moving forward

yesterday was a momentous occasion for me: i sold my house! and if you've been paying attention at all to the real estate climate, you know that's no minor accomplishment these days. the market nationally is in real trouble, and add marion county's property tax situation on top of that, and the result is that not a lot of houses are selling.

i used to live in a great house in meridian-kessler, just a couple blocks from miss ann's house, but after a few years everyone's personal situations changed and we all moved out. we put that bad boy on the market in march, where it sat for months. finally, one of our neighbors took a shine to it. at first she wasn't willing to offer enough—we weren't looking to make a huge profit, but we weren't going to lose money on the deal, either—but eventually she came around, and we closed on the deal yesterday.

it was a great place to live, but once we'd moved out, that house became an albatross around my neck. i was still paying hundreds a month on mortgage and utilities while it sat there unused, and as a freelancer, i don't have the steadiest revenue stream. as a result i was unable to really help virago out with rent and bills here at our pike-township apartment. this double-budgeting caused stress aplenty, but no longer.

yesterday was also a notable anniversary: one month with no nicotine. i had my last cigarette in august, and my last piece of nicotine gum on the day before halloween. while i haven't totally adjusted to the world of nonsmoking, on most days i don't even think about cigarettes, and even when i'm around them i don't crave them. i'm past that. but don't worry: i promised myself (as i promise you) that i wouldn't become one of those militant ex-smoker assholes. smoking is rather gross and annoying, but those militant ex-smokers are far more obnoxious. ¶