The countdown has begun, at least in my mind. In just over 100 days, we're leaving our jobs, celebrating our 18th Anniversary weekend with our friends here in the Valley, and then moving up to the mountains.
I need to get boxes and storage bins to start packing. Back in NH, there were state liquor stores with the perfect boxes for moving. They're small enough to lift and carry, yet strong enough to pack well without worrying about the bottom falling out. Around here, stores break their boxes down before I can get to them - not sure what we'll do. I know we'll get a few dozen bins, though.
Here's what I'll miss: working at the Front Porch Tea Cafe, God's Girls and Mom's Night Out with East Side Explorer's homeschool group, Tuesday mornings with the Ladies' bible study group, listening to Pastors Phil, Jeremy and John at Mountain Valley on Sunday mornings, being able to just "run and get" whatever I need within 5 to 10 minutes of the house, having multiple choices to shop for groceries and necessities so I can get the best deals, living so close to museums, parks, shopping, great restaurants, dollar theaters, Christian book stores, and concert events, beautiful sunsets, palm trees, shorts in January, winters in the 70s, swimming more than 6 months of the year.
Here's what I won't miss: living in "the ghetto" (not really, but it's a townhouse condo in a busy area, not a neighborhood), cars all hours of the day and night, neighbors who date loud, obnoxious people I'd never let near my kids if it were up to me, high pollution days, being stuck in traffic, city water you shouldn't drink, 5 of us living in 1000 sf, the boys having to still share a room, no yard.
The inconveniences we'll have to deal with: Just running to get milk is a 40 min. drive EACH WAY, you have to get in your car and drive to the old grain store to get your mail every day, living on a "county road" that's not really a road on a map, living where it snows, temperatures below freezing again, living 3 1/2 hours from my friends, no high-speed internet cable - just DSL lines available, too cold to swim even in the summer (from the dryness and high winds), the aloneness the kids will feel for a while, although I love my in-laws, sharing a house isn't the same as owning your own space and being able to make decisions for yourself and your own family regarding changes or the yard.
So why are we going anyway? Fresh air, clean water, a chance to try organic gardening, a slower-paced life, cooler summer nights, lots more space for each of us, more privacy for each of us, a chance to un-plug from always rushing out the door to go somewhere, a chance to do family things together, and hopefully, this will be the chance we needed for Tim to start his own business instead of being a slave to a job that restricts our schedules and pays less than we can survive on. It's also a chance for my kids' grandparents to teach them life skills. It's a chance for me to be closer to Tim's mom. I'm looking forward to taking my experience and helping a local church and homeschool group up there, but not to the extent I've had to keep up with here in the city.
I look forward to summer nights around a fire pit with Tim, and with our kids. I look forward to seeing a wide-open starry sky with no lights to interfere. I'm looking forward to sleeping with the windows open. I long to hear Tim playing his acoustic guitar off the deck as the music travels on the wind through the stillness and quiet...oh yeah, and the long walks and fun 4-wheeler rides with my Honey.
That's why we're doing it.
