Home and Various Difficulties

Posted on by accordingtohoyt

We’re back home after doing a week’s worth of work in a day and a half, then driving afternoon/evening/night to get here at 5 am. I’m feeling mostly dead.

And terrified. Because you see we ran through our savings BEFORE moving and the moving expenses were way more than we expected (just the gas back and forth), because of the looking was so expensive, particularly with Pandemic Hotels TM. Then renovations, which weren’t as extensive as you might think, but everything was through the roof, because of “the times we live in.” And if the house takes longer to sell than we anticipate, we’re going to be in a world of trouble.

I realized that on Friday. The problem is fear and stress shut me down. So — as embarrassed and terrified as I am — on the advice (and beating) of many friends, I’ll be doing a gofundme.

Meanwhile, while I was at my lowest I got given a very odd gift.

As some of you know I’m so cheap that Scrooge McDuck would look at me and go “Whoa”. So I rarely buy ornamental things just to buy. (Except mugs, and even that it’s more I have a weird relationship with them.) So, I wanted a fall wreath, but they were like $30 or $150 or something. (This is how much I retain prices beyond “ah, too expensive.”) BUT when browsing Arc Thrift store there was a bunch of “fake fall foliage” for $2 and a vine wreath was $4. And I have a glue gun. So. Three years ago, I made this wreath and hung it up.

The other part of this story is that the other house had a little bird who made its nest on the next-to-the-door light. Dan would get upset it might burn and want to take it off, but I wouldn’t let him, because I enjoyed watching the baby birds.

Well, normally I had the fall wreath up August through December, but this last year…. well.

So two weeks ago, we took the wreath down after a year plus. And two days ago I was cramming it into a huge box, just shoving to get it in. When I realized there was an addition I DID not make, beautifully mated to the wreath. And suddenly I was in tears, as though it was a gift or a sign or something.

It came home with us, wrapped in bubble wrap, in a medium size box, and I’m not even sure about putting it outside or in an interior wall.

Below the pics.

88 thoughts on “Home and Various Difficulties”

  1. “But your friend here is only mostly dead. Mostly dead is still a little alive. Means there’s still a chance. Now with all dead, there’s only one thing to do.”

    “Whass that?”

    “Go through his pockets for loose change.”

  2. Glad you’re home safely. Hope everything goes OK.

    Oh, did you check that nest for an unhatched egg? [Very Big Crazy Grin]

  5. Well you just made me cry, and all I want to say is fear not.
    Oh and I’ve got cash at the ready for the givesendgo or whatever you do.
    Income and the lack thereof terrifies me too and if I give to you it helps me feel stronger and more able.

  7. I’m pretty sure I’ve already purchased all writings available from the assorted Hoyt family authors… but I’ll go check, because you’re all on my “shut up and take my money” list. I’ll be sure to pick up anything I happen to have missed buying, because I’m quite confident I’ll enjoy it.

    And when you get that gofundme kicked off, I’ll be happy to contribute. Improved finances reduce stress. And stressed-out authors often experience reduced writing productivity. And that would mean a reduction in good stuff for me to read. Really, putting some $$ into a gofundme would be based entirely on selfish motives. Right?

    1. If nothing else (presuming you’ve not yet done so) you could go to the Amazon pages for all those books and leave brilliant, scintillating, enticing reviews. Maybe something along the lines of “It were reelly gud.”
      ~

      1. On checking, I found I have indeed purchased all the available writings. No time to write decent reviews at the moment, so I dumped some $$ in the tip-jar in lieu of reviews.

  8. That’s a Sign if ever I saw one!
    Everything’s going to be all right, blogmommy. Now relax and take a nest — I mean, a rest! As for the gofundme, I’m in.

    1. [channeling Jack Sparrow from the first movie] But if she knows to expect it, won’t that make it expected? Unexpectedly expected, but expected still, which will give her expectations for the unexpected. [races off to see what will exorcise Jack Sparrow]

  10. Just a thought on the fundraiser: how about literary rewards for various levels of support? Say $ 50 = first name of a future character; $100 = last name; $250 = minor character based loosely on the donor; $1000 = book dedicated

      1. And the story was about how the heroes sent him back to Hell. [Very Big Crazy Grin]

        1. LOL.
          I will have a Huns dinner in Dallas, Emily, as soon as the crunch is past.
          Your job is to find me a decent diner. Not personally, if you don’t want to, but you can ask around?

          1. I’m pretty sure we can find one. A better question would be a “diner” diner? or just a family owned restaurant of x cooking style / cuisine? We have diners, every flavor of ethnic you can think of, etc.

