Apparently I will have the day and a half that I am in Riyadh open – so I am planning to get together with three of the ladies who were part of the NCEL workshop in September – we could do some serious women stuff…like SHOPPING!! I am most certainly going to seek their advice about a whole long list of questions I have about being a woman in Saudi society.
I had the opportunity in Church this morning to bear my testimony – for the first time in 15 years! I attended this Ward almost 30 years ago and when I returned this past year some of the members still remembered me. They all made me feel at home and comfortable, so this morning I thanked them all. I wanted the members to know that they had helped me along what has been a long and difficult path. After Church the Bishop was doing tithing settlement so I took the opportunity – nice to be able to smile and say This year, I paid a full tithe! Let’s see if I can keep THAT up! I will keep my present Ward as my Home Ward – I think the nearest Ward to Buraydah will be in India!
Coraline has a HOME!!!! I am so thankful – one of the Sisters in Relief Society offered her a place to live. Coraline will have two small dogs for companions so will soon get her life sorted out to her satisfaction! I will send her to her new life with a carrier, 40 pounds of litter and a BIG bag of catfood.
I went out to lunch at the Fiesta Buffet with Mom, my sister and brother in law and mynephew. My Dad (who died 12/14/2001) used to take Mum out to lunch there on Sundays and we maintained the tradition. It might be the last time I will join them in QUITE a while.
Last night I watched two Jimmy Stewart movies while I sat with the file cabinet and the shredder. I was amazed at how much PAPER I had that I really didn’t need – years of utility bills and bank statements! It is all online now and I can print out anything I need. I even shredded my 2002-1999 tax returns. I didn’t realize that I had been using Turbotax and filing online for so long! I will even be able to continue that while I am in Saudi. However, my “tax home” next year will be KSA and I am likely to be out of the country for the whole year – so I can file for an exemption and would have to earn over $91,000 before I pay any US taxes (oh, I WISH!!)
Right on cue Bank of America has decided that I don’t get to keep the trial morgage loan modification they offered me and I have been paying since April. They say I haven’t provided all the paperwork they wanted (shaking my head – I did – at least THREE times!) so they are going to accelerate the loan. If I don’t bring it current by the end of December, they are going to start foreclosure proceedings. (I see another hit to my slowly recovering credit score coming up!) I gleefully sent their notes off to my attorney, who is already preparing a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure 🙂 That’s one way the bank says I can cure the default 🙂 and the best choice as the house is way too far upside down to sell.