I have hesitated...

I've been absent (as far as posting goes) this past week for a number of reasons - partly because I haven't felt the greatest and partly because I have had just so much on my mind that I've found myself too exhausted in the evenings to do much of anything. I read a few blogs, leave a few comments, fix Ron something to eat, pick up a bit - and it's bedtime! The time flies so quickly in the evenings that I don't know where it goes. It doesn't help that I went to bed at 7:30 one night and 9:00 two other nights. That is unheard of for me. I'm the 11:00-midnight kind of gal. Not lately...

Here's the scoop... We got notified today that the mortgage company is starting foreclosure proceedings unless I cough up nearly the past due amount and fees, within 30 days. There's not any way short of me (or someone who loves me) winning the lottery - Power Ball or Mega Millions, take your pick - and paying what needs to be paid.

We heard from the retirement village and they have accepted us. We need quite a chunk of change for them as well, $3450 immediately to sign the contract and the rest paid when we move in. (This is for a 2 bedroom, 1 bath, with a covered carport. Decent sized rooms - all appliances; approximately 1,000 square feet. Biggest plus is that Ron's wheelchair fits through the doors - including the bathroom. For a one bedroom/one bath, approximately 750 square feet, we could rent for no entrance fee and $600 per month rent. It's much smaller and Ron's wheelchair won't fit into the bathroom. That is the major drawback for us.)

When someone moves in they have to pay an entrance fee ($3450), which covers redecorating – painting, new window treatments, new carpeting, etc. It also covers if someone wants to make a change (such as adding an ice maker to the fridge). In addition to this, the rules are residents have to pay 12 months’ worth of rent in advance. This can be substantial – in the case of this residence, the rent is $850 per month so it would be $10,200. The maintenance fees (or HOA if you prefer) are an additional $439 per month. This covers trash, water, interior and exterior maintenance (including appliance repair or replaced if needed), snow/ice removal, grass mowing, landscaping maintenance, use of the fitness center, etc. Those are just paid month-to-month. The unit is all electric and the representative told me the last resident averaged about $100 per month. Even though the HOA fees + the electricity sounds like a lot, our monthly house expenses (outside of the house payment) add up to nearly $500 (that’s appliance warranties, ADT, HOA, trash, water, yard maintenance, summer water rates, electricity, gas, etc.) per month.

For us, they would not charge us the $10,200 in advance. What they would charge is the entrance fee, plus one month rent security deposit. The entrance fee has to be paid when we sign the contract and then they’d let me pick out the carpet and paint colors and any updated window treatments I wanted. Once we were ready to move in, I’d need to pay the current month rent + plus the security deposit + the HOA fee. They would also charge us an extra $300 per month for the first 12 months ($3600) and that would then be deducted the next year off the rent. We could either not pay rent the first 4 months of our second year or deduct $300 per month for 12 months the 2nd year.

I have a couple of things in the works to sell but not sure if it will pan out or not. I can’t really put the house on the market until I get Ron out of it. He has too much clutter that he needs on a day-to-day basis. I need to clear out the stuff we just have on shelves in the storage room in the basement, donate some to charity and sell some other stuff; the basement floor needs to be painted (can’t afford carpeting), a screen needs to be put back on that blew off in a summer storm, the sink Amy’s husband started needs to be finished, and a few other things in the basement. There’s a house down the street on the market for $30,000 less than what we owe on ours and it’s been on the market over a year. We need to really spruce ours up (at the least amount of money possible) to compete with it. We thought about renting it out but the market is too down right now and there is a glut of available houses on the market for sale and for rent.

We're still plugging away and doing what has to be done. Don't hesitate to offer suggestions if you think of something that might work for us. I'm always open to suggestions and a new way to look at things is sometimes all a problem needs.

hugs... and have a great weekend! I know that I'm going to.

Birthday {Near} Mishap

We hadn't planned on doing anything extra special yesterday because Ron said he didn't want a party. He didn't want to go out to eat or just really have any type of surprise. But, after everyone but Amy was here, he decided that he'd like to have something "sweet" - i.e., "please get me a birthday cake."

