HOLY CRAP BATMAN, MOVING SUCKS!!

I am so glad it's finally OVER!! This move has been the WORST one, and the LONGEST one of my entire life. It has been raining the whole month, and of course, we've been out in the rain lifting heavy boxes and furniture, and my whole body is now worn down to a nub, sore and tired out, and I'm getting the sniffles. GRRRR. If it wasn't the rain, then it was an annoying moving company that didn't do a very good job at all...(they claimed they couldn't get our headboard up the stairs, but Pete walked over, grabbed hold of it, turned it upside down, and lifted it up the stairs ONE HANDED...the lazy bastards), and all the glitches and snafu's that typically go along with moving...well, let's just say I WILL NEVER MOVE ANYWHERE ELSE EVER AGAIN AS LONG AS I LIVE. This house is IT. I'll be here until the day we all die.

So now comes the fun part...where the HECK is this, or that, or the other thing? It's in a box somewhere in the garages. Yes, we have 3 garages full of stuff, from floor to ceiling. And now we have to sort through it all, and figure out where to put everything. I've already bought some cans of paint too, so we are hoping for good weather this coming weekend, to get started on that.

Well, I'm too sore and my whole body hurts when I type, so I'm going to go for now. I hope to be somewhat back to normal (have I ever REALLY been "normal?") and we've gotta get a lot of this stuff done in the next 9 days---that's when we're going to CAMP!! Yay!! Looking forward to that!! Some rest, relaxation, and fun---oh yes, that's definitely what I need.

Okay folks, the move is done, we're in the house, we're surrounded by boxes, and exhausted. But otherwise, we're here, we're happy and life is starting to settle down a bit. Bye for now!

Love, Becky

IT IS NOW OFFICIAL!!! WE OWN A HOUSE!! YAYYYY!!!

Yes indeed, we've signed 50 million pieces of paper, shook hands with total strangers, met the previous home owner *and next door neighbor* and I am already exhausted from all the moving we've started to do already!!

I am off to bed, but I wanted to write a quick message to say: WE LOVE OUR NEW HOUSE!!

Now we are planning to have the mold removed from the attic crawl space on Monday, and the tiny gas leak in the hose of the hot water heater fixed on Tuesday, and THEN we can start moving the 2 mom's over there, so they are comfy and removed from the chaos of all the boxes everywhere at the "old" house. We hope to get them in and settled by next weekend.

We also hope to have most everything (except the heavy furniture) moved to the new place before our Ocean City trip...but, depending on this nasty rainy weather and the timing of everything, that trip may have to be cancelled for us. We'll see. I really don't WANT to cancel it, but if we can't get everything done by then, we may have no choice. We have to be out of this place before May 15th, so it's quite a push for the next couple of weeks.

Today I loaded the van up 3 times, with stuff from Florence's storage unit, and unloaded it all at the new house---then I took the van into the shop, the left wheel bearing was kaput---and then I loaded the van again so that tomorrow morning we just have to take it over to unload first thing. Pete and I are going to spend all of Easter weekend packing and moving stuff, as much as we can. But, we do also plan to have a nice Easter dinner on Sunday, here with the mom's. We thought about cooking it all at the new house, but there is no heat, no gas, and no stove right now until it's fixed on Tuesday.

Well, that is the news for now. I'll be sure to write again when I have more time.

Love, Rebecca & Pete "the proud new home owners"

T minus 2 days and counting...

Hello Everybody...

Tomorrow morning, Pete and I are taking our final walk-through of the new house! We had a really awful wind-storm the other night, it knocked trees down all over our neighborhood, even crushed and totally destroyed a slide at the local playground. We lost our power several times as well, so it was really bad...I just hope there aren't any trees down at the new house. We'll find out tomorrow. If everything is fine, then we'll be closing the deal on Thursday morning!

We'll have the keys in our hands, and we'll begin taking our stuff over there, little by little, until we're all moved out by mid-May. It's going to be quite an adventure, to say the least. The first weekend we're going to tackle getting everything out of the storage unit. Then we'll start emptying the overly packed garage. Then it's all the other rooms one by one, and after that, we'll hire movers to get the heavy furniture.

