My Mornings This Week

I've had some crummy mornings this week. Usually I wouldn't share, but I honestly think it's humorous.

Sidenote: Cross contamination is a big issue when you are a celiac. So, things like butter and cream cheese, where the knife goes back and fourth between the bread and the cream cheese, can be problematic - bread crumbs are left behind! Most people solve this by having two containers of condiments, one for gluten free bread items and one for normal bread items.

Sidenote 2: My commute to work is all of 8 minutes. However, there is construction at a major intersection on my route. Currently the workers seem to be at the paving stage.

Monday: I used the last of the gluten free cream cheese on my bagel.

Tuesday: I realized I never bought new gluten free cream cheese, and decided the normal cream cheese didn't have enough crumbs to make me sick. Clover Street is down to one lane because of paving and it takes me 25 minutes to get to work.

Wednesday: I wake up before my alarm with horrible stomach cramps. For breakfast, I'm ready with new, un-contaminated cream cheese for my bagel, but I discover the microwave is broken so I can't defrost my bagel. On the plus side, traffic runs smoothly!

Thursday: I get woken up by stomach cramps far before my alarm. By now I've figured out maybe using that cream cheese wasn't such a good idea. I manage to fall back asleep, and have horrible nightmares, and oversleep by 20 minutes because of them. The microwave is still broken, so no breakfast for me - not that I'd want to eat it, with the gluten reaction, anyway. I manage to get in the car 2 minutes before I usually leave for work, but sit in traffic for 25 minutes, again, so I'm late for work. Luckily my boss wasn't home. Unluckily, she wasn't home to notice the dog poop in her kitchen. I notice the dog poop as I am walking through the kitchen, and then hear a squish. I hop into my office on one foot and take off my shoe so I can go wash it. As I'm walking back into the kitchen (via a different route than the first time) I step in more dog poop, but this time in my sock. 

Note that this is the end of my post, and it is only Thursday. I'll see what tomorrow brings!

The Closing From . . .

Today I swore. I don't usually swear, so something must be especially frustrating for me to do so. My statement was "This is the closing from hell". 

Let's recap my home-buying process over the past 3.5 months:

I put in my purchase offer  on a condominium the end of June. 

One and a half weeks later the negotiating was over and I received signed paperwork from the seller.

I applied for an FHA mortgage the beginning of July. 

On August 13th I was denied for the FHA loan, because the condo project was not approved for FHA loans. I proceeded to apply for a conventional mortgage. 

On August 28th, my expected closing date, paperwork was not in from the homeowner's association. 

On September 28th, one month after my expected closing date, the paperwork was still not in. 

On September 29th the paper work was in, but I was denied for the conventional mortgage because the paperwork had not been sufficient. 

I was offered a portfolio loan, which I accepted on October 2nd. This loan was denied by a mortgage processor that same day.

The loan, and my file, were taken to the president of the bank on October 6th, and approved. Closing was being scheduled for October 9th. 

On October 8th (today), my attorney discovers that the title is not clear, and advises me strongly against closing until this is cleared up by the seller's attorney. Closing is being scheduled for the end of October. If the title is not clear, I will be walking away from the deal.

Sometimes, there are morals to my stories. A possible moral for this one is to buy a house with cash - at least you could avoid the bank problems. I have a few others, but they are too violent to share publicly. The truth is, whether the industry is a mess or not, buying a home is a smart financial choice if you have a sum of money to use for a down payment. But, go into the process with two expectations. First, that you will drive the progress. Second, that your timeline, as clearly as you state it, is dependent on many things, so you might as well think of home buying as a ongoing process that will have a large presence in your life for several months.