              1. If you include Addison and Richardson as well as Dallas, there’s every kind of food imaginable. People come to do business from all over the world. Also we’ve have residents from all over the world. Last but not least DFW is a major airport.

                Texas is very hot (metaphorically) these days. We are having what passes for winter here. Not quite freezing, and not quite cold enough for a fire. I think we’ll have a white Christmas this year. It’s also been raining a bunch.

          2. Absolutely! I don’t know if there any diners in Plano. But there some reasonably (for the area) restaurants around. Restaurant hunting is one of my favorite hobbies. We need a reason to go out, work has been stressful.

    2. Now THAT is a brilliant idea, and could lead me to double my contribution! Not to mention buy multiple physical copies….

    4. Hmm, a shadowy Phantom that strikes from afar to save the day and then vanishes… that could be worth $50. ~:D

      Also, I repeat my assertion that there should be SWAG. T-shirts at least. Surely there is a print-on-demand t-shirt place somewhere that will do Hun-Wear.

        1. Walmart actually had “Rope Tree Journalist Some assembly required” t-shirts on their website a few years back. I remember because someone pointed it out to Emperor Misha as he seems to have coined the phrase.

          They lasted roughly 24 hours after someone noticed them and they were then pulled as offensive.

          1. They’d sell out of stock in my neck of the woods in 24 hours. Texas is still Texas. Just because you live in a city doesn’t mean that you or your parents aren’t good ol’ boys or gals.

  11. Well, we are advised that “”God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform.””

    He’s kind of a jerk that way. I think it’s a dad thing.
    ~

    1. Blast, I should read the comments first. My name in Petropavlovsk is cursed, when he finds out I publish first.

      1. Well, after a bit one learns to do a quick CTRL-F for key words/phrases.

        Sorta the same way one learns to carry a pocket flash after tripping over household pets who refuse to grasp the staff don’t see in the dark.
        ~

          1. True – but while it is possible for me to solve all your problems it has been my experience that most people do not like desire the solution.

            [It is inappropriate to say that the dead don’t like the solution as they tend to be as devoid of opinions as they are of problems. This is but one of the reasons they are usually denied the franchise.]
            ~

        1. He the first man to teach me secret of success in mathematics…plagiarize. Let no mans work evade your eyes. But always to call it, please, research.

          1. My High School Physics teacher was a graduate Engineer and took Russian in grad school. He used to tell that joke with an affected Russian accent and around a meeting of the Great Lobachevsky on the streets of Moscow. “But, please to call it research!”

  13. Lovely.

    Waiting for your GFM to come up. We are at least temporarily flush and can spread the wealth a bit.

  14. Put your wreath inside. I have…er…had…a robin nest that had blown out of my maple tree that I put in a display on my covered porch in remembrance of the many babies that had been raised in it over the years. It only last a couple of years in the display. I thought for sure a covered porch would protect it well enough. But if there is no bird refurbishing it yearly I guess it’s bound to decay like any other abandoned domicile.

    1. There was a robin that nested on the beam of my deck over my garage. It flew off every time I parked or left. The nest lasted several years, but it was pretty fallen apart before it fell off.

      1. There was (IIRC) a Robin who nested on a ledge of one of our garage’s window. We never bothered her there although Dad did put a board over the window (inside the garage).

        We later put a sun-porch behind the garage but I believe that the Robin had stopped nesting there before that.

      2. I had a gas-powered weed-wacker propped up in the implement shelter. A robin with more “something” than brains made a nest in the vee between the engine and the wall. I discovered too late that there had been a clutch of eggs in it, and once the nest was moved, Mama Robin abandoned the eggs.

        At least I saved the robin that was going to lay her eggs in a nice pile of bark–in the dog’s kennel, with the Lab-Aussie thinking that robins were a nice treat. I had one outraged bird when I picked her up and moved her out of harm’s way. The only other times I’ve picked up small birds is when the local juniper trees have a crop of well-fermented berries. Drunk LBBs fly funny.

    2. Hummingbird nests are much stronger. We have had many nests in our yard. We saved one nest from our Magnolia. It has rested outside our front door on its branch for over 10 years. The tough little hummers build their nests with spider web so its stretches. As the kids get bigger, the nest expands. Very well built structures. They last.

      We watched one nest close to our back door, with two eggs, and then two small swords sticking up to be fed by mom. Yesterday when I climbed past the Lemon tree to clean off the roof (of Avocado and Bougainvillea leaves and branches), I was greeted by a ticking hummer wondering why I was passing by his lemon blossoms. Here in Mordor west, the flowers blossom year round. So the hummers hang around.