Of course, there's going to be a quick trip to Ocean City with the mom's for Mother's Day...which we are all looking forward to! The Spring Fest is going on, with arts and crafts galore, and awesome food and desserts all over the place. I just hope the weather cooperates. It's been raining here all MONTH it seems, and frankly I'm fed up with it. I want SUNSHINE!! I want WARM WEATHER!! I want to wear SHORTS!! Not a raincoat!!

Well, that's the news, so Happy Easter weekend, and think of us cramming stuff into a minivan and making several trips back and forth to the new house!

Love, Becky

Happy Easter....

Why am I wishing everyone an early Happy Easter? Well, because I may not have time in the next month or two to sit down and write on this blog. Why is that, you ask? Because we are buying a house, and will have to pack everything and move before May 15th!

The closing date on the new house is April 21, and that gives us only 4 weekends to move everything and get our two mom's settled in before our camping trip at the end of May. So, we're going to be scrambling like crazy to get it all done, so that our current landlord can get in to this house we're currently living in, to paint and clean and get it ready to sell. So, it's going to be a lot of craziness, and chaos, but in the end, I'm sure it will all be worth the effort.

The home inspection went very well. There are only a few minor things, (Radon is at 3% but the basement has been closed up for nearly 2 years, so that rate should lower as it is being opened and used on a regular basis...a rating of 4% is bad, so we're keeping a close eye on this). The fireplace needs some work, it hasn't been cleaned in quite some time, and needs some masonry work; other than that, they found some mold in the crawl space attic area that needs removal. Two hollow-core doors have to be replaced with solid doors, and some electric outlets need better grounding, but other than that, the place is great. No evidence of termites, bugs, or pests, the roof is fine, (a few shingles need securing), and the foundation is solid. The well water is also very good, so we can drink it without worrying about anything scary.

The home assessment is in progress also, so hopefully they will say it's a lower value than what the current home owners are selling it for, meaning they would have to (by law) lower the sale price to match the assessment price. We plan on asking them to fix the fireplace, and cut us some money off the sale price so that we can take care of the rest. We'll see if they go for that. We know they are desperate to sell the place, so odds are they will agree to it. Keep your fingers crossed, you never know what will happen at this stage.

In other news, my mom and I drove to Michigan last Monday to spend the week visiting my sister and the nephews, since they were off for spring break. However, my mom was very disappointed all week long in the visit. My sister has no clue just how upsetting it was for her to take a look down in their basement---since she left, they have insulated everything, added drywall, and made a huge separate bedroom for Joshua, added a pool table, and cedar paneling along one wall, with a bar in the works. This made my mom feel awful, because they didn't bother doing ANYTHING to make the basement better for HER while she was living there 8 years. The minute she's gone, they go to town to make it better for themselves. Nice, huh?

My sister and her whole family are the most self-absorbed, selfish people I have ever known.

I got to the hotel Monday evening, after a long ride, and told the clerk at the front desk that I was paying for HALF the week's amount, and my mom would pay the other half. But, apparently that clerk didn't understand English. I didn't know what the problem was when I went to the grocery store to buy some items and they said "my checking limit had been reached at this store," which confused the hell out of me. I told them I wasn't from Michigan, I didn't shop there, and I had plenty of money in the bank. They made me leave all my stuff there, and go across the street to the nearest ATM. The ATM also told me I had no money in my account! It seems that the stupid hotel clerk had put a HOLD on the entire amount, rather than HALF like I asked her to, and that left me with NO MONEY AVAILABLE. So I had to go BACK to the stupid hotel, get cash from my mom, then drive back to the grocery store to get the items.

I wish Michigan would join the 21st century. I really do. What a bunch of inbred rednecks. So what was I going to do without any money to spend the whole week I was there? (The clerk said it takes 10 days to return the money to my account). I gave her my mom's cash for half the amount, and she filed for a reimbursement to my account, but as of today, it hasn't happened yet. SIGH. So I had to use our joint checking account the whole time I was there. What a pain.

