It’s true. I was going to do it. Come out of my little blog hibernation of sorts to write a post about how we’re expecting…a boat. This is true, we bought a boat, but the dramatic pause just wasn’t necessary. I was even going to Photoshop a boat into a sonogram (I don’t care who you are…that’s funny…name that comedian). But my parents are getting older and no need to cause them such emotional strain at such a delicate age. I couldn’t bring myself to allude to us expecting a child only to rip the rug out from under them and replace it with a boat. That’s just mean! I’m sorry Mom for even thinking that might just be funny! But meet our boat:
But it is in fact true. We are expecting a boat. And have recently made a few major new life decisions/changes in the last month that we’re here to fill you in on. What better day to do a little brain dump/let’s turn our lives upside down, buy a boat, sell the house, and get a new fancy job down in North Carolina. Yup…you heard me…North Carolina here we come!
So here’s how it all went down. Way back last September/October, if you remember, I opted to leave my fancy schmancy marketing job in industrial distribution to run our wooden stand shop, Roostic, full time. At the time I was sooooo excited! Like, couldn’t imagine not loving it kind of excited. But then, in early February I hit this wall. Like smacked my forehead into it so hard that it still stings…and left a mark. I started realizing that I HATED working by myself all day. I was lonely. I started having normal-ish conversations with the dog and going to the post office multiple times a day so I could talk to a real person and not just the people on the internet. It was getting bad. So I started applying for jobs, trying to be selective, and kept not finding any kind of marketing job (that wasn’t entry level) in the ENTIRE state of Maine let alone within a 50-mile radius. Frustrating say what?! So I continued to power through the Etsy orders while job searching.
But finally, I came across this fabulous, little part-time marketing job with a home energy auditing and contracting company just down the road called Penobscot Home Performance. For a DIY blogger, self-proclaimed home improvement champion, and lover of all things home improvement, I couldn’t think of a better job for me. I even loved that it was part-time since I could continue running Roostic and also get out of the house a do a little marketing which I was missing. Oh…and the best part of the job…the GINOURMOUS pile of old pallets at the office that are free for the taking! Yes please! HELLO pallet wood projects! Come to mama! Needless to say, expect a few pallet projects coming in the not-so-distant future.
So where does the boat come into play?! I’m getting to that….show some patience people…sheesh! So before I dove into the 100% self-employed world last fall, I saved up a little dough. Scratch that…I saved up alot of dough that I affectionately called “my buffer”. If sales ever slowed down, I wanted to be sure I had enough cash to be okay for 5-6 months while I found a new job. I even grew the buffer while sales were going gangbusters and I was pretty much working around the clock from November through January. So when I was job hunting, I told Colby that when I did finally find a job he could get his mid-life crisis…I mean…bass boat. You see, since I’ve known Colby (which has been over five years now) he’s always talked about his someday bass boat. He talked about it ALL…THE…TIME. Now I’m starting to think the reason we finally bought the boat was just so I didn’t have to hear about the someday bass boat. But that kind of backfired since now all I hear about is this lure and that fishing pole and this fishing derby and that lake. So one day, pretty much on a whim, we went down to the marina “just to look” at a bass boat, ended up loving a different boat, and used that buffer to buy it on the spot. Don’t let this face fool you…he’s a smitten kitten. Colby is having the happiest mid-life crisis a guy could ask for. I’m just grateful that he wanted a boat and not a younger wife!!
So now that we’ve covered jobs and boats, let’s talk about the house. We’re moving…yup…you heard us…we’re moving. It’s a natural progression. New job leads to new boat, new boat leads to big move. Here’s how…pretty much the second after we signed the papers, it started snowing…again. And again and again and again. This has been one of the coldest, longest, iciest winters we have ever had in Maine. No joke, we’ve been setting cold temperature records here lately, breaking records set back in the 1940s. As new boat owners who are DYING to get that baby out on the water, we couldn’t handle that the ice won’t be out for what seems like eternity. Which got us thinking….why did we buy a boat…here in Maine…where we can only use it 3 months out of the year…and have to store it for the other nine?! It seemed ridiculous to us. So one thing led to another which led to another which led to me casually looking at jobs down South which led me to the Lowes Headquarters site which led to me finding a marketing job down at Lowes galactic headquarters in Mooresville, North Carolina. Applied…interviewed…offered the job. A big girl job. At LOWES!!! I shop at Lowes…almost daily!
Hence our radio silence lately. It’s been one heck of a whirlwind around these parts. We’re intending to sell the house in another month or so. Colby is going to make the move with me, hopefully with a sold house behind us. But our house is nowhere near finished, or at least our finished standards. But all we have to say about that is….thank goodness it’s “APRIL FOOLS!”. Ha! Did I get ya?! Did I get ya good?! Mom? You still with us?
Okay, so the North Carolina and selling the house part is fake, although we can’t deny that we’ve been seriously considering it lately. Especially when I see all of you Southerners posting your spring flowers on Instagram while we’re getting 10″ of snow/sleet/freezing rain. But we did buy a boat and I did start working for a home performance company. Oh…and there really is a GINORMOUS pile of pallets that I can’t wait to haul home. Hasttag wood hoarder.
I wish I could tell you I had a work/career/life in general game plan, but I really can’t. Which is hard for me to say since I’m such a planner. I just know that Etsy isn’t my forever career, although I’m so glad that I tried it, and I’m starting to explore options outside of it. Who knows…maybe next year I really will be a marketer for Lowes corporate and we will be making the move (so if you’re reading this Lowes…I’m interested) or maybe my part-time gig with PHP will turn full-time, or maybe I’ll find another job/career that really gets me going. I’m trying so hard to go with the flow and grasp opportunities that present themselves. Have you guys read the book You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero?! I just finished it and LOVED it. It’s really inspired me to let go a little bit since sometimes the most amazing opportunities are right in front of you. But for now, I’m oh so happy with my new job, running Etsy on the side (although I did stop wholesaling and intend to call it quits maybe around Christmas time?), and seeing where this crazy little thing called life leads me.
Pssst…As much as I do love this little April Fool’s prank, it’s not my best work. I liked last year’s better. Time to start planning April Fool’s 2015!
Silly! You had me going. Like the new layout : ]