New Year’s Resolutions
It may be early to begin talking about New Year’s resolutions as Christmas has not yet stampeded me, but I think it’s important.
This has been one of the worst years of my life. Actually, January was ok except for being a little chilly, but the rest of it stank.
My husband had taken a job across the country, and I stayed behind to sell the house and to finish my teaching contract. I lived in a house with no insulation at all. It was southern California and therefore not too much of a problem in the heating area in the summer. It was in the mountains, however, so I did spend a few winter nights on the couch waking myself up every couple of hours to put wood on the fire. So very cold and lonely. Feel sorry for me yet?
Things went downhill in February when I was trying to sell my house and my real estate agent turned out to be a criminal. I actually sold the house at one point, and as we were doing the inspections learned that the buyer was a friend of the real estate agent. In addition, the contractors my agent sent over to look at repairs that needed to be done on the house (extensive) were also friends of the agent and the buyer. I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised when the threats of the lawsuit came down – fix the problems (conceivably to the tune of $100,000) or be sued for $50,000. Luckily I had a good lawyer and it only cost a few hundred dollars to convince them that they would be hung out to dry if they pursued the matter.
Got another real estate agent, and he wasn’t a criminal but he was pretty negligent and did some stupid things. We signed paperwork to accept an offer on our house in May. It actually closed in October. Enough time in between for our agent to go on vacation twice without telling us he was leaving. At least it closed.
Moved across the country at the end of May. I remember the last time I did that. I think it took a good 5 years to recover, in fact. Hopefully it will take less time this time, but it doesn’t seem to be shaping up that way. I am trying to keep the tone of this pretty light because no one wants to hear me complain, but it is hard. There is not enough chocolate in the world. ‘Nuf said.
Lots of other bad things happened in this time. Too lengthy to write about here, too personal to share. In any event, they all sum up as the same problems we all have: My bills, my bank statement, my career, my mental health, my car, my bad decisions, my biological clock, my clock on the wall.
I should count my blessings: I have a great husband. I have my health (not mental health, but I try not to nitpick), I have a good job, my husband has a good job, and I just bought a nice house. There is very little smog here, and it’s pretty.
Resolution for 2005: Cry less.