Roller Coaster riding. . .

A wake-up call (unintended, I know) last Friday sent us off on a roller coaster of emotion. Joanna, my Scotia bank Panama contact was phoning from her home around 9 am her time (3 hours ahead of us!) with a few questions to verify information. I guess she does not realize how many time zones we have in the frozen north, unlike Panama with one time zone. They also differ from us with no area codes or postal codes…a simpler way of life! Anyway, I digress. She told me we could only qualify for about 50% of the requested funds due to my age, that we could only amortize over 8 years, and I was now declaring a drop in income. Different information from her predecessor, as I quickly pointed out. She left me with the news to decide the next step from our point of view. A chat over tea while we strategized possibilities and other sources of funds. Being retired has its disadvantages as well as advantages! Especially financially!

Chris left for the gallery prepared to book some appointments with financial types, and I started my day a little glumly. Remembering to check my email as the morning wore on, I was surprised to see a message from Joanna sent about a half hour after she had phoned. The message now was different! We were possibly back to the original requested amount, and the amortization may be adjusted back to the 13-year mark. A sigh of relief! I just wish this lot would decide once and for all. We started the application in April 2010, and with the huge amount of paperwork, evidential documents, and all the scanning and emailing, I thought we were ready to go once our house here sold. SIGH! Wishful thinking? Advice? Yup! Keep all originals in a file ready to show when requested sometime down the road; send scanned emails (no FAX!) for clarity; keep computer files updated; archive electronic communications; keep hard copies of all communication, especially emails. Luckily, I have done all that – the files are fat and unwieldy, also heavy to pack, but oh so necessary.

Since the fateful Friday, our weather has turned colder, we have even had a beautiful snowfall, and I have loved the crisp air on my walks. The birds are attacking the suet and feeders in droves, and the cats and I are spending an inordinate amount of time lazily watching the action. I knit while their tails twitch.