So, after talking about it for over a year, we have finally decided to move to Steiner Ranch from our cozy little neighborhood in south Austin. As much as we love this area and our house, Jason is getting sick of commuting an hour each way, and I'd like him home in time to help with the whole dinner, bath, bedtime routine. That, in addition to a better school district for our children, finally got us motivated. So, we contacted our realtor and started a long "to-do" list of things we've been meaning to do to the house for a long time. Two weeks and a lot of elbow grease later, we were ready to list. The house was sparkly clean and thoroughly de-cluttered, with nary a sagging gate or cracked light fixture to be seen. Photos were taken, a sign went up in our yard, and we waited. We worried we had listed too late in the season and would not be able to sell, but after eighteen days on the market we had an offer. We are currently under contract with our house and have found a beautiful house in Steiner Ranch for which we are under negotiation. Now we have to move...shit.
When I first began to think about moving, I was overwhelmed. My brain raced with the process: First fix the house up, then sell it, then find a new one. How do we coordinate moving out and moving in? Can we close on them both at the same time? Will we need to stay with my parents in the interim? What about a new preschool for Jack? Will he adjust well to moving? In order to keep from exploding, I forced myself to only think about one step at a time, so I started with, "Fix up the house," and moved on from there. The downfall of this system is, now that we are actually to the part where we box stuff up and start taking in out of the house... well, I had kind of sort of forgotten about that part. And, as we have started packing things and moving them to my parents' house for temporary storage, I'm realizing how much stuff we use on a regular basis. There's a ton of stuff I can't pack until the last minute because we use it every day - the dishes, pots and pans, bottle warmer, kids' toys, clothes, towels, toiletries...But I can't pack it ALL at the last minute.
And, of course, there's nothing like moving to make you realize how much you don't need - stuff you kept "just in case" that you're simply not willing to pack and move. I had a cabinet full of nondescript cheap glass vases that I recycled instead of packing. I am also in the process of giving away all the baby stuff Gage doesn't use anymore. Some of it I feel some emotional attachment to, but not enough to pack and move it if I don't have to. There are some fairly silly things I can't let go of, though, like all my files and posters I made when I taught school. I may or may not go back to teaching some day, but regardless, I can't let it go. I worked so hard making, collecting and organizing it for years, and it was so valuable to me when I taught. So, even if it's heavy and bulky and annoying, I'm takin' it.
I know most of my postings have a point or a moral or some sort of cohesive theme giving them merit. This one is more of an inane rambling about selling the house and packing up all our crap, but since I feel more like a pack mule than a philosopher these days, I guess it's reflective of my life now. we all need themes and cohesive endings though, so the point of this one is...
Moving sucks, but we do it anyway.
