Dear Reader, I have received three Christmas cards, so far this year. There seems to be a theme. For me, 2018 has definitely not been a year characterized by joy. Disappointment, frustration, anxiety. There's a reason that people don't put those words on Christmas cards. Years ago when I was living in England, I used to joke about the freedom of having no house, no car, no kids and no debt. Now I'm a single "mother" of two (dogs) with a car, a tractor, a house, (read: mortgage) and a very tall stack of consumer credit cards, all located in a place that is cold, has ridiculously high taxes and is a hassle to travel to and from. In summary: through a series of well-meaning life choices, made for good reasons, I find myself with a life I never wanted. So I've made it through Denial, I've given up on Bargaining and now I'm working through Anger and Depression so I can make progress on Acceptance: I'm going to be in Maine for a while.
Dear Reader, LandLady likes to encourage me by saying "I hope you're writing about this." At least, I'm pretty sure it's meant as encouragement. It might be private hopes that if I write the story well enough, I can sell the movie rights and she can demand a cut. After all, the whole plan to buy a house in Bangor and move Dog in with my friends and their three boys (7 and younger) was hatched under her roof. However, as yet, the whole situation seems very unreal. It took 3 months from offer to closing. I signed a lot of papers and took possession of a lot of keys. And then the plumber showed up and there was a lot of banging. And I extended my lease at LandLady's in hopes that plumbing and heating issues could be resolved before I moved in. And this house is in Maine where it has finally snowed. And the driveway has been plowed in. Dog doesn't want to go outside to run or pee and when she is forced to, she holds each foot off the icy ground