If I don’t look, it’s not really a problem, right?

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Oh, friends.

De-nile is not just a river in Egypt.  I have been very good at keeping myself busy with our new house and our new routine and the kids and the gym and the new dogs and and and.  I think if I keep myself busy enough and don’t look my problems in the eye, they will just go away.

Problem 1:  The old house is tied like a noose around our necks, choking us to death.

This is NOT how it was supposed to go.  For starters, we had two offers at the same time!  Wonderful!  That is totally unheard of in this market!  It bumped the price of our house up a little (not like we were making money on the deal, but still, every little bit helps), and the terms were all good, we got to choose the buyers that seemed most stable.

Then they backed out, claiming they didn’t like things that came up on the home inspection.  Their realtor told ours that was not true, that they just decided to rent, instead.  Of course, by then, the other buyer had bought a different house.  So really, we lost TWO buyers.  Meanwhile, the relocation company, which will buy our house after it has been on the market for 75 days, has let us know the buyout price, and it is brutally low.  Like even with the company’s $25,000 loss coverage, we are STILL going to lose money.  AND their expectations of what they want fixed for the home inspection are crazier than anything I’ve ever seen on a home inspection.. it will cost us thousands.  (This is in addition to the renovations we had done before we even put the house on the market!)

I am in deep, almost physical pain.  This is not good.

If we can get another buyer, there is hope.  We would get a bonus for selling the house ourselves.  We would get a higher price than what the relo company is offering.  And no buyer could POSSIBLY nitpick on the home inspection as extensively as they have.  We have until July 30.  Remember I said I don’t like to pray about money?  Forget that.  I’m praying.  I’ve asked God to find us a buyer in three days.  C’mon, God.  Man, I know He can do it.  I just have to hope He wants to.  If you want a 45 year old, 4 bedroom, 3  bath house with a fenced yard, 2 car garage and an in-law suite off the back, on a quiet cul-de-sac in Bethlehem, PA for CHEAP, hit me in the comments section.  If you buy it in the next 3 days, I’ll throw in a 2005 Toyota Matrix, black.

Problem 2:  AngryBoy.

So I am fighting with the insurance company about this $7000, which, whatever, we all know they are going to stick me with, and that’s not the end of the world because we do have that grant money to help pay for his care, even if I was planning to save that until Medicaid said, forget it, we won’t pay any more, either.

But then Medicaid was paying for his care, and God BLESS them, I cannot say enough good things (I KNOW! It is hard for me to believe too!) about how amazingly awesome Medicaid was in our old county.  I mean, this is shocking, but they actually CARE about kids and want to get them the best care possible.  Of course, the bad news is that we don’t live there any more, so we had to apply elsewhere.  When we tried to apply where we are living, this new county said, “uh, he doesn’t actually LIVE here, so he can’t apply in this state.”  We thought, surely they are confused, because we, his legal guardians, live here, and we would be the ones to apply for him.  But they are just adamant that they will not allow it, will not cooperate, etc.  So we tried another tactic.. giving temporary guardianship to a relative in the state where AngryBoy’s facility is, and having HIM apply for benefits on AngryBoy’s behalf (we DID check ahead of time to ensure this was legal).  And although we had been told that would be fine, benefits were denied based on the fact that AngryBoy does not live WITH the relative, but IN the residential facility.  And thus the relative and the facility would have to apply JOINTLY, and then he would be approved.

That sounds soooooooooo easy.  I mean, we are RIGHT there, so close to the end.  But we CAN NOT get that relative to take the freakin’ time to get on the phone with the facility and fill out the application.  He CLAIMS that he is willing to do this, that this is his #1 priority, but clearly it is not.

So we are stuck.  We can’t move forward without him.  The facility can’t do anything without him.  We even bought him a Wii to bribe him to get it done thank him for his help.  We call him, easily, 20 times a day.  Email him.   I don’t know what else to do.  All he has to do is fill out the paper, sign the paper.  That’s it.  He has no legal or financial obligation.  He is just applying for benefits on my son’s behalf.  It has no impact on the relative, AT ALL.

Problem 3:  What to do about “The Baby”

Now this problem pales in comparison to the other two, clearly.  But it is still something that is on my mind, all the time, a decision I cannot make, that I just keep putting off.

BabyBoy is now 5.  He is old enough for kindergarten.  He might be ready.  He might not be ready.  I might not be ready.  I’m having a really hard time discerning what is HIM not being ready and what is ME not being ready.

He has rarely been away from me, BUT in the last few months, he has been interested/willing to go to Sunday School at new churches with his siblings and without me.  He is also taking swimming lessons at the pool, and does not mind if I leave the poolside area while he’s with the teacher.   He spends all of his time with his sisters, and has started to express that he would like to make his “own” friends.  So these are all in the “YES” column.

BUT.  The boy still pees his pants.  Multiple times per day.  He’s not particularly concerned about it or embarrassed by it, he doesn’t even mention it until/unless someone else rats him out.  He is totally CAPABLE of peeing in the potty, he just says he doesn’t want to miss anything.  I’m pretty sure public school is not going to be excited about non-potty-trained kindergarteners, AND  I don’t want him to get made fun of.

PLUS.   Our old school had 1/2 day kindergarten, which I could have considered more seriously.  Here, they have FULL DAY kindergarten!  (Dude!  The inhumanity!)  I don’t know as he’s up to a WHOLE DAY.  And I don’t think I can say goodbye to him at 9:00 and not see him again until 3!  I mean, that is my BABY.

Advice welcomed.   Especially if you want to buy my house, or if you live in Oregon.  Then just email me directly.

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