Tammy only took Tuesday off...one day out of the whole week, even after knowing for months that we would be there all week long....we went to lunch at Golden Corral, and as my mom made her way to the salad bar, these 4 bratty male teenagers were sitting nearby at a table--they had no food in front of them, no drinks, nothing, they were just loitering---and they were making nasty remarks about people as they passed by. This included my mom. They called her a "fat bitch" and a "hag." My mom sneered at them once, then commented, "Well being a hag is better than being a little PRICK." Then she walked over to their table, as they snickered, and said, "Have you ever been thrown out of a restaurant? Keep it up and I'll make sure you will." The only thing that made her feel better was when Josh asked her if she wanted him to go beat them up.

We did manage to go to many thrift stores while we were there, and we also visited my grandma's grave for awhile. But we didn't get to the lake this time around, (it rained the entire week except for Tuesday when it was sunny and warm). We didn't even go to Meijers this time! (Those two things are usually on the agenda every time I go home). We just ran out of time.

Then, the next day, Mason stayed overnight at our hotel with us to swim in the pool and spend time with my mom. However, he was being a total brat to the point where I told him I was taking his bratty ass back home. Tam and Steve stopped by to bring him some clothes, and told him to behave, or they would take him home. He behaved the rest of the night, but was angry that mom wouldn't allow him to have anymore sugar or caffeine. That kid is super-sensitive to caffeine and sugar---Tammy knows this, but loads him up on Coke whenever he eats, and gives him candy and other sugary snacks all day. Poor kid's gonna end up with Diabetes soon. She even had gestational diabetes while she was pregnant, so it should come as no surprise that he's predisposed to it. But whenever I mention it, she ignores me.

Mom and I had dinner at the hotel that night, because nobody (MY SISTER, that is), invited us over for dinner. In fact, she had decided to go to a party at one of her friend's house that night, so we just sat around bored. She gave me money to get us some dinner, and wanted a chef salad. It was nearly 9 p.m., so I had no idea where to get a chef salad at that point. Instead, I drove to the grocery store and bought a bag of salad, some chicken strips, bacon bits, cherry tomatoes, salad dressing, and some ramen noodle soup in a cup. Then I "cooked" her dinner!

The next day, we invited the two boys to spend the day with us, but they didn't want to because their cousin was visiting and stayed overnight, (someone they spend time with regularly). So we just took off without them, and 10 minutes later, they called to say "yes" they wanted to go with us. Too late!! We said, "Sorry fellas, you had your chance." But that was disappointing to mom too. She said, "We can go back to Pittsburgh early as far as I'm concerned." But, on Thursday my friend Annette was coming to visit me, and go out with Laurie and I somewhere.

Laurie and I had eaten lunch at G&L hotdogs (the BEST hot dogs in Michigan), but alas, Laurie has major stomach issues and it apparently did not sit well with her, so she pooped out of going anywhere with Annette and I. The real reason: she didn't have any extra money to go out with us, AND she had already promised to go bowling with her sister and all the kids that evening. So, Annette and I had some Arby's for dinner, then hung out with my mom at the hotel for awhile. Annette gave me my only birthday gift from anyone other than Pete...a nice white photo album with silver H on it, that had photos from the wedding that she and her family had taken. I thought that was very nice!! Pete loves it too!!

After Annette left, I went to the bowling alley to spend the evening with Laurie and Bonnie and their sister Sarah, and all 4 of Bonnie's girls, and all 3 of Laurie's kids. I helped pitch in and buy some food and soda, but just watched as the kids played the games. They had a blast, and everybody laughed and enjoyed themselves. I took lots of pictures too. Then, the next morning, mom and I packed up the minivan and took off for Pittsburgh.

Tammy had said the night before that she would stick around until about 11 a.m. to say goodbye to us before we left, but at 10 a.m. she called my mom to say she really had to go. Another disappointment. We drove over to say goodbye to the nephews, and then took off. To cheer her up, I drove to Grand Rapids to another thrift store, before we left Michigan. We had a nice lunch, took our time, and got home late in the evening.

