The Week of Almost: False Alarms, Real Photos, and New Paths | Week 33 - Post Layoff

I grabbed my shoes, leashed up the dogs, handed them to Bryan and started speed-walking through the community. My heart was racing. Could our tiny house REALLY be arriving three days early?

Ten minutes earlier, Bryan and I had been calmly working on bookkeeping clients and charging up our cameras and drone for Monday's scheduled delivery day when a community resident texted: "Gray and white house being brought in with front and back porch - could it be yours?!"

Our house IS gray and white. With front and back porches.

The timing couldn't have been more perfectly imperfect. We'd literally just pulled out all our filming equipment to charge it up for Monday, and nothing was charged yet. But there I was, power-walking through the community like a woman on a mission, texting another neighbor who lives on the main road: "Do you see the house? Where did it stop?"

"Near the community garden," he replied.

I caught up with our neighbor who'd sent the original text, and another resident shouted from his porch: "Was that YOUR house?!"

"I'm going down there to find out!" I called back, practically jogging now. "I'll circle back and let you know!"

When I finally reached the delivery site, my heart sank and soared at the same time. It wasn't our house.

The disappointment was real—not just that our house wasn't early, but that we could have somehow missed the most anticipated moment of our entire transition. But there was relief too. We hadn't missed it. Monday's delivery was still the plan, and all our carefully scheduled appointments could stay intact.

The Real Reveal

But the universe wasn't done with us yet.

Ten minutes after I returned from my wild house chase, our property manager sent a text with 13 photos of our actual, completed house!

I opened the first one and immediately started crying.

It was beautiful. Exactly how I'd pictured it, which felt like a small miracle when you consider we'd been making decisions based on a floorplan, 2x2 inch color chips and floor samples. It's difficult picturing how something will come together when you're choosing from tiny swatches, but somehow, it all worked.

The house looked HUGE in the outside photo—so much bigger than we'd imagined. The windows came with blinds (something we couldn't remember ordering and couldn't find on our paperwork). The bedroom looked a little smaller than we'd envisioned, but we immediately started problem-solving: "What if we put our office in the bedroom and our actual bedroom in the loft? King-sized bed upstairs, two desks downstairs, room for all the animals..."

We pored over every photo, noting details: the washer/dryer space, extra cabinets where we'd opted out of a traditional oven and dishwasher, the way the light filled the rooms. For the first time, we could actually see ourselves living there. Not just imagine it—actually see it.

The Beautiful Thing About Community

What struck us most about Friday's false alarm wasn't the adrenaline, the disappointment or even the relief. It was how invested our neighbors are in our journey.

We joke that we go out for a daily 30-minute walk that takes 2 hours. As temperatures cool and more people venture out to enjoy the mornings, we're meeting more residents. It feels like the first few days of school where you're trying to remember everyone's name. Residents stop us to ask about delivery day with genuine excitement—as if our house arriving is something they're all looking forward to. They share their own challenges and struggles, hoping to help us avoid the same pitfalls. And we know we'll do the same for the next new residents coming behind us.

We've already met at least three couples in various stages of the journey we just completed. Two are getting ready to list their houses (our stomachs dropped thinking about listing in August or September instead of the prime spring market we caught). Another couple just sold their house and moved into a tiny rental last week and won't get into their house until December.

When they mentioned December, we felt for them. We KNOW what "the wait" feels like. Our two months, let alone their five months of waiting, feels like forever when you're living in limbo, wondering if you made the right house choices, and eager to start the next chapter.

But here's what we love about this community: everyone genuinely watches out for and supports each other. It's not just neighborly politeness—it's real investment in each other's success and happiness.

Paths at Any Age

This week was also a big week for my niece that made my heart sing in a completely different way. My mom and sister drove my niece to college in Boston. When she was in high school, a few years ago, she went to a summer art camp up there and fell in love with the school. She was awarded a scholarship at the end of the camp but, being the cost-conscious person she is, it felt out of reach. She tried a local college program but didn't feel the same passion for what she was learning as she felt during her experience at the summer camp.

After declining the scholarship, attending the local college and working full time for a few years, she realized that she didn't want to regret not following her dream later in life. She reached out to the Boston school to ask for her scholarship, and they approved! She worked for a year to save money and took out some student loans so she could go at the start of this new school year. She's in her mid-twenties, starting fresh in a new city, pursuing her passion with the kind of courage that takes your breath away.

Here she is, starting her new journey in her twenties, while we're starting ours beyond fifty. Both of us proving the same beautiful truth: life is not a "one and done" decision that you make coming out of high school.

You can follow the traditional path because that's what you were taught the path should be. You can try a non-traditional path (like owning restaurants) that you love but that consumes your life. And then, even when you get older, if the old path doesn't lead where you want to go anymore, you can still choose another path. You can redesign your life more than once.

We're proud of her courage, and maybe she's a little proud of ours too.

The Week That Was

Looking back on this week, I realize it was about so much more than false alarms and house photos. It was about the anticipation that makes your heart race. The community that shows up when you're brave enough to make changes. The reminder that courage doesn't have an expiration date.

We also launched our YouTube channel and channel trailer this week—another new path we're choosing, another way to share this journey visually. (Thank you to everyone who subscribed! We're starting from zero and your support means everything.)

Earlier this week, I had lunch with former colleagues, and the timing couldn't have been more perfect. I kept thinking: you can leave the job without leaving the people. You can redesign your work situation without losing the relationships that matter.

All week, I've been struck by how many new beginnings were happening around us—our niece in Boston, future community residents listing houses and making big moves, our YouTube launch, and yes, our house arriving Monday (hopefully!).

Sometimes life offers you so many new beginnings at once, it's like the universe is reminding you: this is how it's supposed to work. Not one big decision that defines everything, but a series of choices that keep shaping who you're becoming.

T-Minus 48 Hours

As I write this, we're less than 48 hours from delivery day. Our cameras are charged (fully). The community is ready to celebrate with us. The false alarm made the anticipation even sweeter.

Monday morning, we're visualizing that beautiful gray and white house with front and back porches finally making its way into the community and to our lot. No more wondering. No more 2x2 inch samples. Just the real thing, ready to become home.

Sometimes the almost-moments make the real moments even more precious.

See you next week - hopefully from our own tiny house!

-Kathy & Bryan

Sometimes leaving your job is exactly what you need to find your life. And sometimes, finding your life means choosing new paths over and over again.

P.S. If you're excited to see the delivery day unfold, our first YouTube video will document every moment! Subscribe to "Living Full Working Less" so you don't miss it.