He had already asked Amy to bring him some (diet) Peach Fresca so she called to ask me where I had bought it. I asked her to go ahead and pick up a small cake and she managed to find one with non-dairy whipped topping for frosting. (I'll have to look up the potassium count on that...)

Here is the cake:

Amy wrote the words.

He didn't know that she had gotten a cake, so when I lit it and took it into him, he was surprised. We all sang Happy Birthday to him and I was going to take his picture with the cake.

Except...

When I leaned over to hand him the cake, Maisey jumped up into his lap to see if she could snag a bite, the cake started slipping and was going to land on Ron's lap, and when I went to stop the cake from becoming a permanent part of Ron's wardrobe, I burned my hand on the candle, which tipped over as the cake was sliding.

After letting out a not-so-nice word (I was in pain), I told him to just blow out the candle before I lost the whole cake on him.

There you have it... birthday near mishap.

Faith did end up getting a picture of the birthday boy with Isaiah.

Isaiah is such a "cheeser" when someone gets out a camera!

Happy Birthday to my Main Squeeze!

Today, my sweetie is {gasp} 63 years old! We are spending a quiet afternoon in. Faith came over and her parents will be here soon. Amy and Isaiah are also coming down. Keith is here.

Keith fixed us all breakfast burritos this afternoon. They were really good. Eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, onion, jalapenos, cheese, and some chopped up ham (lunch meat). I ate mine in a "kangaroo pocket" and it was yummy. I fixed Ron's in a low carb tortilla that also has green onions in it. They're very good.

Keith and Faith are playing Family Feud on the computer. Not sure who is winning. It goes back and forth.

We've very thankful that he is actually here and able to celebrate the passing of another year.

Potassium Levels in Food

It’s hard to determine the amount of potassium in a food item if the label doesn’t even indicate there is any to begin with. Take Peanut Butter. I have two different kinds (brands) of peanut butter on my shelf. Peter Pan and Jif. NEITHER of them indicates the presence of potassium but when I Googled “potassium in peanut butter” I found that two tablespoons has 240 mg of potassium. And – it’s not even easy to find that information. http://www.krispin.com/potassm.html was one that listed it, but I had to scroll down to find it. I had to check several links in my search to discover one that actually listed it. I went to the USDA Nutrient Database (from another link that sent me to WikiPedia and then it was listed under a table showing the nutrients present) and I was able to plug Peanut Butter and the serving size into their little search boxes and got 238 mg for 2 tablespoons. That’s a handy little database to have access to. http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/.

How am I supposed to keep his potassium level down if the foods I buy don’t even show the true makeup of the nutrient list? I read labels. Very. Closely. Always.

We have two different cans of Fruit Cocktail - both canned by Del Monte. One is canned in water and the other is canned in extra light syrup. The one canned in extra light syrup has 15g of carbohydrates per serving (3.5 servings in a can) and the other one (canned in water) has the same number of servings and 11g of carbohydrates. Sodium levels are the same. One lists potassium (the one canned in water) and the other does not. So, they ADD potassium in the form of an artificial sweetener. If I give him the one canned in water, I'm giving him 420mg of potassium (he eats the whole can in the course of the day). If I give him the other, he takes in 52g of sugar. Which is harder on him? The potassium or the sugar? Both of them are bad but how do I decide which one of these two "evils" is better for him? What a choice!

He's getting the sugar. I can counter that with lowering his carbohydrate count in other areas throughout the day or - if all else fails - give him some more insulin. He needs the fruit and fresh is actually worse (in some fruits) than the canned.

Update to Honest Scrap Award

I'm finally ready to pass on the Honest Scrap Award to my recipients.

First up, is my sister, Kris, over at My Life ~ My Journey.  Kris has been on a journey to get healthy and has lost about 40 pounds in the last year. I'm very proud of her.

Next, my niece, Jamie, at Aiden's Corner. My great-nephew's name is Aiden and, I have to brag that I suggested the name to her. He's a super cutie.

After that, I have to nominate Kristen (again), over at Fine, How are You? Like I said before, Kristen always has a great take on things and I love to read her posts.