I doubt we'll be going back anytime soon. My nephew Josh is supposed to graduate in June, BUT his grades aren't so good, so he may NOT get to graduate. Even if he does, we may just send my mom to his graduation party on a plane. I have no interest in going. I'll send a card with some money in it. That's all he cares about anyway. We busted our BUTTS to come up there, to spend the whole week with them, and they pretty much just snubbed us the whole time, so I really have no interest in repeating that scenario.

I said to my mom, "NOW do you understand WHY I only stay a few days once a year when I visit? That's all I can deal with. The dreariness and depression is just too much for me." She agreed and said she did finally understand.

Laurie gave me my Xmas gifts, though, first thing when I arrived. Why she can't mail them to me in December, I'll never know. She didn't, however, seem to remember my birthday at all. SIGH. But, she's having a lot of problems...again...it seems every time I turn around, she's got some other crisis going on. She's been off work for quite some time, on disability, for a back injury that happened while she was at work. But, that disability benefit has come to an end, and now they say she CAN go back to work, just at a lower level of activity. The hospital, however, doesn't have any lower level activity jobs to give her. So she no longer has that extra money coming in, they are living on Jeff's disability every month, and the 3 kids are drawing on his Social Security, and they get food stamps. That's it. Not only that, but her minivan died, the transmission is blown and they don't have the money to fix it.

Needless to say, I didn't bring up the $500 she owes us, from borrowing last year to come to my wedding. She brought it up though, and said she still planned to pay it back, but it would have to be somewhat delayed. I don't expect to see it ever get paid back, but she swears she will. So, we'll see. All in all, the whole week was depressing and disappointing for Mom and I. We were glad to get back to Pittsburgh.

Well, that's the news for now. The happy part is, we're going to have a nice big house soon, and we can spread out, get rid of the clutter, and feel less stressed out all the time. However, even THAT threw a big unexpected mess our way last week---Pete told Florence's financial power of attorney (his brother-in-law) that we have to borrow some of her money to buy the house, and he went ballistic, telling us NO, which led Pete to get angry and start an argument about it.

So lawyers were called, angry emails, and phone calls back and forth all week---made me a nervous wreck the whole time I was in Michigan ON TOP OF all the other crap going on---and finally, as we were leaving on Friday, the two men came to an agreement to have Pete sign a legally binding agreement to pay back the money we are borrowing. That's what he wanted, and that's what we're going to do. That's really the only thing the financial power of attorney can do, when fighting a medical power of attorney (Pete) who is trying to provide a better quality of life for an 89 year old woman with bipolar and Alzheimers. Legally, from what Pete knows about it, the medical power of attorney trumps the financial.

Anyway, I'm ready for a vacation...but the next couple of months will be anything BUT a relaxing stress-free time. Now it's time to pack pack pack, and get things organized. I have to do some research online for movers and get estimates. It's going to be a busy time. But we'll have a house warming party as soon as we can. Florence will be turning 90 in September, so we're planning a party for her too.

So that's the scoop. Have a great Easter, everyone, and once we're settled, come visit!!

Love, Rebecca

Roller coaster ride...

How come nobody ever told me that house-buying is very stressful?

This has been a crazy roller coaster ride, all week long. We've been working towards buying this house ("the Sutter house") that we love, for nearly 7 months now. We first saw it in October, and since then we decided that was "the one," and we've been working towards buying it ever since. We are currently VERY CLOSE to getting to the point where we can apply for mortgages. Pete got rid of his Chapter 13, paid it off in full, and now we're just waiting for the lawyer to get it DONE so that we can start shopping for financing, so that we can make an offer.

The house has been for sale for nearly 2 years, with NO OFFERS----that is, until this past weekend. Somebody ELSE swooped in and made an offer on this house, which threw us all into a huge panic! Nobody else can live in MY HOUSE dammit! I've already got every room decorated on paper! I'm so attached to it, it's really pathetic. So the home owners made a counter offer. That's all we knew on Monday. I have felt such huge disappointment, and we've both been feeling totally devastated.

So, we've been having crazy panic attacks, and we immediately contacted our realtor to ask if he would show us other houses, to have as a "Plan B" in case the one we love falls through. I had already made up my mind that I wouldn't like any other house out there. And, he showed us three houses that all sucked. So, back to the drawing board.

