So Thursday the 22nd we got the offer to buy and they suggested a closing date.
On Friday I wrote our Peace Corps Placement Officer, Lateefah Burgess, to ask if she could shed any light on when we would be leaving. The buyers were waffling between early September and mid-October, and we wanted to accommodate them as much as we could. On the other hand, we believed that we were set for an October departure date, so we needed to be careful. Received an auto-reply that Lateefah would be out of the office until Wednesday.
OK, so sit tight and work on other things (house inspector came on Tuesday), like packing!
Late Wednesday afternoon, Lateefah called and Steve talked with her. She said, "I am afraid have bad news for you. Both of your programs have been cancelled."
Steve was struck silent, and thought, "OK. She's not gonna make me cry." Of course, if it had been me, I would not have hesitated to cry.
He said, "Is it for security reasons?" thinking about the early July bombing that took place in Uganda. The Peace Corps monitors the political/social situations in all its partner countries to insure that the volunteers are safe. Which is good, dontcha think?
She didn't answer the question. She just said, "I'm so sorry. The earliest that we will be able to match you to a program will be a January departure date."
So Steve goes into "sell mode," explaining how flexible we are, that just because we had been assigned to do public health and IT, doesn't prevent us from doing something else. He mentioned that I would be more than willing to give vaccinations, or teach health issues, etc. Heck, I'll dig ditches as long as I've got some good sunscreen!
So now we're really in limbo. The house is sold and we need to get out. Steve's last day at work is August 27. We need to find some temporary housing (cheap!) Steve wants to find some kind of volunteer project he can work on between now and when we leave. I'll keep teaching Zumba and whatever other fitness classes come my way. I may have a little charity project in the works, but I'll write about that later.
Looking on the bright side, we get to spend the holidays with our family, and maybe even see some Tar Heel Basketball before we leave!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
First the Good News
We sold our house! How fantastic. And what a load off our minds.
We had decided to throw in the towel and just rent the house. After showing it SO MANY TIMES (32, I think), we still had not received a single offer. On Monday, July 19, we met with a guy from a rental management company (Louise Beck Properties) and signed on with them to take care of things while we were gone. We were very impressed with their services and especially with their knowledge of the market and how things should be done. He recommended that we keep our house on the market, but we would move forward with marketing it as a rental. On Wednesday a woman came out to take pictures that would show the place on their website, left ANOTHER lock box.
And on Thursday we received an offer to buy the house! It was a really low offer, but we took it. We're just barely breaking even on what we paid back in 2003, but that's better than a lot of people have done. The house inspector has inspected, and we're waiting for their repair requests. We're hoping to close in early September, but don't have that nailed down yet. More on that later.
The people at the rental agency were SO nice and didn't charge us a penny for the work they'd done.
We had decided to throw in the towel and just rent the house. After showing it SO MANY TIMES (32, I think), we still had not received a single offer. On Monday, July 19, we met with a guy from a rental management company (Louise Beck Properties) and signed on with them to take care of things while we were gone. We were very impressed with their services and especially with their knowledge of the market and how things should be done. He recommended that we keep our house on the market, but we would move forward with marketing it as a rental. On Wednesday a woman came out to take pictures that would show the place on their website, left ANOTHER lock box.
And on Thursday we received an offer to buy the house! It was a really low offer, but we took it. We're just barely breaking even on what we paid back in 2003, but that's better than a lot of people have done. The house inspector has inspected, and we're waiting for their repair requests. We're hoping to close in early September, but don't have that nailed down yet. More on that later.
The people at the rental agency were SO nice and didn't charge us a penny for the work they'd done.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Various and sundry
It's been a month since my son Jeff married Stephanie. Beautiful wedding at the Old Well, and great fun other events! They went to Argentina and Brazil for their 2-week honeymoon. If this blog were not about the Peace Corps, I'd post a bunch of pictures ;--)
We have dumbed down our house even more. Stripped it of 2/3 of the furnishings (we had already taken out about half), and painted most of the rooms beige. We've shown the place more than THIRTY times, but not a single offer. Steve thinks nobody's buying. I'm definitely getting a little panicky. At some point we'll have to decide whether to drop the price SO low (it's already the lowest priced house in the neighborhood), or hire a manager and lease it out for the time we're gone. Sigh.
We have dumbed down our house even more. Stripped it of 2/3 of the furnishings (we had already taken out about half), and painted most of the rooms beige. We've shown the place more than THIRTY times, but not a single offer. Steve thinks nobody's buying. I'm definitely getting a little panicky. At some point we'll have to decide whether to drop the price SO low (it's already the lowest priced house in the neighborhood), or hire a manager and lease it out for the time we're gone. Sigh.
News from a friend - a new resource
I received a Facebook message from my friend, Alex Amorin, who is serving as a PCV with her husband, Lucas. They are working in Vanuatu, an island in the New Hebrides of the South Pacific. She had such a WEALTH of great information, including some food for thought regarding serving as a married couple. They keep a blog at http://ourantarctica.blogspot.com/. It's referring to Antarctica because before they served in the Peace Corps, they lived and worked in Antarctica for 6 months. Actually, FIRST they got married here in the US, worked in Antarctica (for an adventure) and saved lots of money. Then they traveled around the world for 6 months before they went into the Peace Corps.
They both teach various topics at the schools; right now it's mainly workshops about acquiring and maintaining clean water. They are really good about posting pictures and keeping up with the latest activities.
