We’ve got a lot of details to take care of before we attempt to close on the house. We have to line up homeowners insurance, get the appraisal done, inspect the place, make sure we have enough money to close, and probably a few other things. It’s kind of like investor relations- an everyday thing for some, but completely unknown territory for me.

I just hope everything goes well. I’m so tired of all the stress. I’m ready to get back to regularly scheduled programming now.

If everything works out with that house, we will be moving very soon. I’m so not looking forward to it.

Here in the boondocks, we don’t really have the same kind of movers New York has, with the big trucks. Well, maybe we do, but they’re few and far between. Some people rent a U-Haul to transport their stuff. But most people round up all of their buddies with pickup trucks and load them up, going back and forth until it’s all done.

The last time we moved, we started out moving a car or truck load at a time. Then one evening Hubby decided that he wanted to get it done and over with, and called five people he knew who had trucks. We loaded everything that was left up and hauled it. It was dark by the time we got here, and the electricity wasn’t on yet. So we moved everything in in the dark. It was quite entertaining.

This time around Hubby and I both have trucks, and we won’t be moving very far. So maybe we can do it ourselves.

Today was my dear mother’s birthday. I was unable to get her anything, but I did call and wish her a happy one. Too bad what little bit of money I have is tied up. I would have loved to get her something shocking, like some hot lingerie. I would have had to deliver it in person, though, so I could see the look on her face when she opened it.

Hopefully things will be better by Mother’s Day, and I can get her two gifts. I know she understands that I just don’t have any money right now, but it makes me feel bad. She always manages to get me something or send me some money on my birthday. And she always sends a card, which I didn’t do either. I’m such a bad daughter sometimes.

With all of the stress I’ve been under lately, a massage would be nice. Hubby gives great ones, but it’s hard to catch him when he’s not busy and is feeling generous enough to oblige.

In modern times, we have made immeasurable progress in the areas of robotics and mechanics. How closely can we make a machine resemble or function like a human being? In the massage chair industry, they are coming closer than ever. Whether massage chairs will ever fully duplicate the touch of another person remains to be seen. But do any of us really receive all the tender, loving care that we would like on a daily basis? A massage chair from Panasonicmassagechairs.com can bring you relaxation and tranquility every day, as often as you like.

Maybe I can talk Hubby into getting me one someday. Then the only problem will be getting him out of it so I can use it.

Well, after running the roads for much of the day yesterday and a couple of hours this morning, I think we finally have financing in place for the house. The mortgage is approved, now all they’re waiting on is a few more pieces of paperwork and the homeowner’s insurance. Woo-hoo!

We went to another mortgage company and were able to get 100% financing on the house at the price the seller was asking. But the closing costs are going to be a bit more than we had foreseen, and I don’t know if there will be any hidden costs jumping out at us. So I still need to raise some money. But it’s much less than it would have been, probably around $2,000.

I’m still accepting donations and asking for affiliate purchases to help us out with it all, so if you can help in any way, large or small, I would really appreciate it.

I’ve been looking around at JustGive.org for charities to give to should I raise more money than I need. Seeing what my family has been facing, I’m seriously considering Family Shelter, a South Carolina charity that provides emergency shelter, assistance in getting permanent housing, and support to homeless families with children. The National Housing & Community Development Law Project is also looking good. I’m open to input on this, so if you know of a worthy charity drop me a comment.

Must get back to work now. I have enough work lined up to get a decent amount of pay if I can just finish it by the end of the month. I’ll get paid for that a few days after closing (if closing happens when they are shooting for), but at least maybe it will help build the finances back up a bit.

If you haven’t read about my housing problem, click here to be brought up to speed. If you can make a donation, that would be great. If not, I totally understand, because I’ve been there and done that. Heck, I am there now. But I’ve come up with another way you can help if you like.

If you’re a work at home mom, or any kind of mom for that matter, you can find lots of great stuff at Mom’s Talk Network. By clicking that link and signing up for their mailing lists (for free), purchasing their quality ebooks, or signing up for coaching, you can help me earn commissions. If you sign up or purchase by the end of the month, I’ll get paid for it on the 10th of next month. It’s a little later than I need it to be, but maybe if I can make the money and have proof of it I can get someone to loan me that much and then pay them back when I get paid.

If anyone has any other ideas to help me get this money together, I’m most willing to listen. No get rich quick schemes or anything that requires an investment, and nothing that requires me to scam anyone else, please. (Sucks that I have to say that, but you know how it is on the Wild Wild Web.) Legitimate ways to raise funds quickly are what I’m looking for. If you have any ideas, please drop me a comment.

