Archive for October, 2010

teeter totter…

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

I am starting to feel like a normal person again.  Let me explain….

Eight weeks ago, Robert started a new job in Sarasota, FL.  His job in South Carolina was not a good fit from the start.  That being said, he was not looking for another job.  The guys in FL came after him.  It was a courtship that ebbed and flowed for over a year.  As things in South Carolina deteriorated, it became clear that this was the right opportunity for our family.  It was not an easy decision.  Apart from the job, we loved Anderson.  The girls were thriving in an excellent school.  We had a fabulous gang of neighbors.  A great house.  Close proximity to family.  A great community.  The list goes on and on.  But the job was just not there. Robert was stuck in a corporate environment.  He is a creator, a builder, a visionary.  Like it or not, Robert is just not a corporate person.  I think that you spend too much of your life at work to hate it.  The goal is happiness and stability!

So once the details had been hammered out, Robert headed off to Florida while the girls and I stayed in SC until the time for our move came.  It was a long 5 weeks of traveling back and forth on weekends, packing, researching, adjusting, searching, planning and trying to stay sane.  In hindsight that was the easy part.

The movers came and we made the long drive down.  We camped out in the house with a couple of air beds until the furniture arrived.  When the movers got to our new house, we went from empty to stuffed-to-the-gills with only trails leading from room to room in a mere 6 hours.  It looks a little like an episode of Hoarders.

This is the part that has driven me to the edge.  Teetering on the brink of my sanity.  I am usually an organized, calm, on time, relaxed person.  It has been 5 days and I still haven’t found my soap.  Or the broom.  Or the brackets for the one shelf I really need to set up in the kitchen.  Or the Barbies.  Or the Febreeze.  Or the girls hairbrush.  Or my favorite tennis shoes.  The list goes on and on….

I know that with the weekend coming up we will manage to get a lot done and I will probably be able to find everything.  But I’m not an overly patient person.  I’m a know-it-all who likes to be in charge.  What can I say…I’m a stay at home mom to three little girls.  I have to be the CEO…and the CFO…and the COO…and the person that has to make dinner and clean the toilets and listen to the girls shout “Mom!  Have you seen my _____ ?”.

In time we’ll get there.  We are living in paradise and the job is a dream come true.  I just have to take a deep breath and step away from the edge of the pit of insanity.  That’s a leap I can’t afford to make!

promises, promises…

Saturday, October 9th, 2010

When we told the girls that we were moving to Florida, I promised them that they could have a party with their friends before we left.  Today was the day that I kept my promise.  Between 3 and 5 this afternoon, there were 10 little girls running amok in my house.  Laura had friends over for her birthday party last weekend so today’s bash consisted of Abigail and Hattie’s friends.  Laura was the go between.  As the girls split themselves into two groups, Laura played mediator darting back and forth relaying plans and secrets.  Some of the girls were dressing up in our myriad of princess gowns, some were running around outside.  There were lots of laughs, a few tears and even more squeals of delight.  At the end of the 2 hours, the girls were picked up one by one until it was down to our three.  Abigail, Hattie and Laura were left hungry, smiling and exhausted.

This move is bittersweet for all of us.  We have loved Anderson.  We have made life long friends that we will miss wholeheartedly.  But the job is too good to pass up.  It is a bright opportunity in a cloudy economy and all five of us are thankful for it.

The girls have been in bed less than an hour and they’re already well into the snoring competition.  Score 1 for Mom!