Stressed

It's been an absolutely crazy few weeks, yet we have surprisingly (disappointingly) little news.

Here are all the things I've been doing that have stressed me out dramatically:

1) Current job
My gradebook crashed as I was backing it up (I know, the irony, right?), meaning I lost all of my 6th grade scores.  I sent it off to the company in the hopes that they could recover some of it.  I didn't touch it in the meantime, meaning I fell behind on my grading.  When the company was unable to recover my data, I had to regrade quite a bit of work, then start catching up.  In the meantime my seventh graders (about 105 students) have been prepping for the state writing test, meaning they're writing numerous practice essays.

Then there's the parent who expects me to send home written directions (for a quick assignment that should have been done in class) so they can "help" him with it (translation: do it for him).  I am on the staff OBOB (Oregon Battle of the Books) team and have two books to read by the start of school on Friday.  Thankfully they're quick reads.  There have been a few union issues (I'm the school's union rep), and I've had to hold off on the leave request until the house refinance is complete.  I'm mad busy, but thankfully I'm mostly caught up.

2) The house and associated drama
We are trying to refinance the house before we leave.  Our mortgage broker ran our credit report.  I have great credit, but apparently there was a hiccup.  My records are mixed with Nancy's.  We joked about it, because growing up we were always mistaken for the same person.  Now we are adults with different last names, dramatically different life circumstances, and different amounts of debt.  The problem is that I am showing both mortgages on my credit--but only my income.  The banks seem to frown on trying to buy two houses on my income.  Hmm.

 I called Equifax to get this straightened out using the number provided on my credit report.  The automated he** in which I found myself was maddening to say the least.  I tried each option, only to be told to file a report for each inquiry online or that I'd made "too many incorrect choices.  Goodbye."  AAUGHH!  A series of internet searches finally got me to a business credit report line, which transferred me to a human, who took my information (name, address, SSN, birthdate, etc.), then transferred me to another person (an unhelpful one, but I do believe that by having a pulse she qualified), who took my information (name, address, SSN, birthdate, etc.) and then informed me that I could put in a formal inquiry online, wait 30 days, then call back the automated number that has no options for a human being to follow up.  Yeah, right!  When I asked how our records were mixed, she said the lenders reported it incorrectly.  I asked if Nancy's mortgage broker was magically guessing that she had a sister named Janice with the SSN of  . . . . and she said yes!  Seriously!?  I demanded a proper callback number, and I tried again later in the day.  Better service this time, and a 3-4 business day turnaround after faxing the needed documentation rather than a 30 day.  Better.  Much better.

3)  The horse
Ah, the drama of the horse.  So I've been trying to juggle getting Daz some hock injections with when people want to come see her.  Horse buyers are so weird.  Now, now, now--oh, wait, nevermind!  Anyway, last Thursday the vet was finally able to come out.  I had to cancel my last possible lesson with Karen O'Neal (BIG bummer), but at least it's finally done and off the plate.  Now I just need to deal with the insurance and the payment . . . I renewed the ad, too--but I was double charged for the renewal, so I opened an inquiry on that.  I signed up for the Karen clinic in a few weeks in the hopes that I will be able to enjoy that instead--and that the horse can get some exposure for sale.

The bigger part of this drama, however, is the fact that our barn sold.  They kicked us out (not in the nicest of fashions, but that's all I'll say here).  So Christy, my regular instructor, has been going nuts trying to find a new place for us.  Sunday was barn moving day, and Saturday I put in 10 hours at the barn.  Sunday I spent 3 hours helping move horses/gear.  I did not help with the second load of stuff due to sheer stress and needing some time.  I'm unsure about the new place, though.  It's got cows.  The one thing Daz fears most (and which she's never gotten over) is cows.  Not a lot of turnout, either, so that's a huge concern.

4) The future job
We got together all of our paperwork (including a police report, copies of all kinds of documents, etc) and sent it over to Germany.  Unfortunately we think this is their winter break week, so we don't know if it arrived to an empty office or not.  We have not yet received our relocation packet (we think they are waiting on our documents).  Not a lot to tell on that front!

So with the essays, the gradebook, the additional school issues, the refi, the credit report, the new barn, the vet, and the documents, I've been a bit overwhelmed.  I could really use the snow day we're hoping to have tomorrow.

On the moving front, there's not much to report other than the dog crates--which I'll do this weekend.  Cool stuff that warrants pics!

Now it's off to the gym (which, due to snow this morning, I didn't do before school) and then the barn before heading home, grading a few papers, crashing, and doing it all again tomorrow (gym, school, barn, grade, sleep, repeat--skip barn as needed, go to barn as needed for sanity).  See husband when his school is closed for snow and he brings me sushi lunch) and if I'm lucky at the grocery store.

This stinks.  Spring break can't come soon enough.  Oh, and the German soccer team lost to France today.  Boo.