Moving On

When we first moved into this house, I had very mixed feelings. We moved in a rush and really only took it because there was nothing else in the area. We also knew it would probably only be available for a year and that wasn't ideal. I eventually decided to take it on the proviso that we could move again to somewhere I liked after six months.

But day by day, it started growing on me. Six months came and went and I said it was because I couldn't be bothered packing and moving again. Then spring came and we knew if we had to move again in the new year as expected, we really needed to find something soon as houses in our area are in huge demand in the summer. I looked at a few places and passed up a gorgeous house a stone's throw from the beach. Because of the expense of moving. Allegedly.

Then, a fortnight ago, the agent called and asked if we wanted to sign a lease for another six months and I said absolutely. I wanted to spend the summer here and that would take us through to March or so then I could find my dream house. And I was secretly happy. I asked him to let me know when we could sign the papers.

Yesterday, I had some friends over and as I showed them around, it hit me. I was in absolute love with this house. While I was putting the kids shoes on so we could take our guests down to the creek in our yard (we have a slight snake issue ... nothing major but we have a 'shoe rule' for the backyard) I got an email from the agent. Yay! The lease is ready. Except not. We got our notice. The owner is moving back sooner than expected. We've got til January but with the summer rush here, we can't afford to wait. I was supposed to host Christmas here. I planted veggies last week.

While I sat in shock pondering 'house karma', our four year old visitor ran up and said he and Jarvis had found a snake. I thought it was probably wishful thinking on his part becuase despite our recent episode, it's not really snake season yet. Nevertheless, I went down into the yard, shoeless, and there was indeed a snake. Jarvis told me not to worry, it was just a python, he'd patted it and it hadn't bitten him. "See Mum, no bites". I had a small heart attack. Our reptile loving pre-teen neighbour came over to scare it away and found two more. He asked me for a bag and a rope because one was something he hadn't really seen before and he wanted to catch it. It was a brown snake, not unheard of around here but not at all welcome in my yard, especially with Jarvy's snake-patting habit.

It was like the snake came to tell me the house wasn't the right one for us so I felt better about having to move. We haven't had a full summer here yet and I'm not sure I can survive the reptile invasion. I looked at two houses today. We're going to be okay.