My usual basement den, in the rocking chair where I blog from under an electric blanket that's warm whether it's turned on or not, is out of commission. All of the furniture is pushed to the center of the room, while the last of the burgundy (borscht) paint dries and the ceiling gets its final sanding, primer, and first coat of whitest pink. I couldn't spend the evening in my usual haunt, so I cleaned house a little (just a little) and spent the remainder of the night reading lupus information on the internet and alternating between being a little more scared and a little more resigned. It's still a lot to deal with, and I still have nearly a full month to go before my first visit with the rheumatologist. Even now, I keep finding more data that makes me fill in gaps in my life review, and I get angry all over again that no one caught this in over twenty years of me asking what the hell was wrong with me. Maybe if I could have afforded to go to a doctor in those first couple years after daughter #2 was born, when I remember clearly complaining that I was 25 but looked like a hard-used 50 year old, then someone might have diagnosed me correctly from the beginning. I know for certain I had the classic lupus rash on my face and my hair was like straw. I may have lost lots of memories, but I've retold that part enough times to have it permanently etched into my consciousness. I shudder to think how much organ damage was done in all these years of not treating the root cause of my problems. I just have to hope that it is not too late to heal a little now. I'll try regardless, but still.
I had a bit of a migraine day, and I needed a time out mid-afternoon. Luckily, while the TV room is in shambles, the downstairs bedroom is nearly complete, so I was able to sleep off my headache in a very quiet, very dark place. Unfortunately it was a little chilly in that room, what with the concrete walls and no heat source, but I managed. I even felt somewhat better when I got up. I came upstairs to prepare for our dinner date, and walked barefoot into the bathroom. The floor by the toilet was unexpectedly cold and moist. I searched around, assured myself that the toilet had not overflowed, and had started wiping up the thin layer of water on the floor when I noticed a drop fall past my face. I looked up. The ceiling was dry. Where did it come from? Kept looking, and traced back another drop. And then another. Then I found it. There was a tiny droplet forming on the metal grill under the vent fan. The Mr took a look at it. He unscrewed the vent cover, and several ounces of water spilled out. So his next stop was on the roof. He took a snow shovel up with him, and pushed the remnants of last week's storms off and inspected the situation. It looks like the best case scenario, that just the seal around the vent pipe is bad, and once it all dries he can go back up and caulk it. I can only imagine how bad it could have been. I much prefer this simple fix.
We had a double date with the realtor who worked with us on all of our Colorado deals to date (assuming that going forward I'll be handling our stuff). She's been a good friend to us for years, and we loved getting to hang out at one of the local breweries with her and her man. I couldn't drink beer like everyone else, but I could have root beer and keep my wits about me while we played games. There was a stack of kids' games in an alcove, and I convinced everyone that Boggle was the one to start with. We played about 10 or 12 rounds of it, until we were all mentally exhausted. But we had a great time. That was always my favorite game to play when the kids were growing up, and I've missed getting to play it in a group. I tried playing online briefly several years ago, and it just wasn't as much fun. Over drinks, my realtor idol and I talked about the local market. She said that she was looking for houses under $600,000 in Boulder today, and couldn't find a single one for her client. Not just nothing he wanted, no houses whatsoever under that price. It should have floored me, but really, it's not that surprising. When people say there is no inventory here, they aren't kidding. We also talked about the last house she sold us, Park West. I told her I ran the comps for this house, and today, three weeks after the last time I ran them, the estimated value for this place is up another $2,000. It was already up about $14,000 from where we bought it. That doesn't take into account all the repairs and upgrades we've already done (especially the big things like the new front window and garage doors, roof repairs, and new fence). She quoted a price where she thinks we would start if we were crazy enough to list this house today (We Are Not, repeat Not) that is close to 18% higher than our purchase price. Let that sink in. Since last summer, eight or nine months ago, our house has appreciated almost 18% in this hot market. I'm fairly terrified to imagine where that market is going to go over the next year. My mind reels.
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