However, at the end of our visit to the third house, the Sutter home owners' realtor called our realtor, and told him that they couldn't come to an agreement with the potential buyers, so the offer is NO LONGER ON THE TABLE!! WHEW!! That means there is currently NO offer on the Sutter house at all, so WE NOW HAVE THE CHANCE to swoop in and pounce on it.

Another complex situation presented itself on Monday too--our current landlord has asked us to be out of the current house we're living in, within the next 60 days! NO PRESSURE, right?! Yeah, so we've been rather panicked and upset all week, trying to figure out what to do.

So, on Friday afternoon, we're going to show up at our realtor's office to write a formal offer. We're also planning to pay CASH for this house, (yes, we've been saving money for a long time for this)...but we're going to be somewhat "house poor" for awhile. At least we'll own it outright without any complicated bank stuff to deal with, so it'll be worth it. We're planning to make a very strong offer on the Sutter house, but IF they counter offer with a higher price, we may have to dip into Pete's 401K, but we really don't want to do that if we can help it.

So that's where we stand right now. I've been so emotionally wrecked all week, I am exhausted. But, next week I have to drive to Michigan with my mom to visit with our family and friends. It kind of makes me nervous to be in another state while waiting to hear back about our offer. Meanwhile, I'm trying to gather as many moving boxes as possible, so that we can start packing.

I'll keep everyone posted on this blog about our home buying adventure. Keep all fingers and toes crossed until further notice!!

Love, Becky

Spring has finally sprung!

Hello Everybody,

Well, the sun is shining, the snow is all melted and gone, and the weather is warming up. We hear the birds singing, we feed them daily, and all the patio furniture is now back out on the deck and waiting for outdoor meals, gatherings, and fun. Yes, spring has finally sprung here in the 'burgh!

And today, while walking Sassy around the neighborhood, I discovered she's got worms. SIGH. Which means my mom's dog also has worms, and so do the 2 cats most likely. Ain't life grand? So now we get to go to the vet and ask for some medicine...oh joy of all joys.

We're waiting around for the landlord to bring more people over to see the house today. This is the second time in a week. It's rather disruptive, however, because we have to corral the two dogs and the two mom's and hit the highway, wasting time. It's a pain in the patoot but it has to be done. If somebody likes the house, we may have to move sooner than we planned, but at the moment, we have nowhere else to go really. This whole house moving thing is so fun. It's all going to hit the fan at one time, you all realize that, don't you?? That's just how we roll.

Pete is currently working on our wedding video. He's got it started, and so far it's pretty cool. I think he's finished about 5 minutes' worth of still photos, music and video footage edited together at this point. Only 12 million more to go!! hehehe Look for it around Xmas time! Nah, I'm joking...it might be done by July 18th, for our first anniversary. We'll see.

We just returned from our long weekend in Rochester NY to take Florence to see her house there. It's going up for sale soon, and she wanted to see it to have some closure to that part of her life. Now she's feeling much happier, and calmer, and she's wanting to plan a birthday party for herself---she'll be 90 in September. So, that's the next project on the horizon.

But now we have a full-blown busy spring and summer ahead. In two weeks I'll be driving my mom up to Michigan to visit with my nephews during their spring break from school. I'll also be celebrating my birthday and Laurie's while I'm there. Her daughter Ember has one too on April 12th, so she'll get spoiled a little bit as well. Should be a fun week away. Trouble is, arranging things around Florence without Nathan here makes for a rather awkward situation.

See, during our Rochester trip, Nathan also moved there, to start his new life on his own. He graduated college in December, and has been working delivering pizzas at Pizza Hut to save money--he gets great tips--and now he's transferred his job to another Pizza Hut in Rochester and he'll be the "care taker" at Florence's house until it's put on the market and sold. Then he plans to move in with Sybil and Justin (his sister and brother-in-law) who live nearby.

