Well- my long absence again… it’s just life, people. Doug and I are, literally, working our tails off to stay afloat. We have a dude currently shopping to every Acme Mortgage Lender out there to see if ANYONE will handle/take on our re-fi so we can get lower rate and pull some $ out to get out of the credit card mess we got ourselves into during the Cancer year… It doesn’t look good. Yes, our credit is stellar. Yes, we have SICK equity in the house but- alas- banks no longer look favorably upon the “self-employed”. Our Debit to income ratio makes us the fat girls at the mortgage dance… So- all we can do is keep working. The camps are doing well- great in fact but we’re both stretched VERY thin- no pun intended. I would complain but we’re beating the odds- opening a new business in the midst of a recession, and we happen to REALLy love our clients.
In the meantime- life keeps coming. Max is currently in the last week of pre-school… He just turned 6 and we took him and Scout to Disneyland hotel for 2 nights & 3 days with some great friends to celebrate. It was… remarkable. When Doug & I walked into the room with them, we both got teary. It was as if we had walked onto the red carpet at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. WE HAD ARRIVED. I don’t know if it was nostalgia from our childhoods or how hard we had struggled to get there or the sheer joy on the kids’ faces or all of it but it was pure magic. The whole trip. Great friends, horrible fashion, junk food, no sleep and a LOT of laughs… Magical. We’re still riding high from it. I am having some feelings about this birthday of Max’s. For some reason 6 seems so… Big. I can’t believe it. And it just keeps coming; Scout is totally potty trained- I have left diapers behind forever and she’s going to start pre-school tomorrow. She got into this sweet, smaller school (not where Max is leaving because it was too expensive and in the opposite direction of Max’s K-8th so we applied) About that: they won’t give me a definite re; her entry in the fall and I’m kind of freaking out. We’re about to tell Laurel that she won’t be attending, because they want her 1st month’s tuition- and we’re “jumping without a net”. This new place- Westminster Presbyterian (Wow- for a heathen- I sure got a LOT of God going on…) has informed me that her chances are very good if she’s enrolled in the summer program, hence her starting tomorrow. She WAS supposed to start today but- MOTHER OF THE DECADE- totally spaced and didn’t look at her papers until too late. I called and the director assured me that plenty of other parents fuck up way worse… (She may have used different verbiage.) Anyway- I will be taking her in with Doug tomorrow with her new Princess lunchbox and a LOT of Kleenex for me… It’s only 9-12 but it will be so strange not having my little “road dog” around in the mornings. Max starts summer camp next week and I am already trying to figure out what I’ll be doing… I’ve been in charge of kids for so long. I’d like to think I’ll use the time to write. I really, really NEED to – it’s my only option to try and get us out of debt- but I’m SO rusty… And tired. 3-4 bootcamps a day will really tax a gal.
A few weeks ago I received $300.00 in hundred dollar bills in the mail. There was a typed note: “I just thought you could really use this”. No name, no address… couldn’t even make out the postmark. I posted on FB about it- a thank you. I cried upon opening the letter. One, that someone was so kind and thoughtful and generous and two- that we were the ones who needed it. I bought groceries for it and sent up a thank you to the Universe. I think I was way less of an asshole to people that week- just in case it was someone I encountered in my daily rounds… If you are a blog reader- dear, generous friend… send more. Just kidding- your actions were so appreciated and welcomed and it touched us very deeply. I am hoping that- someday soon- we will be in a better $ position to “pay it forward”.
As of now, we’re looking forward to July 4th, the summer, more milestones, more marks on the doorway as the kids keep growing and amazing us and more of whatever may come our way. Yes- we’re still broke but, God-damn, we have a good time…