The Contingency Plan

I've just put Hugo to bed. The morning is still and I'm sitting on my comfy couch with the crisp smell of freshly washed clothes and the sea wafting through our tall white windows. With my feet up on our ottoman, I can hear birds in morning conversation and the synthesised sounds of insects in the bush. Bliss.

I really love our apartment. Sure, there are certain drawbacks like the nearby theme park, no secure parking and all those stairs (nine flights to be exact), but we have the best views in Sydney and nothing beats that. The apartment also holds things that remind me of my childhood home: old fashioned windows; the patterns of the plaster-molded-rendered ceilings (I don't know the proper name); and lights you can dim. These aspects make it feel like home. Plus the neighbours are nice.

With the arrival of Hugo, Lucas and I have been looking at other apartments to move to. And I've hated nearly every moment of it.

Yes, I'm in denial.

Another drawback of living here is the space is now a little too small.

Although we have two bedrooms, Hugo will soon need to use the second one as his own, so the office and music studio will have to find somewhere else to go. Lucas has started his own company so an office space is a necessity.

We found an apartment last week that ticks all of our main boxes. It's a great brand new three storey townhouse that boasts three bedrooms and three bathrooms, a double garage, two lovely couryards and ducted air conditioning. It's within our price range and despite the narrow winding stairs connected the three floors, I could see us living there. The only problem is I absolutely loathe its location - its right next to a highway. And there aren't many trees. Lucas doesn't care much for surroundings, but I want a place whose windows I like looking out from as I'm home all the time now. Is this too selfish?

The need for us to move isn't pressing. We still have space. We're moving things so Lucas' parents can stay with us next week. But maybe this townhouse is as good as we'll get - you can't get everything you want... or can you?

Lucas and I started out together with nothing and have worked so hard for what we have so I want to enjoy where we live. I've negotiated some time with the boy to consider this new place, but just so you know what it's up against, this is what we have now...

I'll bet you wouldn't trade your problems for anything right now. Hugo is filling up your life (in every sense of the word!) and I'm happy for you.

Hey there, thanks for your note, it's great to hear from you.