Living in Chaos

I'm by no means the worlds most orderly person.  There's always dishes to be done, toys on the floor and unfolded laundry sitting in a pile. My house is generally messy, but rarely dirty.  Living in organized chaos is acceptable.

The status of my house and life now, mid cross country move, is making me look at online Canadian Pharmacies for Xanax.  (Not really, government, please don't come after me.  I'm actually coping by drinking bourbon and taking lavender baths). 

This was new 3 weeks ago

                                                               
The first issue is the status of the house.  The relocation plan actually requires the movers to pack for us.  That sounds easy but it brings a unique set of challenges.  Before Brett even applied for this new job we had made the decision to try and get out of this house.  We had already started painting, purging and packing stuff in storage to make staging the house for sale easier.  For insurance reasons the movers will now have to unpack then repack those boxes.

That gets difficult as we make improvements to the house so we can sell/rent it.  As we paint rooms and make minor repairs, stuff that we won't need just gets shuffled around.  Walking through our tiny house is hazardous.  There's a piano in my dining room. "Where the hell is my (insert essential item for living here)" gets said daily.

That's minor compared to my biggest stress: We don't know where we are moving and we don't know when it's going to happen. It's May 5th.  We gave the movers a window between May 15 and May 20th but they haven't given us a set date yet. I can't make plans to clean the house and carpets, put the house on the market (there's no point in trying to sell it when our crap is everywhere) and plan for final goodbyes until I know when the movers are coming.

That's all well and good since when they do come, I can't tell them where they are supposed to deliver our stuff.  I COULD BE MOVING ACROSS THE COUNTRY IN 10 DAYS AND YET I STILL DON'T HAVE A PLACE TO LIVE!!!!

Oy.

Much of this is our own fault, which I'll admit, but I'm still stressing!  Unless the St. Joseph's buried in our yard takes pity on us, our house will never sell.  Therefore, we will be renting for awhile in Ohio, which is great as it gives us the flexibility to explore Cincinnati neighborhoods before settling.

Help us out, dude. 

After 8 years in the suburbs, we're trying to find a place in the hip, walkable, more urban parts of the city. Unfortunately, so is everyone else.  Home rentals, especially affordable ones, in those areas go quick and we're finding places get snapped up before they can get listed online. Brett's heading up next weekend to get a better handle on the situation.

So for a few months, it looks like we will be in temporary housing in the 'burbs.  That's dandy except it means moving twice in a short amount of time.  Again, since our relocation package is pretty great, we have 90 days in which the movers will store our stuff and then bring it to what will hopefully be our home for at least a year. I'm trying to figure out a way to determine the essentials needs for 3 months and then organize it so the movers know what's temp housing and what's storage.

It's all a good stress. Living more simply will be good for us. I'm truly excited about this move. But it's terrifying. And frustrating.  And my sanity is tested.  I'm trying to remain calm for Max because even at 3, he's an empath and he takes on everyone's stress. We will get through this.  Many people have made this move without the luxury of a Cadillac relocation plan and the flexibility of friends and family willing to help.  This will all be over soon.

However, if anyone knows a good colorist in Cincy, send me their name. My grey hairs are really starting to sprout.

The Midwestern Mothership is calling us home.

Until six weeks ago, I only knew the following things about Cincinnati.

1) My husband went to college at University of Cincinnati

2) Their idea of "chili" is gross.

3) Chad Ochocinco once played for the Bengals.

4) The Cincinnati airport is actually in Kentucky.

5) I can't spell Cincinnati without spell check.

That's it.  Five things.  Cincinnati was just a blip on my radar. I had nothing against it. I just didn't  know anything about the Queen City.  Now, I'm going to learn a heck more about it, as it's about to be my new home.

There was a point in my life where I just assumed Savannah would be my home for the rest of my life. It was here I got my first "real" job and car, met my husband, became a homeowner, had a child. It's where I've established all those "adult" things like dentists, primary care physicians and a hair stylist who squeezes you in her schedule because you tip well. It's here I met amazing friends who will stay my friends despite a move 681 miles north. It's here I learned that I'm not exactly the biggest fan of winter.

However, things changed. Friendships, jobs, priorities. Once Max was born, I started to feel the tug of the Midwest on my heart. I hated that he only gets to see his grandparents a few times a year and his aunts and uncles even less. I missed living in a larger city, with more opportunity for concerts, museums, professional sports and festivals. The rolling hills and soft grass of the Midwest became harder to leave behind after a visit home.

While the nitty gritty doesn't need to shared, a flood of things happened all at once, allowing us an opportunity to move to Cincinnati. While, my faith and spirituality has been tested as of recent, I feel this string of events was God's way of saying "It's okay.  This is the right step".

I'll miss Savannah with all my heart.  I'll be back frequently. There's a deep guilt and sadness that comes with saying goodbye to the ones we love. However, underneath the turmoil and panic that comes with a quick cross country move, I have a deep sense of peace.

This is what we were meant to do.