No Settlement

I got an email from the mortgage rep saying that he was trying everything he could to hold the deal together but I've already figured it's over and buried. He won't be doing business in my office or in the office of the listing agent which means he's pretty much done for in the little town he hung his shingle in. He's had since November 3rd to get this deal done and apparently he's totally incompetent to do what he's doing. Nice guy, but doesn't have it together in the mortgage business. Things are so bad right now that no matter what "they" tell us about business picking up, the writing is on the wall that they'll be a lot less realtors come the end of this year. I guess I have to make the decision as to which retail business I'll try to get into. At my age there aren't many job openings even with a degree.

I finished "The Appeal" by John Grisham. I had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen since I saw two interviews that he gave on television. He gave away too much information in those interviews and kind of spoiled the read for me. I won't do that here. In the first chapter you learn that a large corporation is sued and there's a large award pending due to an appeal to the state supreme court. The rest of the book shows us what extent that big business will go to in order to try to keep from having to pay out that award. I'll say no more so that the book won't disappoint you. It's definitely a good read as Grisham's books always are. I'm starting Elizabeth Berg's "Dream When You're Feeling Blue."

Struggle

I struggled through most of Melinda Haynes' "Chalktown." I almost gave up on finishing it because it wasn't making a lot of sense. About mid way through it picked up and suddenly it was a much better read. The setting is the backwoods of the South in the 1960's. It's the story of a mysterious town and it's inhabitants. There's just a handful of people in the town of Chalktown and they communicate mostly through chalkboards set up in the front yards of their houses. It wasn't always that way but because of certain events, neighborly communication stopped. Also, part of the story is the Sheehand family, sixteen-year-old Hezekiah, his older sister, Arena, his mentally disabled younger brother, Yellababy, their deranged mother and the father who abandoned his home and his family. Hezekiah sets out with his younger brother strapped to his back to discover the mysteries of "Chalktown."

John Grisham's book, "The Appeal" is out today and I'm headed out to find it. Here's hoping the latest is as good as his earlier books. It will be hard to decide whether to read it or Elizabeth Berg's new book, "Dream When You're Feeling Blue." Such hard decisions.

We watched "The New World" over the weekend and it was rather disappointing. Seemed to drag in places and the actors spent time wandering around to fill up film time. It was about John Smith and Pocahontas and the early days of the Jamestown settlement. I had to go back to the history books to remind myself exactly what it was that happened versus what they were portraying. Guess it's mostly speculation anyway, since there weren't many historians writing anything down other than John Smith and he left after the first year. I guess we'll be watching a lot more movies since the televisions shows are now into reruns due to the writers' strike. We did enjoy an afternoon of watching BBC America's "Planet Earth" series. Definitely a great series to own and enjoy.

Off to the bookstore!

Where or When

The latest read was Anita Shreve's "Where or When." Wrote such books as "The Pilot's Wife" and "A Wedding in December." Up there on my list of good story tellers. Two people married to other people and in the "rut." "He" found a notice in the Sunday paper of "Her" newest poetry book and was thrown back into his youth where he had met "Her" as 14 year olds' at a week long summer camp. Seeing her picture in the paper was the same as seeing her back then. He wrote; she wrote and their lives changed. The old story of finding lost loves was told beautifully. Can't say more because of the ending.

I've been assured that the settlement will take place next week on the illusive sale. Sure it is!!! This mortgage guy won't be getting any referrals from either agent in this case. I think he better give up and go back to doing what he did before he got into this business.

I'm working my way through my stockpile of books that I ordered with my gift cards from Christmas. I'm still wondering why I got some of them. I'm looking forward to John Grisham's new novel that is coming out next week. Elizabeth Berg has one coming out the same day and I'll be standing in Border's or ordering on line soon. Of course, James Patterson is bringing out another "Women's Murder Club" book on February 8th and Jodi Picoult hits the bookstores in early March. I'm a happy camper! James Patterson has 3 books coming out in as many months so we all know that he's using other writers to get this done. At least they seem to write in his style and it's hard to tell the difference. Whatever!!

