I'm Not Gonna Cry!

We're slated to move back into our newly remodeled cottage on Saturday.  Our lease was up and we had to move out of the home we've been renting for the past 11 months, last week.  We were lucky enough that our dentist took mercy on us and let us rent the apartment above his office for a week.  His office is a beautiful Craftsman house converted into a dental office on the first floor and a vacation rental on the second.  The apartment is really cute and has been a fun place to take refuge in this storm.  Funny thing is, it's directly across the street from the old rental.  DIRECTLY.  Our old number was 432 and this one is 431.  Our view is our old house.  Odd.  But, if anyone ever wants to vacation in a very cool beach town, let me know and I'll hook you up.  This place has two bedrooms, two bathrooms and an office with a double sized Murphy Bed.  It's close to all the shops, restaurants and  the Design District.  Not to mention a walk away from some great beaches and surf spots.  More on that later.  Here's my current state of affairs.

My reality.

This Saturday is our move in date.  This is what our front courtyard looked like yesterday. Never mind getting to the front door, the painting isn't done, stairs aren't done, all the tile isn't in, appliances aren't installed, wires aren't pulled through so we can cam them and shed a little light.  The front yard is obviously not done and the back yard looks much the same. The downstairs bedroom carpet hasn't even arrived yet.  It's on a truck somewhere between Georgia and here.  None of the hardware is affixed and the door knobs, including the front door and lock are also on a truck somewhere, supposedly on their way here.  I'm not gonna cry - I'm not gonna cry - I'm not gonna cry.

What is done are, all the trenches for drainage.  Fences have been moved back on the property line to be where they originally should have been, making our yard a bit bigger.  At the beach you need to claim as much space as possible, being most yards are tiny.  The wood floors are all in, the granite and marble is installed and looks beautiful.  The paint is almost done and the showers are tiled if not grouted and bathroom floors are in and tiled.  Oh and hey, we even have a garage door even though it's not painted yet.

So please, if you're the praying kind, send one up for me.  If you aren't just wish me luck.  I'm gonna need a lot of both.  It wouldn't be so bad if we could just stay where we are for the extra days it will take to get our act together but, this place is already spoken for starting Friday.  Can you say, "Homeless?" I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna -- whaaaa, whaaaa, gulp, whaaa.

  Lest you feel too badly for me, here is the adorable rental we get to live in until Friday.  It is all light and bright with lovely furniture and all the comforts of home.  This is the little kitchen, dining area.

The Master Bedroom is fresh and comfy and the French doors lead out to a wonderful balcony which makes you feel like you're in a treetop.  There are two fantastic lounge chairs out there in which I would be lounging if only I had the time.  The balcony looks right over to the place we've been living for the past 10 months since our remodel began.  Weird.

Why, hello formal rental.  Do you miss us?

This is where my daughter sleeps.  Not bad huh?  The kind woman who rented this to us is an interior designer.  I wish I could get her to come do something with my cottage.  I love the blinds here.  Very beachy.

This is the kitchen I've been whipping up our meals in.  It looks very similar to the kitchen I'm supposed to move into on Saturday at the cottage.  It looks like a model home doesn't it?  Mine will look like that for about 5 minutes; until my kids get in there to make snacks I start doing my magic and cooking up a storm Of course getting the appliances into the newly remodeled cottage will be a big improvement.  Wait a minute, let me rethink this.  No appliances = no cooking.  Okay, maybe I won't push for the appliances.  But toilets and showers would be a nice touch.  Did I tell you how hard remodeling is on a marriage?  I'm pretty sure I mentioned it in this post here.


I know my new home will be beautiful.  I know it will be worth it in the end!  I know how blessed I am to even have this opportunity in the first place.  I just don't know where I'll be living come Saturday.  I don't know when our cottage will be livable enough to move in.  I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry.  I want my mommy!!!

I sat on the balcony of our temporary home last night and photographed the sunset.  It is hopeful.  It proves that life goes on and if the sun comes up, it will go down, and then it will come back up again.  Tomorrow is another day and each day brings us closer to our dream.  Until then, I don't know how frequent my posts will be.  My heart is a wee bit heavy and I promised you that this blog would be upbeat.  So here my loveys, my family, my friends, are the rest of the sunset pics, taken just for you.  I want to end on a high note and until I'm back feel free to check out my archives.  That way when you see the cottage all finished you'll see how far we've come!

Love you more than all the craziness in my life right now.  Man I must love you guys a lot.

Blessings,

Tia