dog & house show
friday, may 11, 2012


where did this week go? and why am i so damn tired? seriously, it just felt like the ball got dropped somewhere and we never managed to pick it back up. or maybe i just never managed to pick it back up. i was too busy keeping an eye on the dog.

gypsy is about 12 or 13 now, and it really shows. the red in her red merle is quite faded. she's been slowing down for years, and this week, she's not quite given up, but slow would be an understatement. she can barely get up, much less walk across the wooden floor, so we've taken to keeping her by the back door we use to take her out. she's not particularly happy with this arrangement since she's used to being in the boy's room at night, but she's developed a need to go out every couple of hours at night, and we can't have her intruding on his sleep on school nights. he's usually hard enough to get to sleep in the first place (though the melatonin is definitely helping with that). i can't imagine he falls right back to sleep after having to take her out (though i did find him fast asleep last night a 11 pm! was i ever surprised!). so, at least on school nights, she's now a living room/by the back door dog.

this all started early in the week. she'd been having some trouble getting around on our new wooden floors anyway, but this week it became more than having trouble. she just couldn't get up at all. and she was needing to go out every couple of hours. i'm pretty sure she was initially sick with something (and that she's gotten a little better about the potty breaks since seems to support that theory), especially since her breathing was labored. we honestly were pretty sure we were about to lose her. she's since rallied a bit (still has trouble with the floor, not as many potty breaks but still more than before, and her breathing is better), but while she was having the worst of her issues, i had to stay up and keep an eye on her and help get her out the door (once on the deck, she seems capable of hobbling about since it's not slick like the floor, but she hates HATES the stairs down into the yard). i've settled into a bed by 3 AM kind of schedule, so staying up past that was honestly hard for me, but it had to be done.

i'm still not sure she's out of the woods either. she will eat (once a day now; not much interested in her breakfast these days) and drink water as long as they are set right in front of her, but she won't make the effort to go to get them even if she's hungry and thirsty. she's sleeping A LOT more than she was last week. i wish we could get her in tot he vet to see what's going on, but even though we're starting to do better financially, we're still not doing well enough to take an animal to the vet. and honestly, as cold as it sounds, i would really rather she passed in her sleep sooner than later, especially if she's suffering. i'm not much of a dog person, and the only reason we got gypsy was for my son (which turned out to not work out so well, then turned out to not be necessary once we moved), but no animal should have to suffer. as i said, though, it appears she's rallying some, so we'll watch her and see what happens. we know we have a few options if things get worse. it would just be a matter of the money. i just feel bad for her and her obvious discomfort.

as for taz, we've talked to him about it, told him she's sick and could die. he seems to be taking it in stride right now, but he also may not quite understand what it all means. i'm hoping the forewarning will help reduce any possible issues, but we'll just have to see. i do think he'll be relieved to not have to take care of her, but beyond that, i honestly don't know. they seemed more attached earlier in their relationship than now. he's been more in control of himself when schedules change as he's gotten older, so maybe it won't be a problem.

and, actually, i think i just figured out the tired problem too: i ordered my iron a few weeks ago and it never showed, so i've been off my iron and my multivitamin for a few days now, so my iron is crashing. ug. called the company to get it sorted out. at the very least, they should ship me a new order of both. :P

as for the house, we're still up in the air on closing. that possibility is looking less and less likely at this point, actually. i'm still $300 down on the original down payment, there's no way to get the extra that the realtor and loan guy say is needed, and our last closing date and extension ended two weeks ago. this would be worrisome if we didn't have an agreement in place on the last extension to become renters should the closing fall through, but honestly, i was still a little worried about it. we've not paid anything other than the first part of the down payment since we moved, and the owner seemed anxious to get this thing settled when i talked to him last month. the last thing i heard from anyone, though, was two or three weeks ago when i was told we needed another $1500 in reserve. i told them i'd try, but with the bills coming in and a few other things, i knew it was going to be difficult at beast, and was pretty sure it would be impossible.

anyway, last night the owner called to find out if i'd heard anything from anyone, and i explained most of the situation to him (i didn't mention the missing money) and asked if he'd be open to a lease and us trying to buy again next year. he thinks we may be able to work something out before then, even if we don't go the route we're going now to try to buy, and was open to a lease. my reasoning for a lease is to keep the house from being bought out from under us. the rent will be a little higher than the mortgage ($850 instead of $750), but he could rent the place for $1000 easy. it's not as big a break on rent as we'd hoped, but i think we'll be fine once i get the connection and closing bills all taken care of. anyway, the owner will be by today with the lease, and i'll finally be able to breathe easier. he's also said he'll deal with the realtor and loan guy so i don't have to. we still have a couple months before we'd have to do new appraisal, and there's still the chance this will close (though at this point, i'd say a VERY slim chance), but regardless of what happens, we have a home for at least the next year.

and, really, next year will probably be easier for us to buy. saxy will have been at one company for well over a year by then (and promoted!) and possibly at two companies for a year by then. in fact, one of the chefs at the catering company told saxy that if he stays on, he can see the company trusting him to be executive chef at one of the restaurant in a few years. that he can see that NOW is amazing to me. anyway, as long as saxy keeps at least two of the jobs, we will have a stable income history, and we should be able to get on top of the bills and not have the same kind of digging out mess we have right now, both which should help us in getting an easier deal on a home loan. plus, since we'll be renting from the guy we'd be buying from, we'd have a more stable payment history as well. all we need to make sure it's all good is a decent tax return and maybe a little extra savings, though i'm not sure saving is on this year's agenda. should be, but we have a lot of other things to take care of as well, and some of those things are on a high priority list.

i'm telling you, it's almost enough to make you jump on one of those crazy high interest loans just to get things caught up. almost.