All good thing must come to an end

I just accepted a new job. Regretfully I am leaving one that I love, with the hopes that this new role is equally as fulfilling. I spent the past 5 years at Travelocity and worked with a slew of really great people. I've loved most of what I was asked to work on and did it well. For the past 3, or so, years I've worked out of my home office. I never really found this difficult. Both my kids are in daycare and I have a separate work space, far away from distractions but not nearly as far from the kitchen as I'd like! I will dearly miss the flexibly afforded to me by my bosses and the work at home structure. There were plenty of nights where I worked after the kids were in bed in exchange for leaving early. That can...not...be...beat. It's made the first few years of my children's lives so great and special to me. I was able to be as much of a Mom as possible, but also have a thriving career. I am afraid that is about to change, but I'll have to wait and see...and adjust where necessary. I also think my husband is in for a bit of a shock. Working from home, not having a commute, having the ability to empty a dishwasher during lunch, etc, has made his life easier (though I'm not sure he realizes just how much). He is also going to have to make pretty big adjustments. I'm really nervous about how to avoid the scenario where my kids spend 9-10 hours a day in someone else's care. That's upsetting, but again I've been lucky to avoid that for as long as I have. I know what my Mom would say "All good things come to an end". Maybe, but I don't have to like it.

Well hello there

Since moving to Ohio we've had a humdinger of a time. My temptation is to use this post to complain, but I'm going to resist the urge and just say it's sucked and move on.

So friends, since it's been awhile, let me brush off the dust and bring you up to date...

As of today we've been here for 4 weeks. Lots has happened in those 4 weeks, but let me start by giving you a run down on the move. We left CT on Saturday Dec 12th, after a bit of a debauchel underestimating the amount of truck space we needed. My father-in-law and husband came out from Ohio a few days prior to prep for the move...but I wonder if anyone is ever reeeeally ready on game day? My dad also came down on Friday to help us pack the truck. We ended up hiring a couple of guys to "load/unload" in both CT and Ohio. Excellent move. Unfortunately it was bitter cold when packing the truck in CT and raining when unpacking in OH. But we got it done. Friday night we spent in a hotel room, with my Dad, IA and I in one room and my father-in-law and husband in another. Now, for those of you who know my father you know that his snores can rock the roof. Well, he was in full force that night and between him and having to sleep in the bed with IA, I was not refreshed the next morning. After an extra trip to Danbury, to get a hitch for one of our cars...part of the underestimating debauchel...we said goodbye to my Dad and took off. Saying goodbye to my Dad was really tough. He's in a rough place right now, hasn't really recovered from my Mom's death if you ask me, and leaving him, especially when he's so vulnerable, was extremely hard. The thing that made me smile was as I was leaving he reached for his wallet and asked me if I needed any money...instantly flashing me back to when I would leave for college. I guess I really will always be his little girl. After declining his generous offer we hit the road. One other thing to note, in one last amazingly kind gesture our CT friends MH and GH offered to take a heap of trash sitting in our front yard to the dump. It was one less thing I had to worry about and definitely made me sad to be leaving such thoughtful friends behind. So with my CD player full and Diet Coke in hand, we were off. I was in a car with IA and both my husband and father-in-law drove u-haul trucks (with one towing our truck). The drive was long and IA threw one monster fit, but all in all it wasn't actually too bad...especially considering I had minimal sleep the night before. 14 hours later we arrived in OH. We spent that night in a hotel and the next morning were greeted by many of my husband's family who had driven down from northern OH to help us unpack that day. Unpacking was fairly uneventful..except of coarse for the fact that my husband forgot to get the heat turned on! He ended up having the heat guys come out and we were toasty in a few hours. Moving in was MUCH easier than moving out and the house was full of boxes in about 3 hours.

