my newest stalking victims

I (and any of my neighbors who care) have been blessed with Eastern Goldfinches for the last few years. There is a pair that visits my yard frequently and I am in love with their melodic songs. Last year my cat came to my back door with his proud "I've killed something for you" howl. Out of his mouth was the yellow of our state bird. My heart sunk - I reponded by flicking my cat with my forefinger and thumb which caused him to open his mouth and the bird flew out! I am honored and a little frightened my bird friend has come back this year, and I'm sure it's him because there is a bit of dent on his chest. I'm obsessed with trying to obtain a good shot of them. One more reason these sunflowers make me smile.

homeowner blues

-roof has been caving for some time, applied for mortgage with different bank than wells fargo (they helped someone behind me first and left me to wait for the bilingual teller, who of cause started speaking Spanish to me. I told someone at regional that I thought that behavior was unprofessional and told them "My name's Hennessey, so there is no clue that I can't speak the language by my name, I was judged on solely on appearance" and now they treat me like shit when I go there. I was just pissed that they helped the other guy before me)
-got a much lower appraisal than anticipated, but what can I expect with a caving in roof? don't know how much that cost. later found out they compared that to a house my size a block over that had recently sold. it was a drug house.
-my parents gave me this house without an abstract. none on file with the local companies so they had to draw one from scratch $1075
-they are questioning my ownership of the property because there is no record of my mom's death ( I have a copy of her death certificate, that should fix it!)
-now the lawyers are charging me another $75 to draw up an affidavit that my mother's estate was worth less than one million, because then I would owe taxes and I would need like her husband ( my step-father is in the Philippines, married to my mother's sister and has Alzheimer's. haven't spoke to him since '01. not an option) or her lawyer that drew up her will ( another charge! and I don't think he's practicing anymore) to sign it
-shit, I just want a new roof. and a water heater. and a toilet that flushes properly.
-the tax records show that I owe for the paving of the street, which I don't. more phone calls
-another piece of paper from the lawyers (another $75) to add my husband to the deed.

this has by far the most expensive loan -- ever! we signed the paperwork today. I caught a woman out in the street taking pictures from her zoom lens in her van. I so hope she was taking a pic of that spectacular hibiscus in my neighbor's yard. The last time someone was taking picture of my home it was used to present to city council to apply for a blighted neighborhood grant. That was before my roof looked like crap, so that's really quite humiliating.

Narcissism of small differences

yipes! I'm grateful that I have a warped sense of humor to be able to somewhat laugh at this all. My overly religious in-laws raised my very anti religious husband. My husband has not been baptized and does not belong to any faith or church. He goes at the most twice a year, Easter and Christmas, and he won't dress up. He just has these beliefs, without reason. (With money and/or heavy drug use he so could be a cult leader, so in this case our poverty is a blessing) So my inlaws parading about like they are the most pious makes me chuckle. And annoy me. So my father in law has converted to Seventh Day Adventist. Truthfully, I am very unfamiliar with this religion so I asked him over dinner what the basic beliefs were. He told me they originated from the Mennonites (not true, it the Millerites, but he's hard of hearing) and that the Catholic Church is the "Fourth Nation" and when Christ comes we're first to go to hell. He also quoted a bible passage stating that if you confess your sins to anyone else but God it is a sin, therefore Catholics are sinners.(can't find that one) He also threw in some old Catholic bashing rhetoric. So I gave him the "ok, so we're on different teams, but can't you just be happy we play the same sport?" baseball reference. No. (they are already bothered that I told them I had Hindu grandparents, they would go NUTS if I ever divulged that I very likely have Muslim ancestors too) I must see the positive in this, I googled some and learned quite a bit more about Catholism and some about his religion - he probably shouldn't have been eating that cheeseburger and I'm wondering if he ate the pork chops we bought him for Father's Day and I will no longer be offering him BLT's. (apperently they also don't eat pork and most are vegetarians).