Working on $$$
07/23/2009 06:26 p.m.


Well, it's getting slim, the $$$ now. Meme and I can't pay the full mortgage anymore. So, we're working with the loan service people to see what can be done - maybe they can lower the payment to something we can afford, but it's going to have to be half of the payment in order for us to make it. I'm prepared, though, with a couple of back up plans if that can't happen.

The first back up plan is to go live in a house my aunt from Arizona has here, a mfr. home about 10 miles away. Money would still be tight, but if we sucked in really hard, we could just about make it on Meme's fixed income.

The second back up plan is that my oldest son, who just bought a huge house in Astoria, has very generously invited us to come and live there. Meme's contribution would be more than doable there. It would require using the last chunk of Meme's nest egg for a mechanical lift to get up and down the stairs to his place, but it's an idea anyway.

Meme's preference is to stay here if we can, and then she surprised me with her second preference. She'd rather live in Astoria than move to the mfr. home. I would do that if that's where she'd like to live her remaining days, even though it probably means missing school fall term so we can move and get settled.

For the moment, we're still in The Dalles and remaining here is the plan.


I am currently: maintaining the calm
Listening to: an uncertain future