Journeys

As I sit here pondering life two days before we leave, I am visualizing all of the different journeys that we face throughout our lives. Our family's current journey is one that can be tracked on a map and measured geographically. Other life-changing journeys might lack the geography, but are no less significant in the grand scheme of things. I have friends facing journeys into new motherhood, ones figuring out what their future holds once the kids grow older, some face retirement journeys. My kids are all starting new phases in school : beginning kindergarten, middle school and high school.  It is scary to start a new journey, but always rewarding. I hold onto that thought as we say goodby to so many people that we love. It is also stunning to me how places can hold so many memories.  My daughter was born in our yellow house and our boys were 3 and 5 when we moved there. All of them hit so many milestones in that house and it is just full of memories.  It was crazy to see it completely empty and with bare walls. Now we are just crossing our fingers that a new family wants to move in and make new memories there.

On a happier note, technology has made our world so much more interconnected than it ever was. I love that I can follow so many of my friends through email, text, phone conversations, blogs and Facebook.  When Chris and I were doing the long-distance dating thing many moons ago, we racked up around $400/month in phone bills.  That was definitely the pre-Internet, pre-Skype era. Of course, it isn't the same as face-to-face communication, but I do think it will help all of us.

Oh, and how exciting is it that Chris is probably about 2 weeks out from holding our bid list!  The list of places where we will possibly spend the next 2 years of our lives. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a picture of our yellow house. Drop me a line if you know anybody who wants a cute family home in Winnetka Heights!

In which I know that I should be insanely busy, but am not entirely certain what I should be doing

That pretty much sums things up here with 19 days left in Dallas.  We have met with the movers who assure us everything we now own will be well under the weight granted to us by the government.  They have also told us that we are NOT to pack anything or put things into boxes.  They need to be the ones to do all of the wrapping of items and packing.  So we continue to sort and discard some, but that is pretty tricky when you don't know where on this planet you are going.  We have also shed many of the things that have marked our middle-class life -- the second car, insurance on the car, the house is on the market. It is nerve-wracking to get rid of these things and these routines that have been a hallmark of our life for years.  Giving up the kids spot in school was definitely the biggest bridge that we burned.  Once we did that, I knew we were actually going through with this.  Many aspects of this shedding and sorting are down-right freeing. I have to say that if I never have to enter a Home Depot again, I will be a happy woman. Of course, I might change my tune in a few years. Right now, I find the thought of not owning all of this stuff liberating.

There are also hard parts as reality really sets in. More tears from all of us lately. I cry every time I think about dealing with my daughter's playhouse.  We created a little wonderland in our backyard for the kids.  My dad and Chris built her little house themselves and we gave it to her when she turned 2. I KNOW realistically that we can't bring it with us. I know this -- it is heavy, unwieldy and unlikely to survive being transplanted. It doesn't fit in with our new nomadic lifestyle. But my dad and Chris built it.  I will miss my parents and I know they will miss me, Chris and the kids.  The playhouse is a tangible reminder of their love and support. All of us will carry that love and support with us wherever we go -- I know that.  But sometimes letting go can be hard.  There is lots of that going on right now though. One baby is starting kindergarten, one middle school and one high school.  I'm thrilled that they are growing bigger and more capable of experiencing life, but this is definitely accompanied by sadness at how fast they grow.  How hard it is to let them go more and more into the world. I'd bet parents feel that whether their kids are 5 or 50.