Another mystery

I read Harlan Coben's "Drop Shot." It was written back in 1996 but I had recently read his latest, "The Woods," and liked it very much so I decided to try one of his older ones. It turns out that it was a sequel and he has an on-going character that is a former NBA star that due to a knee injury decided to become a lawyer and while working toward his law degree also dabbled at the FBI. Even though there are missing areas that I haven't figured out about his background, I still found the book to be very entertaining. Kind of like a James Patterson, Alex Cross character. Lot of humor thrown into this murder mystery. I was able to pretty much figure out the ending of the book by mid way but it was still a good read and a page turner. Good enough that I will be looking for some of the earlier books by him and this same character. It's main theme was a rising tennis star and even though I don't play tennis, it is one of my favorite spectator sports.

I had my appointment with the neurosurgeon this morning and since I'm much improved he has decided to do nothing for me other than have me come back for a follow up in 4-5 weeks and make sure that everything is still okay. If not, then I'll face medication or physical therapy. I was kind of looking forward to having my neck stretched. He was very encouraging about a tremor that I have in my right hand that is getting worse as I age. It's an inherited thing from my Grandfather on my Mom's side. Both my brother and I have it and with medication we're getting by. My family doctor had said by the time I was 80, my right had would be useless. The neurosurgeon has assured me that is not the case and it can be improved when I feel it gets to bad. He said when I start slopping drinks all over myself then it's time to fix it. I mentioned that I don't buy soup in restaurants anymore unless they are super thick so that I don't wear them on my chest. He told me that the medication I'm taking is one way to deal with it and the other was with wine. YUMMO! There's another step and it involves electrodes so that will be the one I look to last; after I start slopping my drinks (wine), that is.

The nightmare settlement is on again for sometime mid to early next week. At least that's what the mortgage rep is saying now. I don't know if the Buyer is back from her runaway trip to Michigan or if we're doing this without her presence. I won't believe it until I see the keys in their hands and the paperwork in the settlement officers briefcase.

We thoroughly enjoyed the visit of our great grandchildren on Monday. The little guy is now 3 weeks old and his sister is still 3 years old!! She doesn't like the new addition at all and is acting out which is totally understandable to us old timers but rather frightening for the Mother. I assured her that it will pass and hope that it does so I look sage. I probably held onto the little guy more than I should since my shoulder and neck did bother me a bit more today but it was a pleasant discomfort. He slept the whole visit giving us only a random peek at his little eyes.

Inner Harbor

We had a lovely visit with a very dear friend and her husband at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. The last time she and I spent January 20th together was when I walked down the isle 40 years ago with my first husband and she was my bridesmaid. Wow! 40 years and it seems like it was just a few years ago. Our children are pushing 40 and we're pushing.......well, never mind. We picked Bo Brooks restaurant for the fact that they're well known for their seafood but it wasn't as good as we remembered it being. That's the problem with returning to restaurants many years after your first visit. Never seems the same. It's amazing how you don't see someone for years and yet can just jump right back in and catch up quickly. We're hoping to reunite with our other former roommates from so long ago once the weather warms up.

I finished John Hart's "The King of Lies." Just like reading a Grisham novel. Another southern ex-lawyer turned author. The story was interesting. The main character being a young lawyer whose mother died a year and a half ago and his famous lawyer father disappeared that same night. The son had not been able to achieve the fame of his father nor did he aspire to it. His father's body was just found and it was determined to be murder. I thought I had guessed the ending but there was a twist at the end and I was pleasantly surprised. This is the second novel I've read of John Hart's and I enjoyed them both. I'll be adding him to my list of favorites.

Looking forward to tomorrow and a visit from my step granddaughter and the great grandchildren. I'll have to put away some treasures to make sure that they don't become playthings for little hands.

