these happy days are yours and my (the happy days are yours and my) happy days!
when we rented the beach cottage, we were simply filler tenants. the house had been pretty well destroyed by a couple of frat boys, the backyard was a jungle, and the owner wanted to knock it down in september. we needed a rent break and something closer to matt’s office, so we decided to take it for the 2nd half of winter through september 1. the beginning was hard. it was really dirty, even though we cleaned our hearts out, and we were not very diligent in sorting stuff when we moved—there was a lot of “have you seen this?” and “where the HELL is X?!” it was right after christmas, matt and i were in a seriously rocky patch in our relationship, it was cold, the pipes had burst and there was a lingering mold smell throughout the house. i had been alienating friends right and left because i was so miserable, and to top it off both matt and i got into a car accident each on I-95 less than a month after we moved in and less than 2 weeks apart.
things were not good.
we, however, are workers. i started by fixing the surface of our house. i cleaned cobwebs, i sorted linens, i hung pictures, i moved furniture, i dusted. matt started with the structure. he pulled down paint that was falling, repaired holes in ceilings, shovelled the driveway, fixed the fireplace.
things were better, but i was still counting the days until september 1, 2008.
the weather got warmer, and matt started fixing the yard. he cut down all the evil thorny trees that had sprung up. i began raking. and raking. and raking. and raking. matt built a fence on either side of the yard so we could put booker out in the back and not necessarily have to be there with him.
suddenly, you could smell the ocean, especially on misty spring nights. matt and his brother brian dug a garden, and i planted vegetables. they started growing.
beach season came, and i started to love the 2 minute walk to the sand and water. strike that—i ADORED it. i am a beach person to the core, and being that close (literally 5 houses down from the parking lot) meant i could walk there after work and read, or we could go camp out there on sunny saturdays. all of a sudden, the crappy little cottage had a couple big draws:
obviously, the beach, although it wasn’t apparent until the spring time. the backyard, though, and the peaceful neighborhood, and not having neighbors on top of you and to either side and right under you—those were the perks that surprised me by being perks. i had always been firmly a city mouse, and being back in an actual house in a quiet neighborhood proved unexpectedly lovely. suddenly, i was no longer counting down the days until september 1, 2008—i was sad that we had to leave this accidental idyll.
last monday, we got news. good news. news that actually made me cry tears of joy: WE DON’T HAVE TO MOVE UNTIL NEXT YEAR. the owner was unable to get the building permits on time and has another property he’s going to develop instead. we have been granted a repreive that includes september beach parties, fall veggies, and christmas in our tiny abode. we get at the very least 8 more months, and at most, we get until this time next year.
it’s been a long year, but it seems things have come full circle. i’m peaceful and in love, both with my house and my boyfriend. all the issues we started with—both personal and domestic—have worked themselves out.
i can honestly say i have never been happier.
1 month ago