Keep your chin up kiddo, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Remember, it doesn't matter what physical/material possessions that you lose, the only thing that matters is the fact that you're a loving family that cares deeply about one another. As I mentioned before, my family bounced around from apartment to apartment when I was a kid and tough times just bring you closer together as a family, that's all that matters. Love ya
Mary I'm so sorry to hear this. I will never understand why things of this nature continue to happen to all around great people such as yourself. You and your family have my continued thoughts and prayers, just wish I could do more than that for you.
As I said in the Lounge, I just found out about all this, and my stomach's doing flipflops. I'm so sorry for everything you've gone through, and I'm praying things get better.
Another update folks. Couldn't sleep very well last night so I woke up very early and started doing some research on the Essex County court system. I found a link to the Chancery Division which, among other things, handles "Emergent Applications for Stay of Sheriff's Eviction." I printed and we went as soon as they opened. The woman there read the eviction letter and said "This is not your official eviction notice. See at the top where it says first letter? You receive a total of 3 letters, spaced several weeks apart. The 3rd one will be the official one and will have a date where you need to vacate the premises." Further, she said "once you receive the 3rd letter come back here and I'll help you fill out the application for a stay of up to six months." And she said that they're usually approved. So, we have some time to play around with packing and getting everything into storage and getting the extended stay hotel. I breathed such a sigh of relief. Thanks everyone for the continued good luck and prayers.
My dear friends. Our second letter came today. The date of this one is August 21st. We went to the courthouse again because she didn't give us very much more information last time we went. She said once we get the 3rd letter (which I guess I anticipate close to the end of August), we have to wait until exactly 1 week before the ultimate eviction date and come back to them to file for a stay of the eviction. We have to prove things to the judge, though, (which she didn't tell us before) such as whether we've been looking for jobs, apartments, houses, whether we've had any income and, ultimately, since we've had so much time since the bank bought our house back, basically, why we need more time. I need your prayers more than ever because I haven't kept records of all the apartments we've looked at, etc. Who does that? Of course I will from now on. I keep records of important papers, as well as files containing our bills such as the electric bill, phone bill, cable bill. If I had to prove to the judge how many apartments/houses we've looked at, it wouldn't fit in my house, and it would be very difficult to recreate. I can show him the emails I've sent to the various officials and the adjournments we've received from the good Assemblywoman Spencer, but I don't know if that would be to our detriment. She said that we could be there all day, which I don't care about, but if he denies the stay the eviction proceeds. One step forward - one step back, and now I don't feel relaxed at all. I actually feel more worried.
First of all my continued best wishes to you and your family. Mary, the court will be sympathic to to your health concerns and Chris' unemployment and subsequent underemployemnt. They will however want to be fair to the bank since they now "own" the property and will argue they should be receiving some compensation. Give the court a list off the places you have looked and why you aren't there. You have some time to recreate it. Also as hard as it is, continue to try and find a new place. The court will not let this situation go on indefinately and frankly the unending stress is not good for you, Chris, or your girls. Best wishes again.
Oh certainly I understand what you said about the bank Pastor. I'm just confused as to why the real estate agent handling the sale is giving me every suggestion and/or opportunity to stay in the house. She's been very much on our side, be it compassion or not. Then again, the house across from ours has been for sale since we've lived here and it hasn't sold yet. I'm told that they want a huge amount of money for it and it's not worth but I don't know real estate. We're still trying to find someplace but with no income, but for $586.00 extended unemployment benefits for Chris for 6 months (which we just found about this morning), our options are extremely limited. I did post an ad on craigslist looking for possible housesitting opportunities because I just don't want to drain my mother in law's money. I'm trying to keep the stress level down for myself, as well as him, because when I took him to the doctor the other day, his blood pressure was 180/150. I went to the doctor yesterday and he was going to release me to work but with all the stress I'm going through has decided he can't do that. Thank goodness the girls are away and at least trying to relax, though Meghan worries constantly about the "next letter." And, I just found out last night that my sister, Cathy, also needs a stent, courtesy Karen said of my mom's mom Louise. She's taking Crestor for a blocked artery. This is just crazy. I ran up and down my basement stairs 8 times today non-stop because I want to make sure my heart is strong. I feel fine, but I'm not sure what the doc would say about me doing that. Thank you so much for the prayers and continued support Keith and everyone.
