For the past three or four months I have been playing a game of “wait and see”. It is a game that has left me feeling low spirited and stagnate. So when three weeks ago my friend Cara rented a house and mentioned she was looking for a ‘Lady Lodger’, I raised my hand.
And here I sit, amidst unpacking chaos in the front room of the lovely post-war abode affectionately referred to as ‘Lady M’. When I first met Lady M I was slightly overwhelmed by her scruffy appearance, but after 20 minutes and some imaginative visioning, I fell in love. Lady M has many exciting features like her ample storage space and her proximity to my childhood (AND adolescent AND early adulthood) shopping mall. But what really won me over was sitting in the living room and being transported back to childhood visits to my grandparents place in Maroochydore. Complete with the scenic vista of a shopping mall.
My sudden decision to move out has left my mother somewhat bereft. Consequently, I was extremely worried that she would hate Lady M, unable to see past her shabbiness to the soul within. I am her Princess you see, and should only have the best. For example, when proudly telling my mother that we had proudly obtained a washing machine at Lifeline for $149 (along with a $17 piano and an impulse sofa set), she immediately panicked and offered to buy me a brand new one. Her reasoning? The death of a woman by electrocution from a second hand washing machine in the 70s.
I needn’t have worried. My mother loves Lady M. For the exact same reasons I do, her ample storage, proximity to the shops and her likeness to my grandmother’s house. I forget that we are quite similar sometimes.
To be completely honest I think one of the most exciting things about my move to Lady M is the prospect of bringing a man home and not having to sneak him out shamefacedly the next day. And I must say I am already impressed by the higher proportion of young men around me. Instead of DILFs, my local supermarket is now filled with reasonably attractive, slightly nerdy young men – shopping for one! AND there is a share house of semi-attractive young men across the road. Okay, they have a band. And okay, some the singing is so awful I cannot help but laugh. But the point is that for the first time in years I feel like there are prospects about the place, which is good.
Lady M, I am looking forward to spending the summer with you.
