Delusions of... Everything

Monochrome Monday

I've been away all weekend and have nothing prepared to post, I thought this would be a good way to start my week!

Isabel, the fat and relaxed cat!

To see other monochrome shots go here.

Sky Watch Friday

Yes, I'm posting another sunrise for Sky Watch Friday... I can't help myself.  They are just so beautiful this time of year!

The first shot was taken with my stock lens.  Three minutes later the second shot was taken with the wide angle lens.  The light changed so much in those three minutes!

Check out Sky Watch Central to see other sky shots from around the world.

This and That Thursday

I've had one of THOSE weeks!  I will get by to visit all of you.

Dancing Daughter came down with a cold on Friday.  Against my better judgment I let her do all her usual activities and then some.  This meant she missed school and dance on Monday.  She wanted to go to school on Tues, against my better judgment (again) I let her...

I've been swamped at work.  Two big jobs that were supposed to be two weeks apart ended up being due at the same time.  So on Tuesday when I get the phone call from school that says Dancing Daughter wants to go home I frantically tried to finish the project I was in the middle of before I left to get her.  Everything went wrong, the large format copier ran out of paper AND toner, the "field use" stamp broke and bled red all over my hands and Dancing Daughter kept texting me asking "Are you almost here".

The changing of the clocks is so irritating, the only good thing that comes from it is the fall sunrises I'm able to witness and photograph for a few weeks.  I'll be sharing one tomorrow!

Handy Man has decided to sell our rental house in the spring.  He spent days crunching numbers and is satisfied we won't be destitute in our retirement years if we sell.  I'm happy.  The idea of finding new renters in the wasn't something I was looking forward too.  Now all we have to do is find a buyer.  Yikes!

I'm going scrapbooking this weekend, this time as a guest, not a host!  This means, no cooking, no cleaning, no getting up early.  It will be all scrapbooking all the time!  I hope I have enough pictures to take with me.

Wordless Wednesday

The Recap

The Halloween party was a huge success, especially for the teens!  Unfortunately I started not feeling well Friday night and continue to not feel well today.  Here is a quick party recap post mostly in photos!

Dancing Daughter decided maybe she wasn't as terrified of the Scarecrow as she thought she was

The boys taking a break mid-set up.  They were transforming the family room into a haunted clown cave.

The stairway going down into the haunted clown cave.  (Sorry it's so dark)

This is what greeted you at the bottom.

The wolf had the funniest costume.  Can you guess what he is?

He's white trash!  Get it?

My chili was enjoyed by all.

The cat is glad Halloween is over!

Happy Halloween

The porch is decorated...

The spiders have made themselves at home...

And everywhere I go I feel like I'm being watched...

Yep, I'd say we are ready for Halloween!

Have a good one everyone!

Sky Watch Friday

Sunrise

Seattle, WA

October 25, 2009

6:45 am

Go to Sky Watch Central to check out other sky shots from around the world.

The Appraisal

The appraisal came back with the value of our house down approximately 3.3% from the 2007 appraisal when we purchased the house.  This seems very fair to me.  Our neighborhood has gone down roughly 12% since 2007, as have most neighborhoods in the Seattle area.  Handy Man is not as satisfied.  I knew this would happen.  I knew he would work his ass off on the house for months and be disappointed, but I was really hoping to be wrong.

There is even more to be disappointed about.  The whole time we've been going through this process of refinancing our house both Handy Man and I were under the impression that we would be able to refinance a portion of our loan and restructure the remaining portion.  In fact this is not true.  All along we needed the house to appraise at 5% OVER what we purchased it for.  That was never made clear to us.  The financial officer kept throwing numbers around, but never one that high.  This is a huge disappointment, especially for Handy Man who was really counting on refinancing.

The financial officer is appealing the appraisal, for what purpose I'm not sure.  The value of the house is not going up 8% because of an appeal.  The days of over pricing houses to qualify for loans is over.  I also feel like the days of "waiting it out" are over too.  I don't anticipate housing prices to climb like they have in years past.

I'm letting Handy Man wallow in his sorrow for a couple days then we will talk about other options.  We do have another house we can sell, one we don't owe too much money on, one he wanted to use for retirement income.  One that I never wanted to keep in the first place.  One that we were supposed to sell all along.  One that will enable us to get out of the ARM loan we are in AND have money left for investing in retirement. 

Now I have to talk Handy Man into it... Wish me luck.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

This is how my kids carved pumpkins. 

They hated the feel and the smell, but loved seeing their carved creations lit up at night with a candle!  Now, at age 14 and 17, they don't ask to carve pumpkins.

The Green River

Once upon a time a dam was built and named for Seattle attorney and state legislator Howard A. Hanson, who heavily encouraged the dam be built.  The Green River Valley was prone to flooding every year, the dam brought relief to the farmers in the valley.  Once the valley was dry (mostly) farmlands gave way to a sea of warehouses, industrial plants, condominiums, and shopping centers.   This is where I work, right on the river.  It really is pretty.

 

Today the Howard Hanson Dam has issues.  The land on the right side of the dam is starting to give way.  This means the dam cannot hold as much water as when it's healthy.  The Army Corp of Engineers will be releasing water during heavy periods of rain to relieve pressure on the dam.  The possibility of flooding along the river is very high, in fact they are telling us to expect it.

I have spent the past two weeks preparing, as much as possible, our office for flooding.  The computers are off the floor, shelves and cupboards have been emptied up to about 20 inches, power strips are off the floor.  Today I will be typing up emergency plans to be posted in each office, so if we have warning there are a few things we can do to prepare.

The fear of the unknown has my boss and I stressed.  How much water will come in?  How often will it flood before the dam is fixed?  Should we pull the carpet up and make do with the concrete floor?  How much time will we have to be shut down?  For the first time flood insurance has been purchased.

I'm hoping for a drier than normal winter!  *crosses fingers*