11 weeks

I know that 11 weeks SOUNDS like a lot of time. Welp, to me, it seems like 30 seconds. I'm a little bit in panic mode.

Man's younger brother moved out today. He was originally living with us, but we made the offer when he was feeling a little bit claustrophobic in Ma & Pa's house. It was never a permanent move, but due in part to his slightly low paying job, he packed up the pick-up and was gone.

Watching him pack reminded me how much I truly LOATHE packing, throwing stuff out, and all that goes along with those things. I am a closet hoarder. While there is no way I would evvvvver let it get as bad as the people on TV, I could totally justify a need for everything I own, even if I haven't touched it in years. I am super empathetic to the plight of the TV hoarders, and Man makes fun of me for crying when they have to give their pets away (um hellllo!?! it's so sad!). That being said, I'm a pretty bad packer. I know it's unrealistic to want to pack all of our crap, but the 'what if i need it' monsters creep in my head and I panic.

We haven't begun the packing process yet, but it's constantly in my mind, oh man!

45 days...

My lovely Man called the Realtor yesterday. I hate calling... so even though I have an ample amount of free time and he's a slave to the boss-man, he called for us. Gave them the rundown. We would like a 2 bedroom,1.5 bath, fenced yard, close to public transit, nice neighborhood, for, um.... 25 bucks a month. Thanks! Ok not really... but because we are pretty much heading in blind we figured these people should be a super helpful resource, and they would know who's leaving, when, and why (maybe not 100% but a little bit of insight, right?) The response he received seemed to be alright with him, but it really irked me.

"There is nothing we can help with until you're 45 days from moving."

What? Don't you know when peoples leases are ending? Aren't there any people (hello!! like US) who told their landlord that they're leaving even though it isn't next month? I guess I expected to have a little bit more to be able to actually accomplish. Maybe narrow down the search to a neighborhood or two, or hear someone say "A yard in the city? Not gonna happen" Really anything would have been good.

I suppose it boils down to feeling a little bit stuck. I'm ready to move forward, to get this ball rolling, and I feel like it's a 'the sooner the better' thing. If I over-think it I get a little freaked out. It's too early to pack (so I've just packed up all of our winter clothes and I'm shivering under a blanket right now.) too early to look for a job (so I've narrowed it down to about 15 companies one of which WILL hire me) too early to find a house (so I've just become a freaky craigslist stalker). It's just feeling really stagnate. I can't DO anything. wait, wait, wait. I really hope that after our visit next weekend I feel a little bit more like we're actually getting things under way. Hope.

PS. Happy Easter, we'll be spending it with both sides of Man's family, and were even invited to bring baby-bad-dog along, so it must mean they REALLY want to see us. Makes me feel a little extra loved. Ahh.

The Anxiety

Allow me to preface this by saying I AM very excited, and I love Man, and I am willing to do whatever I can to help him accomplish this dream. That being said, there are some things I'm definitely nervous about and things I know I will miss a ton!

1. Family-mine, his, and friends we consider family- A lot of the time we spend 'out' involves family, we hang out with them, eat with them, vacation with them, we even live with them (we invited Brother2 into the house in august). All in all we're really used to having them around, and we enjoy that. It will be a sad day when we lock the moving van and head west, and a little bit scary to know the only family I'll have in the great Midwest, will be one Man and one Sawyer. yikes!

2. Good Soft Pretzels & WaterIce- I'm not a cheesesteak girl, I'll eat it once in a while, but it's not going to be a deal breaker for me. I will, however down an entire brown bag of soft pretzels in record time. I eat the tops, then the crispy oveny bottoms and it.is.heaven. I'm also super fond of waterice. Ritas is by far my favorite summertime snack. I love pretty much every flavor, though my favorites are black cherry & mint choc. chip... none of that sugar free nonsense either. Superpretzel & supermarket freezer waterice REALLY aren't going to cut it.

