Falling into vertigo

I was going to tell you about all the projects I have going on: the new plants, the paint I bought, the stuff I'm making for the Navy Bean's birthday. But then, I ended up lying on my kitchen floor for an hour and half, in my own vomit, trying to get the Navy Bean to get my purse so I could call someone. The neighbors broke in through the open kitchen windows, called 911, took care of the Navy Bean for 2 days, while I was in the hospital. My mom came out and today, my parents are driving us to Texas. Vertigo. It's no laughing matter. I could take care of myself. I still can't drive, but I have neighbors who could do that for me. But, I cannot take care of a very active (almost) 2 year old. So, to Texas I go, for about 3 weeks. That's how long the doctor said it may take. I hope it doesn't take that long, but right now, I would believe it.

@#%*&!!!

This post was supposed to be written from Greece (#3) where I was going to visit Wes, with the Navy Bean. His ship is in port for a full week and we were going to take a military flight to get there ($20 a person). It is October, so we were assured that we should be able to get a seat, no problem. See, it works in order of importance: military personnel with orders (and their families, if they're being transferred), military personnel on leave, spouses with military personnel on leave, unattended spouses and families (that would be me), and then retirees. Usually, this flight wouldn't be that busy because there wouldn't be families trying to fly overseas for Christmas or whatever. However, a bunch (20 or so) of army guys with orders showed up the afternoon we were trying to leave. I was number 8 (and 9 for the Navy Bean) on the waiting list. Only three people on the waiting list got on the plane. Stupid Army. I just keep reminding myself that those Army guys were probably going somewhere most of us don't want to be. But, since the flight only leaves once a week, it meant we wouldn't get to see Wes. Sucks ass.

If you have to suck ass, it might as well be a cute one!

Sad state

I have been working on a good post, but it'll take away. So this week, instead of something funny, we'll be talking about foreclosures. How fun!

We bought our house a year ago. I love my house. It is truly our dream house. It is in a great, small neighborhood. Only 42 lots. The lots are big. There's a pond. The neighbors are AWESOME. I really love it here. We had the house built for us, as did about half the people who live here. The other half bought houses that were already built, but not finished, allowing them to customize the inside.

This community was begun in 2006, so it's only been here for about 4 years. But, the first houses were built, and sold, during the height of the housing bubble. There is one house that has less upgrades than ours, approximately $5000 less in upgrades, according to our pricing sheet, but they paid $20,000 more for their house. There's another that had about $12,000 more in upgrades than our house (again, according to the price list we were given) but they paid about $60,000 more than we did. Likewise, several houses that were built and then sold just this year sold for about $20,000 less than our house. (I want to add that I've been in several of the houses that have the same floor plan as ours, and I like mine the best!) Some of the neighbors are bitter about this, but hey, that's the housing market. They're very bitter that one family ended up selling their house at a short sale, thus "ruining" the price of the rest of the neighborhood. We plan on being here for 10 years, so we don't really care that much.

But like I said, this neighborhood has only been here for about 4 years. When I got back from Texas, I noticed that one of the houses looked like it was empty. This was a little odd, as the house had never had a "for sale" sign out front and the owner's had planted 10 trees this past spring (they all look dead now). I talked to other neighbors, and nobody knew what had happened, we all just knew the house was empty (we didn't know them). Yesterday I drove by and there were several brightly colored pieces of paper stuck to the windows and a special lock on the door. I didn't go and read the papers, but I'm assuming the house has been foreclosed on. I'm sure some of our neighbors will be pissed that this will further reduce the value of our houses, but it just makes me sad. What happened? Why didn't they try to sell the house? Why did they plant all those trees if they knew they were having problems? (Yes, the planting of the trees really bothers me!) I hope the best for the family. I hope they found someplace safe for their family. I hope that whatever caused their financial problems is soon rectified. I hope they're okay.