I don't know if Kathy "does" award posts, but you need to go check her out at Kathy's Kampground Kapers. Kathy and "he who does" (her husband) run an RV campground in MO and her posts are always, always interesting to read. Besides writing a great blog, she's also a very talented seamstress and I love to see her creations. I need to order a monkey from her...

And, last but certainly not least, Rae, over at Weather Vane. Rae is about as down-home as you can get. Her posts are always great and she's got some awesome pictures on her blog.

Happy Saturday - and Happy Reading!

Sweet Blog Award

I'm pretty excited... Got up this morning and, while reading my email, discovered a comment that made me smile (more than usual). It seems that I have been blessed with another blog award! This makes the third award I've gotten recently and I have to say, I'm really touched!

One of my new friends over at Jumble Mash gave me The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award. Woo hoo!

I have to pass it onto three other bloggers that I think are sweet and list five guilty pleasures. I can do this!

1. (have to borrow this from JM) Chick Flicks. I love happy endings so would prefer to watch something relatively sappy than horror. Can't stand horror shows and have been known to leave the theater during stressful scenes. Heck, I leave the living room during stressful scenes!

2. Kahlua and Cream. Does that make me a bad person? Kahlua doesn't have to go in cream. It can go in coffee, over ice cream, in milk, etc. Is that better?

3. Buying scrapbook paper. That is a terribly selfish thing. But, in my defense, I usually give away everything that I make with it. Usually... sometimes I turn around and give the paper away.

4. Chocolate. Any way, shape,or form. Hot chocolate, dark chocolate (my favorite), chocolate chip cookies, chocolate fudge... OK, I think you get the message. I LOVE CHOCOLATE. This probably should be #1.

5. Spending time on the computer when I should be cleaning house. Since I don't have any small children at home, I guess I'm allowed this luxury. I'm within earshot (and sometimes within sight) of Ron so I'm available if and when he needs me.

Now, my recipients are...

Kristen over at Fine, How are You? I'm not sure how I found her blog, but she's always got something funny and interesting to say.

MW over at Green Girl in Wisconsin. Another absolutely sweet new friend. She's living in a house full of testosterone so her posts are always fun to read.

Silver over at Reflections. She recently left a comment for me on here and on Isaiah's blog. Not sure how she found me, but I'm glad that she did. I've enjoyed reading her blogs. She's got a killer recipe blog, too.

These are my three. I would give this award to all of my blogs because, let's face it... if they aren't sweet, I'm not sticking around in the first place. But, many of my favs are also favs of yours so I thought I'd add some new ones into the mix. Go check them out - you'll be glad that you did!

Have a blessed and safe weekend!

Shameless Plug

Many of you know that my grandson, Isaiah, was diagnosed with PDD-NOS when he was three years old. He functioned on the level of about 18 months and did not talk very well or very much at all. Amy (and I) have worked and worked with all kinds of professionals over the years to help get Isaiah where he is today. We're very proud of him and know that he is a very, very special little boy.

His blog is http://www.isaiahseyes.com/ and the reason it is called "Isaiah's Eyes" is because when he would go through the alphabet, he would say each letter until he got to "I" and then he'd exclaim, very excitedly, "There's my I!" Also, looking at the world through Isaiah's eyes has been a walk that I have cherished. I wanted him to have a written journal of sorts that documented his challenges and his accomplishments.

I nominated his blog in the Blogger's Choice Awards. Please go vote - if you would, and don't mind....





Thanks! Feel free to link this post to others. I'd like to have as many people as possible aware of PDD-NOS.

Wacky Wednesday

Today has been one of "those" days where everything I touch is off just enough to drive me wacky. How about you? How is your Wednesday going?

Ron wasn't feeling too great this morning so I stayed home with him. He's up and about now but spent a good portion of his day in bed. We're still waiting to see if the retirement center we want to live in will take us. They're afraid he's got too much wrong with him for them to be able to serve him. LOL - it's been so funny... Here I am telling different entities that he's got this and this and this to try and get him services, and then on the flip side I'm downplaying everything so that we'll be able to get in. "Oh, he's got this and this, but he's pretty self-sufficient." No clue on if they bought it or not. The RN was taking notes - in-depth notes. I paid the application fee ($50) but the marketing lady said she wouldn't cash my check if they decided his health was too bad.

