So . . . We moved.

 So . . . We Moved. 

Glen Cullen Lane

And that explains a 6 month respite to the keyboard.  Not only did we move in the middle of August, in the middle of the heat, it was also the same week I began working, the kids started school, Lanie had her birthday party and ten thousand activities started up.  And we are still trying to find our feet under us so we can find "normal" in our new setting.  The greatest gift anyone gave us during that first month was offering to take our kids for the day so we could unpack.  I just about cried when they offered because it was completely unexpected.  But that's where we were.  Up to our ears in boxes and absolutely no time.  

I know people move all the time but wow, it was really hard for me.  To take 12 years of stuff in house #1 and pack it up, to say goodbye to neighbors who I've come to count on, yikes, I was a mess. Ask the kids, I cried a lot.  And they hated to see me like that.  Part of the problem was that we still weren't sure we were making the best move. But the moving frenzy can really get the best of you.  It got the best of me.  

Once we started, and houses were flying off the market in a day or two, we knew we had to get our game face on and get serious.  What started as a, "Hey, let's just go look at this house" turned into day-long searches and long, thoughtful conversations with Kenny where we played the pros and cons of every. single. aspect of each house in length.  What we ended up with -- it's really odd -- it doesn't have the yard we wanted, or the pool, or even the idyllic neighborhood, but there was something very quirky about the house that just drew us in.  Maybe it's the 365 degree Disney room, or the odd angle of stairs, or the open concept that I love, or the balcony, or the 10 minute drive to school.   Or maybe it's because 4 other cars were waiting behind us to see the house and I fell into competition mode and wanted to beat them to the asking price. Whichever it was -- we stuck it out, even though we almost changed our minds twice. We continued to come back to this quirky house over and over again.  It seemed to fit despite it's cons. 

I don't know.  Those summer months are kind of a blur.  I remember very tense shoulders, headaches, and driving around, driving around, driving around and searching HAR.com daily. But then, if buying a home is a complicated puzzle, picking out the house is only the border pieces.  Adding all the inner pieces with it's weird sides and angles make up the rest.  After a rush clean up job of our own house, we spent a solid week or two eating out.  We had 5 to 6 relators walk through our house on any given day.  It was a little fun to hang out down the street at our neighbors and watch for the possible new owners.  It wasn't so fun when our first buyers withdrew, but God is good and within a few days we had another family in line. After horror stories I've heard about trying to sell a house for years didn't get lost on me.  I knew we were blessed to find new owners so quickly. 

Now, that - that right there - was the most difficult, emotional home-selling experience for me.  Who was going to live in MY house?  Who was going to re-paint my walls?  Which kids would swing on our ancient swings? Who was going to befriend my favorite neighbors? Who was going to put as much love into the house as we did?  I'm choked up now thinking about it.  I'm not over it.  We are quite lucky that the new family is actually relatives of some church friends so we have some inside connections.  Since the move I've been able to go see the house (to pick up mail) and meet the man & woman who live there and their two daughters. The littlest, who is 3,  took Lydia by the hand and drug her upstairs to see Lydia's, I mean, her new room.  It was the strangest experience but I felt much more secure that my first home, a building that houses memories of all 3 babies - their first years - would be taken care of. Of course it won't stop us from driving by to see what they've changed, and it won't stop that pain in my gut and my sentimental nature each time I think about what we left, but it's going to be okay.  As just about EVERYONE told us during the move -- it's just a house. And I agree, it's just a house.  But it was my house. 

Pine Orchard