OK, so it’s update day.

First of all – woot, Matt made front page of Digg a few days ago!  So if you found me indirectly through his article, welcome!  We are both so appreciative for the outpouring of support and congratulations we’ve received from so many!  We have received a couple of offers of donations – honestly, for now we’re doing OK; there have been minor financial/food struggles occasionally, but on the whole we’re managing.  If you absolutely feel like you wish to make some sort of donation or contribution, please do so at HomelessTales.com – there is a “Donate” button in the right column of the front page that enables Matt to keep the site up and running, or you can PayPal him directly at mdbarnes@hotmail.co.uk.

It looks like we have another reprieve for Fezzik, thanks to Karma Rescue in Los Angeles.  I originally adopted Fez from Karma, and when things got too tight to afford his board with Sage (my hours and pay at work were recently cut), I tearfully contacted them to find out about re-adopting him out.  Well, it turns out that Karma would love to see us kept together, so they have super-duper-generously offered to pay his board for three months.  I can’t tell you how amazingly awesome that is – Matt and I are struggling to move him out here and buy a home together, and we had envisioned our life as a family with Fezzik as our dog, sleeping in our room, loving and protecting our children, etc.  It was so difficult to send that e-mail to Karma Rescue, and neither of us expected such an accommodating and generous response.  Our effusive thanks to Rande and Cassian of Karma, and to Barbara DeSantis, Fezzik’s former foster mom (as an aside, her husband is director Larry Charles, who directed Religulous, which is a really interesting and thought-provoking documentary about religion – how awesome is that?!)  If you are looking for a dog, or dogs are close to your heart, please support and/or adopt through them.  You can find their list of adoptable pets here.  I have nothing but good things to say about them; they care so much about each and every animal that they place, and were on hand every time I had a question or needed help regarding Fezzik or his training.  I recommend them so, so highly.

Matt’s next visit to Cali is in early July, and he will be staying through October.  We seem to have found a low-cost rent option for that time period (we have stayed in the trailer for a few days since we ran out of motel funds, and let me tell you, that thing was not meant for two people!) so that’s helpful.   As a plus, we will also have access to utilities/facilities which will mean no more driving 8 miles to shower at the gym, or walking to the Arco gas station at 3 a.m. to use the restroom!  Yay!  Matt flies back home one week from today (*sniffle*) so for the couple of weeks that he is in Scotland I will stay in the trailer and accummulate/hoard funds for fun things – such as a house and a low-budget, very DIY wedding 

California’s 90-day foreclosure moratorium started today, blegh.  Unless I am misunderstanding something, this means that the possibility of purchasing the house I was pining over is now pretty much kaput, or at least on hiatus for the next 3 months or more (it was a short sale), so I may need to just look at other options…  Matt and I are scoping out a few other places and are working on raising the necessary funds, which is around $10K-$15K.  Still waiting on my back EDD claim forms – FINALLY got through to EDD via phone (not just e-mail) last week and was assured that THIS time, they are REALLY sending out all my claim forms (I remain skeptical, yet hopeful).  With that money, we would have a good head start towards the money we need to buy our own home.

We are also working towards setting up an online business for me, to sell my vintage clothing on.  I just have way, waaaaay too much of it, and while I’ve done a decent job selling off some pieces on eBay, I’m well aware that I have a good eye for it, and a drive to do a lot more with it than I have, and make quite a decent profit.  Combined with Matt’s knowledge of the interwebz, I think we can go a long ways more towards helping ourselves out financially.  Still hoping not to have to sell Ingrid, but I would like to sell the trailer once Matt and I are more settled elsewhere.  It was to eventually go to my sister in AZ, but alas, no longer, so it’s mine to do as I please with (woot!)  I would also like to eventually sell my car and just use the (paid-off) truck I inherited (which is currently towing the trailer), but evil Wachovia is making that sooooo difficult.  I’ve contemplated joining one of the several pending class-action lawsuits against them; I wonder if it’s worth the hassle.  From what I’ve read, thousands of other consumers have been ripped off by them, car-loan-wise.  What a bunch of crooks.  The dealer I bought the car through chose them to finance me; I wish I’d known better at the time than to go ahead with the purchase, but it was my first car loan, so oh well.  Life happens, and you take lessons from it, I guess.

So yep yep, if you asked a question in the previous comments, I hope this post answers it, and thanks again sooooooo much to everyone with kind words and support.  I’m so happy and it just goes to show that great things can come out of even the most shite situations.  I will continue to dig my way out of homelessness, and I fully realize how lucky I am to have so many awesome people cheering me on.

Love,

~Bri