Four years ago I moved to Sandpoint after 11 years in Boise. I had friends there. I had a job I liked. I had even started dating again after a disastrous marriage ending in divorce. On paper I seemed fine. 

     The part that I never talk about in this column is that I have three little girls as well, and their daycare bill topped out at over $1,200 a month. I never opened a bill, let alone paid it, unless the envelope was pink. I was working 16 hour shifts at a mental hospital and “to make the most” of the days, the girls were with their dad. It sucked.

 My friends were great, but I needed family.

So I moved back to Sandpoint, where my parents and most of my extended family live. I started the process of learning how live, not just get by. It required a lot: I had to get a new job, find a new daycare and go without cable for a while, but all of that was to be expected.

     I soon found out that the most challenging part of living in Sandpoint wasn’t the fact that family members would drop by unexpectedly at a moment’s notice. The biggest challenge would be learning how to be Single In Sandpoint. As a single mom I had every other weekend to figure this out.

     Those of you who read the column know this story, but for those of you new to SIS, here is what happened: I started out in Sandpoint dating a bronzed man who carried a purse. He was prettier than I, and had allocated most of his life savings to hair removal.

     I ignored those obvious warning signs and ventured on. Man Purse told me all sorts of things – most of which were lies – and then he broke into my house in order to leave me a break-up note. I was beyond pissed.

     In a moment of insanity, or clarity depending on the way you think, I decided to track that man down and give him a piece of my mind. I dropped the kids off at grandma’s and took off.

     It wasn’t really hard to find him, I knew where he rented office space, and I saw his car parked in the parking lot. As I pulled in – you wouldn’t believe my luck – he was creeping across the lot like a dog with his tale between his legs. For some reason this infuriated me.

     I needed a weapon, and because I have kids and life is weird, there happened to be a box of cupcakes in my passenger seat. Something in me just snapped, and I jumped out of the car and started throwing cupcakes at him, one after another. 

     I called him bad names. A lot of really bad names. But I wasn’t satisfied with just name-calling. I wanted revenge, and not just for myself but for all the single ladies who had to deal with liars, cheaters and purse-wielding fools. I needed to become smarter, braver and more dangerous. I had the hellcat in me, but I was a mom, too, and I needed to separate the two. Why not add schizophrenia to my list of mental maladies? 

     It was at this point I adopted the alter ego Scarlette Quille, and thanks to the folks at the Sandpoint Reader, I started writing this very column.

     Since then, Scarlette has given me the opportunity to talk honestly about all of the things I’ve experienced here in this little city. Four years ago this month I could never have imagined the adventure that lie before me, and in case you’ve forgotten the highlights, let’s recap:

~I became a traveler. I’ve been to Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Maui, Seattle, Portland, Boise, San Diego, New York, Mexico and Tokyo, and I’ve written about all of them.

~I was on the network (ABC) reality TV show “I Survived a Japanese Gameshow.”

~I’ve experienced the best North Idaho has to offer: rodeos, mud bogs, mud volleyball, snowshoe volleyball, car camping, floating the Lochsa River and parties around burning brush piles. I realized that it’s a lot more fun to join the natives then sit around complaining about their antics. 

~ I met my husband. DID YOU HEAR THAT, SINGLE IN SANDPOINT READERS? I met a guy who loves me, loves kids, loves dogs and loves to go on adventures. I started out thinking it would never happen, but it did and it can happen for you too. 

~Last February I started my blog www.corporatwhoracle.com. In the last 10 months my little bitty blog has grown to over 10,000 views a month. People all over the country, and even some international readers, love to read about Scarlette’s life in Sandpoint. Like millions of other Americans, I was laid off last year and I’m trying to figure out how to make Scarlette profitable. I’m currently taking suggestions.

Once I made the choice to start living I never looked back, and honestly its been the best four years of my life.  I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving; My Husband and Daughters for keeping me humble and making me laugh. My parents for bringing me out here and helping me pull my shit together. To the little town of Sandpoint for reminding me that "Size isn't everything." To the Guys at The READER for taking a chance on a foul mouthed scatterbrain and giving me a forum to write this column. 

And lastly I'm thankful for that dark night with a handful of cupcakes, because had I not gone over the deep end that night, I may have never realized that I had something to say. 

Thank you so much for listening!

Scarlette Quille