3. Knowing my way around- I'll be the first to admit it, I have less than no sense of direction. It took me a good 4 months to learn the ins & outs of our current city, and it's pretty close to my hometown. Pathetic, I know. I am nervous about not knowing where ANYTHING is, no grocery stores (or the good ones at least), target, places for nails, hair, crafts, nothing. I sense I'll be feeling more than a little 'Toto we're not in Kansas anymore'. I am big into favorites, I tend to use the same stores regardless of how incredibly inconvenient they happen to be, but I think that 14 hours is more than a little ridiculous for a haircut... hmpf.

4. Baseball & Tailgating- I forgot this when I originally wrote this, but upon thinking, decided to revisit. I really liked Wrigley. This was probably due to the fact that we practically sat in the dugout, went on the most beautiful day, watched a win, and were on vacation. I LOVE CBP. I love that we watched a World Series win, sat through the awful rainy game 5pt1, and came back to finish it up. It's where we spend great times with friends (and sometimes there's a mortal enemy or two), laugh, and have a blast all summer long. It has my heart, no history, but all heart. Wrigley has history, but it's not ours... it's neat once or twice, but I won't be a Cubs fan... yuck. But what I will miss just as much as actually getting to see the games is the tailgating! No parking lot = no REAL tailgating. Beers @ the Cubby Bear... NOT the same. Also the fans are too nice and lack passion. Here's to hoping the Phillies suddenly start playing in chicago 8 times a year...

Those are for sure my top three, though I'm sure as the date gets closer I'll find plenty more things I'm both dreading & anxiously awaiting leaving behind.

The Excitement...

I'm not a mover. I lived in the same house all throughout my childhood and only bounced around within a 5 mile radius during my college years. My furthest move was the 30 minute trip to our home now (which took a bit of adjusting!) I've never REALLY left. I know I am close to both of our sets of parents, aunts/uncles, grandparents & a large number of our friends. This is all about to change dramatically! Here are the things I'm really excited about when it comes to the big move.

--new place! Because I've lived here my whole life, it's lost it's mystique, luster, & excitement. I have been to all of the landmarks I care to visit, done all the "Philly" things, and am just kind of bored with the whole situation. I also love to decorate, and am thrilled to have a whole new house to paint & play with! I can't wait to paint furnish and make a new home... yay!

--starting of the future. I am lucky. I have an amazing situation currently, but I feel like we're just standing still... I know Man is unhappy with his job, and my current position is offering little in the way of upward mobility. I feel like this move is a new start. Man can get on his way to getting his JD, something he's been thinking about for years, and maybe I just need a change of scenery to jump-start a new career.

--No one knows you... You are free of expectations. Your whole life becomes a blank slate. To me, this is really cool. Not that I'm going to be any different, but it might be neat to meet people who don't know ALL of the sordid details of your past (not that either of us have ever done anything bad...) I'm looking forward to meeting new people, and a whole new Chi-Life.

Mostly I'm excited for a whole new adventure with the love of my life!

picky chicky

One of the first things you have to do before you move is, well I don't know, find somewhere to live? We're just in the initial stages of this now. We are (I am..) a little bit picky. We love our current house, it does leave some things to be desired, but all in all, it's become our home and we love it. I'll be so sad to see it go...

Ideal qualities in our new home...

1. Safe Neighborhood-I want to feel comfortable being home alone
   
2. Fenced Yard- I have less than no interest in walking Sawyer in 10 degree weather
3. Not a big college presence- while I understand that Man will indeed BE in college, I have a limited bullshit tolerance for 2am disturbances
4. 2 bedrooms (or more)- one for us, one for office/guests, Man needs a place to study, and I am not super keen on being stuck in the bedroom with Sawyer every time he needs to crak a book.
5. Off Street Parking- I want a driveway, I want to not have to carry groceries 3 blocks, I want to shovel a spot, and know when I come home, there it will be. Too much to ask?
   
6. less than 45 Mins to Kent- as to keep my love sane and slightly stress free during what will be law hell.
   

The toughie on all of this comes in where we are living 750 miles from our soon-to-be domicile. We have zero friends in the area and really have no idea what a great neighborhood is or what is super awful. We're waiting to hear back from the Realtor (a friend of my fathers), and praying he can help us!!!!

(personally, I like this one...)