a cough.

I still have only lost 2 or 3 pounds.  It's aggravating, but I am not giving up.

Have a good week!

Back door slam

I think our most exciting news this week is that we found a wooden screen door that will fit our back door!

It was in the back room of a "vintage mall" up north of us here in town.

It was only $40, has some of the hardware (hinges and handles), and fits perfectly into the door jamb where there probably once was a screen door very much like it!

The screen material is in perfect shape. We will need a hook and eye lock, screws that fit the hinges, a latch strikeplate for the door jamb, and a spring or chain, but then, some paint-- and up it goes!

Buying one that looks old but is new was going to be about $100, if I recall correctly!  Dave got a quote from our handy man to hang two screen doors, but now he is pretty sure he can do it himself and save us the money.

Hopefully, we will find another one for the front door that will work out as nicely.

Dave's son came with his pick up truck to go pick it up, and they also got a couple of long pieces of lumber at Lowe's so that Dave can build a table out back that will be a combination potting table and table by the grill, which will make cooking on the grill a LOT easier.

Eric has been a little better about talking to his dad again.  We've seen him twice now, since Dave's trip to the hospital in April.

I guess he got over whatever it was that was keeping him away for so long.

We took him to one of the new microbreweries here in town to thank him for his help, and he stayed for a good, long visit.

Speaking of microbreweries, they are really turning into a "thing" here, since the new law took effect that allows them to sell full strength craft brewed beer. Up until earlier this year, they were only allowed to make 3.2 beer to sell in their tap rooms.

If they were making full strength beer, they could only sell it packaged in the state run liquor stores.

On one hand, it's good that the archaic liquor laws in Oklahoma are changing.

New businesses and jobs are being created.

On the other hand, the little mom and pop liquor stores are going to suffer. Next year, the changes in law will allow them to sell COLD strong beer, so many of them, who do not have the space or funds to install refrigeration units, will lose business  (the only place you can buy full strength beer is liquor stores.  That stuff at the grocery store is 3.2).

Today holds some chores and some relaxation for us.... should be a good combination of "perfect," with the perfect weather we will have as well.

Enjoy your week!

Not much news

There isn't much to report today.

We have a three day weekend for Labor day, and I, for one, really needed this time off from work.

My tolerance level for all of the bullshit has gotten very low.

I lost 2 pounds in my first week of trying again!

We tried a new Mexican restaurant yesterday for an inexpensive brunch, and liked it.  Then, we went thrift store shopping and got a bunch of stuff for very little money.

We now have a collection of mis matched glass ware to go along with our mis matched plates.

It's fun!

I have a massage client coming later.  She's getting her half of a barter agreement.  Since I am no longer licensed or certified, I will only do that kind of work from here on out.

I am hoping my wrists can handle it.  The right one has been a problem lately, but NOTHING like it was back when I got the cortisone shots.

Since the thumb joint seems to have resolved itself, I am hoping the wrist might do that too, eventually.

It's been hot again, which is yucky.  We have to mow, of course, and today it is going to be brutal...especially since we can't get to it until afternoon.

I will pace myself and only do a little at a time.

It's been SO nice lately, I hate to see the heat come back. Oh well.

Nothing else to report.

Sunshine!

We mowed the back yard again on Thursday, after my treatment and before dinner, because the forecast called for rain on Friday.

It rained for 5 hours on Friday.

I mowed the back yard again yesterday.

Dave will mow the front today (it grows a little less quickly, as it is a different kind of grass).

The sun is out, and it's only 70 this morning, so the windows are open.

We sure are happy about all of the rain, and about the cooler than normal temps for August!!

It's just been a lot of work to keep up with all of the lush growth.

Well, our trip to Missouri (9 hours one way) for the eclipse was fun, but the eclipse itself was sort of a bust.

We could see perfectly at first (our hosts got the approved glasses for everyone way in advance, as this gathering had been in planning for over a year).

Then, approaching totality, a huge bank of thick clouds rolled in, and completely blocked our view of the sky.

The birds stopped singing, the bats came out, and it got as dark as midnight, but we couldn't see totality.

Then, the MINUTE the sun started to peek out from behind the moon, the clouds cleared away.

We could see the tiny sliver of light, which looked like a scythe.  It was really cool, but at the same time, disappointing.

It also rained during the darkness, which was interesting.

Even though we couldn't see the few minutes of totality, when the heavenly bodies were in perfect alignment from our place on one of them, it was still pretty cool, and powerful to think about what our ancestors might have done with an experience like that before they understood the science of it.

It was fun to be with friends new and old, to play games and eat and drink and relax.  OH, and with so many tech heads in the house, they figured out a way for us to watch Game of Thrones, too! 

