with a deadline coming up midmonth. I know the work of the final judge, and I think he’d be positive toward my book. Though I have tons of stuff to do in the next couple of weeks, I think I have to try for this!
I’ve been thinking about it a lot but haven’t yet figured out what I need to do differently. That is, I know I need to eat more lightly, especially minimizing sugar, and exercise more, especially the cardio-strength mixed routines that I have on video. But HOW to stick with it is the issue. Every week there’s some disruption to my routine. Last week it was the rewiring and shopping for lamps and fixtures; this week it is the work that’s being done on the L track, which makes my commute nearly two hours long each way! And if I need to get work done in the evening but I get a call from an old friend whom I haven’t talked to in a year, he gets priority and I stay up late afterward. Or I edit my daughter’s newsletter (she’s doing mission work in her home country) and it takes me a LONG time.
Life just keeps interrupting my best-laid plans. But I need to stay healthy – if I don’t get my lunges and squats in regularly, I quickly start feeling it in my knees, especially my left one. And reducing sugar is a way to protect my brain as I age. So I have to keep trying to maintain good habits.
I attended a poetry reading and some amazing films (Peruvian, Chilean, Colombian) this past month, usually with Colombian friends. The Colombian film was especially moving – not only was it beautifully made, but I realized partway through that it was shot at a lake where my family went for vacation twice when I was a small child! I haven’t been there since I was seven years old. Now I can’t wait to go back, and to learn more about the lives of the people who are struggling to survive in that area.
The last week of June. I hope to study with either Brian Turner or Bruce Weigl. I’ll again be staying with my dear friends, and I got a very good airfare deal, so costs will be minimal.
I have not been sending out monthly submissions in the past year or so. I want to get back into that rhythm, starting this month!
In February-March I saved $$ toward closing costs for my home refinancing instead of paying extra on debt. And in April my extra earnings went to pay for the rewiring. All well spent, and now I’ll get to focus on paydown again.
I’ll be teaching my class in June and September (having just done so in April). That always gives me a nice chunk of extra $$. And in between I will have plenty of freelance editing to do; two companies are feeding me book projects pretty steadily, and the literary journal managing editor sends me at least one short piece to edit each week.
Because my refi involves a 15-year mortgage in place of the 30-year one I was paying on, and because I’ll need to carry mortgage insurance for a while, my monthly payments will be a little higher even though the interest rate will be much lower. So the financial benefit there is long term and won’t contribute to immediate debt paydown.
Still, I’m hopeful that within three years, or even sooner, the only debt left will be the mortgage. That will feel fantastic!
1. The house blessing/cleansing was a beautiful, holy experience. I took that day as a personal day and had a massage in the morning. Then I spent most of the rest of the day housecleaning/straightening and putting together and printing out the liturgy, which in itself was a blessing. There were about a dozen of us that evening; we blessed some water and then sprinkled it and lit a candle in each room, reading scriptures and reciting prayers. My sister and friends also read prayers from others who couldn’t be present. As we finished in each room, a couple of friends rang small bells. We also had sage burning, brought from the Pine Ridge reservation last summer.
Since then I have just felt recombobulated. Washed, renewed. I am so grateful.
2. The refinancing is moving forward. There was a slight delay because of recent flooding in our area; all refis in process were required to have the appraiser come back and take photos to show whether there had been any flood damage. There was none here, so I think closing will be soon.
3. I finally found an electrician who could come (the earlier one flaked), and I ended up getting my whole condo rewired! In my city, because wiring is required to go through conduits, walls need not be torn out; the electrician can simply pull out old cloth wiring and string in new through fixture openings and wall outlets. In the process I replaced two overhead fan/light fixtures and the kitchen fixtures. Now my home is no longer a fire hazard, it’s all bright and cheery, and I was able to pay the whole $4,000 by check instead of putting it on a credit card, woohooooo!