ANYWAY, Alex directed me to a site - http://www.peacecorpswiki.org/ - that is fabulous. Developed by PCVs FOR PCVs, it is chock full of great stuff, including ways to calculate when and where we might go. (WHY does it have to be a secret?) I spent a lot of time looking at living conditions for the different English-speaking African countries. It's likely that we won't have running water or indoor plumbing, but we will have one or two rooms (one might be a porch) we can call our own. Probably won't have electricity where we live. Of course, if I'm working in IT, there must be a little electricity at least for part of the day somewhere close, right?
Have some fun digging around in Alex's blog and the Peace Corps Wiki :--)
They both teach various topics at the schools; right now it's mainly workshops about acquiring and maintaining clean water. They are really good about posting pictures and keeping up with the latest activities.
ANYWAY, Alex directed me to a site - http://www.peacecorpswiki.org/ - that is fabulous. Developed by PCVs FOR PCVs, it is chock full of great stuff, including ways to calculate when and where we might go. (WHY does it have to be a secret?) I spent a lot of time looking at living conditions for the different English-speaking African countries. It's likely that we won't have running water or indoor plumbing, but we will have one or two rooms (one might be a porch) we can call our own. Probably won't have electricity where we live. Of course, if I'm working in IT, there must be a little electricity at least for part of the day somewhere close, right?
Have some fun digging around in Alex's blog and the Peace Corps Wiki :--)
Medical stuff turned in
Cathy here. We continue to wait (on the edge of impatience) for news about our assignment. I have completed all my medical screenings and have sent in the very thick packet of paperwork. Fingers crossed, y'all. I received a confirmation email that the PC received the paperwork, with the caution that
"Peace Corps received the results of your physical exam on June 29, 2010. If the program you are nominated for is not scheduled to leave in the next 4 months you may not hear from Medical until the time of departure is closer. Currently those programs scheduled to leave in the next 4 months are being reviewed. For applicants leaving within 4 months Peace Corps may request additional medical information. Please respond quickly to these requests."
So I'm focusing on that line about "scheduled to leave in the next 4 months." I guess October is 4 months away, so maybe they'll go ahead and start the review of the docs.
Steve goes to see his last doctor next Tuesday. Here's hoping that pulling together all the test results and myriad "attachments" required is a speedy process.
By the way, my primary care physician, Cecelia McKay, must have spent MANY hours working on my stuff. I saw the statement from BCBS and it was over $1500. She didn't charge me a cent! She is just too cool!
"Peace Corps received the results of your physical exam on June 29, 2010. If the program you are nominated for is not scheduled to leave in the next 4 months you may not hear from Medical until the time of departure is closer. Currently those programs scheduled to leave in the next 4 months are being reviewed. For applicants leaving within 4 months Peace Corps may request additional medical information. Please respond quickly to these requests."
So I'm focusing on that line about "scheduled to leave in the next 4 months." I guess October is 4 months away, so maybe they'll go ahead and start the review of the docs.
Steve goes to see his last doctor next Tuesday. Here's hoping that pulling together all the test results and myriad "attachments" required is a speedy process.
By the way, my primary care physician, Cecelia McKay, must have spent MANY hours working on my stuff. I saw the statement from BCBS and it was over $1500. She didn't charge me a cent! She is just too cool!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Another Exclamation Point
Not real news here, but I'll write it down. Steve and I received notice that our legal forms are being reviewed. What's that mean??? All the stuff regarding ex-husbands/wives and mortgage/loans is being looked at to determine that we're not trying to run away from our responsibilities and debts.
In the meantime, we finally got some RAIN! It's tough to sell a house when everything is brown . . . .
Friday, May 14, 2010
Treading Water
Well, not much going on here, Peace Corps-wise. Steve and I are still going to all the doctor appointments, having many tests and lab analyses. My last appointment is next Wednesday, but then I have to wait for lab results, so Steve may still pull ahead in our race to the medical finish. Wait - that sounds pretty bad, doesn't it?
No real progress on selling the house, either. We've painted a little to "dumb down" the rooms, packed, given, and thrown away a ton of stuff. The house has been shown about 25 times, but no offers. We're waiting till June to consider dropping the price. Well, actually, we've already decided to do it, but we're waiting till June anyway . . .
Steve is in Alabama right now with his sisters, Nancy and Carol. He was going to his 45th high school reunion and told them about it. The next thing you know, they had all planned a major walk down memory lane to see friends and places they knew when they were kids.
So I'm just bachin' it this week - teaching Zumba classes by day (Eight classes this week. I am TIRED!) and watching chick flicks every night.
Are you still awake? It's OK - I think it's boring, too.
No real progress on selling the house, either. We've painted a little to "dumb down" the rooms, packed, given, and thrown away a ton of stuff. The house has been shown about 25 times, but no offers. We're waiting till June to consider dropping the price. Well, actually, we've already decided to do it, but we're waiting till June anyway . . .
. . . BECAUSE on May 30 my son Jeff and his fiance, Stephanie, are getting married! There are LOTS of fun tasks for that momentous event. One thing I'm doing (and I LOVE to do) is creating a multimedia presentation for the rehearsal dinner and reception - pictures and graphics, movies and animations, all set to great music. I'm also practicing doing my own hair so it looks good for the pictures. That's pretty important ;--)
Steve is in Alabama right now with his sisters, Nancy and Carol. He was going to his 45th high school reunion and told them about it. The next thing you know, they had all planned a major walk down memory lane to see friends and places they knew when they were kids.
So I'm just bachin' it this week - teaching Zumba classes by day (Eight classes this week. I am TIRED!) and watching chick flicks every night. Are you still awake? It's OK - I think it's boring, too.
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