The very best part, though, was a three day work week!

In other news, I saw my oncologist on Thursday, and told him about the return of the tendon pain.

As a result we are trying the last option for hormone blocking medication.  I started on the new med that night, thanks to a sample bottle from the nurse.

Hopefully, it will be the one that works with my chemistry.  If it doesn't help, then I am stuck with sometimes debilitating pain in my wrists, hip, ankle, knee.... (it travels).  But I will just keep moving through the pain as best I can, as I have been doing.

Doc also gave me permission to actually TRY to lose weight.  I only need to lose 8-10 pounds, but I really want it gone.  I hate how my body looks in the mirror, and I hate that my clothes don't fit right.  This is a common side effect of the hormone blocking medication.

I have no choice but to take this medication for 7-10 years, so I need to adapt so that I don't gain 50 pounds like many patients do.

I remember when my sister was on Tamoxifen, she gained weight, too.

First step is to, once again, curtail alcohol consumption.  

Second step is to increase resistance exercises.  More hand weights, push ups, and therapy bands, as well as increasing the resistance level on my elliptical at intervals.

The diet is already pretty clean most of the time, so there's not much I can do there.

I also already get about 45 minutes of cardio exercise every day, so there's not much I can do there, either, aside from maybe using the elliptical when we watch baseball games or tv / movies.

That's QUITE do-able.

I think laying off the cocktails during the week will help a LOT.  It had started to when we decided to stop drinking before, but that decision didn't hold, after all of the stress this spring.

Dave tends to drinks heavily, and he inspires me to drink (I enjoy it, and I don't want to miss out), so it's a bad situation. 

Stress and worry also make us want to drink, but we need to find other ways to handle our stress.  How about exercise?

This time, it was HIS decision to NOT go to the liquor store on our weekly errand trip. That's very good news.

The only way it will work is to not have any in the house.  

We both have multiple health reasons to NOT drink,  but it has become such a habit, and a part of who we are, that it is clearly more of a challenge than we were prepared for.

We can do it, though. We have done it before, and it was wonderful.

In other news, Dave's hospital bill came, and his car needs a repair, so there goes our "trip fund" for Wales.

No more planning a trip overseas for next spring, because now we have to completely start over saving up the money for it.

Bills don't care that one of us is a cancer patient, who would like to LIVE her life before it's over!

So.  Shit.

It might still happen later next year (especially if we put all of the money we aren't spending on booze into the trip fund!), but it definitely will NOT be in the spring as we had been planning.

I am off to make a hearty breakfast, and then the front yard will get mowed.

It should be a pretty relaxed day today, with a Cubs game this afternoon, and the season finale of "Game of Thrones" tonight.

Have a good Sunday!

Seriously, we have now had enough rain!

HAHA!!

We've broken records for rain fall in OK in August, so it can stop now for a couple of weeks, and let things dry out!

The grass is growing so fast that we had to pay someone TWO TIMES this past week to come out and mow.

We had planned to do it ourselves yesterday, but it rained again (twice) after the crew we hired did it for us on Tuesday.

The grass was deeply wet, and had grown so much in a few days.

We would have to have waited until afternoon for the grass to dry out enough to mow, and by afternoon, it was 98 degrees and insufferably humid outside.

Neither one of us wanted to have to mow in those conditions, given the fact that we had so much that had to get done yesterday, and there wasn't time to spend recovering from the inevitable heat exhaustion.

So yesterday morning (when it was already 85 out), Dave flagged down the guy who the neighbors use to do their yard work, and he came over and mowed for us when he was finished with their yard.

That was $80 we REALLY DIDN'T WANT to spend in one week.

We're trying to save as much as we can in the event that we can go to Britain next year.

We had friends over last night for dinner to thank them for taking care of our house and pets for a week back in July.

SO, since I didn't have to mow the back yard, I was able to get all of the laundry and cleaning done, and even relaxed a little to watch part of the Cubs game.

This morning, we leave for our eclipse adventure up in Missouri.

Other Radio Paradise People are coming from around the country. Some are camping at our friends' place, some are lodging elsewhere, and some (as in "we") are staying in our regular room at their house, as we were the first ones invited to this gathering.

Our house sitters are coming later, and all is set.

We just have to shower and throw our bag in the car.  Oh, and I am taking a big batch of my crowd- pleasing broccoli slaw.  I will get the dressing put on, and get it packed in its insulated cooler/carrier right before we leave.

The only draw back of this trip is that our friends do not have HBO, or a smart tv that we can cast to (which is what we do with an app on my phone), so we will miss Game of Thrones tonight! We won't be able to see it until we get home on Tuesday!  GAH!!