Hi. Well we seem to have gotten another break. Someone must be looking out for us. It's difficult to follow but I'll explain as best as I can. Initially, when Chris was laid off from his job in April 2007, he was receiving unemployment. When that ended after 26 weeks, we had to go on welfare (food stamps, tanf (temporary assistance for needy families) and medicaid, which is the reason Megs was even able to get braces on. So, the other day I called my mother in law because, for whatever reason, public assistance just decided to drop us like a hot potato, and the 3 individuals I had dealt with who were not returning my calls for about 2 weeks. She called a friend of hers who lives in Newark, and has a high falutin position with the State of NJ, which I did not know. I've known Dolores for years, but didn't know she now worked for the State. In any case, she got on the phone immediately with the Supervisor of the people I had been dealing with and the Supervisor called me. She said the reason they dropped us (sanctioned us - NJ calls it) was because I was not in a state-approved "activity" - be it job training, school, job search, etc. We went and met with her yesterday in East Orange. She placed both Chris and I in a Surgical Assistant class which begins August 17th. Once that begins and they receive our first time cards we'll begin receiving our food stamps and emergency cash again and will then be eligible for something they call TRA (temporary relocation assistance). She said we just have to find an apartment or house for rental where the landlord both accepts TRA and has a C.O. (in the case of a house). Go meet with them and get a letter that they will accept us as tenants, bring it to the lady we met with yesterday and the State will pay half of our rent for six months at a time (you have to re-certify for TRA every six months, unless you become employed - which is the goal). So, since it's going to be so close to our eviction date, we'll have maybe a week or two where we will have to stay with mom in law's family or friends here and will then be able to move to our own place. Why it's going to be so close is because our benefits won't kick back in until September 5th. I found on craigslist.org 5 apartments today that I'm making appointments with to look at tomorrow and get an "approval" letter. We both feel much better and more relaxed and the "overwhelming" feeling is gone for now. Oh - and Megs has to go into a daycare while we're in school after her school day ends - which I'm sure she'll love. Hope you understood it. It's a long story but a happy ending (hopefully). Thanks for all your support. Love us
Thanks Deb. For once, I was feeling pretty good until I woke up to this email from a woman I had offered some fresh mint from my backyard to. _______________________ Mary, You attempted to USE my kindness; however, you were NOT successful! I have contacted EACH and EVERY person, organization and source to whom I sent a copy of your husband's resume and informed them of your ATTEMPTED SCAM! Please KNOW that "ATTEMPTS to USE another human being does indeed "BACKFIRE"! Your actions were "DEPLORABLE and PATHETIC - quite a scam, sinful, dishonest, and every other such descriptive term". When you start receiving the RETURNS on the implementation of your negative behavior -- remember, YOUR ACTIONS are the source of the the NEGATIVES that you are receiving and will receive". I have asked members of my PRAYER Circle - to pray for the removal of your NEED to USE and/or ATTEMPTS to USE kind and caring human beings. ___________________________ I haven't a clue why anyone would believe I could scam anyone about anything. Pretty upsetting.
Thanks Marty. Neither do I. I was offering fresh mint through another site and told them that we were being evicted. This woman responded to say that she would pray for us and asked me for Chris' resume. I forwarded it to her and then she sent me 3 pages of job contacts for Chris. He responded to what was feasible (as far as distance, pay, etc.) and then I re-posted that we had more fresh mint in our backyard for anyone who wanted it before the 21st. Then I got this email yesterday. I haven't asked anyone for money - I simply asked for prayers and thoughts. It's devastating to me, anyway, for someone to question my integrity. This is me, one of the most honest people on this planet. I truly hope her removing us from her prayer circle doesn't have any negative effects on the work I've been doing.
Your scam? Wow.......obviously she found something that made her not want to trust you I guess, but even so she should have confronted you about it and not attacked you like that! Thats crap. Keep your head up Mary, it will work out.
WTF? Talk about something coming out of left field. Ignore her and keep on trucking, she won't have any impact on your future. Send her some poison ivy.
I dunno - maybe it's because Chris wasn't physically able to reach out to everyone on the list she sent? Chris wants me to copy the eviction letter and email it to her, but I'm not going to bother. Me - untrustworthy, despicable, deplorable? Very upsetting that someone would think that of me. Morning E - Jimmy.
You just keep on keeping on girl. Don't worry about what some stranger says. She must have some serious issues within herself. Just look at it like this-she's ONE who attacked you for whatever reason. There's MANY of us who love you and care about you. You know I'm here, anytime.
Thanks Deb. This email was so upsetting to me that I forwarded it to our attorney yesterday and I'm not a vindictive person, at all. He told me to email her back and tell her that if Chris fails to procure a job because she blacklisted him, we would filing suit against her.
You could always post her email here.....if you were a vindictive person, that is, but you're way too nice for that.
