The Roof Goes On!

Finally, some progress on the big fixes.

Singles. Finally. And no rain in the meantime.

WHEW!

And on the interior. COLOR!

I am, if you hadn't notice, not going to win the wallflower of the year award. That failure is nowhere else so obvious as in my choice of house colors.

The outside may be gray.

The inside is not.

Evidence #1

The walls are Vanilla Custard. The trim is Clare de Lune. The door is New Brick.

Subtle, right?

Evidence#2

The accent wall in the office. Known as Caribbean Coral. Ceiling is Vanilla Custard. Trim WILL BE Clare de Lune.

Evidence#3

Going into the first bathroom you would think it was just Vanilla Custard on the walls.

Now, I ask you, would I do THAT to someone in need of that room? Of course not......

Just a touch of New Brick. To keep your interest and wake you up. The ceiling will be White on White and the trim will be Clare de Lune.

To say that I am having fun is just out of the question.

My friend Kris is working her heart out to get all the colors in the right order in the right room. Of course, she has to make sure that I haven't changed my mind in the last three minutes.

She did insist that once the color was on the wall that I not change my mind. She was beginning to flash on that scene from "Sleepless in Seattle".

But it is getting there. Only two more rooms to begin painting and only two to finish.

And, on the outside--The Roof Goes ON!!!!1

The JOY of Homeownership

We began with a nice looking 3 bedroom home on an acre and a half of land.

Quiet. Idyllic. Peaceful.

Until the hammers and the tractors spew their noise and pollution.

On my house!

OK. I knew it needed paint. In and out.

Kris in the bathroom.

I knew the deck had to be replaced.

I knew we had to build a dog run.

I knew we had to rewire some things.

I didn't know that we needed a NEW ROOF!

But, one day, while gleefully painting the walls, it began to rain.

INSIDE!

Stop the paint job, find the buckets, and check the roof.

We found the leak.

And then another.

And then another.

So off came the roof and up went the bills.

The contractor is being wonderful. Home Depot is ecstatic. And Fred.......

Fred got to bring his tractor!

It has stopped raining. We continue to paint. And Fred got to use his tractor.

It can't get any better than that.

Well, maybe when I pay off Home Depot.

News! News! News!

I have been rather silent here of late.

There is a reason.

A house.

One of those structures in which humans tend to reside. Such a structure can be rented or owned. I have owned these structures in the past. But following the skid of '08, we have resided in a structure owned by someone other than me or the spouse.

But the insanity of the last few months has resulted in the spouse owning a structure in which we wanted to live.

SO......

I shall relate why the last few months have been insane.

Short Sale.

Ring any bells for anyone.

It requires a LOT of agreements with the faceless people at banks that are going south where direct communication is FROWNED UPON.

There is approval. But it is contingent upon a lot of things. Like REALLY looking at your credit and the value of the home.

Except the value of this home was determined by an appraiser who had his license yanked the day he viewed our property for.....

wait for it.....


mortgage fraud!


New appraisal coming up....

Then, because the house is in the middle of nowhere, the title company won't insure the title because the road to it was established in a 1933 deed that says, and I quote, "present road". No metes, no bounds, no GPS. So, according to them, the road does not exist and the parcel is "inaccessible" .

I am standing on the porch having arrived to the house by car (not tractor, truck or dog sled) but it is "inaccessible"!

I will not bore you with the rest of the saga. Just let it be said that we didn't know if we could get the house until it closed.

And even then, the escrow folks kept needing papers signed.

But here it is:

Our House

This little gem is at the end (more or less) of a dirt road in rural San Luis Obispo County. It is isolated and QUIET!

It needs a little TLC. BUT, first things first, we are painting.

Just so you don't think I am completely nuts, here is the "accent color" in the kitchen/great room.

OK. I am nuts. But this is a perfect place for the dogs, the cats and the humans that they own.

And it is now OURS!!!

And that is all the news from East SLO.

Bill's Birthday

OK, both Bill and I were Christmas babies.

But he got the good side of Christmas.

Christmas Eve always has been and always will be BILL'S BIRTHDAY.

I come along 4 days later. When everyone is partied out.

I am sure, now that I am an adult, that Bill got the proverbial birthday/Christmas gifts just like me. But as a kid I was POSITIVE he got the good stuff and I was stuck with the one present problem. Let me tell you two cards on one gift does NOT cut it!

But, secretly, (please don't tell anyone this) I was all excited about Bill's birthday. It gave me a preview of what might be waiting under the tree and what might be coming a few days later. (assuming everyone played by the rules)

The rules were
1. No Birthday/Christmas presents
2. Birthday presents had to be wrapped in Birthday paper
3. Dessert was Mom's angel food cake with white frosting and sprinkles on both birthday days.
4. And I didn't get in trouble for ignoring Dan on my birthday. (Not allowed on Bill's although Bill could ignore him if he wanted then)

Bill's birthday always brought Christmas faster and brought lots of people to the house. There was always a ton of food and lots of decorations and lots of music.

