In case you don't know, I am living in the town that is credited for being the birthplace of Mother's Day - and in case you don't know, this year was the Centennial of the holiday. To mark the occasion (and, let's be honest, to try to get a few more votes before the Tuesday primary) my favorite presidential candidate came to our little hamlet. I kid you not - Hillary Clinton came to Grafton, WV!

Labels: I (heart) Billary, Local Color

I've decided to go back to Skype. My mobile gets spotty reception and costs more than skype does a month (plus I'm probably giving myself some sort of cancer by using it all the time), and I've been spoiled by having my own line for too long, I just can't go back to sharing one line with my parents. So I placed an order last night. The outgoing part is working fine - but skype has dropped the ball on hooking up the incoming part. I've contacted them, and I've never had a problem like this with them before, so I'm sure it'll be up and running soon (they have up to 48 hrs. to respond). I will still have my mobile phone, and still use it, but I'll be cutting down to a lower minute package. So, expect an e-mail from me soon with one FINAL number update - I promise it's final this time, LOL ;)

Labels: La Opinion, the chaos of settling in

Firstly, there shall be no more American Idol in this house (it's the ONLY thing we're unanimous about). It was bad enough when they sent the Australian guy home (instead of the talentless folks and one trick ponies such as Kristie Lee, Brooke, and Jason). It was bad enough that they keep that simperingly overdone Archuleta kid (yes, he can sing - but I still hate him). But when they threw Carly Smithson off - the camel's back snapped like a twig. I will watch the horrifyingly entertaining auditions in the future, but I will never again get wrapped up in the show past that point.

Secondly, my mother has calmed down (slightly) and is lowering the price of the condo, on the advice of the Realtor, to $299,900. Yes, the market actually IS that unstable and crappy (to illustrate; a fact my father ran across in the Register or the Times .... there were 600 foreclosures in Orange County in the whole year of 2006 ... there were 600 foreclosures in Orange County in just March of 2008!).

Thirdly, no matter what any Monday morning quarterbacks might say (come Monday morning) I think my tv-boyfriend, Craig Ferguson, did a very nice job at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

Fourthly (is that even a word?), I am still upset with my mother to the extent that I don't really want to do any sort of "family business' investment stuff that involves her in any way. My mother, bless her heart (here in the South you can say anything you like abou someone, so long as you preface it with: Bless his/her heart), seems to have a total inability to make business decisions based on anything other than emotion. I've never known anyone else who can mange to take a drop in the real estate market as a personal affront (from me to her, since I delivered the bad news), and possibly a conspiratorial plot (involving everyone - including Lee Harvey Oswald on the grassy knoll with a candlestick .. oh wait, that's something else altogether, lol) to rob her of all the money she has in the world. I still think investing in rental properties is a fine idea - but I really don't need her to sulk and pitch a hissy fit every time we'd have to shell out for a new shower head. I just don't need the drama - and my mother is very much about drama.

When I was at my most livid and disillusioned with her I looked into moving out somewhere local (though why I would want to stay local when I'm angry with someone I don't quite know, lol). And that was a solid possibility, for five minutes. But I would have to take my money (and possibly a couple utilities, since they're in my name) with me - which I deemed sort of mean of me. It's not like my parents couldn't get the gas or the DirecTV hooked up in their names, it's just a hassle and an expense, so it seemed a bit nasty. I wasn't angry enough to be mean - I just wanted out. So then I thought of leaving the country again - either teaching English or as an au pair or both (anything to get out quick). That option sang me a siren song big time since it meant travel and immediate withdrawal, but then my more sensible side took over and started pointing out that if I did that I'd just be bouncing around from place to place for 3-6 months at time, never accumulating more in the savings account than it took to get to my next job. And while that sounds adventurous at 22, at 32 it sounds sort of stupid!

What I finally settled on, is that, for better or worse, I really do want to get a Real Estate License (I liked the idea in CA (and if we were there still, I could have had one by now) ... and I like the idea here too - hey, a good idea is good everywhere). After all a girl's gotta have a day job no matter what shape her pipe dreams may take - and I really think that's the one that would work best for me (whether or not my mother ever gets hired help and sets me free - cue the choir singing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot").

And I think doing the Real Estate thing is a good idea (FOR ME) regardless of what my parents do or do not do.

