Author: Laura Highcove

No…really…

I’m sick of it. I really am. I can write. I write well but I still want to be able to draw. I want to be able to make a nice sketch of my characters that doesn’t either look like crap or has to be copied from somewhere.

I know how drawing works. I know the time and effort that has to go into learning it. I watched Ajin go through that process over the course of years. And yet I still want to be able to have a reference picture of my characters without having to find a style I like and shelling out money.

This is not the first time I’ve thought that if I’d only gotten into drawing instead of writing way back when, I could be making money with my hobby instead of just posting up a stories that no one cares about and even less people read.

I don’t understand why I have to be so ADD *and* such a perfectionist at the same time. The only reason I got as far with my writing as I did is because bad writing looks the same as good writing. It’s all letters formed into words in lines and paragraphs and pages.

All I wanted to do was put up some little sprite faces of my Silent Wings characters and even using a reference I couldn’t come up with anything that didn’t look like crap.

But then what does it even matter? No one comes here anyway.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

1:30 pm – We are informed that our mortgage loan has been approved and the ban on moving money in our accounts is lifted.

3:00 pm – Homestead (House Seller) gets their computers back up from a two day downtime and tell us how much we need to pay them for a down payment.

3:11 pm – Matthew calls me to inform me he was 5 minutes too late to have his old account at Provident’s balance <amount #1> credited to our account by midnight that night because they don’t do cashier’s checks and the normal check they give him needed to clear. We will not have enough for the down payment.

5:00 pm – Parents are called and a wire payment for <amount #2> is scheduled from Matthew’s mother. Brad (Loan Guy) calls Homestead to get wire information sent to us.

Friday, February 6, 2009

5:00am – We wake up and pack up the car. Wire info still has not arrived. We plan on getting it through Matthew’s iphone while on the road.

6:00am – We actually leave Rockville (after getting breakfast) and head down to Blacksburg for what is usually a four and a half hour drive to make the contract signing at 11:30am.

8:50am – We realize we cannot get email on Matthew’s iphone. Call Brad and get the wire information transferred.

9:30am – Arrive at BB&T (My bank with our main accounts.) with the wire information, and are then informed that we do not have enough money in our account. The transfer from my online account of <amount #3> that was supposed to have arrived today was still in progress. Ie: the funds were not yet in the account, even though they could see it coming.

9:40am – Make many calls including: Asking my dad if he had <amount #3> that he could wire for us. He could not. Called Brad to see if anything could be done. He made calls to Homestead.

10:00am – Went back into the BB&T (we did calling in the parking lot) and transferred the bulk of the amount <amount #4> we were supposed to in hopes that we could still close today. (Courthouse is closed on weekends, so we couldn’t close Saturday.)

10:20am – Brad calls back and says they can’t close without the money, even though everyone and their mother knows we have money pending to be in the account by midnight. He suggests that we appeal to the branch manager at the local BB&T since I have been a customer for almost 10 years.

11:00am – We arrived in Blacksburg and go to the local BB&T branch and ask for the Branch Manager. She (Susan) listens to what is going on, and checks my account and says that <amount #3> has indeed cleared and can be wired.

11:05am – <amount #3> is wired to Homestead. We call Brad and inform him of the situation. Homestead representative who has an hour drive from Roanoke has already turned back, thinking we could not close, and does not have time to come back.

11:30am – We eat lunch.

12:30pm – We call Judy (Realtor) to meet her at the house for the scheduled walkthrough (albeit a little late.)

12:45pm – We arrive and Judy tells us that Homestead has said that we can drive to Roanoke and sign the papers so that they can be submitted on Monday. After that we check out our house, turning on all the lights and the water to make sure everything looks like it’s working.

1:24pm – We leave to head up to Roanoke to sign the papers.

1:45pm – We get a call from Brad saying that the wire from Matthew’s mother <amount #2> did not arrive at Homestead. We call his mother and she goes off to bust heads. (His mother’s great.)

2:30pm – After getting a little lost, we get to the realtor’s to sign the papers.

2:50pm – We get conformation that the wire has now gone through. Provident decided that even though they were told the wire was urgent, that they would just put it off until who knows when.

2:55pm – We sign a LOT of papers.

3:45pm – We head back to Blacksburg in order to get a hotel room for the night. I call the power company to switch utilities over to us from the seller.

4:05pm – Call the water company but they’re already closed for the weekend. (As of 4.)

6:00pm – Arrive at the only hotel in Blacksburg that allows pets. (Did I mention we had our cat Nickel in the car since 6 this morning?)

6:20pm – I collapse on the bed and watch TLC until midnight. Matthew goes to the store where his friends hang out.

So yeah, long loooong day. Nickel (our cat) was wonderful. We thought he’d whine and cry but he just slept the whole time. He was very happy to get out at the hotel too. Everyone involved was actually very helpful and friendly except for Provident, it was just a very hectic day packed with lots of bureaucracy. I am just very thankful that it is all over and as of Monday, we will officially own the house.