Welcome Home

Well hello there! How are you? No really… how are you? What a year, eh? How are those new year’s resolutions coming? Did you lose the weight, run that 5K, go after that promotion, take that class on woodworking? No? Well, let’s start by giving each other the biggest virtual hug we can possibly muster. Let’s cry until we laugh. Let’s scream into our pillow until our voice goes hoarse. Maybe if I share a little bit of my story you will tell me yours. We are in this together, after all. Come on in… have a cup of tea or a glass of wine and let’s hang out and chat awhile. I have lots to tell you.

This year started out like any other. I almost want to burst out laughing as I write about the normal thoughts I had in January. Little did I know it was going to be a hot mess. I was moving along, going to work, making dinners for my partner and his daughters, and trying to plan our biggest garden season yet. We were still in the beginning stages of our relationship and seeing as we had only been together about 4 years there were some bumps in the road. Blending a family is never easy especially in the modern days of the 21st century. But how hard could it be?

How about that March, though? COVID tiptoed into our newsfeeds and broadcasts like background noise. Then in April it really started ramping up and rearing its ugly head. More cases, more fear, more anxiety for all. It hit our little Vermont life pretty hard and my partner and I – well, we had different reactions that were more like oil and water. I know what you are thinking… what better thing to do during a pandemic but to break up with your significant other and have to scramble to find a new, safe place to live, right? I am sure you were thinking all along what a great idea that would be. Well, spoiler alert… it actually was.

I put out a message to my local friends looking for a place to relocate and wait out the storm. This was not an easy task seeing as I also had my dogs Banjo and Luna. The silver lining of my housing crisis during the pandemic was that I was considered an essential healthcare worker so I actually had the opportunity to live at an amazing, dog-centric, Vermont Inn and I met the most genuine and thoughtful new friends. I cooked healthy dinners, walked the beautiful grounds, played in their dog park with my canine companions, weeded a couple of their gardens to keep some dirt under my fingernails, and my connection to the earth. . They were so great to me. I was able to bounce my ideas off of them and foster my new sense of being.

Ok, so I was able to find a place to stay and have some recovery time while coming up with my plan. Phew, that was a relief. I moved to Vermont from the New Hampshire seacoast 4 years prior. Should I move back to the seacoast to be closer to good friends and the life I was more familiar with? That sounds like a plan! I got started with my list-making which is something that always comforts me.

I spoke to the recruiters within my company. If I was to move back to the seacoast, there was no position for me. They were fully staffed. I started interviewing with other companies. It was all bad news. Lower hourly rates, no paid time off for at least 90 days, and multiple active COVID cases within the facilities for which I was interviewing. I would be relocating to a new home with greatly reduced income and the risk of contracting the virus with no paid time off to recover. Nothing about these options sounded appealing or safe to me.

As for the house hunt, I started looking in New Hampshire and went as far as mid-coast Maine. The jobs were few and far between. When looking for real estate I tried to stay within 45 minutes of the facilities where I was interviewing. The houses in my price range were mostly old, dilapidated farmhouses (sounds dreamy, I know) with mile-long driveways in the middle of nowhere. They would break the bank during the renovation process just to bring them up to code.

I was exhausted and dejected. Napping in between house hunts and work. Trying to stay positive and eat healthily. What the heck was I going to do next?

One day after feeling like a deflated bicycle tire a thought came to me. “I wonder what is for sale in Vermont.” After all, I already had a full-time job here and really loved this state. It wasn’t like I could go back to the life I had pre-COVID when I moved back to the seacoast. I clicked over to my realtor friend’s website to search for local listings.

My breath stopped. A little shingled cottage with a green metal roof was the first listing in the search. It was in a town I loved, and close to some long time friends. I hopped in the car and went on a drive. I pulled up to the cottage not realizing my mouth was hanging open until I caught a glimpse of myself in the rearview mirror.

This was it… This was where I was supposed to be. I texted my realtor friend and asked her to find out more. Sad news. There was already an accepted offer. I reluctantly drove off… but only for a few minutes. I sat by the lake at the end of the road and called her. “Can’t we put in a backup offer? I just really think I am meant to live there.” She thoughtfully paused and said she’d check in with the listing agent and give me a call back. My excitement rose again. I sat parked across from the little Vermont lake just around the corner from that perfect little cottage. My jaw was tight, my neck tense waiting for my phone to ring.

When it did I held my breath and listened intently. The offer was accepted but in real estate terms it was “rocky”. The financing was not going as smoothly as they had hoped. They accepted mine as a backup offer and now all we can do is wait. Exactly 7 days later I got that exciting text from my realtor. “You are now the only offer on the cottage!” At that moment I felt a little sad for the other buyers… but not for long.

After five months of uneasiness, homelessness, and second-guessing myself I find myself writing to you today from my tiny little loveseat in my tiny little cottage near a tiny Vermont lake. I couldn’t be more at home and I can’t wait for you to visit… virtually of course. I will be posting at least one blog entry per week about simple living, cottage style, and feminine freedom. Hope you will come along for the ride.