IF YOU can believe it, half of 2021 is already spent.
What have you to show for it?
***
I feel my life has been in transition since December last year.
I mean, sure, there’s the pandemic that was transformative even as early as March 2020.
But I was okay with it as I prepared to sell my house.
***
In August, September, October, November, I had my house in Reisterstown renovated.
It was a slow process because I was working with contractors who were only working on weekends.
In general, I didn’t have much complaints because why would I want to sell my house in the middle of the pandemic when Donald the Trump didn’t know what he was doing?
***
I also tried to pack the contents of my house into balikbayan boxes during those times.
Until March this year, I sent 54 boxes to Iloilo.
Mostly, they were my books and videos and other collections.
Valued to about $60,000, maybe more.
It was also a slower process because why do I want to rush in the middle of a pandemic when nothing is quite understood?
***
Everything about selling my house on 1 Glyer Court became clearly evident in December 2020.
For the kitchen, I only needed a dishwasher.
But because I was decided to sell a beautiful house, I ordered a kitchen set appliances: refrigerator, stove and oven, microwave, dishwasher.
All renovations were finished in January.
A few boxes were still laying about, but we simply moved them around to get the photoshoot for the realtor’s web posting.
***
We put the house in the market on February 14.
And I already got an offer (for the price I asked) on Day 1.
But it was the Day 2 offer that I accepted.
It was much more than I expected.
Although, to be honest, I do not expect it to be higher than the offer.
I mean, when the last house in the development, on the same block, sells for only $205,000, how can you expect to sell more than $250,000?
I’m not greedy.
I could live with a quarter of a million dollars in my pocket.
***
It took almost 30 days from closing for me to get my check.
I was also good with that.
Because, frankly, where do you spend the money in the middle of a pandemic?
Between March and April, I spent four weeks with a cousin in New Jersey.
I’m tying all loose ends in the American East Coast.
***
In May, I visited a friend in Virginia.
And did some business at the Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC.
I also started the longish process of passing a vehicle safety inspection check so I could give my car to my nephew.
My car’s engine is in pretty good condition.
A 2006 Mercury Montego, it only has some 54,500 miles on it.
There’s a crack on the windshield that had to be replaced, and in the mirror on the driver’s side.
Those were the bigger expenses.
***
And then, there was my surgery in early June.
I guess I could have opted for no surgery.
But I’m also the kind of person who would rather close the chapter, and not go back to it again.
Also in June, five days after my surgery, I went to vacation in Puerto Rico.
And now, I am writing this in Los Angeles, California.
***
I want to tie the loose ends in California, too.
Just in case it would be a while before I see the American West Coast again.
For now, the plan is for me to start and establish my businesses in Iloilo.
I still have Casa Dom Pedro de Dumangas.
Everything is ready but I’ve put its operation on hold because of the pandemic.
I mean, I wouldn’t want my hotel to start, and stop, operation because there aren’t enough patrons.
***
There is no rush for me right now.
No sense of urgency.
I want to go home to the Philippines, but I’m mostly advised not to do it.
My doctor friends tell me the situation is getting worse.
No vaccines.
Stupid people refusing vaccines.
Number of cases rising again.
I’m not ready for those things.
I have money.
I don’t want to spend it in the hospital.
***
Truth be told, I have an online boyfriend.
We are beginning to be serious.
I mean, we-met-online-in-October-last-year serious.
But for me, until I like the taste of the tongue, there is no done deal.
I’m not gonna commit to a relationship if we don’t consummate it.
I mean, I must consummate, and like it!
***
This is my year so far.
How’s yours?.PN
