Fall approaches

For the past four days I've felt like I have wads of cotton jammed in my ears. It doesn't hurt and I'm not having vertigo so I merely wait (and pop my ears again) and it will pass. Other than that I'm just fine, a touch sleepy. It's well past my bedtime.

Friday was Nala's birthday. We brought pink and purple carnations to her and wondered what it would be like to have her with us. What if is a foolish game to play so I don't play very long. She would have been 9. We spent the rest of the day down at Char's, my mother-in-law.

A few weeks back we were visiting Char and I got a cookie recipe from her, really awesome cookies. We copied it by hand and I commented that I hand mixed my batter because I don't have an electric mixer. Any old dinner fork is fine to cream butter in mho. Char was surprised that I didn't own such a simple kitchen appliance. Or a toaster, I just use the broiler- waste not want not right? Well, she gave me a toaster and a mixer Friday, which I thought was very sweet.

My mom was totally annoyed that Char gave me a gift "without a reason". My mom is very strange, soon another very long Mother rant will grace my journal pages- trust me. I love her, I hate her. She was just an absolutely terrible mom, one of those that make people tsk tsk and comment that some people just shouldn't have children. I have some sympathy for her- it has to be a personality disorder she has and it's probably treatable but she just doesn't realize there is something wrong with the way she behaves. She is aware that she may have been a slightly rotten mom though, she's trying to make up for it and mother me now. Every time I mention that I cooked dinner or did housework she exclaims "Good Girl!" like I need a pat on the head for completing a routine task. "Good Girl!" Aighhh! hahahaha Later later, that's for later.

Saturday I went to the Parade of Homes to drool over the dotcom houses. Oh I want to be in a home of my own so much! Paint that isn't white, counter tops that aren't yellow, a yard I don't mind landscaping... we are tired of throwing our money away on rent. The houses were beautiful of course, what shocked me was that several in the $700,000 range were really just NORMAL houses, nice- but not so much nicer than any new custom house would be. That is rather scary.

Vancouver, WA has many small houses that were built for the shipyard workers during WWII. They average about 850 sq ft on a 5000-6000 sq ft lot. They are tiny little houses that sold for around $36,000 when I graduated from high school in 1989. Those same houses now sell for about $140,000. The value has more than tripled but wages have not. At best they have doubled. At this rate and with interest rates rising again I fear that if we don't get into a home soon we never will. All of this sent me into a flurry of financial planning which included acquiring copies of Scott and my credit reports.

If you had asked me how my credit was a few days ago I would have told you that it was horrible. We had a car repossessed and the only visa I ever had was long ago labeled a charge off. My credit (Scott's too) was bad enough to encourage a life of paying for everything with cash. Everything. We have no checking account, no credit cards, no payment plans, car loans, nothing involving any form of credit. Scott has a savings account but I'm not on it.

What showed up on our credit reports is- nothing like I'd expected. Scott had the visa on his report, the whole ridiculously small amount of 1300$ (It was a $500 limit card). I tell you there are some very bad people running certain credit companies. They prey upon young people with easy to get credit with very severe penalties. It was a harmless card, $500 limit. We got it so we could improve our credit history and we faithfully mailed in our payments in a timely fashion for about two years. One month, I was a DAY late. ONE DAY. The card was almost maxed out and at a $500 limit that didn't scare us. The company added a late charge, which threw us over the limit, which added an over the limit charge and the next thing we knew the interest rose a dozen points and our $17 minimum monthly payment became a demand for $120. We didn't have it, so we didn't pay them anything. The next month they wanted $250 and we just sort of gave up and told them to get in line with everyone else we owed money to. Knowing what I know now, I would have called the company as soon as I knew our payment arrived late to make alternate arrangements. This was 5 or 6 years ago. The company went out of business and sold our debt to another company, they have offered to settle for less than what we actually owed and we intend to take it. Other than the visa, Scott has two small medical bills and an old utility bill in collections. They don't total $300 together. My credit report is absolutely barren. It's just blank. I don't know why the visa isn't on mine but it's not. We got our reports from all three of the main agencies.

Anyhow, our credit woes aren't nearly as bad as we thought. That really made my day. So the plan is:
I need to get a job. Any old customer service job will suffice, to pay off that *ehem* intimidated debt and save for a downpayment. We need to get some stupid credit card for something we'll use rarely, a furniture store or computer store perhaps. We've planned on buying a bed and a computer with cash, we might be better off paying them off for a year or so instead. And then we need to go buy one of those little 850 sq ft homes and put up a white picket fence and live happily ever after. Oh, I meant live in a cozy cottage long enough to build a little equity towards a slightly larger home. I don't need a lot of room, I don't have that many kitchen appliances after all. ;)

OH, I have other news and it's not official just yet but, Scott got a desk job! Same company, different position. He is very much ready to give up moving boxes and is just waiting to hear whether he is going to Reno for training or if the trainer is coming here. The job doesn't come with a pay increase but it does bring with it "full-time" status and the benefits that come with that. Medical, paid holidays, 401k- he's a happy guy. Down side, the hours SUCK. 3- 11 pm again. Yuck, he'll never see Jordan during the school week, and if I work daytimes he'll never see me. C'est la vie. We've done it before and nothing is ever really permanent. In a few years Jordan won't need me home after school anyhow, and Scott will move on to driving. Most important is that Scott will be happier inside an AC room on hot days, a heated one during winter. His work won't be moving heavy things around all day while never earning a vacation. He wants to try his hand on a new set of skills and I'll do whatever I can to help the change go smoothly.

Oh yawnnn! Now I can sleep :)