Glimpsing my future

I got a tantalising glimpse of what my future might look like over the weekend.

While I’ve been dating DD for almost eight years and travelling up to his place endlessly, I don’t really get to feel like a local. My visits are too short to really settle in.

I often dream about having a little holiday in his neck of the woods, but the responsibilities of being a single mother with two dogs and three websites get in the way.

I would love to wake up responsibility free and wander down to sip coffee by the sea after a morning swim. There are lovely fashion and homewares stores that I yearn to explore at a leisurely pace. I’d like to find the best local produce and go for daily walks along the coastline.

When I drove up to DD’s place on Saturday night we were both pretty knackered, so we ordered Thai food and I got a kick out of walking two blocks down the road to collect it.

I was eager for an Aperol Spritz when I returned on Sunday night, so we went to a small bar that’s also only two blocks away from his place. It was packed with locals listening to a young lad sing and play the keyboard, the bar owners were handing out pizza from a restaurant a few doors down and a bloke brought his dog inside to say hello to everyone.

Then we wandered around the corner for a bowl of pasta before ambling back to DD’s place again.

It felt relaxed and fun and I yearned for it to be my permanent reality.

But the time isn’t right for me to make a move north. I need to get the youngest through her last two years of high school, the eldest will never be able to afford to move out of my garage unless he manages to work more than 22 hours a week, and the dogs are naughty little fluff balls that require a secure backyard.

I’m also pretty attached to my walks with friends on the lower north shore and I’m about to start working two days a week in the city.

None of those things align with a life on the northern beaches.

But one day my dream will come true.

Song of the day: Hall & Oates “You make my dreams come true”