2017 started off with a small bang. I spent New Year’s Eve in Morocco, which was my first time in Africa, and reflected on the beautiful night sky of the Sahara just a few days ago.
And then things went to hell. I was sick and miserable for the rest of my time in Morocco, and was bedridden for two weeks after I got back. Once I was feeling slightly better I decided to go to the gym, and was immediately attacked by another cold virus which put me back to bed for another three weeks. History repeated itself one more time, and before I knew it, it was the end of February.
Granted my colds were not that bad. But I work from home so staying in bed was not a difficult choice.
There was this bright shiny moment during these two months when we found a house in Austin. It was big and beautiful and had a deck that overlooked the woods. I daydreamed about working outside on a spring morning before it got really hot and enjoying the birds singing while typing my queries. We watched HGTV for days and picked out our favorite cabinets.
I even drew a floor plan of our new house.
Except after weeks of negotiation, a stellar inspection and getting a low rate loan, the appraisal report came back and our house did not appraise for the loan amount. The difference was staggering, and neither the seller nor we were willing to make up the difference.
The termination was quick and painful. We had already pictured our lives in this house and it is no longer ours.
The next day I went to the doctor for my annual physical lab results. After years of being in near perfect health, I was blindsided by the high LDL and blood sugar numbers.
Seafood, bacon, bubble tea, caramel macchiato, cheesecake, fried anything. All the things I should cut out of my diet. I can’t even indulge in food therapy after losing my house (and the $1k+ that went into the house hunting process already).
I wallowed in my misery for a few hours, and then got over it. It’s only February. It’s a sunny and beautiful day out. My stuffy nose finally got better. We still have money to buy a house. And you know what I’m still going to finish that piece of leftover cheesecake before starting my prediabetic diet 😛
The silver lining is, when things are low, you have much upside to look forward to.
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