Good Friends and Sad Times.....

Another beautiful morning here in San Diego County, although we are under fire watch through the weekend due to our hot dry weather. Our temperature is supposed to drop a couple of degrees per day for the next few days leading us back to unbelievably perfect temperatures. I love this time of the year. I grew up on a farm in Southern Illinois, and fall was always my favorite season. I loved school, and it meant it was time to go back to school. I loved the holidays, and fall arriving also meant that Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas were just around the corner. All of these holidays were highly celebrated events both at home and school. Each year, our little one room country school presented a play for families. I always had a significant role to play and loved it. I guess one room schools are a thing of the past now. I always loved the fact that I could hear the lessons of every grade and believe it helped enhance my education.

Although it is a favorite time of the year for me, it is a bad time for some of our friends. The economy is taking its toll on both large and small businesses.

Friends are struggling to keep their businesses going, and others are concerned about job layoffs. Since we are sixty six years old, some friends are watching their 401-K retirement funds and stock investments dwindle away. It's really frightening for people who know they are too old and if not too old, too tired to start all over.

Jerry spent yesterday with a dear friend, who is like a son to Jerry. We both love this guy. He is in his 40's, has been very successful and is now selling off prized possessions and choosing which properties will have to go into foreclosure. In other words, he's trying to decide what goes first. He has a beautiful wife and two daughters. I am scared for him. I am most concerned right now with his mental health. He just looks defeated. He has always been vibrant and energetic. He has worked so hard the past fifteen years developing his business. Fifteen years ago, he lost a beautiful infant daughter. When we met him, it was shortly after the baby died. He was grieving. His marriage was in trouble, and he had an overwhelming amount of hospital bills. He came out of that period stronger....stronger marriage...greater appreciation for life and an intense love of his two little daughters. Yesterday he was walking around like a very old man. He isn't sleeping at night, and I know the lonely feeling one has when they wake up in the middle of the night due to a troubled mind. It must be even tougher for him, since this is a second time around that he is having to deal with a financial disaster. I know he isn't thinking of himself. He is concerned for his family. We are already reading of suicides believed to be caused by the collapse of our economy. We didn't know until yesterday just how hard he was being hit. He sells "toy haulers," campers and motorhomes. He has several locations and of course, leases and mortgages to pay. People aren't buying much of anything these days except necessities. Mike is on my prayer list, and we will try to stay close with him.

I think all of America is ready for us to select a president, which should go a long way in taking the "politics" out of the decision making process. This type of problem is worsened during a presidential election year especially since we have a congress controlled by democrats and a republican president. Both parties seem to be afraid of making the other party look good. Our United States economic woes now appear to be contributing to the destruction of the soundness of the world economy.

Perhaps these troubling times are going to have the most impact on our human value system. A re-organization of our personal priorities may be a good thing.

God Bless America.....

Whatever Happened to Integrity....

Beyond the sub-prime mortgages, therein lies another problem. The media would have us believe that the majority of home mortgages now in default was caused by people who held fast to the dream of buying their own home. I don't know much about what happened outside of California, but I am aware of numerous homes going into foreclosure in our state that was caused by people believing they would become rich by becoming a real estate "investor." Many of those people were already living what the media refers to as "the American dream." They owned their homes. However, they saw the rising cost of real estate and decided to captialize on it. They were confident that real estate would keep increasing in value while interest rates would continue to fall. They were comfortable and probably even cozy in their homes, but they wanted more. There is more required to being a successful investor in real estate than just a desire to do so. It's just not that simple. I believe the decision was motivated by a desire to make more money by most of the people in foreclosure in California. Many of them never expected to remain in their "home," and instead bought it with the intention of "flipping" it. That term was used loosely in this state during 2006 and 2007. "Oh, you can buy it, and remodel it and flip it," was heard at almost every real estate showing. I know that, because my husband and I were shopping for a home, so we could downsize. Our youngest left home in 2004 and married in 2006, which just leaves us and the two bulldogs. We heard all of the hype about buying before we sold, because it would be easy to sell our house. We met up with other people looking at average size homes and heard the chatter about flipping houses. When "flipping" interests met up with realtors earning 6% of inflated real estate prices and unethical mortgage brokers qualifying all, (greed meets greed meets greed), it was a match made in heaven. Well, that is until interest doubled, the house didn't "flip" and people couldn't make their payments.

Another falsehood is related to people who really can make their payments, but they don't choose to do that. When some people couldn't make their new increased payments, the foreclosure numbers increased. Home values began to drop. When people decided their home value was less than their loan, it seemed to be an easy decision to just not pay for it. There are people walking away from loans, who have the income and capability of paying the loans but they are taking advantage of the economic situation. Suddenly, instead of looking at the property as their home, they are ready to walk away because they owe more than what the home is worth today. Some would tell me only a fool would pay for a house that isn't worth what is owed on it. I would say that I never bought a "home" with a thought of its future value. There have been times that my home has not been worth as much as the loan on it especially since my husband likes to remodel. For years, we were "over built" for the area. However, since it truly was our home, we didn't treat it as an investment. We were motivated to make our payments, because we loved our home. I personally know people who are just walking away from loans not because they can't pay them, but because they have lost confidence in their "real estate investment." An experienced investor knows to wait for their investment to show a gain again. A homeowner does everything possible to stay in their home if they can make the loan payments, regardless of its value.

