This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
Home safe and sound from my holiday and contracts still not exchanged and I am beyond despair – my relaxed joie de vivre evaporates very quickly. The upshot is that I will be homeless for a week due to the delay.
I put all my belongings into storage and move in with BFF. We have a ball – she is the most amazing cook and, in return for my keep, I de-clutter her house for her. We make a good team. She even comes with me on a date – he is someone I have intermittently messaged on the dating website (I know I know, I keep vowing never again) but as he spent the first half hour slagging off his wife, it wasn’t the most brilliant evening.
A week later and OMG I cry when I collect my keys. Finally, things feel as though they are turning. My cottage felt like home the minute I first stepped foot inside and now, after a couple of weeks, it is definitely mine. I love love love it! Despite water pouring through the cloakroom roof (now safely wrapped in tarpaulin) but I now have my children, my dog and peace of mind. It really is like a weight has been lifted. I walk with a spring in my step and a smile on my face. I feel safe grounded and happy – really truly happy – for the first time in months.
I feel really good in a way I cannot explain – my head is high, there’s a spring in my step and a smile on my face. I have lost half a stone since moving in three weeks ago – I go to the gym, pilates and yoga and avidly walk the dog. I haven’t taken a sleeping tablet since I moved in and I sleep like a baby and I no longer sit morosely on the sofa devouring carbs and drinking vats of wine.
I have also had a date with a chap I had been emailing since before my holiday. We went for drinks which went really well and so next week – dinner! Far more dashing in the flesh than his pictures and great company – with a gentlemanly peck goodnight as he walked me to my car I realised that he also smelled divine.
I have had a few wobbles – mainly to do with repair works that have turned into epic jobs which made me feel I was being robbed left right and centre. But I am really looking forward to Christmas and New Year’s Eve – and just looking forward! WOW – who’d have thought?