This past weekend, my husband and I were away. Just the two of us, for the first time since the adorable one was born. It was really nice. We'd booked and paid before the layoff, so it seemed like the best course for both our well-being and our wallet was to enjoy what we paid for.
And we did. I shall not bore you with details of sleeping in, sharing many glasses of wine and champagne (the latter being complimentary at our B&B) the jacuzzi, or the conversation. Let's just say we enjoyed it and leave it at that.
On Saturday, we were driving around, and went to Jackson, NH. And we looked at each other and had the same thought "We could live here".
See, we know that ultimately some things about our lives are going to need to change, be that next week or in 10 years or more. I like my work, but I don't want to do it forever. I work a lot (to give you an idea, in 8 months I logged almost 270 overtime hours). So we've talked about downshifting at some point. The thing is, we have absolutely no clue what that means. Really.
Okay, I know some things. More time for garden, chickens, relaxing. Perhaps living on less, maybe even a lot less. Maybe a book or two. But in terms of how we'll do it and when...no idea. Only that someday we're going to not only want to, but need to. But how we'll pay the bills, where we might live, what we might do...nada.
Right now, we're tied to our house, jobs, family around here. That's okay, it's even good. We are profoundly blessed in having such a good life. But we're slowly feeling our way towards some life changes. My guess is that they are probably a good long ways away. But we're reaching for them all the same.
Still, "We could live here" was a profound moment for us - the first time we've looked at a place together that isn't where we are now and thought that. There's no telling where the next few years will take us, but it just might inching us closer to living over a covered bridge somewhere.
3 comments:
That's great that you got a weekend away. I keep meaning to start planning a trip to the NH area this summer, would you care to share the B&B name that you stayed at, if you'd recommend it?
Gem, we stayed (for the 4th time in 5 years, I might add) at the Cabernet Inn in North Conway. This place is nothing short of a reasonably priced slice of heaven. The owners, Bruce and Jessica are just lovely. The french toast is just this side of perfect, especially when Jessica stuffs it with maple walnut cream cheese for an extra healthy kick!
www.cabernetinn.com
If you have two nights, go for the 2 enchanted evenings package. It's reasonable, the restaurant choices are excellent, etc etc.
We'd move in if they would let us.
We have our main home in Brookline MA and we bought a second place (for a steal) in Bartlett - right by Storyland, about 2 miles south of Jackson. We've loved it here, and find it not only to be a perfect weekend escape that is truly a 4 season place, but a place we can start to dream about retiring to at some point... It's hard not to fall in love with this area!
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