Happy Easter

Here's a few photos of the dogs courtesy of Nicole....while I was sleeping my way through my last sick day off work she took a couple of Easter photos of the pups hanging out in the house and yard with her digital camera. Here are the happy pups:





I am about 2 weeks behind on seed starting, and have a ton of work that needs to be done to tidy up the deck/yard for our appraisal (we still don't now if we're approved for the mortgage or not...apparently we'll find out if we're approved or not 2 weeks before the closing date....unfortunately, no one knows when we're going to close, therefore I have no clue when we'll find out about the house stuff!). We're required to get ready for the appraisal and go through that whole process even if it ultimately works out we don't get approved for the mortgage.

We were trying to figure out if we could pull together alternate financing in case we're not approved through the traditional channels, but we're about $5,000 short of enough money, when you factor in closing costs and fees. If we're not approved we'll be required to join the "mini co-op" where we'll be paying an extra $200 per month--which we do not have easily available--for the privilege of remaining in the co-operative, and we'll have 2 years to either manage to come up with condo financing, or we'll be forced to sell the place.

I wish we knew when we would find out if we're approved or not. And I wish I knew what we'd be appraised at. There is a very real possibility that our unit might be appraised for less than we'll have to finance (we'd need $66K to pay off the existing loans and closing costs). As the values have been going into freefall due to the economy and the terrible housing market in Michigan, this really concerns me. There is a very real possibility that by the time we're appraised and ready to close that many of the Village Co-operative members who purchased around when we did (2004) will not be able to finance the full costs and will either be excluded from converting to the condo and will be forced to join the mini co-op, or they will have to come up with additional money out of pocket.

I am lucky that my mom is willing to lend me some money if this is the case to bring our loan amount lower, but I'd really rather not have to borrow from multiple sources and have multiple people to pay monthly for the privilege of continuing to own my home. The pro-conversion folk kept going on an on about how we'll all save $100 per month in lowered mortgage costs on average with the conversion, but I don't see how that'll be any sort of a savings at all if not only do I suddenly owe an extra $5,000 in order to continue owning my home, but I may also be having to repay a family loan in addition to a mortgage just to keep my home. My monthly payment on that loan would probably exceed the $100/month savings they're predicting, so the net result will be same or higher monthly payment, plus I'll be underwater on my mortgage and I will owe $5,000 more for the same home than I owe right now. I hate this waiting game and all the unknowns and "what ifs" which go with it. It is quite stressful.

I'm feeling like I lost a month, rather than mere 2 weeks, while I was sick in bed. I'm looking at the list of things which need to be done and feeling a little overwhelmed as not only do I not have enough energy to do everything that needs to be done, but I can't figure out where I will find the time to get everything done. If I could somehow magically manage to do without sleep for the next month or two, I might be able to get everything done, but as I am still another week or two, at least, away from being fully "well" cutting sleep is not an option. I'm working a 2 AM inventory shift on Monday and would love nothing better than to come home and sleep afterwards, but as the weather will be OK up until 2 PM-ish, I will have to squeeze in some of the yard and deck work needed to make the appraisers happy in the 3 hour window of "good" weather I'll have post-work before I can take a nap. If luck and energy are with me I should be able to get the first crop of peas, some salad greens and the Easter Egg radishes planted in addition to getting the deck area clean enough to make the appraisers and the co-op folk at least semi-happy. Caffeine and I will be great friends all day Monday; that's the only way I anticipate being able to get anything done. Thank goodness for caffeine!