Went to a birthday party for our daughter-in-law last night. Lots of Filipino food and good company. A "disco ball" and some karaoke" rounded out the evening. Always fun to spend time with the family.

We got home early enough for me to finish Philippa Gregory's "Zelda's Cut." I've always enjoyed her novels and they have always been about history with some fictional characters thrown in to make an interesting story. I didn't realize that she had written any other kind of novel until this one. I truly feel as though I finished a Danielle Steel novel and that I haven't done in forever. The main character is an author who has spent her life in academia and writing novels of repute. Publishing consistently but about every 2 to 3 years. Her books are award winners but as time has gone by she has lessened in popularity and is now only bringing in 20,000 pounds (set in England) per book. Comfortable living if her husband had not been ill for the last 10 years and dependent on her taking care of him financially. His demands for a better life style for his physicals well being leads her to make a drastic change. Never one to write "smut" she is forced to take on a different project and write "out of her box" to make the big money and transform herself into a different type of author. This leads to a secret life that only her agent knows about and is very involved in. The money is so much better for this kind of writing. Her first book is launched with a reward to her of 350,000 pounds. It doesn't bring her the reward she hoped for. I could tell from the early stages what was going to happen to her character. Wasn't hard to figure out. I kind of feel that the author took herself "out of the box" with this kind of novel and I like it better when she stays with her old standard style.

It is interesting when you order books that have been out of print for a while and you find them on places like Amazon.com. Since I prefer a hardback book you can get them from vendors who go through Amazon to sell their books and, of course, they want you to rate their transaction so that they can get 5 stars and be the vendor that you pick over another. You can post your comments on Amazon and/or to the vendor directly. The condition of the book when it arrives may not necessarily be what was disclosed by the seller so they don't get a good review. That happened yesterday when I answered a request for feedback from a vendor who had mailed a book to me in less than the "like new" condition that was promised. There was damage to the book jacket which I remove and store anyway, but if you don't have it the value of your book is greatly reduced. There were two areas of damage to the actual book. A little glue fixed one area and the other wasn't real drastic. I wrote that to the vendor and almost instantly received an email back asking if she thought the post office had done the damage since she was actually selling her own library which had been carefully handled and only read once. I had not seen damage to the package and didn't think that the broken binding came from shipping and told her so. Another email came flying back and in it a "life story" and an offer for a partial refund. I guess the bond between book lovers makes for instant friendships out of complete strangers.

Done!

I finished "The Terror" by Dan Simmons! Wow! The story is based on actual events of the newly steamed powered ships the TERROR and the EREBUS. They set out in 1845 from England to discover the Northwest Passage. Well stocked with supplies to hold them for several years in case they were frozen in over the winter. The crew never suspected what awaited them in that frozen world. Not only faced with poisonous food, a dwindling supply of coal, and the ships buckling in the grip of all that ice, but the real enemy is far more terrifying. A unseen predator that is outside the ships clawing to get in. With starvation a real possibility, the new captain leads his surviving crewmen on a last desparate attempt to flee south across the ice. With them travels an Inuit woman who cannot speak and who may be the key to survival or....... They are stalked southward across the ice and it becomes more and more apparent that there may be no escape. I found the book a little difficult in the first few chapters to get into the story and figure out exactly what was happening but once you get beyond those few chapters you get hooked.

A very long story

I'm getting close to finishing "The Terror" by Dan Simmons. I haven't read anything like this since I read Stephen King's "It." I think I have about a 100 pages more to go and I'm tense! I can't stop reading but I'm afraid to keep going on. I'll be glad for something a little lighter to read after this.

I've taken myself off the medication and I thought things were getting a little better but today was rough.

The settlement from the end of the year has yet to happen. Now it's an issue with flood insurance and whether to pay the $263 a year for it and wait for two more weeks to settle or try to get it removed and hope to settle quicker. I've never been so confused over a settlement. At this point, I've pretty much written it off as a no go and will be pleasantly surprised if it does happen. The Buyer is still in Michigan, anyway!