We have a financial disaster in our country. Am I insensitive to people who truly are at risk of being homeless? I am concerned for anyone who can't make a living. Do I think there were some innocent people who truly thought they could buy and keep a home in foreclosure now? Yes, I do.

If we are to learn as a nation from what has happened, all people involved need to admit their mistake. It seems as if the decisions that are most apt to get us into trouble are those we make without considering the integrity of what we are doing. Greed and integrity doesn't blend. Packaging mortgage loans filled with deceit do not blend with integrity either. Selling real estate with promises that are not likely to be fulfilled doesn't meet integrity standards. Walking away from debt that you are capable of paying but don't choose to pay is not a demonstration of integrity. This certainly doesn't let our elected officials off the hook either. Integrity is a foreigner, I'm afraid, in our legislative bodies. If we examine this whole situation closely, honesty would have gone a long way to keeping America prosperous. Honesty and integrity do work together and go a very long way in preventing future problems.

Leanne's Baptism!!!

Last evening was very special for our family. My granddaughter, Leanne, was baptized at Foothills Church in Santee. She will be 17 next week on October 9th. Our entire family attended with the exception of my daughter, Jodi, and my husband, Jerry. Jodi had to work. She is a checker with Von's. She would have asked for the day off, but her work schedule was already in place when she found out Leanne was being baptized. However, she sent her love to Leanne. Jerry didn't attend either. He isn't comfortable in public settings anymore, unless he knows people really well. He especially isn't comfortable in settings where he would be in a room full of strangers and be expected to act in a socially acceptable manner. He knows that sometimes his behavior is unacceptable, and I think this either causes or greatly contributes to his anxiety during those times. I always share the details of special events with him, and he seems to enjoy hearing them. He was happy for Leanne and Marty. He did attend Carson's birthday party, but it was held at her home and he knew most of the people who attended. Of course, "Aunt" Dana, "Uncle" Brandon and Baby Carson attended the baptism.

I am so proud of Leanne and her daddy, my son, Marty. It's been a long journey for both of them, but they have certainly had fun along the way. Marty and Leanne's mother were divorced when she was only 2 years and a few months old. They were awarded shared custody with equal time. Leanne has spent one week with her dad and one week with her Mom from that time until this year when she decided she wanted to live with her dad full time. Marty has always considered Leanne's needs first when making any decision in life. I can't summarize in a blog entry what it really means and how it affects your everyday decisions when a parent truly does put their child's interest before their own. Any parents who have done that knows the sacrifices that are made in the best interest of your children. I have never seen anyone hold to that principal as tightly as Marty has throughout Leanne's entire life. I said to him last evening following the service at the church, "Well, Son, I am very proud of you. You have done well. You are almost there when she turns 18 and you can open up the door, kick her in the butt and tell her to go." Of course, we both laughed, because we both know he would never do that. Leanne is dating a very nice young man, and he was there also for her baptism. They both are a couple of good kids...you know, the ones you don't read about in the newspaper. What a glorious moment to see my first grandchild baptized and know she is making a commitment to God. I cried. Thank you, God, for the blessing of Leanne and please keep her near You all of her life. Thank you, God, for the most wonderful blessing of having three kids who are now all adults with a strong faith in God.

Saturday...October 4, 2008

We are having a beautiful fall day in San Diego. We have low clouds overhead and our temperature is in the 70's. I haven't been out there today but love watching the moving low flying clouds outside the windows. In the mid 1990's, Jerry built a huge great room on the west end of our home. I call it my tree house. Since it is on the middle floor of our house, we sit amongst the tops of palms, eucalyptus and pine trees. The large windows facing the south, east and west also allow us to admire amazing sunsets over the ocean, while enjoying early morning sunrises peeking over the mountains to the east. Our southern view is the other side of our little community called Crest. We are called North Crest, and they live in South Crest. The division of the community is created by one road that comes up through the middle of our community. You then have a choice to go back down that road or take one leading down the other side of the mountain to Harbison Canyon. There are only two ways to get into and out of Crest unless you go off roading. It means that most of our traffic belongs here. Tony's market sits between North and South Crest. He carries all of those last minute items you may need to purchase but forgot to buy while you were out shopping such as paper products, milk, eggs, a deli, a pizza oven, liquor stock and lottery tickets. Tony knows everyone in town. In 2003, the fires wiped out about 200 homes up here, which is almost half of the community. Many of the homes in South Crest were one story and built in the 1950's. The new homes are considerably larger two story homes, which gives South Crest residents a better view. Our little town gives us a lot of privacy and the feeling that we really live in the country, although we are only 20 minutes from downtown San Diego and 5 minutes from the freeway. My favorite days are those like today when the wind is picking up, and the clouds are teasing us with a look like there is the possibility of rain. My English Bulldog, Max, is not as pleased with nature's display today. He keeps going over to the windows to peer out below as if he thinks we may need protection now. He's old and tired too, like me, so sometimes he just simply lays down between the windows and me as if he is thinking before they get to me, he will wake up and take care of everything. Just wake me if you need me. I will, Max, .... same to you.....