Life on the contingency plan.

Hm.

I’m suddenly in a place with a lot of contingencies on moving forward. A whole host of “this will happen *if* this other thing happens first” – and quite honestly I’m not the type of person who feels comfortable in between possibilities. I prefer much more that things are locked in, clean, simple, not hanging on the whim of fates. You get the idea.

But as of this weekend even my xmas plans are contingent on the weather and my car getting repaired (again) – so I’m just having to roll with it all and not think about houses for sale and being offered on too much. It could drive me mad, this in-between living space. It’s certainly not conducive to my creativity or productivity as my mind churns through “what if, what if, what if”.

I feel like I just have to list all the things going on, since it’s been such madness and it will illustrate exactly what I’m talking about above (these aren’t all things involving contingencies, just what’s going on at the moment):

• I’ve just spent the last two weeks on the road doing union meetings – which fortunately are over until the new year;
• There is no water in my house following a pipe-rupture on Saturday. Apparently having no water puts you low on the priority list with plumbers because there are all sorts of people in town who can’t figure out how to shut their water off and have burst pipes flooding their homes. We might see a plumber today but I think it’s unlikely.
• My car refused to start on Saturday night as we were readying ourselves to get back to Brian’s from a part before the snow really started to fly. Only a week ago I had the starter replaced, so I’m assuming this is a related issue. This morning I called Drake towing and have let my mechanic know the car is coming it.
• While I was fucking about with the car on Saturday night I fell on the icy road not once, but twice – really hard. I am bruised and sore still as a result, but at least I didn’t break anything
• The weather forecast isn’t all that much better for the rest of the week which might mean cancelling my vacation plans to Victoria. If the car doesn’t get better soon, we might not be able to go anyway because we’ve got Brian’s dog and this becomes a much more complicated trip with a vehicle.
• On a better note, we went to the bank on Saturday and this morning have been informed that we’re pre-approved for a mortgage, contingent on the sale of Brian’s house. We’ve got actual numbers to work with now, which helps a lot.
• B’s house was listed for sale on Friday and we’ve got it all sparkling clean for showing. There was some interest right away but the viewing fell through at the last minute – I am hopeful though about the sale of his home. It’s in very good shape and priced right.
• This evening we’re looking at the house we’re interested in offering on, which as I mentioned before would be an offer contingent on the sale of B’s home. As a result I’ve got an application in for a small line of credit as we would have to put a deposit on the sale and we’d be hard pressed to find ready cash right now.

So you can see, it’s all a bit of a schmoz right now – and I have no idea where I’m going to be this week let alone in the new year. I am excited about all the potential, but also nerve-wracked by the uncertainty so you know, I’m just trying to get through the list of “have to” without turning my head to look at the list of “what if”. “Have to” is fix my car, finish my xmas shopping, wrap presents, make sure the Charles St. house is one we want to offer on. “Have to” also includes some sleeping in over the holidays, and some time spent with friends and family. The rest of it can wait for the new year, or at least until the Christmas madness passes – and I can fret myself into nervousness anew.