Not sure what we'll do in that case, but God has something up His sleeve for us - of that I am sure.

The temperature is more comfortable today and the wind isn't blowing. That is always nice because the wind blows a lot in Kansas! Cold wind in the winter and hot wind in the summer. Having a windless day is pretty rare for us.

You all have a great day today!

Happy Monday to You!

Ron and I had some appointments today so I got to stay home from work another day. Since it's the NEW year, I GET to use PTO and not have to take it off as unpaid! Woo-hoo!!!

He had an appointment with his orthopedic specialist and got a cortisone injection in each knee. Then we drove up to Hesston to take a look at the 2-bedroom six-plex that we might be able to get into. The entrance fee is $3450 and we'd have to pay one month's rent as deposit ($850). Hopefully, I can figure out a way to swing this. LOL - I put on my Facebook that if all of my FB friends sent me $120, then we'd be able to get into the "best" part of the retirement community (the duplexes that have been the most recently built and look like they're very nice individual homes instead of duplexes). For some odd reason, I didn't get any takers. Hmmm... Can't quite understand why.

This option is much more reasonable. There is no way we could come up with the amount that would be needed for the new part, so we're shooting for the newer section of the old part of the community. The bathroom has been upgraded to have a raised toilet added and the bathtub has been "cut out" to be a walk-in shower (or, in Ron's case - a place for his shower chair). I told here we'd like to shoot for moving in the first part of March, which gives me 2 months to raise $4350.  Maybe I should try something like this:

(Just kidding... It's not a real link.) We're going to have a moving sale and (hopefully) be able to raise quite a bit. I'm going to sell our living room sofa and love seat (they're leather and won't fit in the smaller place). They're 3 years old and hardly used so I think I can get a fair price for them. Ron has a lot of tools (some power tools) so we will probably get a bit of money from them. We have a bunch of odds and ends to put either on Craigslist or on eBay which should generate a bit more.

After we visited the retirement center, we had to go back to the doctor's office to have some more of Ron's blood drawn. His WBC, RBC, Platelets, HCT, etc is still way below normal but (overall) he feels much better.

We had a late afternoon lunch so neither of us is in the mood for supper. In fact, he's tired and will probably call it an early night.

Me, too. Work tomorrow {shudder}. I have a lot of catching up to do.

Have a great week!

Simply Saturday

My blogging world is filled with Tadpoles, Sundays in My City, Flashback Fridays, Wordless Wednesdays, and various other things. I thought I needed to spice things up around here just a bit. So, I have come up with "Simply Saturday"..... I know, boring, eh? Oh well - I'm always a day late and a dollar short. LOL! The first day I was going to write a "Flashback Friday" post, I read one on my good friend's page. I don't really get out and about on Sundays so was glad to see that on another friend's page. Tadpoles... well, that's a whole world all by itself. I would never have thought to nickname us all as 'poles, but it's perfect and I love it.

Which leads me to Simply Saturday. Plain and simple, just like me. No thrills, no frills - yep, that pretty much sums up my Saturdays. By having "something" to write about, my creativity should be challenged just enough to make sure that I post SOMETHING relatively interesting.

I shall start this first "Saturday" post with a look back at last year. Sure, there were quite a few things that weren't the best; in fact, there were quite a few things that were positively horrid but they all turned out well. I also experienced quite a few wonderful events. My list of blessings greatly outweighs my list of down times.

I'm sure that my list of blessings should be much, much longer but I'm shooting for getting this actually posted while it's STILL Saturday. I have a bunch of things I should get done today, including some laundry and wrapping Isaiah's Christmas presents. They're coming over tomorrow afternoon and his stuff is still in my closet. I also should go to the store and get some food for tomorrow. Stacey (Ron's daughter) is bringing the hamburger but I need to get some buns, condiments, and something to go with the hamburgers. Something that Ron can actually eat (not chips). Easy on the dairy products so that lets cottage cheese out. Easy on potassium so that means potatoes are out. I've got to do some dietary overhauling for him.

Time to get cracking... I can't promise that I'll post something EVERY Saturday (heck, I'm still working on my 30-day thing) but that is one of my goals.

Hmmm.....