I've worn myself out.
But first: Mary did pay - I shouldn't say I'm shocked, but it is a bit amazing after all we have gone through. So - tomorrow or the next day we'll be signing a new lease agreement.
Umm, so, I did something that I now - don't regret but didn't remember how much work it is.
Throwing a party, that is.
Haven't done it in a long, long time. I guess you could call that shindig at Christmas a party - but it was family only.
No, long ago - like 5 or 6 years ago anyway - I used to frequently throw parties. Masses of people would show up and it would always be a great time.
So, seeing that lean ground beef is on big-time sale, I decided to do a totally crazy thing: Have a Craigslist Foreclosure Party.
I am not being foreclosed on. My payments are late, but not foreclosure late. Every month the payment will get reigned in until it's current. I haven't really talked about it because I have it under control at this point. I'm hoping to get in on this government bailout refinance bandwagon or whatever they're going to end up doing so I can bring my payment down by at least a couple hundred per month.
Anyway, the amount of email I received from that ad was incredible. One story after another after another after another from people who have lost their jobs, are losing their homes. People writing to tell me they're college graduates, have decades worth of experience in whatever field - and can't find a job. Some of them have been unemployed for almost a year - others 6 months.
You can tell they're afraid. Unemployment benefits don't last forever - even if they did, you're only getting $1,000.00 per month. That's not enough money to even pay the mortgage, much less buy food, pay for electricity, etc etc etc. It's better than nothing, sure, but - I was pretty overwhelmed by all of it. There's at least 20 people coming tomorrow - plus more people who wrote and were shocked that anyone is doing anything like this, and can they help? Darn straight - bring food, drinks whatever. One lady is bring all kinds of condiments, beans and other stuff. Another guy is supposedly bringing some chicken, another guy a case of coke, one lady actually offered $20.
Even more people wrote and thought what a cool idea - they were thinking of doing something like it themselves. I've always loved large social gatherings and I've always been good at organizing and throwing large parties - even up to a couple thousand people. Just a matter of mobilizing enough people to help get everything done.
You think I'm crazy. Maybe I am - just the lifestyle I've lived most of my adult life. Nothing fancy, either, didn't want to spend too much on it, but - hamburgers are good and it IS lean ground beef : ), homemade coleslaw, numerous bags of $1.00 chips, some dips, lots of onions, tomatoes and jalapenos for topping. I also found a HUGE picnic roast on sale at Fry's - the were dumping it at $5.00 because it's sell by date is today. I already cooked it - 8 hours worth. All the fat just fell off of it, the meat just pulled apart with forks - hence known as fork-pulled pork, dumped a bottle and a half of my favorite BBQ sauce on it - done! Oh, and HUGE bag of frozen french fries at $3.00 something. I'm counting on others to bring the rest. If they don't, it's sufficient in itself what I already have.
I think it'll be a blast. Nice way to say goodbye to a 4-day off stint. Definitely be working all 5 days this coming week. Hopefully, anyway!
Anyway, I've been cleaning, cooking, cutting, dicing, etc etc etc for hours and hours now, I'm ready to go to bed. Party to start at noon tomorrow. See what happens.
As for now - I'm going to bed. Just about everything's done that can be done in advance. A little more cleaning. I've done this before, gotta have things ready the night before and leave as little as possible for the day of the event so you don't get inundated!
G'nite, folks.
ben
9 comments:
So does that mean you're raising funds at this party? Collecting food? Or it's just a neighbourhood-type party? Sounds fun anyway.
Glad Mary paid!
i think you ARE crazy, Ben! lol But enjoy the party... I guess something like that is good distraction for everyone.
No, not raising any funds, lol. Just a few people said they would contribute a few dollars to help out with paying for it. I have enough people bringing food and stuff that I won't be out too terribly much, either. In fact, I'm mostly just supplying the burgers, dogs and that picnic roast I cooked yesterday and turning it into absolutely DELICIOUS pulled pork BBQ!
C'ya later, got too much to do!
bb
Good luck with the party. Sounds wonderful to me!! I love stuff like that too..
Throwing a party for strangers when your mortgage payments are late may not be 'crazy', but it is surprising. Or maybe not.
Thanks, Green - it's just about over now - but it was a blast!
Fin: All of my other bills are paid up (at least for now). I used birthday money for the party and it didn't cost that much anyway. People brought a lot of their own food. It iwll be QUITE some time before the mortgage is actually current as in, paid on the date it's due. The only reason I will have for concern is if I lose my job - and then, it's a done deal anyway.
I don't mean to be dense or unfeeling here, but I remember how hard you worked to raise your credit score. Does it not reflect badly on that score every single time the mortgage payment is NOT paid when due?
I will readily admit to not knowing much at all about how those scores are computed. I recently borrowed some money for the place down south but I was never made aware of the score nor whether it mattered.
Umm, Fin - the amount of money I spent on this party wouldn't even come close to paying the mortgage. I mean, really.
Further, this was birthday money. I usually make it a point to spend money given for birthdays on - something I want to do.
The backlog on mortgage is due to non-paying tenants for - well quite a while now. I have done basically nothing in quite a while. Besides the trip to my dad's, which was almost totally paid for by him - I haven't even been to the movies in ages - something I like to do. I just go to work and come home.
This is reminiscent of the situation with buying all of those plants. I spent $150 on them - and am still here.
As for the credit - again, one particular non-paying tenant who is no longer here, on one credit card bill that sent my credit score plummeting to new depths that I have never seen before.
Eventually, I will be current again. As long as I don't lose my job or I lose any more hours.
Which, of course, is hardly a given.
With that, I'm thinking of retiring early tonight as the festivities have worn me out and I want to be rested for work tomorrow.
ben
Good luck with the party! It sounds like it's going to be a blast and what a wonderful idea! Can't wait to hear all about it!
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