4. The coordinator of the certificate program in which I teach talked to me last week about the plan to begin offering online versions of our classes, and I’m going to accept her invitation to create the online curriculum for mine and teach it! I’ll have more than a year to get the curriculum ready, and I’ll be paid separately for that, of course. It’s going to be a real-time class, and I’m going to learn about all the tools/options: video and audio lectures (taped and live) and discussions, Blackboard (the university has a custom version), listserv, Powerpoint, etc. More brain stretching, and more income toward debt reduction! Once the course is developed, God willing, I’ll continue to teach three times a year, one online and two in person or vice versa.
So this is my mongo post to close off this goal. So much to be thankful for!
This morning I got the WONDERFUL news that my condo was appraised for $17,000 over the current mortgage balance!
I know, that’s peanuts (and I’ll have to carry mortgage insurance for a while because equity is below 20%), but the new value is a nice big jump back up from fall 2011, when I got a really low appraisal that helped me out in my legal process. It’s not as if selling prices overall have surged a lot in my neighborhood since then, but my upstairs neighbor recently sold his unit at a decent price, which was probably decisive for the value of mine. It all feels quite providential.
So I got to say “Yes, lock!” to a 2.875% interest rate on a 15-year mortgage.
And next Wednesday when some women friends come over for a house blessing/cleansing, we will have an extra reason to celebrate!
I got the light fixtures for the kitchen, and CFL bulbs for them. I also got the names of two local electricians who are up for doing small jobs like this. One of them called me back today, and his hourly charge is very reasonable. I’ll get him to fix one or two other things while he’s here. Still working out the day/time, but soon my home is going to be happily lit!
I haven’t been here at 43T in a week or more. Partly that was because I was down with a truly nasty cold and didn’t feel like posting about how I was not working on my goals.
But partly it has been because I have been occupied with making real progress on the newness-pieces.- I sent out an invitation to women friends to my home in late March, for the blessing/cleansing ceremony I posted about here long ago. It will be on the one-year anniversary of legal severing of ties with X – most appropriate!
- My mortgage banker got back to me and I’ve been feeding him a flurry of info and documents. As long as the appraisal comes in OK, I’ll be able to refinance with a 15-year mortgage at a very low rate!
Because I could hear from the appraiser as soon as next week, I’ve set myself a home-related task tomorrow: go to the neighborhood hardware store, independently owned and quirky and legendary for its awesomeness, and buy some kitchen light fixtures at last, dang it! I’ve had bare bulbs on the ceiling for – how long now? Not presentable to show someone who will actually be looking at such things and evaluating my home’s value. Anyway, it will make me feel better about the appraisal.
Just thought of something: before going, I can take photos of the bulbs/openings and show them to someone at the store, to be sure I’m buying fixtures that will fit over that one messed-up wad of wiring. Good idea, yay!
Another house-newness thing: I ordered a big collage frame that can hold 17 photos. I’ve asked my sibs to send photos of their families so I can get a good mix to combine with mine (I went through photo folders recently and picked some favorites). Choosing among theirs and mine will take awhile, and then I’ll have to order the prints. Probably it won’t be ready for hanging before the appraisal; I’ll aim for getting it done this month before the house blessing.
So yeah, amid the cough drops and the days working from home (in bed!) and the sick day, I have been taking steps on this goal. It’s all so encouraging.
Mortgage broker has conferred with real estate lawyer, and the latter says that I shouldn’t need to record the quitclaim myself at all. Instead, I can submit it with my refinance docs, and the title company’s lawyers will take care of recording it. So X’s signature will not be needed (or maybe the lawyers will just note that it’s not available). Confirmation is pending, but it looks good!
And I have decided that it is not necessary or appropriate for me to trek to the benefits office to nudge them about raiding my retirement funds on X’s behalf. If he were asking this as a favor, and if I hadn’t given countless hours of my life in previous years to trying to meet various requests and demands of his, and if he hadn’t already caused me enormous financial harm, I would do it. As it is, let the bureaucracy bumble on; he’ll get that $$ eventually, I have no doubt. In the meantime, perhaps he’ll have to do something novel like getting a job.
