We went up to Pumpkin Hollow to check out the maintenance position last Thursday. There was a lot of traffic coming out of New York and what is usually a 2 1/2 hour drive ended up being a 3 1/2 hour drive. We were all weary by the time we got there and I was hungry and nauseous.

The man we were meeting was a gentle older man, possibly around 70, with a sort of a slow, deliberate manner. I really wanted to see the house first, but he took us all over the place first and I finally had to ask to see the house because Aidan was loosing it and frankly, so was I.

Once we saw the house, I suspected that he had deliberately shown us the community's finer features first. The house is modular, and low-end modular at that - so the walls have seams and such and I don't think that they are sheetrock. We're not sure how they would get painted or repaired. The house is divided up into two dwelling units, so we don't even get the whole house. It's really an apartment. There are in fact two bedrooms, but one of them has the front door in it and was meant to be a living room. Most of it has orange carpeting that looks like it is twelve years old and there is a huge wood stove in the middle of the fairly small living room / dining room area. I was crushed. I didn't want to live there. The vibe was awful.

But the thing is that the rest of the community is gorgeous. Steve's work requirement would be 20 hours/week and all of the work is easily within his abilities. If they got grants to do bigger jobs, they would hire him as the contractor. There might be space in other buildings for me to have an office and for him to play music. There would be no contract and we could leave at any time.

I'm thinking that I just need an attitude adjustment. I feel like I'm an adult now and I'm tired of living in college student quality places. I'm tired of being nomadic, but I don't know if I can see us in this space for two years. I'm a triple cancer - my home is so important to me. At the same time I think maybe I'm being a bit of a princess. I've been saying all this time that all I want is a little house on a lot of land. Pumpkin Hollow has 130 acres with a stream and a swimming hole, a spectacular waterfall and hiking trails. I'll be able to walk to yoga class.

We decided to do it if their board approves the hiring. Even if its not a long term solution, we feel like there might be a wealth of opportunities involved. I gave some conditions though: The carpeting has to be replaced with a wood or a laminate floor and the wood stove has to go out to the barn.