Homeless

Whew. What a busy work week. The month of July was a nice mid-summer lull with plenty of time for doing CME and catching up on journals, but not this week. It blindsided us all and left our heads spinning. 150 block days - no time for e-mail or lunch - hell I barely made it to the bathroom. I covered main OR P.M. frozens and enjoyed the trips to the OR to look at ovarian cysts and endocervical adenocarcinomas - it was a nice break from sitting at the scope.

In the middle of the week we absorbed my senior partner's work for the day - he had to go to the ER for arrhythmia symptoms. They kept him there to monitor him for a few hours, and I was happy to have the extra work to help keep me from worrying. I told him today, when he was returning a consult to me on a uterine cancer, "The happiest I have felt in as long as I can remember is when I walked into transcription and you were standing there, looking fit and healthy. I couldn't stop my ear-splitting grin. I guess it takes times like this to make you realize how much your partners are like your family." He is my senior partner - my father figure when I started. Mr. Even Keel. Mr. No Judgement. I have said before that we don't call in sick - he never has in the three years I've been there, so for him to abandon his call post and head to the ER was truly frightening.

In addition to the busy work week we got two "second looks" on the house at the beginning of the week, and the offers started Wednesday night. They played against each other and negotiations were fast and frantic over the last 24 hours. Mike and I signed a contract at noon today. He went to the realtor - I printed a contract that was e-mailed to me and faxed it in.

Yippee! This house is sold. The realtor usually advises against packing before inspection takes place, but he said to me on the phone today, "This offer is pretty solid. I think you can start packing now."

Yikes! Packing? I've got to find a house! I've got to figure out how much house I can comfortably afford. Closing/possession date is on 17th - four days before divorce trial date. September is going to be crazy. What if I can't find a house? Realtor said to get a corporate month-by-month apartment and store furniture. So maybe two moves.

The kids are headed to Florida with their dad at 3:30 a.m. for the week, and I've got a short two day work week. So I guess in addition to shopping for school supplies and filling out my end of the interrogatory, I'll start house hunting. "This is the fun part. You are going to love being a buyer in this market." That is what my realtor said. I hope he is right. I'm a little nauseated with the weight of the decision - but I have decided that it will probably be a temporary, no more than 5 year decision. I won't be a financial equal for another year or so - it makes good sense to be conservative. I don't want to get in over my head - I've got big Disney World plans next year for the Halloween celebration. There are more important things to do in life than be house poor - I've felt that strain for a long time.

I'm homeless! Instead of worrying about the future tonight, I am going to try to relax with a glass of wine (or two) and a book and celebrate that the house is sold, and I've got a comfortable nest egg out of it for a down payment on a new one. Hooray.