Miss me?

Okay, so I have given up trying to say I am going to do the daily blog and then follow through...Life just gets in the way and makes a liar out of me. So once again I’ll catch you up and we’ll see just how long I’ll hang in there before the next train of life arrives to carry me off.

Besides, I am not sure there are that many readers out there who are greatly affected by my words of wisdom so I'm pretty sure I am safe.

My last post was about my buddy, Gabe. I have since lost my best pal. I still get quite emotional over his loss so we won’t go there for now. I’ll just say I miss him like crazy and I’m happy to at least have spent one last Christmas with him.

 

The holidays were great. Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and day were spent with my husband, kids and grandson. The weekends after were spend with extended family and always make for a wonderfully memorable time. I miss being around my family (that group specifically) so much.

 

Not long after ringing in the New Year (well that Monday following actually) I was hit with a horrible flu monster, and the City’s sewer main decided to back up and flow freely into the entire lower level of my home...we are still recovering from that one. Construction will be ongoing for a while because we’ve had to tear down everything but the studs and begin the rebuild process.

 

The good news for you...well dearest friends and blog readers, you will get to witness a process that will document the near killing of one another by my husband and myself as we ride the remodeling rollercoaster! Lucky you.

 

Really we aren’t that bad and work well together but we do take the opportunity to harass one another thoroughly during these DIY type jobs.

 

While the City has been kind enough to reimburse us for the expense of their screw up (yes they admitted it was their fault!) Their gift of kindness was not quite enough to completely replace what they destroyed. So as we pay from our own pockets to get the second half of our living and storage space back, please forgive me if I get a little sarcastic and moody.

 

Yesterday, just as I entered a cranky/this is costing me money I shouldn’t have to spend/why me/ I miss my dog, diatribe, the phone rang. Now I hate talking on the phone but this particular phone call did put me in a better mood because it allowed me to have a little fun at someone else’s expense.  

 

Sometimes it really is just the little things that make me happy.

 

I received a call in which the caller informed me I had been chosen to receive a $5,000 grant from the U.S. Government. Me? How exciting, because who does not want free money? Especially when everyone is screaming about how tough times are.

 

It must have been my excitement, because I had to ask this very kind person on the other end of the phone to please speak slower so that I could understand what they were saying. I am sure it was not the heavy accent that troubled my ears, it had to have been the fact that I had just been given 500,000 pennies from heaven and rapture was singing loudly between my ears making any comprehension of what these angelic messengers were telling me much harder to understand.

 

As the phone call continued I was repeatedly assured that this miraculous gift NEVER had to be repaid to the US Government. I questioned why I had been chosen for this wonderful gift, because I didn’t recall applying for any personal grants for that specific amount - the smaller ones had been denied already and that million dollar grant for the remodel of the mansion had just a little more red tape to get through before final approval.

 

The answer was simple enough, the angels explained. Apparently the US Government had received - now see if you can believe this miracle of miracles- 40-Hundred-Trillion dollars from overpaid taxes by US citizens. (I had to repeat this back because I thought I misunderstood. I had not)

 

AND, these monies were going toward helping people globally! And they picked little ol’ me to receive $5k of that honey pot. I was told this happened because I paid all of my bills to the US Government on time! Will wonders never cease? They must have heard through the grape vine that I was in process of a basement remodel. I knew my diligence would pay off someday.

 

They assured me I couldn’t use this money for illegal activities and that they would be happy to deliver this money to my doorstep. How nice of them. Too good to be true? Surely not, but one can never be too careful. Better proceed carefully, I told myself.

 

The nice lady on the other end told me that I would be receiving my money very shortly, my new friends (and I call them this because suddenly they were close enough to call me Honey and Dear) only needed to know where I wanted my money deposited. It was that easy.

 

Remembering I’d told myself to be careful of potential scammers, I decided to take the doorstep delivery option. When I advised the angels I had to be careful because I didn’t want to be scammed and that they could just bring the money to my home instead of bothering to deposit it in my account, our connection seemed to falter.

 

As I explained to them I wanted to be careful so as not to get scammed they seemed offended. I reminded them of how careful one must be in today’s times. They agreed and informed me that doorstep delivery did come with a fee of $99.  Shortly after I questioned these angels on what it would take to get a loan of $99 from them so that I could get my grant money, the connection was lost completely. 

Too bad, I could have really used that $5k. It’s okay though, I’m sure they’ll call back again closer to the delivery date. If I don’t hear from them soon maybe I can call them back at the number they left me, 509-588-7561.