Eighty-Four Cents

Knees.
I got the bill for my new knees.  Guess how much?  $95,000.  Of that I owed 84 cents.  The insurance company paid the rest (I thought they were going to pay the whole thing) and even with a discount it was still a really huge amount. 

Although I'm not jumping up and down screaming "I love my knees" (I've heard this does happen), I feel like I could travel in a third world country now when before the surgery, with all the spontaneous swelling and emergency room visits, that kind of traveling was a really scarey thought and an impossible reality.  Needing to be able to travel in a third world country may seem like an odd criteria for having knees replaced to some people but it's important to me.  Currently I have no plans for traveling to third world countries and maybe I never will but it's good to know that I feel like I could. 

Ohio.
I'm still suffering from Ohio Film MFA commitment anxiety.  Vince is too.  The pros are still the same.  So are the cons.  We talk about it every day a lot.  We signed the papers so 'Ohio' is expecting us.  Once the program starts and we're there, August 26 (that's so soon), we'll be totally present and committed but until then we're staying less anxious by feeling like we could still change our minds and our spots could be filled with any one of the hundred plus now disappointed applicants.  It's such an amazing opportunity/adventure.  Part of me worries about disappointing the program's decision makers (faculty).  Did I appear more competent on paper than I actually am?  I'm from Minnesota.  We worry about things like that.

Anxiety aside, we'll need a place to live when we're there.  Renting is really expensive and houses are really cheap.  If we rented for the three years, we could easily spend upwards of $50,000 (the cost of one new knee) so buying makes a ton of sense.  Not only is renting expensive, it's also unavailable.  Searching for rentals, I left no stone unturned and of the fifty or so rental houses* I found, only two were still available for this school year** and I wouldn't dare walk in to either of them.

House shopping.
Driving to Athens would have only taken about 3 hours longer than it took us to fly and I would have had my luggage when we got to the hotel.   The only flight (out of four) that was on time was the one on which we had first class seats and it left without us. 

Of the sixteen houses we looked at, Vince and I decided on one of them but the one I decided on was a different one than the one he decided on.  The one I liked probably needed a new roof.  The one he liked definitely needed a tree and some character. 

We had 'mine' inspected.  Vince was right about the roof.   We made an offer.  They countered and we didn't.  Later that day they changed their mind.  So, as of June 29, we'll own a house in Athens, Ohio.

Portlandia looking don't you think?  So so sweet.

 
I told Vince that having a house there pretty much commits us to the program.  He said, "Not necessarily."***


*we don't want to live in someone's basement apartment
**the others were already rented for the next one to two years
***actually, having a place to live is huge and was one of the things keeping us from looking forward to the program

Other.
I was among the 5,980 entrants that didn't win the NPR 3 Minute Fiction contest.

Aerial Shots and Realtors

Vin's Film.
'The One Hundred Mile Diet' is the film Vince is working on for his Digital Media class.  It's a 10 minute short in his favorite genre, horror.  If there is a film community in Craftsbury, we haven't found it.  Vince posted audition announcements at the local college.  7 pm on Wednesday.  Simpson Hall.  We planned to get there a few minutes early to get set up.  Vin had printed out several scripts, synopsis' and outlines for the group.  We parked and Vin realized he's forgotten his yellow notebook.  I 'ran' to the Hall to organize the auditionees while Vin sped back to the house to get the notebook.  Breathless, he burst into the hall, notebook in hand, where I was the only person.  We waited 15 minutes, admitted defeat and left.  Skunked.  Later we found out there had been a water dowsing workshop on campus at the same time.  Standing room only.

Rewriting.  Swapping out the three kids for the Grandmother within the confines of the newly constructed set-wall.

Vince convinced himself (and tried to convince me) that he needed aerial shots.

  See the camera?  That thing flies.

Of course Vince would write a script that had to be shot at night.

So, Vince had this great script and no actors.  He needed two or three kids and three adults.  He somehow managed to round up the three adults.  I volunteered myself at the last minute to take the place of the three kids by playing a cranky, senile Grandmother.  (Not sure how that makes me feel even though it was my idea)  With peppermint/tea tree Uncle Roy Foot Powder in my hair, my cane, temporary limp and new knees, I was pretty convincing. 

I took the place of three children in Vince's film.

More School.
Did I tell you about the Film MFA Program in Ohio?  The one we got in to and had to accept or reject by April 24? 

Writing.
So far my NPR 'Three Minute Fiction' piece hasn't made it to the NPR website as one of the favorites.  When the judges are done reading the 6,000 submissions in a few weeks, they'll choose a winner so I still have a chance.  Vince thinks I'll win, isn't that sweet?

Eating.
Went to Russell and Janet's for supper tonight.  Janet is 89 and Russell is 86.  We talked about a lot of different things.  Like, Janet needing a new bike, one that's easier for her to lift to the bike rack on the back of the car than the one she has now.

House.
When I asked the realtor in Athens, Ohio how old the roof on a particular house was she said, "probably not real old".
When I asked her about the age of the furnace she said, "not real old and not real new".
When I asked her about what utilities bills ran a month she said, "probably not too much".
Now there is someone I could really trust.