My apologies: I don’t usually vent about such things here on 43T! But it has really helped to write it out as I try to figure out how to respond.
OK, so I’m not trekking over to the credit union today; it’s a mile from my workplace, which would be a nice walk but would take too much time out of the workday. Especially since I’ve taken a chunk of time already to compose a very carefully worded message to X.
Anyway, I saw on the website that I can open a checking account BY PHONE! So I’ll do that tomorrow on my work-from-home day.
Turns out that to execute the quitclaim deed, I need three other documents! Two will be easy to get, but the third involves a signature from X. And as noted, he has gone off to live in his home country, blessings be upon him.
He was, let us say, irascible throughout the process that prompted this goal on my list. So I can’t assume that he will provide this signature with alacrity.
But I will try sending him a scan of the document with a polite businesslike e-mail requesting his signature on a scanned and promptly returned document. I’ll set a specific deadline. If he doesn’t comply, I guess I’ll make a polite visit to his lawyer, who should be able to sign as his agent since this document only confirms a transaction that has long been agreed upon.
Oh, wish me luck!
I’m home alone this weekend, which is delicious – housemate is off on retreat. I’m not under heavy freelance-work pressure, which is nice, but I do want to use my time wisely, especially to advance the newness goals. So tomorrow:
exercise at least 70 minutes, combo of ST and cardiogo get that quit-claim signed/notarizedput a visit to the recorder of deeds on my calendar for Monday a.m. before workget needed ingredients for Moroccan chickpea stew, and cook it! – this is a NEW recipesimilarly, bake that new quick breadpay billsput credit union visit on my calendar for Tuesday midday (if weather permits, a brisk walk there and back can be my main exercise for that day)- go to the frame store and redeem that LivingSocial deal
Yeah, I’m using this goal as an excuse for a to-do list here, but that’s mainly because I really really need to remember to finish up the bank-to-credit-union switch, and the quit-claim so that I can finally finally refinance my home and get X’s name off the dang deed and mortgage. Major newness steps!
I totally forgot – I’m so sorry! I hadn’t looked at my 43T page for a couple of days, and it just didn’t come to mind. Today was the 2nd day in a row of really really cold temps here, so last night when planning for today I focused on the warmest possible layers, which turned out to be black leggings with fleece-lined tights underneath, and on top a gray tunic sweater (with a long-sleeved top underneath, not visible) and gray-silver scarf. No red to be seen, except perhaps in my cheeks as I came in from the cold.
But the cause – women’s heart health – is hugely important, and I will continue to advocate as best I can.
I put off leaving the big bank because it didn’t seem smart to move accounts around during the legal process last year. That process has been over a long time now, and I have thought often about my intention to switch to a credit union or a mostly paperless bank. But the prospect has been daunting because of several automated payments and my paycheck direct deposit.
Well, I just got a rude awakening: I went online to look at my recent transactions and balance at the big bank, and I was just charged a $12 service fee! I guess the system just cottoned onto the fact that I no longer have large balances on my credit cards from this bank, and thus I’m no longer eligible for fee-free checking.
$12/month is way too much. I’ve got to start the process of switching NOW.
Last year I submitted the manuscript to (1) my ideal publisher and (2) a competition at another very active literary press. The #2 publisher just posted an announcement about the winner of the competition on FB, and it wasn’t me. :-) And I haven’t heard anything from #1.
Sometime soon I need to do some more exploring, decide on the next target, and send my baby out again.
The program coordinator ran the schedule for the 2013-14 academic year by me this past week. Indeed I will teach again in the fall, and also in the spring and summer of 2014. So if enrollment continues stable, I will have good freelance income for debt paydown in the coming couple of years.
This weekend the other guy’s insurance company sent a check to cover the damage to my car in the Dec. 26 accident. That will go straight to the credit card account to which I charged the repairs. I’m supposed to get something soon from my mechanic and his supplier too, as the part that failed had just been installed in July; hopefully that will pay off the rest of the repairs.
And selling my ring provides $130 more that goes to general debt paydown.
Yay for shrinking debt!
