there's way too much going on to keep up with these days, and a new variable was added today. so, here's the general scoop all across the board....

writing and editing: writing isn't happening much at all. when i'm not taking care of house stuff, at home stuff, driving stuff, and other stuff, i'm editing the freelance project i'm being paid for. it has reminded me that, as much as i like helping other authors, it sucks up too much time to do it all that frequently if i want to focus on my writing. i've not managed any progress on the novel worth mentioning for awhile now. i need to get this freelance project done and back to the author and soon, especially with the house stuff coming up. i'm not even submitting anything right now. just too otherwise occupied.

health stuff: i've lost 17 pounds so far and am still enjoying my core rhythms. i'm further into the program, but will probably be at the point where i am at the moment for a bit because my back needs to strengthen up some more. my blood pressure is almost normal. the doctor added a water pill to help take it down a little more. he's also addressed my foot issues—i should start medication for them next week. in other doctor news, i had to change obgyns, which was depressing considering how well the last one treated me. the new one, a woman, isn't jumping in and changing things around, which is good. she did switch me off the megace to another pill that she hoped wouldn't have the heating up issues the megace was giving me. she was right. the new pill seems to be working nicely. she also took me off the cycling we were doing because, like me, she sees no problem with me not having a period and was concerned that i'd end up where i was before the d&c last summer. i am very pleased with this development, especially since i'm at an age where a period really doesn't do anything for me and, even without last year's issues, caused a lot of problems. not having to worry about it really is the next thing for me. i can focus on losing the weight and getting healthy without having to literally take time off because my period is giving me problems.

house: the contract has been signed by us and the bank (so the house is now considered under contract: see?), the addendum has been sent to the bank for a signature, the fha inspection should be early next week. saxy has contacted people he worked with for help when the work comes due, and j.e. is more than willing to take the contract at the amount we're looking at, assuming the fha guy doesn't find something more/worse than what we know are possible problems. what would be really nice is if the fha guy had the bank take care of either the roof or the window and the bank actually does it, but we're not holding our breath on either one, really. at this point, though, if we don't get this house, i just don't see a house happening for us. we'll have a couple of weeks, at most, to choose a new house to attempt to buy and go through all this all over again, and while the financial aspect has been a small thing in general, for us it has been huge and i'm not sure we can do it again. we're scrambling to pay bills now, a second shot would have us disconnected and needing even more money to unbury ourselves. so, really, i think this house will be it for us, or we'll be renting for a very long time. the big concern is when the tax check will get in. latest we can have it in come in is 2 business days before closing or the funds will not be available even if we have it (new bank policy). the good news? we're getting $1200 more because saxy's current employer sent us a 1099 after we'd already filed this year. apparently the amount was perfect to take us to getting the full eic credit. assuming all goes well for the house, we'll need it. the "to take care of list" is longer than the money even with the $1200 added in. lol my only other big concern is the mortgage payment looks like it'll be higher than i thought it would be...like on par with what we're paying in rent right now. this was NOT the plan, but at least the house will be ours? eventually?

okay, enough angst (really trying not to angst over the house...but we all know i am anyway), onwards....

newest wrinkle in the craziness: culinary school. we went by the art institute of georgia and met with an admissions councilor for the international culinary school there, and goodness you should have seen how much saxy's face lit up. we talked with the councilor about what he wants to do, and he was so specific about the restaurant and his ideas, that i think he really impressed her. she took us on a tour, showed us the kitchens, classrooms, even the small restaurant they run that he would intern at. and there are financial options that will probably still end up with us having to take on additional loans, but everything sounds more feasible than i thought. so we're going to start working on that process—he's been working on his essay all afternoon and we've looked at his high school and college to see about transcripts. neither were particularly helpful, but we know what we need to do, it's just a matter of getting things done even with the house stuff going on. i just hope we're not overextending ourselves too much. if all goes well here, he could be in school as early as october. we'll see. i'm the one being cautiously optimistic: i REALLY want him to be able to do this; i don't want to lose our house because we extended ourselves too far. at the same time, a few sacrifices to get him into something he's happy doing (and out of the current miserable job) is something i'm willing to do as long as we don't end up homeless.

we're going through a lot of stresses right now, most that lead to a lot of changes in the near future. good changes! exciting changes! but, for now, it's just crazy crazy around the house and with everything we're doing. i'm printing a lot of stuff, signing and faxing things back, running back and forth taking people places and picking up boxes, we've already started packing (and thrown out a good 7 trash bags of crap as well as given a lot of stuff away for free). once we have the fha stuff down, i have to try to make arrangements to get youngest into the new school from the beginning of the year, which will mean a lot of driving during the latter half of august. it's just a lot going on and doesn't look like it will settle at all until november, when we can settle into some kind of routine again. this has not been good for taz, but we're managing. he's struggling, but at the same time, he's being a real trooper with so many changes in the works and no specific days to tell him what will happen next. if we all do half as well as he's doing, we'll be doing pretty good.