Life Posts

04Feb
0

Groundhog Day supper at the community center

Tonight I wanted to go to the Community Center to their annual Groundhog Day supper that is put on by the local Ruritan club. I’m pretty sure that I haven’t gone to their previous years dinners, but I could be mistaken. I was hoping that my hubby and son would come with me, but they elected to stay home. Usually I hesitate to go to something like that alone, but I’m tired of not ever going to things like that because I’m the only one that wants to go!

So I went by myself, and sat with a couple I had never met before tonight. They were friendly enough and we shared a few laughs, and actually the lady of the couple confided in my that she had recently suffered the loss of her mother, which brought tears to her eyes. I empathized with her and extended my condolences. By the time we finished eating I think I convinced her to come to the next Ruritan meeting where I hope to see them again.

Posted by Monica in Cooking, Fun, Life, Local and tagged with , , ,
03Feb
0

The weekly networking group

For several years now I’ve been attending a weekly business networking meeting at a local restaurant. Fortunately for the group they have found a restaurant that allows them to meet there without any charge. The hope is that the participants will actually order and pay for something, but I’ve noticed that most of the time the participants only order a cup of coffee. (Which really is too bad, I think that people should eat a meal there too, there is good food and the prices are very reasonable.)

The organization is loosely modeled after an organization called BNI, but there are several differences. One difference is the fact that there are no dues charged. Another is that the group welcomes more than one business of the same type. And the people who run the group frequently remind everyone that attends that there are “no rules.”

Normally at the meetings one of the members shares an educational moment with the group, someone stands up and explains the purpose of the group, and everyone takes a minute to introduce themselves to the entire group and give a very brief description of their business and state what they are looking for from the group that day. Also as part of the meeting one of the members has a ten minute presentation to talk about themselves and their product. Last week’s speaker was a really great presentation by a businessman who sells customized top of the line business apparel. Next week’s speaker is a person who owns an Advertising Agency. The week after that is a woman who works for the area’s Chamber of Commerce. I’ve learned a lot from these meetings!

Posted by Monica in At the Office, Business, Life, Local and tagged with , , , ,
01Feb
0

Spirited discussions

For the past several weeks I’ve noticed that most of the Facebook discussions between my “friends” are spirited disagreements about politics. With almost an entire year to go before the election, I have to say that I’m already growing weary of all of the lies and mudslinging that is going on.  I find myself wondering if my friends will still be friends by the time the presidential election is over.

Posted by Monica in Computers and/or Internet, Life, Opinion, Politics and tagged with , , ,
31Jan
0

People watching

Having just arrived at the Sheraton, I was people watching while waiting in line at the check-in desk. I like to while away my time such as this trying to guess what the people around me do. The well-dressed youngish man in front of me held himself with an air of self-importance. Lawyer from New York, I thought to myself. The flashy woman beside him, his apparent travel partner I guessed to be his girlfriend, a realtor. The middle aged man with the horn rimmed glasses and receding hairline with a slight rounding of shoulders behind me; raleigh accountant. The young man in jeans and a T-shirt that said “Redskins” behind Mr. Accountant I guessed to be his son. I wondered what event brought all of these people to this location at this point in time.

Posted by Monica in At the Office, Business, Fun, Life, Opinion, Travel and tagged with , , , , , ,
31Jan
0

Catch 22

When we moved five years ago, we listed our house in New England for sale. The house is in a great location, a popular tourist area. We had no reason to believe that it would not sell quickly. So, we listed it for sale with a well-known real estate agent, expecting the offers to simply pour in. She told us that the house was worth twice what we thought it was worth, and she convinced us to list it at a high price.

So, we signed a one-year exclusive contract with her, and sat back and waited for the hundreds of buyers to come pouring through the door and waging a bidding war! Little did we know that the only thing that the real estate agent would do to sell our home was to give our papers to her secretary to have it posted on the MLS and their website.

In the year that the house was listed with her, the house was shown only three times. Having anticipated a quick sale, we bought another house, which we are currently living in now. Then my hubby was in a bad car accident last fall, which left him unable to work, and no money is coming in yet from the insurance settlement. Mainly because we haven’t gone into settlement yet, my hubby is still going through medical treatments and procedures.

So, long story short, we have run out of money to pay the mortgage on the house in New England. I sent a letter to the mortgage company for that house, requesting special hardship forbearance. I explained the circumstances that the house was for sale, my hubby was injured, that we could make up the payments when the house sold or my hubby went back to work.

The mortgage company denied our request, saying the reason for the denial was that we did not make enough money to pay the mortgage! Talk about a Catch-22! That’s why I sent them the hardship forbearance request!
What is even more upsetting about the denial is that this particular mortgage company is “the one” that has been in the news almost every week, in stories about how hard they are trying to help their customers avoid losing their houses!

So, we have stopped making payments on that house, and are hoping that an offer comes in from a buyer before the mortgage company forecloses on it. I was really hoping to avoid foreclosure because we have had excellent credit our whole lives, and the foreclosure will mark us with bad credit ratings for seven years, which will make our lives a lot more difficult.

Posted by Monica in Business, Family, Finances, Life, Opinion, Shopping and tagged with , , , , , ,
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