Since that time I've been slowly unpacking and have completed most of it. The only exception is our office, which is still in boxes as the one move casualty was a couple of bookcases that got rained on (due to a leak in the u-haul roof). Pictures are on the walls and most things are where they will ultimately live. I still need a good storage solution for toys. Seems like they are invading our house and I need containment...fast. We now living in a house that is not quite twice as big as our last one and it's a whole different ballgame. I'm sure I'll get used to it, but there's something to be said for small cozy spaces! Our neighborhood is great. I really think we're going to be happy here. I've already met many of the neighbors and most have kids between 1-6. Unfortunately most of the kids around WA's age are girls. Thought I bet WA will appreciate those odds in a few years! Our next door neighbors have a little girl one month older than IA. Can't wait for them to meet. The other day WA was helping me shovel the driveway, and our neighbors invited him to sled in their driveway. I love that! So friendly. So much so that the New Englander in me is on nice overload. I haven't yet taken pictures of the house or kids. I promise to do that now that the worst seems behind us. Once I do I'll post a few on Facebook and this blog.

The other GREAT thing about the move has been the daycare situation. WA is thriving! His behavior is excellent (knock on wood...please don't let that be a jinx) and he responds to his teachers very well. He's slowly making new friends and is going to a birthday party tomorrow. Their new daycare offers a bunch of extra curricular classes (Jump Bunch..an "exercise class" of sorts, gymnastics and computer classes), they also have a "Village" where kids can pretend play and a gym. WA seems to appreciate this kind of variety and stimulation. IA hasn't been in as many days as WA (due to her illness), but she also seems to be doing well...though at her age it's really more about childcare than it is education. Last night WA came home and told me "Mom, I didn't even miss you today at school.". I broke out in a huge smile and told him that was great, because I, for one, see it as a sign that he is engaged and happy in his new environment.


Wuff, ok that was a long one. I'm going to stop now and will have more regular updates moving forward. I hope you all are well and that one day you will come see us (BF, AGF, KF...you have no choice:)), it's a great area with lots to do. I should be able to tell you more about that once we dig out from underneath all this snow!

The offical tally

Since moving to Ohio we've had:
- 4 out of 4 members of the household down for the count with various illnesses
- 2 bouts of homesickness (me and WA)
- 1 death of a sweet family friend
- 1 broken glass (not bad!)
- 80% of boxes unpacked
- 2 cookie deliveries by insanely nice neighbors
- 1 best friend b-day for which I still owe a present
- 3 snow falls (very light for the most part)
- 1 new major household appliance (go front loader go!)
- 1 new vacuum cleaner (thanks MB, I never believed in the power of the Dyson until now!)
- Many great holiday cards from friends and family (now gracing the fridge)
- 1 kids birthday party invite (already! I tell you people are so nice here!)
- Many visits to Facebook to see pictures of friends and family (again WA and I)
- 3 (ok, maybe 4) bouts of PMS
- Too many unbought X-mas presents to count
- 1 extremely happy kid now that we are all under the same roof again

For me, the first week was a long one, but I am feeling much better now that my environment is a little less chaotic. I am hopeful that once things settle and the holidays are over that this move turns out to be a good thing, especially for the kids. Transitions are always a little rough, I guess I just expected to be much more of a solid rock than I currently feel!

And in the spirit of my sister-in-law, AGF, leave mean comments so I don't cry:).

Welcome to Ohio!

Last night I had my first all-nighter in a looooong time. It wasn't nearly as fun as the all-nighters of yesteryear because this time I was up with a sick, puking kid. All. Night. Long. WA and IA started a new school on Monday and we have been phasing them in throughout the week, with help from my mother-in-law. So far things seemed to be going well, with IA hoping right in to the mix and WA being a bit more reserved. I think ultimately this new school was a great choice and once WA gets comfortable, he'll do well. The rooms appear very organized, the teachers are tough but kind and they have plenty of daily activities to keep the kids engaged (vs. it being a general free-for-all). The only down side so far, after 3 days, is that WA came home with a raging stomach bug (or maybe the flu?). When I picked him up yesterday he started complaining that his tummy hurt. My mother-in-law and I thought maybe it was his first case of real constipation since his poopies have been "sleeping" (his term, not mine) for a couple of days and he wasn't a complete wet noodle. Turns out he proved us wrong right when we stepped in the front door of our new house and proceeded to vomit all over the foyer (and me!). So we hunkered down for what ended up being a long night. He made it through and seems to be doing much better today. At the moment he's happily watching Charlie Brown's Christmas and dreaming of Santa's motherload.

I know this won't be the last night I spend nursing a sick kid, and I feel surprisingly good myself (however talk to me in 3 hours...), but I certainly hope this is not the way Ohio is gonna treat us, cause dang buckeye that just ain't kind!