Wednesday, May 11, 2011

on becoming a yankee

Not even two weeks ago my husband was contacted about a job, and negotiations began. Mother's Day weekend we were flown up to check out the town, stayed in a resort, and flown back home. We fell in love with the little town. Also possibly with the lack of humidity and cicadas. Oh and the lack of tornados and flooding which we've experienced every year since moving to Middle Tennessee.

I can't begin to imagine what an adventure this will be.

Step one: Tell the kids.

We did this while still in Wisconsin. I was afraid G might not really understand if I waited until we came back home. And Fi, well, we just needed to get that out in the open. She's a smart 11 year old and knew pretty early on that we were planning a move. The fact that we've never lived in one town longer than 4 years kinda makes her aware of "moving language".

Step two: Tell the parents.

That one was actually harder. Yes we know it's cold. Really cold. No really really cold. I have no idea how we'll deal with that, but we will deal with that. Yes it's very far away. Yes we'll Skype. Yes we still have to sell the house. Yes it's gonna be tough on the kids. Yes, we know about the cold.

Step three: up the love language around the house.

Did you see that one coming? Maybe not. I've learned through all the moves that what my husband needs from me is someone who isn't afraid to say how much I love him. And trust him. And know that even if everything goes south (get it!? Ok ok bad pun) we'll be fine. I know taking this job puts a lot of pressure and stress on him, and he needs to know I'm up for this. And trust him. Even in the hard moments. Being married so young was full of stress. Add in marrying a girl with a baby and parents in the middle of a divorce and things got icky fast. But we faced it together. And we strengthened this marriage with fire.

Which brings me to this song, posted by LY. I listened and said, "YES!"


"Cause the only way to find your life is to lay your own life down. And I believe it's an easy price for the life that we have found."

And what better way to show the kids that it will all be ok than to show them two loving parents "dancing in the minefields"?

Step 4: clean and pack

This is the step I hate. Seriously. The other night Derek told me he loved me and that I am an excellent wife. I looked around the house and said, "Yeah, thankfully you didn't marry me for my house keeping skills." I'm seriously awful at housekeeping. It just wasn't in the cards genetically. However we'll all pull together and get this thing going.

Which reminds me, I've got a stack of boxes and bubble wrap calling my name.

"Nooorrmmaa.... Nooorrrmmaa...." or however corrugated cardboard sounds.

Stay tuned for a massive yard sale or potlatch. I'd really rather give it away, blessing others the way I've been blessed. I'm just not sure how we'd afford that. Hrm. I'll think on it and let you know.

2 comments:

The Life of Mel said...

Had no idea you had a blog here. How bad is that? I have one too! Anyway, I never thought you were a bad housekeeper--in fact I think your house always looks better than mine. :)

It's super important to show support for such a big decision. I had a conversation like this with Ed recently, and I'm not convinced I was as supportive as I needed to be. To be fair, I also have a job and a life here, and responsibilities that are very difficult to uproot from. However, I've also never lived anywhere else.

My entire family--every last one of my siblings--have lived almost half a dozen places. Here is a phrase I thought of while thinking about a possible move, that is the inspiration for a blog post soon: My roots are shallow, but they are strong. I'm the only one of my family to live in one place all these years. It's terrifying to think I wouldn't live here. But it could be amazing to live somewhere else.

Kudos for the jump, I hope this ends up amazing for you. And I'm not going to lie, living close to so much CHEEEEEEESE makes me jealous! Make sure you stop at the Mars Cheese Castle if you can sometime. :) Oh, and the Brat Stop!!!! Those are in Kenosha, but still. Big Cheesy State. :)

The Life of Mel said...

And whoops. I did know you had a blog, it was on my google reader and that just updated. Welcome back! :)