Contracts Signed

Now that contracts have been signed and a deposit paid to the solicitor by the buyer, this makes it more likely the sale will complete. We have been given 28 January as the date of completion. I think it was early 2007 we first put the house on the market and it has been on and off ever since, which makes it six years and a great deal of money poured into it one way or another since we bought it in early 2000s. Feng Shui at the time showed we should not have moved there: something to do with the triangular front yard and the road opposite and nothing standard about the house. Yet we created a loving home there, and interestingly we seem to have done the same here which is a small two bedroom apartment so perhaps it never had anything to do with the house and everything to do with the people in it, specifically Mr Doris and myself.

We are selling for less than we paid for it and as for the costs of all the works we did then we can whistle in the wind. At least it is selling and will be gone. Our debts will be wiped and we will have a clean slate from which to consider where we stand and what next. What is clear, as a girlfriend remarked to me this Christmas, is that Mr Doris and I have weathered this storm remarkably well. We have not fought or took our disappointments out on each other, instead we hold hands that bit tighter and look even more fondly at the other. I may sound smug but good grief, I need something out of this whole enterprise.

It is nearly my birthday and I will be fifty years old. A landmark for most people I guess and one that I particularly relish. Preparing as I have these past few months by working on my general health and well being. Despite my current attitude against "stuff" and to what is important in life, has not stopped me on this occasion from welcoming the early gifts arriving in the post. A tiny package from here containing a very thoughtful surprise and a large package from overseas that I can not open until the day. The large one is from a dear friend who I have known since I was sixteen years old and we used to regularly send each other Christmas and birthday parcels. Enjoying making up the packages with little tidbits and gifts from our respective countries. The UK postage costs make it almost prohibitive these days and with our supermarkets being almost identical makes it difficult to send unique items. However, I look forward to the unknown treasures to be unwrapped from the parcel.

I dare not dare to hope how things will be in the next months. Focusing on the here and now seems to be a current theme at the moment and quite a good one methinks in so many ways.