Ria MacAlister

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Smiling in the Cesspool


(Hubs 'n me. Yep, that's us. Happy happy. It's funny, finding "the ONE" at such a late stage in life, but thank GOD we did! I've never felt more complete before.)

Now, I don't want to go on and on about how awesome everything is, because, frankly, it isn't. Life is messy, and we're right smack dab (okay, southern gal euphemism alert here) in the middle of one of the sloppiest piles o' crap either of us has ever been in. BUT...life is still good. There are still reasons to smile. Always.

"Oh, what could possibly be so bad about your life if you two can still smile like that?" You ask, with arched brow and cynicism dripping from your consonants. *sigh* Okay, you asked for it. The short edited list:
1.  Hubs reinjured his knee at work (original injury occurred during Desert Storm). He wasn't able to work and the company he was employed by (insert bad word for them here) wouldn't pay him, even though he was a salaried employee. They also told him they'd fight a worker's comp claim because he had a pre-existing injury (insert really, really, REALLY bad word for them here). So, poor guy was forced to retire. (Okay, okay, I begged him to retire, but they really were a bad-word). I only work part-time, so we are now struggling to pay bills on my pay, which is a real joke. 

2.  Hubs decided that he wants to open his own shop (he's a Master Mechanic), one where the owner wouldn't treat his employees like slave labor garbage. If he learned anything from his previous boss, it's how NOT to be. In order to open the new shop, we need $60,000. Now, go back to #1 and re-read how we're living on a part-time pittance. Yeah.

3.  In order to possibly get the $60,000, hubs decided to sell some inherited land he has. At a HUGE discount. Land's worth about $130,000; he's willing to take $90,000. Of course, the real estate market is horrible right now, thanks to our lovely economy.

4.  Next step? Let's get a loan using the land as collateral! Yeah! Great idea! What? There are liens against the property? For what?!?! His ex-wife placed two liens on the property just to be a (insert the worst word you can think of for her here). Turns out in the podunk state we live in, you can file a lien against anything/anybody you want; you don't have to have proof of any actual LEGAL claim. Oh, no. It's up to the lienee (is that even a word?) to prove that the lien is bogus. What? I thought it was "innocent until proven guilty." Wow, what was I thinking?

5.  In the meantime, hubs' mom (whom I have yet to meet...he says she's the sister of Lucifer) has decided she wants to sell her portion of this inherited land. Guess what? Somehow her portion has been tied to the aforementioned liens also (remember, I said this was a podunk state). Well, Lucifer's sis had a COW...I mean, like a hairy, stinky, mooing dairy cow. She threatened the hubs with legal action, death, dismemberment, disemboweling, castration. For something he had nothing to do with. This is the woman who carried this incredible man I am so madly in love with in her body for 9 months. The woman who is supposed to care for him, love him, watch out for him. Wow. 

6. Okay, so, we can't sell the land and can't get a loan on it. We're now back to square one. No money, no shop, no job. Too bad we can't live on love alone, cuz we'd be living high on the hog!

There are a lot of other stupid things going on behind the scenes, but the point of giving you the basics was to tell you that, no matter what is going on around you, there isn't any reason to not smile. Try it. Trust me.

1 comment:

  1. As long as you have each other that's the main thing sending you both hugs from Scotland

    ReplyDelete