We have a house!! Well, almost. We still have to have it inspected, but offers have been accepted, pre-approvals have been granted, and we are on our way. The house we got is one we hadn’t seen before. No wonder, as it was on the market for less than 12 hours when JS’s realtor told him about it. But it was (literally) around the corner from one we tried to buy but didn’t, in a neighborhood we liked…with actual neighbors (something to consider when buying in Vermont…that and stores. Jonna oh so kindly emailed me about Vermont and reminded me that if I ever needed to buy something, that the town we picked had better have someplace selling it).
For a few hours, we weren’t sure, because, well, there is this Thing we’ve encountered with Vermont home sellers. They don’t like to negotiate on price. They are asking a certain price and if you want their home, you should just pay that price. That’s…not how we do it. But, in the end, whatever. A house! We have one! With a YARD! And a playground they are leaving (along with their washer and dryer because JS knows me well and put that into the contract, God love him) (is that the actual phrase? “God love him”? It looks odd typed out, but that’s how I say it….).
Barring worst case scenarios, we close on July 15/Harry Potter Day. That is so obscenely soon! John and Tonks will drive out, and Xander and I will fly, probably staying a while in Alabama during the overlap of having no home in either CA or VT. My mom will come to VT with me and help us get settled in and watch Xander while we do stuff like paint (these guys sure did love their dark paint colors).
I’m excited, very excited. We went from trying desperately to find a not too horrible rental place to finding a house that we love for…um, not much (if anything) more per month. So, yeah.
I’m also starting to feel a little sad about leaving. It’s complicated, though. There’s a lot of baggage, for me, associated with SoCal. Bad experiences that crop up out of the blue. Broken relationships that still hurt. Old traumas, old wounds. BUT, it’s also where I met JS, where we got married, where I got Tonks, where Xander was born. And in the almost year (!!!) since having Xander, I have made some wonderful friends. And Xander loves them and their kids and, oh, he has one little boy friend who is a month younger and they just LOVE each other. They grope at each other’s faces and share snacks of tofu and blueberries and steal each other’s teething toys and…it’s his first friend. Not one he’ll even remember, but I will. And I am sad to leave these wonderful relationships behind. Although, after feeling for so long that I’d never have ANY friends in California, I have faith that I can find good friends elsewhere, too. Babies open up a lot of doors.
Anyway, it’s weird to be preparing to say good-bye, but not yet. It’s a long good-bye, a gradual one. Sometimes while walking the dog I’ll look around and think about how I won’t see the purple flowers on a Jacaranda Tree. Or be able to drive to the beach at Del Mar in 13 minutes. But I’ll gain a lot of things, too. More space. More trees. Seasons.
And we’ll be together, our little family. And, sappy as that sounds, that’s the important part. The three of us (plus Tonks!), going out into the world together.
(Not completely relevant, sure, but I wanted to show off my Mother’s Day necklace.)