It also meant that Santa came the next morning. I still don't know for sure who played Santa (although all of us kids had our guesses) But Santa came to each of our rooms the day after Bill's Birthday.

Today is Bill's Birthday.

Now I just call him and sing Happy Birthday to him. He tells me what is happening for his day and I tell him what is going on with me.

We don't get to share Mom's angel food cake but, well, what we have now almost makes up for it.

Happy Birthday, bubber.

Love ya,

Sissa

There She Goes!

THE KID (age 4)

OK. I am proud of THE KID. She slogged her way through law school and then gets the Valedictorian award. That is soooooo cooool.

And I knew when she started that she would have to study just as hard for the Bar Exam. We talked about it alot. My spouse bought her the BarBri program at the start of her last year. She used the podcasts to study for her classes as well as review everything else.

The plan from the beginning is that she would have to go somewhere other than home to study at a live BarBri program. Both Melvin and I agreed (as will anyone else who has passed the Bar) that you MUST take a review program and follow it to the letter. And BarBri is the one the is generally chosen.

I was lucky. When I went through this process, the program was offered at my law school. In the same room where I eventually took the test. I didn't have to move or go anywhere else for three months. I didn't even change my routine. I parked in the same place that I had been parking in for the three years prior. I ate at the same student union where I had always eaten.

But there is no program here.

She had a few choices and she chose San Diego. Her old friends are there and one of them had room for her to crash. And as she put it, "He does care if I ignore him."

So today she left for San Diego. With all her books and clothes and things she would need for a three month stint. To study.

To study very hard.

To avoid distractions.

Like her mother.

It is a good and wise thing. We had discussed it often.

But I won't see her every day. My lunch partner and friend is away.

We use to live in different cities, hundreds of miles apart. We use to not talk on the phone all the time.

But we do now. And I treasure every moment.

I treasure her growth as well.

So tonight I am conflicted. I miss her (already) but I am so proud of her stamina and grit. I am proud that she is willing to do whatever it takes to make her dream come true.

I remember saying to a singing partner at rehearsal one night that I didn't think I would ever get over the awe that I feel when I watch her. He looked at me and said "Parents never do".

Guess I am just a parent.

Wow.

JUST A BIT OF NEWS!!!!!!!!!!

TO EVERYONE THAT READS THIS:

1. I have this incredible daughter.

2. Despite her mother she grew into a great woman.

Just in case you don't know her, she is wearing the green sweater. And, yes, she has dark hair. ANd, yes, she is playing spoons!

3. About 5 years ago she and I made a pact. She would work for me and I would put her through law school if that was what she wanted to do.

4. For 4 years she has attended an on line law school. She had to study on her own and learn more than they taught. She did not have the luxury of classmate camaraderie or instant answers from upper class persons. Her class also had people who were attending the actual classes.

5. She did ask me and my spouse a lot of questions. Embarrassing as it was, we didn't know the answers anymore. (Adult>50=CRS(can't remember s**t))

6. She studied constantly and drove herself (and me) crazy.

7. She asked other attorneys questions which (thank god) they couldn't answer either.



And tonight she just got word:

SHE IS THE VALEDICTORIAN OF HER CLASS!!!!!!!

Hey, everybody, THAT'S MY KID!!!!!!!

Josh

I have a friend named Josh. Let's get this out of the way---he is a lawyer. A CIVIL lawyer. He wouldn't know what to do with a criminal defendant.

Except-----he does criminal appeals.

So he is a very good source for the current state of the law AND the current state of courtroom antics.

I met him when I briefly worked at an insurance defense firm. (We all make our mistakes!) We became good friends.

Which astounded everyone.

Our politics, religion, life styles, and general points of view on life were at, and still are, polar opposites.
He hates cats, isn't real thrilled with dogs. Finds foul language foul and generally (at that time) lived the life of the bachelor Norwegian farmer. (Yeah, he is a farmer, too).

But he was great for bouncing legal issues around. He was (and still is) a walking encyclopedia of statutes and case law.

I was great for bouncing emotional issues around. And he had a few. And if you fed him he would talk about them (as opposed to the law which he would talk about without food).

When he met THE WOMAN we (his close friends) knew her only as "Reedley" because that is where she lived. We could not get her name out of him no matter what we did.

Until they got engaged. Then you would think that we would have a chance to forget it.......No, got it in every sentence. It was soooooo cute!

I feared that once they were married that we would lose touch.

It turns out that a friend of Josh's is a friend for life. Foul language and all.

I just sat at a restaurant with them for over 2 hours. Overlooking the ocean. And talking. FOR TWO HOURS.

We will talk more tonight. They are coming to our concert.

He is an amazing friend. Even if his world view is what it is......

I still have time to train him, I think.