So, without Nathan here in Pittsburgh, we're kinda limited on what we can do with Florence when we go away. The new plan is my mom stays with her while we're gone. But when she and I go to Michigan, only Pete remains. He said he could arrange to work from home that week, so he can be here with her all day. But then he also has rehearsals in the evening for his upcoming play "Jesus Christ Superstar." He will be playing King Herrod, and he's looking forward to it. But, leaving Florence alone for 3-4 hours per evening is a bit risky. So, we're not sure what we're going to do. The only idea I've got is to either hire a nurse to come in and sit with her for a few hours, or ask one of our friends to stop by and visit with her during the evenings while he's gone.

Anyway, so everybody's keeping busy around here, I have cleaned this house from head to toe and it is spotless and spiffy, so it had BETTER stay that way, so these new potential buyers who keep coming to view it will eventually make an offer. Our landlord, Ray, actually offered to let us stay another year if we want to, but frankly I can't wait to move to a bigger house. I've already been decorating the big house on Sutter Road in my mind, but we haven't gotten to the point yet where we can make a full-blown offer. We're ALMOST THERE though. Our credit reports are now spiffy and cleaned up, our ducks are almost all in a row, and once that is finished, our financial advisor is going to help us make a budget and a realistic offer on the house. I just hope it doesn't sell to someone else before we reach that point.

Well, so that's the scoop for now. Soon I'll have the trip to Michigan, then in May, I am taking the mom's to Ocean City with my friend Barbara for the SpringFest arts and crafts show on Mother's Day weekend, and then the following weekend Pete and I will be going to Rochester again for the graduation ceremony for Sybil and Justin at their college. Then, at the end of May, we're going on our annual camping trip. BUT...while all this traveling is going on, we will also be making an offer on the house, and who knows if that will suddenly change everything.

So, stay tuned, Hoch family fans, and I'll update you as things progress.

I think we'll need to start planning a house warming party too!! Yay!!

Love, Rebecca

Toddlers & Tiaras with Tom Hanks

Hello Everybody,

This is the FUNNIEST VIDEO I have seen in a long time, and I LOVE Tom Hanks!! You HAVE to see it....what a hilarious first appearance by his daughter Sophie!! It made me and my mom laugh out loud the whole time!! Ya just gotta love Tom Hanks. He can do no wrong!!

Well, Pete and I had a fun weekend in DC last weekend, it was a great getaway. Now we're gearing up for our trip to Rochester NY in a couple weeks, to get Nathan all moved in and ready to start his new life as a fresh college graduate!! YAY NATE!! He's there now, for a few days, to find himself a starter job, and to get things ready for his move. He's already got an interview lined up for this week! Way to go boy!!

Then, a couple more weeks after THAT trip, I'm driving my mom up to Michigan for a week to visit with everybody. Should be a fun time. Also, while all these trips are happening, in the meantime back home, we are on the EDGE, very CLOSE to the point where we can finally get financing to make an offer on that house we love so much!! I'm DYIN'!!! I just drove by it again today, to make sure it's still there (yes it is), and to make sure there's no "SOLD" sign on it!! (No, there isn't)! So, hopefully by the end of April, we should be on our way to making an offer!

Other than that, life is going along just fine. Florence impressed her doctors today, she knew the exact date, even the year, the day of the week, she recited all the days of the week in a row, AND backwards, she even spelled words AND spelled THEM backwards too. How many 89 year old's can do that without missing a single answer?! She's doing GREAT. We've got her new medication going strong, doing very well, and so now we can slowly take her off another one that she's been taking for a long time that she no longer needs. All in all, she's healthy as a horse, there are no more violent angry outbursts, no more "voices" that she hears, no more paranoia, but we do notice a little bit more confusion than she used to have. That's just the natural progression of the dementia though, not much we can do about that. So, she's doing great, the doctors are happy, she's happy, and we're ALL happy about that.

My nephew Josh had surgery today for a cyst that he had to get removed from his back side. It was an inch deep, and 2.5 inches in diameter! I joked and told him he should have asked the doctors to remove it and sew it onto the FRONT of him...hehehehe....and if he has a scar, he can always get a bulls eye tattoo to cover it up!! hehehehe He came out of the surgery just fine and is feeling great. Poor kid has had all sorts of medical dilemma's this past year, hopefully he can make it to his high school graduation without any more!

Well, that's all the news for now. Love, Becky & Pete ps. Tomorrow the new iPad is released!