One Rare Bird: Posts from December 2012

A while back I wrote a post about my turbulent (at best) housing situation, and despite my good-intentioned attempts to stay positive about the changes in my life I was bested by the stress of it all. But now that some time has lapsed, as well as my *ahem* monthly cycle, I'm pleased to be writing from a much better place, both literally and emotionally. We moved into an apartment a month ago and despite my initial depression about going from my dream home to what I'm calling a "transitional home", I'm loving the simplicity of our new living arrangement. Our possessions have been reduced by nearly half and our monthly living expenses by almost the same. There is no yard work to keep up with or maintenance repairs, and the only bills coming in are for rent and electric. It takes only 20 minutes to clean the entire place, and even though it lacks the charm of a 1920's bungalow I'm not freezing my ass off because of drafty windows, or walking down three flights of stairs to do laundry in the basement. I can honestly say that I'm relieved to be walking away from everything that big, beautiful house would have ended up being: a lot of work, time, money, and unnecessary possessions. This process has changed our perspective - or maybe it just clued us into what we really value - and we're now looking for something smaller and simpler to call home. We don't know what that will be yet, but for now home is this undemanding apartment with a great view and the people we love.