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Archive for September, 2015

A feel good story!

September 23rd, 2015 at 10:51 pm

My daughter's grandmother passed away last year and left my daughter a Ron Lee clown collection that she had built over many years, along with her hutch to house them all. My daughter grew up admiring these clowns and was so touched that her grandmother left them to her.

My daughter rented a u-haul to bring it all home and then realized she really didn't have room for everything in her home- so she put it in a storage unit that her ex rented.

Just after the beginning of the year, the ex was in the process of moving when he slid during a baseball game and dislocated his foot- he was subsequently out of work for 3 months- and he got way behind on bills. His phone was disconnected, he had to move back in with parents for a short time and the bills for the unit rental went to his prior address. Time went by and sadly, the unit was auctioned off without their knowledge. (or at least my daughters..)

When the ex figured out what happened he was reluctant to voluntarily tell my daughter and several months went by.

This past weekend, my daughter and her sister decided to get the clowns out of storage and figure out how to start enjoying them .. only to learn that they were gone, and had been for over 6 months. The girls were heartbroken. Their grandmother's clowns meant a great deal to them.

So, my daughter turned to Facebook and, using a couple of public spaces, posted her story asking everyone for help.

Guess what? Someone knew the guy that bought the unit.

The guy that bought the unit is retired military. When he initially went through the items, he was perplexed why someone would let this collection go to auction- but when he called the storage place, they told him that the owner had had cancer and disappeared. (The ex HAD gone through cancer surgery and treatment the year prior to dislocating his foot. The storage guy assumed he had died.)

So the guy that bought the unit sat on the items- not sure what to do. Then, this past weekend he was contacted by a friend about the Facebook post and learned that the owner was heartbroken and looking for her grandmothers clowns. When he heard her story, he contacted my daughter and said that he had wanted to return the items- his gut told him someone, someday would be wanting these back.

He originally paid almost $400 for the unit .. the price he has asked to return everything "good karma". He is just happy that there was a happy ending and wants to give back the items free of charge.

A reported has asked to put the story on the front page of our local news and stated that feel good stories are too few and far between.

We are so thankful that this story has such a happy ending. And I am wondering what we can do to repay this retired soldiers generous gift.

Holy gas bill!

September 15th, 2015 at 03:49 am

I am super-duper excited!!

I filled the tank on my new-to-me car today and it was a whopping $41. I used just over 16 gal to go 500 miles or 30 MPG...WOOT! My old car averaged 18-20 so I am super happy!

The hubs hand is about twice its normal size tonight- and he hurts. But the stitches are healing already- so he is on the mend. He is missing 7 days of work- which hurts and already stretched budget this month- but we will make it work. I think he will have the option of making up the time at the other end of the hitch, which will make it a wash-but we will see how he does.

We have separated the dogs- the younger one will be kept in a pen by himself and the two older labs will stay in another. (Thankfully we have 2 - 60x60 pens on the property.) DD3 isn't ready to give up on her pup. She has had him in obedience school once before- and I am not fully convinced this was him as much as it was the older lab being overprotective. We will just have to make sure they stay separated. But I will be on higher alert and watching for any signs of aggression- if there are any, the pup will have to go- but hopefully, this will solve the issue.



Expensive dog fights

September 14th, 2015 at 01:45 am

We have owned labs for years. They are amazingly wonderful pets. Several months ago, DD3 brought a puppy into the fold- a Catahoula/pit mix. I am very leery of pits and their tendency for aggression.

Our labs and the pup have been just fine together until last weekend, when for some reason- we think one was playing and the other was protecting the hub to begin with, the older male lab (10) and the pup got into a fight- ending with staples and antibiotics. Then, they were fine again. Playing and enjoying each other.

Today, the pup went to play with the hub and the lab took it as a threat and they went at it again...only this time, in his effort to break the fight up, the hub ended up at urgent care with two nasty bites needing 3 and 7 stitches. He will also have to take 7 days off work- which is unpaid. :/ All together, that's about $2500 in bills and lost wages. OUCH.

Darn dogs. So now we have to make a decision about the pup. We definitely don't want this aggressiveness with grandbabies around- and its clear that these two don't share well when the hubs around.

Thankfully the dogs are ok this time. DD3 was also bit, but it didn't break the skin- is just gonna leave a nasty bruise.

Again, darn dogs.

Plugging the financial hole that is a remodel and spending on NFL Sunday Ticket

September 13th, 2015 at 08:14 pm

Happy SUNDAY...and football season SUNDAY to boot! WOOT.

I have been on vacation this past week. We decided to make it a stay at home week to get settled into the house. We didn't get as much done as I had hoped, but we did make progress! We didn't get to the storage unit, so we will be paying another month rental on that. Since the hub leaves for ALaska on Wednesday, it will be at least 3 weeks before we can get things moved.

I ended up buying a new to me used car this week. I got a 2012 Hyundai Sonata- which has been very well cared for and has low miles. I opted for the extended warranty and lifetime oil change options, to hopefully extend the life of this car well into retirement. I loathe the whole car buying experience-seems like there should be more transparency with car buying- it is such a nebulous, frustrating process and its impossible to know what kind of deal you're really getting. Bleh- I will be perfectly happy driving the same car forever if it means avoiding those freakin car lots.

Tomorrow the contractor is coming to finish the punch list and we will make the final payment. It will be nice to have the last check written to know exactly where we stand. Then I will get an aggressive repayment schedule in place so that everything will be paid off in 4 years. Update- the contractor stopped by to say it will be at least Wednesday before he can come finish...and so it goes...

We are fully enjoying the kitchen. I have baked and cooked every day. Today I have a big crockpot of red beans and sausage cooking to go over some white rice tonight. It will make enough for several days of yumminess! I have a loaf of banana chocolate chip bread on the counter- and we have left over tri tip, smoked ribs and baked beans with bacon in the fridge...so we are set on meals for most of the week.

I splurged on NFL Sunday ticket this year. I didn't get it last year and really missed watching the games that weren't televised. Football is my weekend entertainment and having the program averages $10 per week...which is justifiable for me. Big Grin I will use my allowance to pay for it. My Sunday fun is set until January!

Today I am getting laundry and meals planned for the week ahead. I wish vacation was a few days longer, but alas, its back to work I go in the morning!

THISCLOSE

September 3rd, 2015 at 04:54 am

We are down to DAYS from having the remodel done. The light fixtures are going up, and the new furniture arrives tomorrow. On Saturday, we get Directv- and we should be 99% done. (we still need a bannister for the stairs and a couple small cosmetic finishes) I am SO ready to finish! Once I can post pics again, I will post more before and after shots. We went from a very tired 1960s house to one that looks like a two story cabin!!

Next week I will be on vacation. We are going to cancel our reservations for camping at the coast and stay home instead in order to get settled into the house. I know I will feel better staying home and getting everything done.. including finding a new (used) car. I have stocked up on so many recipes the past couple of years that I will have to pick just a few to try out. Its finally cooling off a little, which to me always means SOUP and crockpot time!!

We need to go out to the storage place and move everything back home. It will be interesting- as so much of our stuff I packed well over 2 years ago thinking it would only be packed for 4 months- I have forgotten much of what we had. The main things I want to find are my pots, pans and bake wear. It will feel a little like Christmas Im sure- but I also know much of the 'stuff' will make its way to Goodwill, since we don't miss it or even remember what's in the boxes.