The blog is back (somewhere else)....

Check out http://www.nicolemichauddotcom.wordpress.com/ to follow Unsettled again...

100+ days later

A foreclosure + an FHA loan + an appraiser named Mr. Tickle = more than 100 days of homelessness for the Michauds. Fortunately, we aren’t really homeless. We have friends that have fostered us and family that have allowed us to literally “make ourselves at home.” We’re extremely grateful to them, but we’re still homeless in our hearts.


We can’t help but be annoyed seeing as we started this whole process on January 9th. We were excited, anxious and nervous but with each month that has passed, so have those emotions. Now we’re just irritated. Our original closing date was February 15th, followed by our first extension request, followed by an early March closing date and another extension request, followed by an end of March closing date and another extension….I think you’ve figured out the pattern. Had we known the process would take this long, we would’ve started it prior to our Costa Rican adventure.


With each weekend of lounging on couches that aren’t ours, cooking with borrowed pans, and picking clothes from stacks or suitcases – our irritation grows. Our someday-to-be home needs some cosmetic work and the minutes wasted waiting to get it done just frustrate us. We’ve contemplated breaking in just to get a head start.
And so now we wait for our next (and hopefully final) closing date of May 2nd. While it looks like we’re really reaching the homestretch this time, I just can’t bring myself to get excited anymore. Seems like each time we’ve rounded third base, we’re tripped up and have to go back. I’m now of the same opinion as Mike has been all along, “I’ll be excited when they hand me the keys.”

Until we drop them in the sewer before we reach the door…

The coolest thing I've done since I've been back

So, the title's a stretch. But really, would you have read this entry if it was called My Day at Jury Duty? I didn’t think so. I think I can correctly assume that no one really enjoys their own jury duty, never mind reading about someone else’s. You probably wouldn't have made it this far yet. But now you're committed so why not just finish reading.


Seeing as this is the fourth time I’ve been randomly selected to perform my civic duty – I think I’ve served my share. I'd prefer they give someone else a shot. But even though I wasn’t enjoying any moment of my day, I actually was hoping to get selected for a trial. The $20 a day reimbursement sounded pretty nice to an unemployed struggling writer. It was $20 more than I made yesterday and $20 more than I’ll make tomorrow. And if I was lucky enough to get a really long trial (anywhere past 5 days) it’d be $50 a day. Sign me up.

But I waited. And waited. And wrote a blog entry. Started an article. Wrote a cover letter. Texted some peeps and checked FB about 14 times. In between all that, I just watched other people – the most fascinating of which was the guy who didn’t do anything the entire day (he beat out the one that practiced yoga moves at the front of the room that resembled a slow motion version of the Staying Alive dance). He literally brought nothing to keep him entertained. No phone, no iPod, no laptop, no iPad, no book, to crosswords, no walkman, no paper or pencils. Heck, he wouldn’t even check out the free newspapers or magazines. I was mesmerized by him while he was mesmerized by the Restroom sign. I almost asked him to proofread for me just to give him something to do.

At the end of the day, neither he nor I got hired as a juror. I got teased by being called into the interview session only to be dismissed after a settlement was reached. Eh. You win some, you lose some. Guess it wasn’t really my dream job anyways. Maybe next time...cause I have a feeling there will definitely be a next time.

Could it be?!?!?!

Could the self-proclaimed “unsettled” couple actually be settling down? It’s true…



It only took a few days of apartment hunting for us to realize that renting a small home we can’t call our own will be ridiculously expensive. After some advice from our gracious friends (who are fostering us until we find a place), we decided to look into owning. Heck, if we’re gonna spend a boatload, why not own the boat?


So we searched and, rather quickly, found the place we hope to call home. I don’t want to jinx it so I’m not giving any details. Let’s just say it’s a house that’s made for us – a little different, a lot of character, in good condition and has loads of potential. I’m just asking you to keep your fingers crossed. Real tight. Like, almost break them if you can.


Who would’ve thunk huh? The unsettlers are settling. To be honest, we can’t wait. We’re more excited than we ever thought we’d be at the prospect of owning our own home. Regardless, settling is a state of mind. So while we’ll be settling into a home (hopefully), I’m sure there will still be plenty of unsettled moments…stay tuned.

Coming home...

With a sick Matt in tow (who believes we brought the germs off the plane) and his slobbering, snorting English bulldog, Molly, we're beginning our drive home in a matter of minutes. It should take us anywhere between 14 and 16 hours if all goes well. I haven't checked the weather forecast for the East Coast but from what I've heard from family, we'll be accompanied by storms or racing them. We have our fingers crossed that it'll be a very boring, uneventful drive.

ETA: Saturday morning, probably around 7 or 8. If Mother Nature doesn't delay us...

Where did we land?



Oh the places we've been...

 So, the weather outside is frightful. Alright, maybe it's not there yet, but seriously - we're dealing with a 60 degree drop overnight - have a little sympathy for us ;)  Really though...we are in the South right? I heard it's only in the 30's in Florida. What the heck is going on with the weather?  We weren't equipped for this. Mike stepped off the plane in cargo shorts, flip flops and a t-shirt. That didn't really cut it for 26 degrees...thank goodness for four extra t-shirts in his carry on that he proceeded to layer on, and of course, the beard.

Speaking of, we successfully made it through America's security after a suspicious review of Mike's passport photo (the JFK Jr. version) and a "that's you?" I informed him that we just spent three months in Costa Rica without a razor. He laughed and added that Mike reminded him of Tom Hanks in Castaway.

