It started out as a dream; a far-fetched idea to move to another country and another continent with Venk, leaving all our
Ottawa-related woes behind.
The plan changed after I met
Jessica, and I realized that I didn't want to leave so much anymore, not without her at my side. Instead of
Holland, we chose
Toronto. A tangle of
neon skyscrapers and
city lights, an urban sprawl slick with enough fantasies to put most anything to shame.
In Toronto, I had work doing what I loved, we had a large, clean apartment with a large, clean kitchen, and enough money to have a night out on the town, whenever we needed it.
After
the fire in the apartment, I lost my job, and Jessica and I had to return to Ottawa for some time, to try and rebuild.
We made it back, after some time. We crashed in the living room of Venk's
one-bedroom apartment, and saved enough money so that we could get a bigger place, with Venk's cousin Naveen. I started working, and Jes started going to
school.
After signing a
lease on a house, and moving in with Naveen, things went downhill again. It might have been the fact that Venk had some serious
money issues, or that Jessica was unaccustomed to living with people she didn't know. Whatever the case, things were far from well and good. Venk made plans to move back to Ottawa, and the constant stress over money and
social dynamics took its toll on my relationship with Jessica.
With Venk gone to Ottawa (and Naveen soon to be leaving to
Quebec), Paul and Gav moved up to try and make a run at Toronto themselves, but the constant change at the house, and ever-present money
worries make it quite difficult to be able to sit back and enjoy ourselves.
...
I'm not making the money I need to live here.
I'm not doing the work that I enjoy, and excel at.
My relationships with Paul and Venk are being strained by house-related problems.
My relationship with Jessica is suffering.
Jessica is in school, and cannot make a break for another city, nor can she 'do without' for a few months, if we were to try and change our living situation.
...
There is a solution here, but I do not know what it is.