I got this in an email today. I have to hope it's for a reason, since this morning is when we're going to the courthouse to ask the Judge for more time. Today is exactly one week until the eviction. Thought I'd share it with y'all. A Prayer For Today Heavenly Father, thank You for Your faithfulness in my life. I trust that You are working behind the scenes on my behalf. Give me Your strength and peace today and fill me with Your faith to overcome. In Jesus' Name. Amen. Today's Word God is working behind the scenes in your life today. No matter what you may be facing, no matter what trial you may be going through. God has a plan to turn things around in your favor. Right now, He is working out a plan for your good. Right now, He is orchestrating the right people to come across your path. He is orchestrating the right opportunities to open up to you. You may not see it in the natural, but look with your eyes of faith today. Keep standing. Keep believing. Keep hoping. Keep following His word. Focus on His goodness in your life, knowing that He rewards the people who seek after him. As you meditate on the faithfulness of Him and show your love for Him by following His word, you will see His plan come to pass. You'll experience His peace and joy and you will live in victory all the rest of the days of your life.
Just got back from court ladies and gents. I knew there had to be a reason I received the email. The Judge had the attorney for the bank on speakerphone the entire time. Of course they said the bank absolutely says no to any extension and after hearing of our trials and tribulations, the Judge gave us a 60 day extension beyond next Friday. According to the real estate agent for the bank, he was very generous. She said the norm is 2 weeks. Thanks for everyone's prayers.
Another update, just for everyone's information. Chris and I had to start school a week ago Monday (hence my lack of constant presence here from 8:30am to 3:30pm. We had to start to satisfy the state's requirement that we're in a state-approved "activity" to be able to obtain TRA (temporary rental assistance). The school is a pretty high-rated, but small college (called The Peele Institute) in Newark. We changed from surgical to computer information. Anyway, last Tuesday my instructor saw me typing and asked me how fast I type. I told him over 100 wpm and he said "I thought so". He then asked me to print my resume for him. I did and he ushered me over to the Director of the school who asked me if I thought I could teach a class on keyboarding/typing. I said absolutely. He asked me to let him think about it for a couple of days and I left his office and went on about my business. This morning he called me into his office and said he was going to give me a "try out" as an Instructor at the school and that I would teach two different classes typing today. Not being prepared, I quickly ran to one of the computers and got some tips on teaching typing to people and that the Director would be sitting in the morning class. After the morning class, he told me I did an awesome job and was awaiting approval for funds to hire another teacher and as soon as he received it, I had a full time job. Then I was told to print my resume again and was taken out to the garden (really beautiful). This school is located within a beautiful mansion in Newark called the Feigenspan Mansion. There was a woman there who wanted to interview me for a secretarial job because there is a day care center that is being relocated to the second floor of the Mansion within 2 weeks and they need an Administrative Assistant. When she asked me why I wanted to work, I broke down. I think they thought they were going to have to call an ambulance for me. I was having some kind of attack where I couldn't breathe and they made me breathe into a paper bag. After I calmed down, I showed them our Final eviction letter and, even though we received a 60 day extension, it just doesn't seem like very much time to me. She thanked me, said she wanted to bring me on board and she was going to go speak with her boss. A little later on, the Director called me in to his office to tell me that she was going to offer me the job, how her heart went out to us and I had been very brave. So now, I have 2 open job offers that start pretty quickly. The Director said to me today "Any school member of mine is family to me - you have no reason to worry anymore. We're going to take care of you." No sooner had he said that, than I received a phone call from a friend of his who owns a condominium in the Clinton Hill section of Newark. The condo is ours for as long as we need it and rent free until we get back on our feet. So, folks, the power of prayer is indeed working strongly in our case. Thank you so very much again.
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful Mary. Praise God. Now your on your way. I knew you had it girl! I pray the Lord keeps pouring blessings on you, Chris and the girls. Love ya lots......
Indeed Steve and Mal. I'm much more relaxed. I can bring my girls home and know that they're not going to be worrying all the time and, more importantly, we have somewhere to stay - together. Michelle will be in Florida a little longer but Megs is coming home from Cali on Saturday morning. She called me last night. They went to some 4 story aquarium located inside the California Institute of Sciences (I think) and then she called to tell me that they were walking across The Golden Gate bridge. This is a child who is terrified of heights, but is willing to conquer any of her fears. How could I describe to her that she has a full scholarship that she worked so hard for - got straight A's for - to one of the best high schools in Newark but she would lose it. What would that do to her self esteem? What would that say to her about the way government (or state for that matter) treats honest, hard working citizens who are down on their luck? We're just thrilled that she can have the education she deserves and (hopefully) won't be jaded about the public assistance system (or lack thereof).