Murphy and His Stupid Friggin Law!

I remember being a very sensitive, negative child; a normal, if not creative teenager; and an eventually optimistic single adult. However, I remember several years ago when I was an 'optimistic' single adult, someone asked me why I was always so happy. I told them that I always expected the worst, so therefore I was never disappointed with what God/life threw at me. Is that optimism? I'm not sure. I do know however that lately I have not been feeling happy. I've been feeling very negative and often depressed. Things just weren't going my way. Then I tried to focus on giving service wherever possible and I even started a 'gratitude journal'. Sounds cheesy but it's been helping. Then these last two weeks hit, and I'm beginning to realize, maybe my 'optimistic' younger self wasn't so silly after all! Recently I have had experiences that make me feel like I'm never supposed to expect good things to happen.

THE BATHROOMS-Since January, our shower has consistently plugged up once a month. We would use a few treatments of Drano and it would clear up. Then, in April, the toilet in our master bathroom started flushing itself. Or rather it would make that wierd running sound like it was flushing. It did it at least three or four times an hour. A plumber friend told us the part to get... we got it... Ammon doesn't have a clue how to replace it... so it still runs. Then, about a month ago the bathtub in the guest bathroom started cloggin up. It now takes at least three hours to drain half a tub. This makes it hard to clean of course, so Kaleb is getting fewer baths. Last night the same plumber friend told us we need to replace a pipe in the wall and then he will be able to snake it out. Oy. Then two weeks ago, I found a puddle on the master bathroom floor. The valve under the sink was leaking. Ammon put a bowl under the drip and bought a part about a week later, after the drip was getting to once every second and there were two more puddles. But don't worry, that one actually got fixed. Lastly, on Sunday, while we had family over, our guest bathroom toilet broke. You can only flush it by opening up the tank and pulling the arm, which is now almost snapped in half. That's it for now, but I'm just waiting... waiting... waiting...

THE BANKRUPTCY- As most of you know, we recently filed for bankruptcy. We just reached that point where we felt we had no other alternatives, so there you have it. Sucky yes, but out credit was already ruined. We decided this back in September, but the lawyer we spoke with suggested waiting until after we get our '09 tax return, spend it, then file, so they couldn't use the tax return moneys to pay off some of the creditors. Sounds good!
When we started doing our taxes it became clear we didn't have a W-2 from one of Ammon's employers. Apparantly the company had gone under and we had to fill out a separate form and file by mail. This delayed us getting our tax return by about six weeks. Then, we got the return, spent it, paid the lawyer, then we realized that we still had Ammon's name on his brother's car loan as co-signer, so we had to wait another few weeks for his brother to refinance... Then Ammon got a temporary job and we had to spend all of his paychecks ASAP otherwise they would take that money... and well, you get the picture. Eventually we filed the beginning of June (four months after we originally planned!!)
This morning, we go into our hearing: THE LAST THING WE WOULD HAVE TO REALLY DO FOR THIS TO BE ALL OVER!!!! We would finally have this debt forgiven! We could move forward! NOT SO MUCH!! Oh, no, they are going to keep our case open so that they can take our entire tax refund next year!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!


THE CAR-A few months ago we purchased a vehicle through a friend of ours. After some repair work that ended up taking a month (they were doing it for free, which was great, but because of the bankruptcy we were kinda in a hurry to get it.) Anyway, when we got it, there was a temporary permit from California on the back that we could use until we got the car registered in our name with AZ plates. When we bought the car, our friend asked us if we wanted California plates put on it, but we said it would be easier to just get the AZ plates. BOY were we WRONG!!
Once the California permit expired, I went into the DMV to get it registered... they said we can't get it registered without the emissions test... so I bought a 30-day AZ permit to give us some time to get that done. Well, between the campout and bankruptcy stuff, we didn't get the emissions done till last week. The permit expires tomorrow. This past Wednesday morning, Ammon was busy taking some classes, so Kaleb and I got into the car to head to the DMV... the battery was dead. About an hour later Ammon's dad was able to give the car a jump, and we headed down to the DMV. Ammon just finished his class, so he met me there to take Kaleb home so I wouldn't have to worry about him... well when we got there, there were 20 people in line... just to get a number! Ammon had only about an hour before he had to go back to class, about the same time Kaleb needed to take a nap, so I said, forget it, I will just come back tomorrow early!
Thursday morning, we leave the house at 9:15. Get to the DMV, their system is down statewide and they have no clue when it will be up and running. Through a chance meeting with my bankruptcy lawyer a little later, he tells me about the off-site offices that can also register vehicles. I get to this office, NOBODY IN LINE. I'm thinking "SWEET!" The lady at the desk tells me that I have to get the vehicle inspected because of the Salvage title on the car. I told her I wasn't told that by the lady that gave me the permit. She said, "Well, that's the law, and here's the number to make an appointment. It costs $50."
"I have to make an appointment? I have 36 hours to get this stupid car registered, but I can't till I make an appointment to get it inspected, and I have to PAY FOR IT?!?!?!?" DIE, DMV, DIE!!!
So I get in the car, call the number... "I'm sorry you can't make appointments through this line anymore, you have to call another number, here it is..." (Do I even have to mention that I didn't have a pen at this time... oh yes, I wrote the phone number in lip gloss). So I call the next number and the only appointment they have before Monday is at 11am, Friday morning at Greenfield and Baseline... Normally I would've been praying a sigh of relief. However, we had our bankruptcy hearing at 10am in downtown Phoenix on FRIDAY. "WHAT THE?!?!?" So I made the appointment, hung up the phone and screamed!!! Then I proceeded to Dunkin Donuts which was conveniently next door.
So, thankfully, this morning our hearing went quickly. They opted to have us go first since we were the only ones toting a toddler. Afterwards, we raced down the freeway, (legally of course) and got to the DMV in 30 minutes. I walked in right at 11 am, checked in, gave them my ID and paperwork, and I got to work with the nicest human being I have met in a long time... Why do I say he was the nicest human being? Because he told me that we didn't have to get the inspection. Our car is a salvageD title, not salvage, which means it's already passed all inspections and is good to go. I would have kissed him... but I didn't.
Anyway, the wait at the DMV was attrocious, so we decided to head to one of those off-site offices again, prepared to yell at anyone that told us we had to get an inspection. Could it be that easy? Were we finally gonna get this car registered without any more hiccups? HECK NO!!! When we bought the 30-day permit, we stuck it in the glove box. We didn't have a plastic sleeve to protect it from the wind and our windows are so darkly tinted you can't see through from the outside. So what do you think happened? YEP!!! For 29 days, we have been driving around with no plates or ID on this car. AND NOW, 1 MILE from getting our car officically registered, we get pulled over. DOH!! Don't worry, the cop was understanding. He looked at all of our paperwork and let us go. We now have plates. I now have sanity!

Why am I telling you this? Mostly because I know I will look back on all of this and laugh. AND a little bit of sympathy never hurts!!