Ogre or Goddess? Plus: The Right Number of Houses

Thought I’d better post about some things, since it’s been a while, and I have news!  Good news!

Very soon I shall be the owner of only one house (and only one mortgage! Woot!).  The work is finally done on the house that the renters destroyed, and it’s been on the market officially for about two months.  The other day I got the call that I had an offer!

It was a crappy offer.  But I countered.  Then they countered.  Then I countered again.  Finally we settled on a price that’s (mostly) acceptable to both parties, and closing is set for March 24.  Less than three weeks from today!

I can’t even tell you what a huge relief this will be for me, financially and emotionally.  It’s been a weight on my shoulders, my heart, and my bank account for far too long.  I probably won’t even feel the full weight of it until it’s truly removed for good.

It’s much the way I couldn’t even tell you how horrible I felt physically until I had my hysterectomy and have been recovering.  Have I told you lately how amazing I feel?  SO MUCH AMAZING.

I walked five and a half miles yesterday.  Five. And. A. Half. Miles.  My previous longest walk had been four miles.  I did that once, over a year ago.

Sometimes my energy shocks me these days.  I really had no idea how awful I felt before, for a very long time.  I guess I just thought that was how you are supposed to feel.

I climb the stairs at work now, twice a day.  I work on the seventh floor.

As far as my hormones (I’m not taking any hormone replacement), I’ve reached the conclusion that I’ve spent 45 years with too much estrogen in my body, and now, suddenly, it’s right.

There are so many horror stories out there about menopause, especially surgically induced menopause, but I’m here to tell you, my experience has been that it’s just fine.

I heard a talk by Dr. Christiane Northropbefore my surgery where she talked about hormones and women’s cycles and menopause.  You know how you have that week or so around ovulation where you feel like a goddess?  And then the PMS hits and you feel like an ogre?  It had crossed my mind that oh, god!  What if menopause is a permanent ogre state?!  Ms. Northrop says, oh no!  On the contrary!  It’s a permanent goddess state.

I’m telling you, for me, it is.

Goddess.  Every day of the month.

My skin is better.  My emotions are stable.  I’m not in any pain.  It hit me yesterday that my boobs don’t hurt anymore for that week each month.  I mean, the surgery was all about relieving the abdominal pain, but seriously, I spent about a week every month with giant swollen breasts that were agonizing.  Not anymore!

So there it is.  Considering a hysterectomy?  I say, DO IT.

Also, don’t buy a second house if you can help it.

My two cents.