Anyone else feel like the last few months went by in a blur? It always seems like the minute I make a plan, life sends in a cranky seagull to throw everything into chaos. It took a while to get that mean bird back out the window, but things are finally settling down and getting back on track.
Mid-February, a new job opportunity came up for my husband. Texts went back and forth over the weekend. A week later, I was in a hotel in North Carolina, looking up real estate listings while he was at an interview. Throughout March, we kind of kept up the motions of our normal life while things were in limbo. I finished painting the last rooms of the house (just in case we moved), did a massive purge of stuff for donations (again, just in case), and toured several NC houses via Zoom with our realtor (still without knowing for sure yet).
Spoiler alert: we did move to North Carolina.
That’s a big thing by itself, but it’s not the only thing to happen over the last few months. Let’s see if I can keep track of it all.
April & May Happenings
- While in Indiana, bought a house in North Carolina without ever stepping foot inside
- Worked with a relocation company to pack and store all our things until we could move into the new house
- Sold one car, packed ourselves and the animals into the other, and made the two-day drive to Greensboro
- Moved into temporary housing while the relo company took over selling our old house and we waited to close on the new one
- Endured sub-optimal conditions in temporary housing for two months: a demon stove that simultaneously burned and undercooked food, a very noisy road right next to our unit, a streetlight shining directly into our curtainless bedroom, building-wide plumbing issues, and others
- Overhauled my business website (again)
- Saw my first giraffe at the North Carolina Zoo
- The sellers of our new house had a sudden attitude reversal, leaving us with several immediate, big-ticket repairs to deal with as soon as we could move in
- An inspector found a giant snake in the house’s crawl space
- Signed up for a marketing coaching program I’m excited to start and complete over the next few months
- Found a stone dragon at an estate sale that was much larger than I thought it would be, and bought it anyway
- Got to move our closing date up early, meaning I could repaint some of the rooms before our stuff got delivered
- Finally got to sleep in my own bed in a much quieter neighborhood after our stuff was delivered with minimal damage
- Found another snake
- Had a stroke of clarity with a story concept I’d been kicking around for a few years and got an outline started
- After about a week and a half of unpacking, I’ve finally gotten through enough boxes to get to my desk
- Found a snakeskin in the vent under the gas fireplace
If you’re tired just reading that, imagine how I feel.
It’s been a lot to deal with over a fairly short period of time. Thankfully, things are settling down now. We’ll have a new normal established soon. Which brings me to the fun and exciting things I have planned!
June Plans and Goals
Business
My big plan for this year was to officially go into business for myself. The move put that plan on hold for a while, but things are back in motion. That exciting coaching program I mentioned starts this month! It’s going to help keep me on track as I launch my services to help artist, writers, and other creatives with their marketing needs.
Also this month, my paperwork will finish processing so my North Carolina LLC will be established and I can officially open for business.
Writing
Once I get my desktop computer set up, I will combine all the notes and drafted chapters from our stay at the apartment into the main file for The Thieves of Traska. I need to reevaluate where I am with my outline for this revision and make a few notes for other changes to make in the next pass through. After I have an idea of my progress, I’ll make some deadlines to help me finish this draft this year.
As for the other story idea I started outlining, it’s much too soon to share any details yet. But I’lll finish the outline this month, get some feedback from my writer friends, and see if it’s worth pursuing.
I’m also looking forward to getting back to my blog posts, of course!
Home
THE BIG ONE. This month is all about unpacking and finding all the things. Then I’ll slowly start working on rearrranging and reorganizing. If I’m being optimistic, I might even get another room painted! But that can also wait until next month. At least I’ve already got my paints picked out.
As you can see, still lots going on. But it’s all exciting and I am looking forward to updating my progress as we go along.
