Life Update
I’m still here. I’m finally mentally capable of publishing this post after what felt like a year of stress scrunched down to four months.
The last time I spoke, I mentioned REDACTED. Well, pretty much time to get it out of me.
No, it’s not writing or Ghost Factor related. Hence the stress.
I got a condo.
I have moved back to California!
Originally I wanted to find a solid home back in my birth state—familiar grounds—ever since I was pushed out to Nevada two years ago. Had to wait out the crazy housing market atmosphere first. Of course, I wrote and published Ghost Factor chapters, but still had this aching feeling to be in a place I know too well. I deeply missed green hills, tall trees and frickin’ campgrounds. Making new friends outside the usual haunts (wine bar, coffee shop, cafe, speakeasy bar, yoga studio) was difficult for me. Grateful for the friends I did make and the experience gained, but still, straight desert life isn’t for me, especially those four months when you’re in 100+F degree hell.
So late spring, along with my mom’s help, we looked.
By late summer we selected the top condos in SoCal, the cheapest and closest I could get to family. To be honest, it was a small pool to work with. Not to mention my limited needs: a garage, a patio, and a bathtub (number one priority). Didn’t matter how many bedrooms or whether or not it had a fireplace.
We had an agent who’s also a family friend of ours. She got married at the B&B when I was just in first grade. And she knew her stuff.
At that time, not much on sale was in my price range. Any more, say 100k, would put me closer to the Pacific coast, like an hour by car. So it came down to Lake Elsinore. Literally 30 minutes from Temecula, CA on a good traffic day.
I don’t want to share details of the first two. The third choice was instant.
How the whole house-buying process was all new and fascinating to me. My brain just gobbled up all the interesting legalese. Doc signage was all done digitally. Everything was smooth… except the waiting part.
And boy oh boy, was waiting the emphasis of my stress.
From the sale, the closing, to dropping myself in the bathtub day one soaking for three hours internally crying the stress out, it took three months to move in while dealing with the lowest and poor communication from the seller I have ever experienced. I’m not comfortable talking about the seller on this platform, but geez, I was snippy. Like ready to punch something snippy. In between moving out of Las Vegas, placing my stuff in the storage unit, and sticking with a great family friend during the holidays, my mind was awol. No time or mental capacity to be present to celebrate the holidays with family. No amount of hot yoga pulled me from the funk. Taking a weekend trip to Avalon took a slight edge off. Not even feeling grateful and say, “Holy shit. I have a house. I have a home. No more rent or kitchen sharing.”
My brain was stuck in limbo and the only thing it said was “I’M NOT IN MY HOME!!!”
Well, I did earn my ham radio technician license to fill some gaps. But still…
And the worst part was I couldn’t speed up the process. Even legally. I was at the mercy of time and patience while my mind screamed that and generated the most nauseating worst-case scenarios that could fill a horror movie’s script vault or something last for five years.
So yeah… lesson learned. Hard.
And then I moved in. Chaotic was the word. I had to do it within two days with help from family and friends. Amongst new furniture deliveries, my job, adjusting back to paying separate house bills, and just one week of consistent nightly bathtub soaks to drain out the pent-up stress, like I said, long enough to blog something of my life.
Ten years, living away from my childhood home, in this “nomad” kind of existence, to finally settling. No. More. Renting.
Right now, as I handwrite this post first before transcribing, the condo is quiet. The furniture is in its place (except the bookshelf, coat rack, and TV unit; need to fill cash bins). Internet is unlimited. I’m close to Temecula for wine and book research. And no roommates.
I am now content.
Thank you, Mom. Deeply. Thank you.
Now back to writing and upgrading my career.