But that means holding still long enough to take the class and pass the test ... so no gallivanting around for 6 months in Mexico and 6 months in the UK (or 6 months in Mexico and 3 months each in two European or South American countries that will only let me in for that length of time un-visa-ed - sure that's a word!). So I calmed myself down and made the decision to stay here, take the class, pass the stupid test, and go from there ... regardless of what anyone else does or does not do around here. It may not glitter like gold, but I think it's a smarter move over the long haul (using phrases like that is how you know you're starting to get old .. I mean SMART! lol). And if, in the course of staying here and doing what seems smarter for me, I occasionally tell my mother to bite me - so be it. I mean come on, it's not like she's gonna fire me for having a bad attitude (if she could've she would've done that years ago, since I think she thinks I always have a bad attitude).

Bottom line: I've decided to be very Zen about the whole thing (and slightly selfish) .... However I got here (false pretenses, broken promises, or just the uncontrollable variables of human existence), I'm here now .. and all I can do is work from here forward - doing what's best for me.

Sixthly, in case the condo does ever sell, and in case there is any money to fix up this place, and in case anyone cares to waste their time seeing how I waste my time .... here are some of the plans I made (click on the them to make them bigger):

Labels: a random rant, I Need A Vacation, if stress burned calories I'd be a supermodel, pointless drivel

So, Wednesday (or something like that) we got an e-mail from the Realtor saying that the market in CA is falling even lower down the bottomless pit it's been sliding into lately, and that if we're serious about selling we're going to have to lower the price. At the moment it's listed at $349,900. I suggested, and I firmly believe, we should lower it to $324,900 (for now). According to the Realtor there are a total of 20 comparable properties for sale right now priced between $259,000 and $359,000 - 17 of those are lower in price than our condo (and 11 of the listings are HOUSES not condos!) I thought my mom should pick a number she felt comfortable with and call the Realtor so she could change the price before the Open House she's holding this weekend - but my mother won't have it (she's not fond of change and has it set in her mind that the condo is worth $357,000).

Every time we've talked about it over the last couple days I've ended up wanting to strangle her (she has a way of talking to me like I'm a 2 year old). There is no amount of reasoning with her that seems to sink in. I have tried pointing out perfectly practical things like: for tax purposes the condo MUST be sold THIS year, it's only worth what someone is willing to pay for it (and we're not going to see that figure go back up to $410,000 again anytime soon!), and that a couple hundred thousand in the hand (while not anywhere near the $300,000 it was once going to be) is worth a whole lot more than nothing in the hand! She seems to have this mentality that the condo is an asset. But in my book, something with PLUMMETING equity that costs you almost $900 a month in mortgage and association fees is more in the liability family. And that seems especially apparent to me when you hold it up against the alternative; completely un-financed properties that actually MAKE a couple thousand dollars every month.

But she is immovable, so far, and is talking about renting it out again.

That is NOT what I signed up for! I agreed to come back here only under certain conditions, one of them being that there is supposed to be an eventual boost to the income (from rental properties) which will allow us to hire private duty nursing care for my mother - thus allowing me to get a life of my own for a change.

I've been up all night - fuming and miserable - looking online at classified ads for apartments, cars, and jobs here in WV and up in Pittsburgh. I swear to God, if she screws this up, I'm leaving - I've totally had it!

Labels: Family, I Need A Vacation

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you've ended up just having nothing to say for yourself? The kind of thing that just flew past you without a single solitary remarkable event?

Well, that's me right now, lol:)

My major accomplishment is that I have now, officially, gotten us entirely off the paper plates and plastic spoons because I have now unpacked, rewashed, and put away every pot, pan, dish, spoon, bowl, cutting board, glass, and odd little unipurpose gadget known to be in my possession. However, there must be something missing - an errant box somewhere - since I'm still missing the butter dish (found the gravy boat that is hardly ever used, but not the butter dish that gets used regularly - go figure!).

Oh well, it must be somewhere around here.

Labels: pointless drivel, the chaos of settling in

So, the whole time we lived in California (and while my mother and I were here in WV last time) we had cable tv lineups that didn't offer BYUTV. And while I did always enjoy the Living Essentials show and the cooking show with Mary Crafts, I can't say I really missed it.

But this past weekend, during the multiple airings of the multiple sessions of Conference, my mother basically guilted me into leaving the channel on for large chunks of time. I can't claim to have seen every minute of every session. I can't lie and say there weren't times when I rolled my eyes. I think there might even have been one occasion when I talked back to the screen briefly (something I normally reserve for members of the Bush administration and the folks on Fox News), but overall - I actually enjoyed it! In fact, I think I sort of miss going to church - even with my ubiquitous urge to roll my eyes.

My favorite of the talks I saw was actually from Joseph B. Wirthlin in the Saturday morning session. I was perched and prepared to cop an attitude when he began to talk about "the lost", but somehow I just never felt the need.

Labels: Never a Molly - but still a Mormon?