The Midnight Hour

Well... to update a bit. I haven't done that in a while, on the money front anyway. I don't want to get too detailed about our finances, because I am not sure how prudent it would be too put our bank accounts all over the Internet, right?

But, since I started saving just 20 dollars in the beginning... I have managed to build up a really big savings so far. It is a "do not touch" account. I am seeing that I can pull out more and more from our main account or from the grocery store each time I go, you know, ten or twenty. And, I am telling you... it is building and building. And it is not small change.

And what is happening is that now things are turning around for us. Just a few months ago, my husband was ready to throw in the towel. Which was so frustrating for me, because that is just not his style. If you have been reading this all along, then you know how I feel about him and his work ethic.

He likes to work and fix problems, and he had all but given up. He works in the mortgage industry, and we all know what is going on in that industry. But, I have to say that I really do believe that he is one of the honest ones. He has been in the industry for a long time and he has lost many loans because he has been brutally honest with folks in telling them... "You know, you just can't afford this one."

And now that it is a rough time there, he is feeling the crunch. But.. but.. I truly do believe that because of his standards that he will prevail here. He spends more time worrying about the actual customer than the paperwork. This isn't an ad for my husband... You guys don't even know who he is...

I guess I am just writing it out because I listen to all the hype about all the crooked mortgage lenders out there, and I know that there are actually many out there that really are in it for the right reasons. Just as there are in any profession.

For example, and again, just writing it out, and seeing it from both sides...because I know how it feels to go and buy a car. I assume that the person selling me the car is only in it to con me some how.. they are only in it to get all my money. To screw me over in the end. But, what if they are really only there to help me find a car? (Yeah, right, huh?)

But, here's the thing... I see the the other side of the equation of his job... at least my husband's....

He came in absolutely exhausted at midnight last night after going in at seven yesterday morning. (And this is not uncommon... at all) He was exasperated...

To back up a bit... Last week, On the 4th.. on the way to a party, he got a call from a man whom he had never met. Our family was in the car. The man asked him what the current interest rate was for homes. Tony told him. The man, in frustration (which I, myself, have felt, but have never had the nerve to do) began to accuse Tony of not telling him the truth. Tony assured him that he had no control of the rates and so on. And since our family was in the car, it was a bit of a tense moment.

I have been there so many times when Tony has talked business over the phone. For his hours never stop. And, the endless questions that he answers go on and on. And I get that because buying a house is ridiculously complicated.

ANYWAY... nothing could be done on the 4th, so it had to wait until this week.. and in the end, the man on the phone did decide to use Tony as his mortgage lender. But, it has been a bit strained to say the least. I am trying to post this, not as if I am standing up on a higher ground stating my case, but as if I am across a table, talking it out.

If this man could only see how much Tony is not worried about whether he gets a commission from it... because, really, in the end.. his cut from the commission is not THAT great. It's nice, but it is not about all that.

What it is about for people that are really in it for the right reasons...

It is about... Getting that new house. Getting moved in on time. Getting those questions answered. And that is the truth.

Nothing frustrates Tony more than the thought of someone packing up their home or getting excited about packing up their home, and then being told "Oops... it'll be a few more days. Sorry."

He has never, in 15 years, not had a loan close on time. I am not bragging here. I am just writing it out. Reason being, I went to bed last night frustrated that my husband wasn't home until midnight for about the one millionth time... and why? Because he was making sure that someone was going to get to move into their home on time....

And I promise you.. it wasn't for our cut.. really, it is not about that... Because he gets paid at the same time each month.

I guess I just needed to assure myself once again about what I already know about that man. What I knew when I married him. What I saw in him from day one. I knew how he helped me. He pulled me up and continues to pull me up. He does the same for people all the time in an industry that is being blamed for destroying so many lives...

But, does that mean that everyone that works in that industry is a horrible person? Hmmm.. I live with him, and I don't think that he is a horrible person. He is a good dad, but occasionally he does squeeze the toothpaste from the middle...

He really does want to help people. That is why he told me that he was getting into this business fifteen years ago. I couldn't figure that out. And then when I constantly saw the thank you cards that he got, it started clicking.

I dunno... this post didn't really have a moral bang to it.. it was a bit of just a day in the life, but I needed to see my husband's day in the life as I know it really is, not as other's see it.

Or maybe it was just that one other... and hopefully when it is all said and done... all will be well. And they will all be okay. I hope so, because Tony will never tell him how much sleep he lost agonizing over his home and making sure that all went well behind the scenes.

All we hear about on the news is how everyone in this industry screwed everyone over. That really isn't the case ALL the time.. there are a few good apples in the bunch... I got lucky.. mine didn't have a worm in it...