After a two hour trip to Matt's house, I got my fill of driving. Stupid me, decided to call shotgun on driving the first stretch of our road trip to CT when we were still in Costa Rica and driving was something I missed. Mike and Matt haven't forgotten.  So I guess I'll get an overdose soon....

Day 89: Blogging from the sky

It's was smooth sailing getting to the airport and has been a pretty decent flight with the exception of our takeoff. It was a little bumpy and I told Mike I hope it wasn't a sign that the flight was gonna follow suit. He reminded me that this was a Costa Rican runway. I should be happy it's paved.

So I'm blogging from the sky right now (courtesy of Delta's free in-flight wifi until January 2nd) with about 45 minutes left of our flight before we touch down in Georgia. The pilot informed us at takeoff that it's a cozy 32 degrees in Atlanta. Welcome home. Well, almost...

Day 88: Some final recognitions...

When we walked into Adobe, we were personally greeted, literally, by the rental agent that’s always there when we rent our cars. He called Mike by name and asked how he could help him and seemed to be as disappointed as us that he couldn’t provide a car that could be left at the airport for only one day without charging us for three. Seeing as Adobe is a much smaller company (I’m pretty sure their fleet maxes out at six cars) they would need to charge us the additional amount to cover the cost of the driver and gas to pick the car up from the airport to bring back to Quepos which is about a three hour drive and over 150 miles away. We had a feeling he would’ve hooked us up had he been the only one in the office, but with a supervisor and another employee present, he was defeated. Thanks anyways Carlos.


It was probably better for us. The Jimny sat in Adobe’s driveway just waiting for us to take it on another journey and we don’t have Matt here to fix it when it decides to be stubborn. Alamo had a much nicer and less stubborn looking Toyota Yaris waiting for us that has proven to be the smoothest rental ride yet.


Before we picked up the car, we headed to our favorite Quepos café, El Milagro and was recognized by the waitress that speaks fluent English but likes to ask us questions in Spanish to see if we’ve gotten any better. I would have impressed her by ordering my coffee in Spanish, but all I had to do was nod my head and respond with a “si” since she already knew what we wanted and how to make it. I was a little saddened that we couldn’t take her home.


With a final trip to Jaco for some last minute souvenirs and we quickly got the heck out of there, after a decent lunch at Restaurant Espanol, and headed back home. With everything already packed and cleaned, we really had nothing left to do except wait. So in a matter of 24 hours of writing this, we’ll be back in the States - God willing US customs allows Mike back in.

Day 87: Cleaning house

We’ve decided against the car service to the airport seeing as renting a car, getting lost, and barely making our flight are worth the amount it would cost to bring us to the airport. Through our various road trips throughout this country, we remembered there’s a different route to the airport that avoids the confusion of San Jose’s hectic one way streets. So tomorrow, we’ll catch the early bus to Quepos to pick up our final rental car…fingers crossed it’s better than the Jimny.


We decided to clean and pack today so we can enjoy the freedom of the rental car on our last day here. I’m sure Gary will agree that the place is in better condition than when we arrived. Everything is clean, including the refrigerator, the garbage is out and we’ve added to the collection of minimal kitchen utensils. And we didn’t leave a bullfrog behind the toilet.

I’d say I’ll miss this place, but after last night’s party till dawn, I’m pretty happy to be heading home to catch up on some much needed sleep. We woke up about every hour to the sound of applause, cheers, drums, music and yelling. Around 5am, I gave up thinking it would end. We tried to use our earbuds as ear plugs to help block the noise but it didn’t work.


I guess we're feeling our thirties.  We were just amazed people can actually stay awake for that long. We didn’t even go to the party and we're exhausted.

Two more nights to go…

Day 86: 'Twas two weeks before Christmas...

And we laid on the beach. (I thought of continuing the rhyme but it seemed really cheesy so I thought it best to not.)



Anyways, we made it to the beach for the last time of our trip and of the year for that matter. We extended the summer for as long as we could. Now it’s time to return to the cold, harsh reality that awaits our return. Rather than focus on that, we’ve been listing off things we’re looking forward to; family, friends, Marley, kitties, hearing English, dryers, my Keurig...

Mike listed off the restaurants we'll be hitting up in no particular order: Pizza Shoppe, The Whistle Stop, Osaka, Buffalo Wild Wings...I’m sure the list could continue but he stopped there. Other than pizza, the only craving I’ve had is Indian food. I’m looking forward to some tikka masala and garlic naan from somewhere and plan on it as soon as we land. Matt’s convinced the south doesn’t have Indian food, I’m convinced I’ll find one.

It's a little nerve racking but still exciting to return to the unknown. Our employment, our home, our next step, is all up in the air. (Don’t think we haven’t been working on it, but I have a feeling it’s gonna be a bit easier when we’re home.) I’m convinced it’ll work out. We had good intentions with our trip; to take advantage of the opportunity that probably wouldn’t be around for long, to add to our travel and life experiences, to enjoy each other and ourselves, and for me, it was to explore a personal goal I had pushed off to the side and regretted with each day that passed. With 200 pages worth of blog material (book pages, not 8.5 x11) and 233 pages of some other stuff, I’d say the inspiration was found. I’ve committed myself to daily writing and I don’t intend to stop.

So I’ll leave this entry by screwing up a quote I once read. I can't remember it verbatim but you'll get the point.


"If you wait until the right time to do what you want to do, you’ll end up doing a whole lot of nothing…"


Made sense to me.