Baby, it's cold inside

Woke up to find that we had run out of heating oil and the temperature had already dropped to 60 degrees. I called the oil company and had the assurance that someone would come out with 10 gallons of fuel and prime the furnace for us. Four hours later, after I had become a human Popsicle, a young kid that didn't look old enough to drive, showed up to take care of things. He put 5 gallons of fuel in and said that a truck would be by later. I told him that's not what the office guy had said and he called to verify if I was telling the truth or not. He put in another 5 gallons and left. Since their policy is free service if they let you run out of fuel they have to do that but he was trying to get away cheaper than the promise. I think it was to be more like 20 gallons but I'd have to go searching through a ton of paperwork to find out for sure.

I've been watching the dustbunnies grow under the buffet in the breakfast nook. They looked a little drab so I added a few bows to perk them up and make them look better. We've become attached so there's no way I'm cleaning them up and throwing them out.

I managed, because of another sleepless night, to finish Anne Tyler's "Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant." She's such a great story teller. It's all about a dysfunctional family that's father was a traveling salesman and finally after years of hardly being home, he decided to just abandon the wife and three young children and head off. The mother raised the kids the best she could even though her skills had a lot to be desired. In turn, each child grew to be either a dysfunctional parent themselves or didn't marry at all. I've found this myself in my own family. Even though you're raised by the same people you have totally different outlooks on what the parent was really like. A wonderful story as all of Anne Tyler's books have been.

Herniated Disk

The diagnosis is in and it's a herniated disk. My family doctor is setting up a consult with a neurosurgeon for sometime next week. Options are surgery or physical therapy. Hmmmmmm....Neurosurgeon....surgery...wonder which they'll chose. I'll go kicking and screaming even if I'm in pain. Traction is an option that I'd volunteer for. I've always wanted to be taller!

Another day; another book

I took too many naps yesterday and wasn't sleepy when I needed to be. I decided against taking anymore drugs so I finished reading John Hart's "Down River." It was a very good read. Kind of a Scott Turow and John Grisham mix. The main character returned home to the south after leaving 5 years before. He had been acquitted of a murder that his step mother had been the key witness against him. His best friend had called him and asked him to come and though he had refused at first, he then made the decision to go back. He had totally cut himself off from everyone. The town hadn't forgiven him for what they believed about the murder and his friend was missing. The police were interested in him and they hadn't forgotten either that he'd walked away from what they believed had been a cut and dried case. Bad things began happening from the very beginning of his return and he always seemed to be front and center. His family's land was situated on a river and was a key location for a nuclear power plant that some of the locals wanted and some didn't. The land values went sky rocketing and his father was a hold out for not selling even though many others wanted the deal to go through for their own financial benefit. Several murders took place and a suspicious beating before everything finally fell into place. I definitely will be looking for more books by this author.

Still waiting for the MRI results. Called the doctor's office and they were all too busy to look it up for me so I'm sitting here waiting as patiently as I can. I'm also patiently waiting for the problems to go away for the settlement that hasn't taken place. Now the mortgage company says the property is in a flood zone and though it does have a stream bordering the property the stream would have to rise about 20 feet to get to the basement of the house. It's all silly politics. Now it will cost a fortune to get a special survey done or a miracle to get the mortgage company to remove the requirement from the mortgage commitment. Having to pay flood insurance will make the property too expensive for the Buyers. Technically we're out of contract and it's up to the Sellers whether they will continue to be patient while these issues are worked out. So far, I'm not liking what 2008 has brought to my door step.

The next book is Anne Tyler's "Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant." I've always enjoyed her books. She's from the Baltimore area so her books are usually based in the area and the locations seem pretty familiar even to someone who doesn't spend a whole lot of time in Baltimore. I did live there for a short time and I have a son and step daughter currently living there so we do get back to the city on occasion.

Nap after nap!

