Wednesday, 7-23-08

This morning my agent called and said the buyers are insistent: I have to be out of the house by midnight Friday, or there’s no deal and no closing. I spent the day freaking out, canceling my trip tomorrow to New Orleans, and transferring utilities. I’ve spoken to tons of people, all of whom have asked me, “Why are they doing this?!” I don’t know. There are a couple of guesses, like maybe they’ve upped the ante to push me into breach of contract so they can back out without forfeiting any money. But why they would do this now, after keeping their offer open for five months, I cannot explain. Whatever the reason, I have the same challenge.

I reminded myself to breathe throughout the day, and when I felt myself shutting down I called Erika. She canceled her after-work plans and said she’d meet me at 5:30. After work I went to pick up the keys to my new place, because Thank God, they could turn it over to me immediately. From there I went to meet Erika, and since I got there first I immediately ordered a very large martini. Erika came and we started to go through it all, then I looked up and Carrie Taylor was walking in. Erika saved me from having to explain what was going on, and the two of them immediately pulled out phones and started scrolling through their phonebooks. “Who do we know? They can come over during lunchtime tomorrow and Friday, that’s all we need.” By the time they put the phones down we’d lined up 15 people to come by and pitch in. “Babe, we got this,” they said. “This is totally do-able. You’ve done things a lot harder than this, and besides, people like to feel useful. You’re really doing them a favor, giving them an opportunity to be helpful!” Then they came back to my house, finished packing up my kitchen, and totally set me right.

I am the luckiest, most blessed person I know.