Let's Go, Jane!

I did my first house sitting gig this week, and it went pretty well. I drove down to Arlington, VA on Monday. What should have been a 4.5 hour drive took more like 6 hours because of holiday traffic and a Costco/Michaels pitstop. But the food and craft supplies were worth the extra travel time!

The homeowners, Tara and Steve, had sent me a document a few weeks back with instructions for the house and taking care of their pets. Tara left me a gift card for a local restaurant and a basket of snacks from Trader Joe’s. They even put their car on the street so I could park in the garage. I think maybe they’ve set the bar impossibly high when it comes to hosting. Time will tell.

I enjoyed having pets to keep me company this week. 12-year-old Henry, a chiweenie, was super sweet. He woke me up every morning before 6 am, but not to go outside, just to get in my bed and cuddle until we fell back asleep. Pippin, a 10-year-old cat with beautiful markings, took 48 hours to warm up to me, and then he curled up in my lap whenever he got the chance.

I ventured into Washington, D.C. one day and walked around downtown and went to the U.S. Botanic Garden. Another day I drove out to a hiking trail along the Potomac River. I had dinner with an old friend one night. I watched a ton of movies on Netflix and worked on my creative projects. I’m teaching myself how to crochet (a blanket) and how to embroider. I’m contemplating starting a needlepoint project for next year where I create a journal on fabric, with an image or icon to represent each experience.

It was nice to be somewhere a little warmer, Arlington was consistently 10-15 degrees warmer than it was back home. I was sad to be without my kids for Christmas for the first time ever. But I’ve always loved Thanksgiving more than Christmas, and I got to spend that day with my whole family.

This was a lot of time to spend alone. And while I had phone calls with my family on Christmas day, and spoke to my boyfriend every day, it was mostly just me alone with my thoughts. I wondered where I’ll travel next year, and where I’ll end up living. I am trying to figure out what is important to me as I set down roots. There are so many variables. I want to live somewhere with a sense of community, where I know my neighbors and we look out for each other. It’s not something you can easily find in a google search.

I’m also thinking about weather, outdoor activities, the beauty of the landscape, and the ability to put my hands in the soil. I don’t need much space, I’d actually be happy living in a tiny home with a postage stamp garden. There’s also proximity to my boyfriend. Our relationship started out with us living 20 minutes away from each other and has evolved into something that is more often long distance. We will figure it out.

The good news is that I have options, and I have time. I’m immensely grateful for both of those things. I know that everything will work itself out, I just have to be patient and open to what the universe puts in my path.