  16. That story about the nest – it made me teary. Such a lovely sign. Set up the GoFundMe, I’m in.

  17. Divination is for the birds.
    Or from the birds.
    Or something like that.

    Small signs can be a big comfort.

  19. My sister used to slip $20s in my wallet when she visited, back when I was a single mom and didn’t have a lot of money. She didn’t make a big deal out of it, but those bills made a big difference to me.

    I’ll pay it forward for you and yours. And I’m praying for all good things to happen.

  21. Between this and the flag rescue from earlier it sounds like you’re in the right place for sure. I plan on sparing a few when you set up the fundraiser too of course. Your blogging and the community that sprung up around it has helped me through some pretty rough phases so giving back is the least I can do here. The kitties are pulling for you too of course!

  23. It is a positive portent. I would put it out on the door or protected area of a wall in the spring, you might get an even more pleasant surprise when it gets occupied again.

  24. My husband and I would like to mail you a check in lieu of having to deal with GoFundMe, just in case they get ugly and pull your campaign. Would you please e-mail me and let me know where you would like for us to send it? We will be happy to send it to the office address of someone you trust, just let us know where.

      1. Hi,

        I’d like to help out too- so Lowes or Home Depot? I’ve also been wanting to knit you slippers or fingerless mitts as a housewarming gift since before the last time you moved, but I 1) don’t know if you can use them, 2) what size, or 3) how to get them to you after solving points one and two.

        1. Um…. Lowes and home depot have their blood money. At this point it’s AMEX, hence the issue. We just thought we’d have gone to market a month ago.
          Um… Slippers. Size 9. We’re going to get a drop box in the next week or so, G-d willing.

          1. Sorry about the delay. Hope you get the old house sold soon.

            Regarding the slippers, oh good, we have similar size feet so I pretty much know the size. It’ll take me a couple of weeks to knit if I don’t want to over do it again, so waiting a few weeks to get the mail situation sorted out works on my end.

            Thank you very much for hosting this as I need the prospective while stuck in deep Blueville,

  26. It is literally, according to how I read the Scriptures, our duty to support those in need, especially family. And I don’t mean by funneling any of it through (soulless grifters posing as) bureaucrats. Of course we’ll do our best for you, Sarah. Although, i’m afraid eggses are out of my line, so we’ll need to work out other forms of barter…

  27. The nest is so cool! You got this. Because we’re starting our move right now, we don’t have a lot to spare. BUT, I did find an unused (how that happened I’ll never know) Amazon gift card. So, I’ll spend it on books. I know that won’t reach you for a couple months, but maybe I can help spread out the income a bit.

  28. So if I use the “Shop Amazon” link to buy whatever of Our Esteemed Hostess’ products I don’t already own, does double dippage occur?

  30. Today is Election Day in Virginia. Well, voting has been going on for a month, but today is the Official Election Day. The Votes will be Counted!

    But will anybody be allowed to watch?

    I foresee two possible outcomes:

    1. The Democrats steal the election, then scream hysterically that Election Fraud is a Racist Conspiracy Theory and everybody trying to investigate the election are a bunch of Eeevul White Supremacists!! REEEE!!

    2. The Democrats fail to steal the election, then scream hysterically that it was stolen by Outrageous Election Fraud!! The Election must be Investigated!! The results must be overturned!! REEEE!! The whole state will be submerged in a mire of dirty money and crooked lawyers.

    Because of course election fraud only exists when a Democrat loses.

    Never mind that this is where Bloomborg bought the entire state government 3 years ago.
    ———————————
    Elections are far too important to be left up to a bunch of uncontrolled voters. The Party MUST exercise oversight and management to prevent mere voters from electing the wrong candidates!

    1. I vote for “both and.” Texas also has elections today, but they are local and for constitutional propositions. The big local thing is “a tax increase for the children.” Ah, sorry, that was exactly the wrong way to phrase it.

      1. It’s local election day here in CT also. I’m getting ready to go over and try to vote the bastards out. Our local Ds in Groton have been bad enough that the local paper (New London Day) has been complaining about them!
        The money quote:
        “A town government run by one dominant party, one that both limits public participation in meetings and dodges requests for public documents as it descends into a legal quagmire of its own making, desperately needs a good kick from voters.

        Next Tuesday is Election Day. Bring it on.”
        And the reporter writing that is definitely *not* an R, nor even an “I” or “U” I believe.

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