Dear California...

California Coastline at Laguna Beach by kancp26

As my husband and I prepare to leave Southern California in just 2 days, only 1 day past the 6 month mark of becoming residents here, so much is going through my mind. 

SoCal has always been a part of our lives.  We vacationed here for years and eventually bought a second home in Palm Springs, CA.  Then we moved here, knowing it would be a stop along the way to somewhere else- but not realizing the stop was only going to be short one.

So as we move on, I will bid California farewell with this:

Dear California,
You are beautiful.  It is true.  Your beauty is varied and seemingly endless. 
You are warm and bright.  Your skies are bluer than I could have ever imagined.  
There is just so much to do here.  I now understand why Mark Twain said he wondered how anyone in California could ever die because everyone is so healthy here.
Your attitude is laid back and your people are more excited to greet the weekend or a holiday than anyone else I have ever met.  I am still so surprised to be told  'Happy Weekend' starting on a Thursday!

However, my dear California, I have also learned some truths about you.  You are crowded beyond belief.  Your traffic and costs are out of this world.  Its not fun to try to get to do all the wonderful stuff you have to offer when it's nearly impossible to get to those activities.  It feels like there ought to be another form of currency here so normal people can do such exotic things as buy a house or retire.  And California, your limits on freedom are certainly not for me.  It seems that your people are fine and good with tiny loud places to live and paychecks spread ultra thin while more and more rules drop into their lives via the government.
Oh California, how I wish I could keep your warm sun and live at the beach one day.  How I know that this experience of 6 short months will forever change how I look at life.  I will remember and relish the feeling of knowing that I can make it in a new home.   I will appreciate the fact that there is no perfect place and that everyone must find what works for them.  California, you didn't work for us.  We will visit you and we won't wonder 'what if'.  We are moving on.

Dear Universe, We're Ready Now

Lest you forget, as I am so prone to 'detours' along the way, this blog was mainly created to document and share my process of moving out of state- to a place that suits my inner self a bit better than the 'lovely in many ways- yet not quite for me' Northwest/Seattle area that I was born into and am still currently residing in.

This week as I slave away at making my typical Northwest jungle of a yard (yes, I had a friend from Texas ask me why people don't ever trim their yards out here and I had to reveal that we do trim them all the time and then the Sasquatch comes along at night and sprinkles the vegetation with magic dust that makes it all grow back to where it was before) come into some type of less unkempt shape, my husband is working over 3 different job possibilities.  Any one of these jobs will be good for us in some form or another and they will all get us to SoCal.  My husband is in different places within the process with each of these jobs and there is no guarantee that any one of them will actually be offered to him.  However, let's face it, the odds are good that he can get at least one of these to become a bonafide offer.

I am hopeful and accepting of the idea that whatever job comes around, it will be what we need.  I am also simply amazed at how this process has resulted in my husband becoming more secure in who he is and what he has to offer.  I am just so pleased to see a tiny bit of ego coming around for that man.  He has worked hard and deserves to believe in himself.

This process has been crazy.  From coming into the idea that I could ever even think of leaving the only place I've ever called home, to landing on the fact that we love Texas in ways we never could have imagined, to realizing that for this particular season of life Southern California is the right place for us.  This has been a roller coaster of surprises and realizations.  And my husband and I both sense that it is all coming to a resting spot soon.  We have good plans for what each of us would like to do for the next 3 years or so and a direction for where to go over the next decade.  We are excited to find out what the universe has in store!

This Time It's Different

Where the heck have I been lately???

Ah, I have been scrubbing and painting and selling and trashing and planting and just plain getting this house ready to sell!

I had the first of many garage sales, that will end up with me having very little of what I currently own, last Friday.  I sold so much that I barely had anything to take to the Goodwill after the sale.

My husband has applied for a remote position with his current company just in case we have trouble with him getting another job in SoCal.  Either way, we have both agreed there will not be another winter spent here.  Nope, it's just not happening.  We'll probably have a more definitive answer as to exactly what job my husband will end up at in another month.  It sure would be nice if we weren't so darn responsible and were willing to just go without employment.  But these days, that's just not prudent...

