I am in total, complete and utter denial that we are moving from California to Virginia in August of this year. It's January and we all just took a family walk in the sunshine wearing long sleeve shirts. And we were totally sweating. It's going to be in the 70's today and I was out planting pansies with Zoe this morning.
What the F are we thinking?
OH RIGHT. There's that whole pesky JOB thing. As in, CG needs to have one and since the funding is caput on his post-doc in August we should all be dancing with glee that he received such a great job offer after very little looking.
I'm not feeling so lucky at this exact moment since I just checked weather.com and found out that it's 35 degrees in Virginia and there's a "wintry mix". Somehow I don't think they're talking about a medley of holiday songs.
We will be so sad to leave Pasadena. We love our little house with its happy, colorful walls and bountiful lemon tree and spacious backyard into which we poured a lot of blood, sweat and tears. We have friends and a life here. WE HAVE SUNSHINE, like almost ALL THE TIME. Moving is going to feel like ripping off a limb, with all the tendons and bones and gristle just left hanging there. With blood spurting and severed muscles fibers twitching...... oh sorry, were you about to eat something?
So instead of thinking too much about the emotional effects of this impending move, we are slowly, slowly starting to work on the physical aspects of moving, the OH GOD HOW DID WE ACQUIRE THIS MUCH STUFF part of the move. It feels good to go through closets and get rid of clothes that just aren't right. Every time I put something in the give-away pile, I imagine our moving bill, our proverbial load, OUR LIVES being lighter. But the actual move is too far away to REALLY purge the big stuff so I'm not exactly sure what significance my meager Goodwill pile really has.
I'm giving away the shoes I got married in. They are $40 Hush Puppies heels that I got at Shoe Pavillion. I don't think I need to keep them anymore.
I'm giving away clothes that I KNOW won't look good on me after two babies. It's just not worth the pain.
I'm going through toiletries and trying to use them up. (Now THIS is a truly pressing, deeply useful thing, don't you think? Who needs to find a preschool for Zoe for the fall or a house for all of us or figure out how we're going to pay for anything once we sell this house at a LOSS when I have two year old conditioner that I really ought to scrape out of its container and bandaids that need to be organized?)
I'm going through our bookshelf and trying to be brutal. I can keep it if: (1) I have read it and LOVED it and enjoy rereading/lending it to others/standing near it in the hope that some of its beauty and wisdom oozes onto me. (2) I have yet to read it but always glance at it and say "Oh yeah! I keep meaning to pick that up!". (3) I use it as a reference tool.
Out are: Books that someone gave me but I have no interest in reading. Books that I read but didn't like (why oh why do I keep them around anyway?). Books that I haven't read but really, HONESTLY never will.
Oh OH and we're seriously considering chucking our cd jewel cases and getting those cd wallets. We are clearly ready to move NOW right?!
7 comments:
Well, I would miss all that sunshine too. As in: I'm weeeping right now thinking of it.
However, I do love living with 4 seasons- and isn't Virginia failry mild on the winter front? (Well, perhaps only compared to MN standards? I mean, it's 16 degrees here today and people are talking about how "beautiful" it is outside. This is not even a joke.)
Anyway, I cannot imagine the amount of... everything it will take to pack up and move so far away. I really don't envy your adjustment period- leaving behind your friends, house... your whole life.
So starting with the little things is indeed a wise and gentle way to get this process rolling. WAy to go! =)
You'll grow to love the four seasons. It might take a little hating it for a while to get there, but eventually...
There is a sense of grief whenver leaving a home that has been so good for you. But at least you won't have a bunch of little bottles of conditioner to deal with at the new home!
Speaking from someone in the middle of a 'wintry mix' (Ann Arbor, Michigan), who used to live in California....um, it is what it is. Wait, was that supposed to make you feel better?!
Actually the seasons are pretty cool, and there is nothing quite like seeing Spring finally arrive here....after living in San Diego where I was so bored with the weather (really!), this is not boring.
I have never been to Virginia, but I hear it's nice. Moving anywhere is tough because you have your routine and you suddenly realize all that was familiar will change, but soon enough the new surroundings will become familiar, and you will have a new home to create new memories.
There, hopefully that made up for the first sentence!
I still miss the seasons in the northeast. Wintry mix makes you appreciate the sunshine more, crazy as it sounds.
I guess I'll be lone dissenter when I say that I miss the sunshine and flip flops every day. However, it is nice living in different parts of the US, meeting new people and having the experiences that come with moving accross country and settling in to a new place.
here i sit in bed, under a down comforter AND a quilt, it's grey outside and the sidewalks are covered in ice. but, the bed is THAT much cozier, and hot cocoa is THAT much yummier in this weather. christmas lights are THAT much prettier, and holiday music is THAT much homier.
it is a shock, but it's like living in a new place every day when the weather changes seasonally. I look around and can't believe that just 6 months ago we were swimming in the town pool, and running around in tank tops and shorts. and hearing pheobe go 'WHHHEEEEEEEEEEE" when A pulls her in the sled is priceless.
now on to my post about purging whilst moving. oy.
oh i got my posts mixed up. and i'll add another comment about purging.
we moved and purged before we left. or so we thought. then our stuff was packed, moved and put in corporate storage. how nice to have like 10 boxes of stuff to our name and be able to completely IGNORE the stuff that was in corporate storage!??! until we moved into an apartment and all that storage well.... came OUT. our lives threw up on us. literally.
it has been a year long purge, no joke. i think we probably have about 1/5 the stuff we had before our departure and man oh man am i thankful for that! it was rough, but soooooo good to rid our lives of way way way way way too much junk.
Post a Comment