things are changing around here. the beau said this was going to be the year of the phoenix for us, and I know he’s right
last year was full of difficult hurdles and intimidating challenges, and we sailed through some dark and turbulent waters together. we faced some demons from the past head on, and routed them once and for all. God brought us to higher ground, making it both possible, and necessary, to expel the shadows of the past. but that’s all they are in the end … shadows.
then there was the injury at work. the beau was back working for the company he was working at when I met him, making boom for oil spill containment. because of the spill in the gulf, they were working a lot of hours. one night, as he was working night shift, two of his fingers on his left hand were crushed in a machine. he didn’t lose them, but it was more than a bruise. I met him at the emergency room, where we were until about 2AM. the next day we retained an attorney, which is why I havent blogged about this. the case is still open, so until its over, I still cant say more. but I will when everything is resolved. I can say this has put us in a financial crunch that we werent in before, and likely wouldn’t have been in.
on a smaller scale, but just as close to our hearts, was the passing of our last little mouse. after the wild rescue mouse died, at the unusual age of seven, we let the two remaining mice that we had gotten to keep him company live out their lives. we opted not to get any more. less to deal with when we move. still, the little silver one was the last, and very sweet. so it touched us.
but with the turning of the year has come a turning of fortunes.
sales at the flea market have been good. we have been doing this for the last month or so, every saturday. I have finally begun to sell some 5x7s of my photography there. and of course there is our ebay site, which is doing fairly well.
there have been what seems like last ditch efforts from the darkness to throw us off course. we are currently between the last workers comp payment and the resolution of the matter, delivering several hits to us financially. the beau’s hand continues to hurt, radiating up his arm.
and then there is this woman the beau was trying to help out, who he met when he went to her garage sale last fall. her house was on the brink of foreclosure, and she had days left before she was going to have to move. she said she had recently had a stroke, and it left her unable to work, or do anything to help herself. she was pitiful. he hooked her up with our real estate agent, who got the foreclosure stopped and put the house on the market. the beau then agreed also to try and sell three paintings she had, gifts given her when she used to clean houses for higher class people. the paintings are old. but all the research we did turned up nothing on the artists, or the value. we tried selling them at the flea market and on ebay. after 2-3 months, only one finally sold, for $100. we paid her for the other two anyway, and were still trying to get some good money out of them to give her more.
but in the last month, this woman has been calling him and really pestering him about the money for the last one. she called 4 times one friday while he was trying to set up for the flea market. he had told her all along the way of his attempts to sell these albatrosses, and she always agreed. but when she wanted money, she bugged him, even calling the real estate agent and having her call me to have me tell him … yada yada … until finally she up and accused him of trying to rip her off. really hurt is feelings. really pissed me off. so since the last one finally sold, we will pay her for it, and be done with her. I could write a whole post on just this fiasco with her and her behavior. she has turned out to be very two faced, and one of those people who only drain you when you’re around them. if we get any more out of the other two than what we paid her, we keeping it. ptuh.
but in spite of this last thing with her, we are quite encouraged. we both have this knowing that things are changing – indeed have changed – and we are on the rise.