The chapter in our life right now could be titled "Frustrations".
The first and probably least significant frustration is that I tried to put a post here two days ago, had a fairly comprehensive update, and as I was proofing it, hit the backspace key to make a correction (which, when no text is selected, accomplishes the same thing as hitting the "back" button in the browswer window), effectively wiping out the entire post.
We've decided that we cannot continue with the bookfairs anymore. If there is any way out of our contract, we will not be running any fall events this year. Most days that I went out this spring I was losing money. Gas prices are up, and therefore 1) my expenses are up and 2) my sales are down. It being Maine (and COLD in the winter, requring a lot of expensive heating oil for people to stay warm), I'm not anticipating a huge sales volume this fall. I have no money to invest in the operational costs of the business, and I will not put anything else on credit.
I'm putting job applications in for various positions in Maine and Ohio. It's awfully hard to change careers when most job postings require either a specific degree, or so many years of experience. I'm trying to narrow the field of options based on what is on my resumé right now, even though I want to do something completely different. I'm definitely staying away from commission-based, and I'm looking for something with benefits. It's also hard to find a job that has entry-level pay at the level that I would require to pay our current bills.
And for more frustration fun: I was on the phone with Countrywide today, trying to figure out what's going on with my deed-in-lieu of foreclosure request. Nothing I can do but wait. The auction is coming up in two weeks (August 19th, on the property in Milford if anyone wants to pick up a nice house at a good price at my expense...). If I don't have a decision before then, and the house sells at auction, the foreclosure is complete and irreversible. And I'm trying to figure it out for sure, but I believe I am still liable for the difference between what I owe and what the house sells for. It doesn't seem to matter that since last October I have been expressing my concerns about my ability to continue payments, and intentions to voluntarily turn the property over before it came to foreclosure. Countrywide is a huge, inhuman, unfeeling, money-devouring machine, and that's all there is to it.
Last week, we met with the lawyer representing the bank in the foreclosure case involving the house we are currently renting. I had hoped that the meeting would clear things up a bit and help me to understand what was going on. I left more confused than I arrived. Whether we move across town, across state, or across the country, we're planning to just ditch our lease (it's not a rent-to-own since our sales contract is invalid - we can't buy the house from someone that doesn't own it), and leave this property and all of the baggage attached to it behind.
I'll keep the site updated as things start to unfold. I have no ideas about where we'll be going or what we'll be doing, but I do know that something will be happening, and soon.
Thank you everyone for your prayers during this critical decision-making period in our life. We can't wait to start the next chapter!
