Why would the bank NOT allow you to make payments? That is so confusing. Was it a partial payment thing, and they wanted all or nothing?

O_A, for our part, the house was a mess because of D's ex wife up and leaving it to move and D having to break a lease and move into the house because she was basically abandoning it, after having booted D to live here with her unemployed lover while D paid for the mortage and the rent on his apt. for a year so that his son wouldn't be affected, to find out that all the bills she said she was current on? Weren't. And then falling more and more bbehind while trying to catch up during the divorce.

Then, while we were desperately trying to stave off foreclosure and eviction, not being allowed to make payment during a review period because....I don't know. My name isn't on the house, and we are still trying to get her name off it, so I have no power right now to talk to mortage people.

It's a mess. But it's getting better, and is nothing like Laura's sitch, because we legitimately, if for very understandable reasons, DID fall very behind, and Laura's bank are just giant pricks.

IOwow, people are just SO CRAZY news, D's ex is STILL mad about that stupid article I wrote, and when told that it's NOT about her, and if she has this big an issue with it, she needs to talk to me instead of calling D up and freaking about it (and not setting up phone calls with M and threatening not to let M come out for summer unless she she's a copy of receipts for a return ticket and summer camps (um, hi, CRAXY! It's called JOINT CUSTODY and A LEGAL PARENTING AGREEMENT and this ain't in it. For someone whose mother is a lawyer, you're sure stupid about law)) -- well, basically, she said she won't talk to me unless there's a third party involved to mediate.

Um. Ok? I called her the afternoon I heard she was upset and left a NICE VM (do you know how hard that was?) about I was sorry if her feelings were hurt, that wasn't my intention or, like, the MEANING OF THE ARTICLE AT ALL JESUS WOMAN YOU'RE AN EDITOR CAN YOU NOT READ?

Um. But seriously. I was nice. And I haven't heard a single fucking thing from here.

A third party? WHO? A COURT MEDIATOR? Nelson Mandela? Buddha? her husband? MY husband? M? WTFF?

But she made a tactical error, because now I KNOW she is scared stiff of me. And the petty side of me, which I am trying to supress, is very, very pleased by that.

But really. All I want is for you to be content, woman. Get some therapy. Eat a brownie. Take up TM. WHATEVER. Just be HAPPY so D and I can be, too. Please. Be happy. Have a good life.

Er, guess I was too busy last night and today to get that off my chest. Happened last night. UGH. BUT. D YELLED at her for the first time ever and also told her for the first time that the problems inherent in this parenting relationship stem almost 100% from her actions and overreactions, which is true. I was so proud of him.

(Yeah, I eavesdropped, and I'd do it again. Totally told D. D is a TERRIBLE converstation recapper. Told him that too.)

BUT. D YELLED at her for the first time ever and also told her for the first time that the problems inherent in this parenting relationship stem almost 100% from her actions and overreactions, which is true. I was so proud of him.

YAY FOR HIM! Ugh, what makes some people so craxxy?

Plei, my co-worker just asked me a gardening type question (no idea what she was thinking there), which I could research, or she could, but... well, you know. And you probably know.

She wants to know if jasmine will do well here during the summer -- we're in Philadelphia which, apparently "falls in the northern periphery of the humid subtropical climate zone."

Oh, hell. I probably could've googled the answer by now. Let me see..

Jen - I haven't seen much jasmine growing around here, fwiw.

Why would the bank NOT allow you to make payments? That is so confusing. Was it a partial payment thing, and they wanted all or nothing?

All or nothing was exactly it. I don't want anyone to think it was one payment; we were several behind. In addition to the past due payments they slapped a $12k insurance charge for insurance that was not required in our mortgage making catching up in a lump sum even more difficult. We may have been able to solve it then, but they insisted we do the modification thing which delayed a few more months, spiral, spiral. Now after 6 modification attempts we are at this point. We will keep fighting, and we will prevail.

But she made a tactical error, because now I KNOW she is scared stiff of me. And the petty side of me, which I am trying to supress, is very, very pleased by that.

I'm pretty pleased by that too! It is rotten for the adults, but the poor kid is in such a powerless position. It is good that D is standing up to her now.

The Margarita cultivar of Carolina jessamine is hardy to zone 6 and there are some reports of its survival in 5A. Most cultivars are only hardy to zone 7.

Ginger, did you hear back about getting an earlier appointment?

Thanks Ginger... I think I understand how all the words go together. Now I need to figure out what kind of zone we're in. This is turning out to be sort of fun. I'm going to time me.

Look at that, I found a zone map. We appear to be Zone 6a. Score!

I have achieved and paid for home insurance today. And the best part? Our car insurance is going down so much because we are moving out of the city that it more than pays for the house insurance.

Excellent news, sj!