A place to call Home

I just moved a month ago.

I won't go into the details of the agony of prepping a house to put on the market, or the work that goes into staging a home for an open house, the stress of doing everything at the last minute, or the pain of packing every single belonging, only to forget where you put the baby's favorite binky.

No, we won't go there.

We won't mention the anxiety attacks over where we are going to live, of not finding something you like in your reasonable (or so you thought) price range, of strange communities you can't find your way out of, of thinking "I just sold my house and I am homeless".

Nah, water under the bridge.

We will focus on how happy I am. Because I am genuinely, authentically, "the hills are alive", "who's your daddy", "it's your birthday" happy.

We found the perfect house. Well, technically, an end unit townhouse. We went from a single-family home in the middle of nowhere, to a townhouse in the middle of everything.

It's not about the house per se. It's about the huge improvement in our quality of life. No more commutes of an hour and a half. Each way. With a tired baby. We can WALK to stores. We can take advantage of public transportation. We are closer to the airport. We get home and have time to unwind before getting up and doing it all again in the morning. I can sleep in an hour later. We can take N to the park at the end of the block.

Don't get me wrong, the house is beautiful. It's a newer house, and there's nothing we have to do to it. It was painted beautifully and not a spot on the walls or floors or (yikes!) creamy beige carpet. But more importantly, it feels like HOME.

Some people ask me how I was able to sell my house in MD so quickly and how did I find such a perfect unit. The secret was in the real estate agent. Some people don't believe in using agents and insist they just take your money. I disagree. My realtor was a professional and brought a lot of knowledge and experience to the table. There's no way we could have done it all ourselves. Sure, you can do it yourself, but don't complain if it doesn't sell right away or for the right price...

I told A the other day that I feel I live in a vacation home, I'm that happy. There's still plenty to do. I haven't hung anything on the walls, and seating is limited, but I am content to take my time. I have the rest of my life.