Life gets Interesting.

So, there I was chatting with The Boy in the kitchen when it hit me. No, he didn't hit me. Nothing physical hit me, it was a coincidence, a strange sense of sort completing a circle. Here's the story:

A while ago...say 16 years ago, I had a birthday. Yup, I have one every year. That year, though, quite a bit happened. First of all, now that the family had increased and we had a baby and a toddler, my husband and I bought a house. Possession of the house took place the week of my birthday. Pretty awesome present eh?

I got some other things for my birthday though. I found out that the aforementioned husband was not going to be moving into the new house. And that he had been having an affair for ages. Since I was two months pregnant with the baby who was not even one at that point. So for my birthday I lost my marriage and gained a house I couldn't afford and single parent hood with a toddler and a nine month old baby. Yeah, not the best birthday I've had. In fact...yes, I can say that it was the second worst birthday ever.

In fact, that whole ugly situation is part of the reason I want to leave the house. And it is entirely the reason I have no regrets, no happy memories to say good-bye to when I leave.

At the time having a mortgage was horrible; I thought of how nice it would have been to have half of the down payment as a cushion for the hard times I knew were coming. I knew, as well, that I wouldn't be able to keep up with looking after the house. If you own a house, you need to be able to make repairs yourself or have the wherewithal to pay someone else to do it. I had neither, so it fell apart.

Now, this is not a feel sorry for me post. In fact, it is quite the opposite. The fact that it was a mortgage and not a rental means that even in the state that it is in I have a house with equity that I can and will be using. Indeed, that is what saved me when I nearly had a breakdown over worry about the house. The house will be sold to someone who wants a nice neighbourhood but can't afford a perfect house, and I will move somewhere that has a landlord who is responsible for maintenance. Yeah!

The big thing is, though...things appear to be coming together this week. The meeting with the bank, finding a place that suits and a way to make it happen, even if the house doesn't sell right away. So much happening this week that is good for me and my family. And what week is it? It's the week of my birthday. And what day am I making arrangements with the bank on? The same day that we took possession and everything fell apart 16 years ago. Full circle. It may have taken some time, but perhaps now when I think of birthdays that were somewhat overwhelming I'll think about this year, not that one.