A so so week

There are some weeks that are good, there are some weeks that are bad. This week was actually really productive, but it took so much out of us that I think it should be called a "so so week."

Most of the kitchen was remodeled this week. Yes, it's been inconvenient to be without a kitchen for several days, but still...things have gone quickly. I'm happy about that. The cranky part of it all is that when we come to see what the contractor did (or did not) do that day. We talked with him about how we wanted things, and then he goes and does it completely differently. Every dang day. This necessitates a call or e-mail when we get home, arduous justification or wheedling on his end, and frankly it's tiring. For the most part, he's been accommodating, but I don't relish "babysitting" my contractor so much. And every day the contractor says some parts are missing, so I call the cabinet place and they have had to make 2 special trips this weeks to deliver stuff. I feel like I'm annoying the cabinet place, I feel tired dealing with the contractor. Have I said how I don't like dealing with people??? :)

We signed our refi today, and it will officially go through next Wednesday. Yay! I kept calling the escrow company this morning to ask how much to bring to closing. No response. Left messages. On my third call, I finally get an answer, but that's only because I said I have to be there SOON and I need to know how much to bring. Duh. Get the figure. I'm running late so I run to the bank, fill out the withdrawal slip in a hurry because I want to get in line before the 4 people who are also filling out their slips. And wouldn't you know it? The teller thinks I'm initiating fraud. First she tells me my name is wrong. Well, she had gone directly to the signature card and saw my maiden name. I insisted I changed my name 8 YEARS ago and then she said "oh." I try to make light that people must draw this amount of money out all the time (since we're talking 6 figures). Once she finds record of the name change (8 YEARS ago), she stares at my ID, signature card, and withdrawal signature and says that's not my signature. I sigh and say I'm in a rush (which, I know, makes me look even more suspicious but it's TRUE!). She calls 2 managers over, and I have to sign my name not in a rush multiple times. They scour my ID, my face some more, lots of sighing on their end, and they finally give me the check. If I really was doing fraud, I would hope I would be making the cashier check out to myself instead of an escrow place.

Then there's some Bank of America drama at the signing. With our current loan, we have to pay our taxes and insurance monthly into an escrow account with Bank of America. Our property taxes are due April 30th, and the HUD statement said that we would have to pay our property taxes at closing (so 6 weeks early). Fine, but what they didn't say was that they aren't refunding the account balance we've already accumulated (about $4,500). We have $4,500 sitting in the account that B of A earns interest on, but they aren't going to use THAT to pay the taxes due in 6 weeks, but instead want us to pay the taxes out of other funds. Then to top it off, at the signing today they wanted us to sign a form saying that they are crediting us the balance in the escrow account to our refinance. But nowhere on there is a credit for that money! THE STINKERS! So if we would have signed it, we would have given Bank of America $4,500.

Then I go to QFC on the way home. I just want to get the food on my grocery list and go home and see what the contractor did wrong that day (not really, I had hoped he had done everything right and I'd be so happy when I got home).

I want to buy deli meat. They have turkey breast in the deli on sale, the kind that the deli person slices on a machine. I should have known that it wouldn't go well. It's just not my day.

Me: "I'd like 2 lbs of the turkey that's on sale please."
Deli Person: "Do you know that's processed?"
I look at the package. It says oven roasted turkey breast on the breast-like looking item. Then I turn to the Oscar Mayer deli meat (prepackaged) on the other wall.
Me: "That's stuff more processed."
Deli Person: "All of the parts are mixed together with this one. Don't you want 100% turkey breast?"


What I wanted to say: NO! I don't. I want what I want. It's obvious you have a clear opinion of such things and are way too concerned with my health. You might want to check out dietician school since you want to save the world from processed food.

But I said: "I will take 2 lbs of the turkey that's on sale please."

I marched right to that U-Scan where I wouldn't have to deal with any person (even though I suck at the U-scan...can never find bar codes, find the item codes, get coupons to scan properly, or bag my groceries properly...).

And I got home to see that the contractor went against explicit instructions and had a fuming husband.

See? So it's been a productive week, but way too much heartburn.