All I know is that throughout this whole process of wanting and planning to move, we've never been more certain of a direction and a purpose.  So Southern California it will be.  And I am still in shock as to how good this feels and how right it all seems.  Although Texas is a place that feels welcoming and wonderful, I am now feeling that Southern California is a place that has always lived in my heart.  I know I need to experience living there, at least for a while.  It's not simply a coincidence that we ended up with a second home in Southern California.  And our hearts literally ache every time we leave our place in Palm Springs.  Now it's time to make SoCal our full time home.  (Yes, all words of not being willing to do such a thing are being eaten as you read this!)

What I long to be closer to......

Now for another thing that's different this time around.  This one is not so much fun, but honestly to be expected. 

My sister went to prison last Thursday to serve out her time.  She failed in the drug rehab and was caught lying to the drug court judge.  She won't be spared this time.

Of course I am disappointed, but again not surprised.  As my nephew so appropriately commented:  "Why can't she just do what she's supposed to?"

I'm sure I will have deeper feelings about this at some point.  Honestly, right now, I have just accepted the fact that this is who she is.  For now, I feel stronger than ever that moving on from my sisters drama is the healthiest thing to do.

And in that direction, I shall head back to my moving related tasks.  Heck, at least it keeps me busy enough not to cry at all the government overreach that is currently scaring the hell out of me!

How about you?  What's up in your world?  Are you headed in a new direction?

What If Wednesday, The Quick Move Edition

As I am knee deep in the very last hours of helping my longtime client/friend with her impending move to Hawaii (she leaves at o' dark thirty tomorrow morning), I certainly have moving on the brain.
So my 'what if' for today shall reflect that and a little bit of my own fastest ever move back when I was a kid.

Today's question:  What if you had to move out of your house in 3 hours?  What would you take with you?  What would you leave behind?  How would the time crunch affect your choices?

My inspiration for today's question is obviously all about moving and how that's been on my mind for like, oh forever now.  And watching my friend get to her big dream of moving to Hawaii has been super crazy and fun.  Moving over water is quite different from a land move!  Oh, the choices that must be made!  The craziness of it all reminds me of the time when I was 4 and we moved out of a rental house in 3 hours flat.  It was a small house and we were in trouble!  Many friends helped us out.  But the thing I remember most about that move is that it was such a wonder that it never felt like we had left anything really important behind.

So tell me all about your moving experiences- real or imagined!  What 'moves' you in deciding what stays or goes when you have to/decide to move?

Abstract Motion, Blurred Meadow stock photo found at freedigitalphotos.net

Onward And Upward

No worries here. 
Annoyed and irritated with this whole endeavour of getting to Texas, but never defeated.

I think back to our other life adventures and heck this trying to move to Texas thing is simply going peachy, in comparison.  So, whatever... I'm over it- for now.

The big news around here is that I'm getting a new mattress delivered on Wednesday.  Yay!  I've been putting this off for about 2 years- thinking that if I was planning to move, then I didn't need one.  But my back and my hips are saying it's time.  So if the worst that happens is that I end up leaving behind a 'practically brand new mattress', well hell there's worse things that can happen.

Like putting your life on hold. 

Really people, we shouldn't ever be doing that. 

'Cuz it's more annoying than an HR department that doesn't read resumes and it can lead to a real pain in the ass. 

Literally.

"Doctor Does Injection To Patient" by renjith krishnan

Found at: freedigitalphotos.net

Moving On

My definition of psycho goes a lot like this:  when somebody hasn't had contact with you in almost a decade and they decide that it's a good idea to send stuff and call repeatedly for a period of time every couple of years just to see if there's an opening there, you can be pretty sure they're most probably psycho...

Just to be clear- No, there's not an opening.  And this is just psycho bull$h*t.  And I'm not putting up with it any more. 

In the words of our local sheriff: I deserve a peaceful life. 

I'm no longer going to think twice before I open my door or answer my phone.  I'm not going to feel like a hostage in my own home or anywhere else. 

Allow me to put a message out to the universe since I'm pretty sure you haven't found this blog (and I'm oh so grateful for that) -
You don't own me.  I have my own life hard fought for and hard won.
Hope you're not too psycho to heed your cease and desist letter. 
The law is on my side and I intend to end this for good this time.
Remember: you're on felony probation so I wouldn't mess with this if I were you.
Just sayin'.
Laugh often, love much, live well.