You ever get that whiny voice in the back of your head that says, “Boy, it sure would be nice if life only gave me one, maybe two things tops to deal with at a time?” Apparently life doesn’t work that way!
I know. I’m still processing this, too.
Also: IF YOU ARE A WRITER CONSIDER THE BENEFITS OF RENTING!
Three jobs and an arson are nothing compared to the mortgage approval process. If you recently took time off to go to grad school, work on a book, or engage in nontraditional forms of employment, prepare yourself for weeks and maybe months of financial proctology.
Dig out your bank, credit card, IRA, and 401k statements (yes, Dad, I really have a 401k). Scan and email your tax returns. Check your credit score and try not to give in to despair. Write three-page emails trying to explain the six or seven w-2 and 1099 forms from 2010. Keep your cool when they say, “Um, that was really confusing.”
Stay near the phone and field each day’s new request. For example, “Can you give us the contact info for the two years of employment before you had this really weird urge for an Ivy League education? Actually, make that three.”
Also: “Can you get us a copy of your degree from Columbia?”
“How humiliating,” Joe said when I told him.
“Someday,” I said, “I will look back on all of this and not throw up.”
“Even better,” he said. “You finally got to put that MFA to use.”