The last time I had this kind of constant pain racking my body, I delivered a 7 + pound baby girl. Between naps I take a pain pill and a muscle relaxer. So far today I've had about four naps! My MRI results still aren't in so other than guessing that I'm suffering from a pinched nerve I don't have proof. I've discovered that it's awfully hard to read a book when you can't concentrate. I should have had a couple under my belt by now. I know that I shouldn't be spending time on Amazon.com while I'm under doctor's care. I ordered books I don't remember ordering or why I've ordered them. Wonder what else I'm doing!

I'm currently trying to read "Down River" by John Hart. I'm sure under different circumstances it would be a quick read. Hopefully I will finish it soon then I can start on some of the books that I don't know why I ordered.

Nicholas and Alexandra

I read Steve Berry's "The Romanov Prophecy" and it took a little while to get into it but it caught hold and became a page turner. He put a new twist on the deaths of Nicholas II and his family. There's always been speculation that one of his daughters survived and this book took it to another level. Modern day Russia has decided to return to having a Monarch and there's a push to find a blood line connection to the Romanov's. Of course there's the few evil men that are going to control the "selected member." An American lawyer has been working on finding out about survivors in the hope of getting the "selected member" through without consequence not knowing he's about to uncover information that leads to the survival of two of the original Tsar Nicholas II's children. All were thought to have been killed and buried together in 1918. Finding out that Alexei and Anastasia might have survived leads the lawyer on a world wide search to find the missing heirs.

Apparently the struggle with the Christmas tree several weeks ago did more damage to my body than I originally knew about. I've been suffering with shoulder and neck pain for several weeks and have been to see the doctor twice. It's gotten worse and has now spread down my back and into my legs. I had an x-ray but all it showed was that there is degenerative disk disease which I've known about and now it's necessary to have an MRI to see if something else is causing the pain. The pain pills and muscle relaxers aren't doing a thing and now the doctor wants to add an anti-inflammatory medication. I'm already drugged to grogginess with the first two and can't imagine the addition of another pill. I'll be sleeping round the clock. My thanks go out to our oldest son who was nice enough to show up and help with the removal of the tree. It may never get planted in the ground but at least it's out of the house. With the mild weather we're having it's probably going to get new growth soon.

Elizabeth Berg, again!

I picked up a copy of an older novel by Elizabeth Berg entitled "Range of Motion" and as I was reading it I felt I had just read something very similar. Since her book was written in 1995 and the similar novel was written in 2007 than I was suspicious of the most current author. Nicholas Sparks' "The Choice" is too much like this novel to my liking. Yes, the sex of the characters was reversed but otherwise it was very much the same story line. Instead of Sparks' female character lying in a nursing home in a car accident induced coma, Berg's male character ended up in a nursing home in a coma from a chunk of ice hitting him on the head. The spouses of both coma victims did the exact same things to try to bring their spouses out of the deep sleep. I really like both authors. I felt this once before when I read Jodi Picoult's "My Sister's Keeper" and then sometime later was watching an episode of CSI and other than a switch in sexes, the story was basically the same. It will be interesting when the movie of "My Sister's Keeper" comes out and whether they follow the book as well as the CSI show did.

Still not sure when I'll have my settlement. The Buyer is hanging in Michigan and I guess everyone is hoping for a Power of Attorney to miraculously appear. I don't have that much faith in Fed Ex and their overnight deliveries. I can't totally wrap up with other company until I get this out of the way.

Latest book

I finished "The Zookeeper's Wife" by Diane Ackerman. This is a true story that for some reason didn't become well known outside of Poland, until now. The setting is Warsaw, Poland in the late 1930's through World War II. It's central characters are the zoo keeper and his wife and their lives before and during the German invasion. From running a very successful zoo to becoming a part of the underground that helped get Jews out of the Warsaw Ghetto the author successfully documents (from many different sources including the zoo keeper's wife's diaries) their lives and the lives of so many that they helped. After the animals were taken from the zoo the cages became hideouts for many families on their way to freedom. A very interesting and thought provoking read.