I’m not usually a big fan of cooking blogs, because most of them are nothing but recipes. Don’t get me wrong, I love recipes, but they’re just not much use to me due to my very picky family. But I finally found a cooking blog that I can really sink my teeth into. (Pardon the pun!)

Lisa Cooking has some scrumptious recipes with pictures that make me very hungry! And I found several simple recipes that I think even my picky eaters would enjoy. But the blog also features lots of useful cooking tips, and some general culinary talk. I particularly enjoyed the post about how to dye Easter eggs naturally. I just might give that a try this year.

It’s not often that I find one site or blog that speaks to my inner cook and gives me information I can actually use at home. But I’ve found just that at Lisa Cooking. It’s the newest addition to my feed reader. If you like that one, here are a few more you might enjoy by the same author:

• My Thoughts, Ideas and Ramblings
• Lisa Reviews
• My Road Less Traveled By

If you are a regular reader, you know about my housing dilemma. If not, let me fill you in on the highlights:

My husband and I bought a mobile home 3 years ago. We had been renting since we got married, and we had saved up some money and decided to use it to get on the track to housing independence. We paid cash for a used mobile home in good condition, and rented a private lot to set it on. We planned to use the money we were saving by paying lot rent instead of full rent to make a down payment on some land of our own, or possibly a home.

We started saving up, and got close to having what we wanted for a down payment, but not quite. Then things started going downhill for us financially. Hubby fell ill, and he was unable to do any substantial work for several months. I supported the family with my writing, and we ended up burning through all of our savings and barely scraping by.

Hubby ended up having to have surgery. It went well, and we looked forward to getting him back to work and rebuilding our savings so we could get back on track to buying a place. He went back to work and we started to see a light at the end of the tunnel, but then that light was promptly turned off.

Our landlady (who is a real piece of work to put it nicely, but that’s a story for another time) decided that she wanted her son to put a mobile home in up here, and told us that we would have to move ours. Mobile home lots are very hard to come by around here, and rent is outrageous considering the average income. We made too much to qualify for housing assistance now that Hubby was back to work. So all of a sudden, we were facing possible homelessness.

We found a fixer-upper house for sale that was priced attractively, and decided to pursue it. We got approved for a small loan with a payment we could afford, and we got a buyer’s agent to try to negotiate with the seller to get her to come down to what we could get financed. She won’t come down quite that far, but we only lack a few thousand dollars to make up the difference.

I’m not the type to ask for help, but this is critical so I’m taking a deep breath and making an exception. If I can raise a little money, we might have a chance at this. If you can find it in your heart to click the “Donate” button in the sidebar and donate just a few dollars (or even $1), I would be most grateful. (Donations are handled by PayPal, so you don’t have to give me any sensitive information.) For your trouble I’ll be happy to link to your blog or website. For donations of $20 or more I will write a 100-200 word post about your site. If you’re interested in these offers, include a note with your donation with your link or contact information, or email your receipt to kristy at awahmsblog dot com along with your request.

Thanks for reading, and helping if you can. Even if you can’t donate, I would be appreciative if you could help me spread the word. I will post updates, so come back by to see how it all goes.

Edited to add: In the unlikely event that I get more money than I need, the excess will go to charity. I’ll let you know when I find out how much will be too much, and which charity I choose.

Insurance has been something of a luxury for us lately. We were barely able to get Medicaid so that Hubby could get the medical care he needed while he was out of work. Once he went back, we were barely able to keep it a while longer in a transitional capacity.

I suppose we’re luckier than some. If you don’t get health insurance at work, you’re often out of luck these days. And that insurance is often only good if you’re close to home. If you travel very far, you have to get separate travel health insurance.

The last job I had that provided insurance included a low level of travel insurance with their plans. It was one of the best benefit packages offered around here, and I miss it. Not the job, but the insurance. Hopefully soon we can get all the insurance we need again.

There is a store about half a mile from here that I’m really going to miss when we move. It was once a garage, but the fellow that ran it retired from that line of work and turned it into a store. It has a little bit of everything, mostly overstocks and such of food and hardware, but you can find all sorts of stuff in there.

It’s not very well organized, so you have to look around to find stuff. There are bungee cords, pet supplies, weight loss pills and candies all within close proximity to one another. But the deals are great. I go down there pretty often to get paper cups from restaurants that have gone out of business, which he sells for $1 a run. Try finding disposable cups that cheap at the grocery store.

I hope we don’t have to move so far away that it’s too much trouble to come out and shop there. That’s one of many things I would miss about this area.