The One with the Countdown

Eight days and counting.  The house is ready for closing.  The utilities are scheduled to be turned off.  The mail has been forwarded.  The movers are scheduled.  The temporary house has been rented.  The long term temporary apartment has been rented.  Airline tickets have been purchased.

Still to do:  Hugo's airline ticket and crate.  Car shipping.  Packing.  Relaxing.  Eating all the frozen food in our freezer.  Drinking all the open liquor containers.  Should be fun.

I'm feeling a little like this:

The One with the Night Out

The Hooker and I are close.  She comes up and helps with my boys and they love her.  She's like a sister wife...but better because we don't share a man.

But recently I was trying to help her out.  Trying to find her a date.  It was a memorable evening with the Hooker and her best friend, Susan.

Photo bombers in the back! :)

So we were in our hometown in West Virgina and we saddled up to the bar.  I was chatting up the guy next to me...but he was with someone so I didn't think much about him.  He later told me that she was just a friend.  He had dark, curly hair and a beard.  Both had specks of gray.  He was nice, funny and charming...even if he was totally decked out in 80's gear.  Dress shorts, pin striped button down which I believe had a big RL or Polo logo on it and brown loafers..with no socks.  But I had hope.  Clothes and hair you can fix.  

We continued chatting about my husband and kids and his daughter.  He asked me about The Hooker.  I told him she was definitely single.  He was interested.  She was interested.  And so they began chatting.  And his sister's were there pimping him out.  We were discussing the high school he attended so I asked what year he graduated.  He said '83.  My sister and I looked at each other and it was like a choir was in the background singing HALLELUJAH!  We almost immediately said.."you look good"...our math may have been off since Hooker looked liked this:

But I was certain he was older than us!  He told us his sister was 28 and I said.."wow big age gap there" and he agreed and said..."long story".  We proceeded with the chatting.  And we also chatted with the photo bombers.  They were hilarious!

At some point Susan was talking with his sister and then the wispering started.  He looked at me and asked what was going on.  I had no idea.  Finally Hooker told me he was BORN in '83!  She was out of there so fast.  He said, "she's not going to talk to me again is she?"  I said..ah No!  And you don't look so good for 29!  LOSER! (Ok..so I didn't say those last two things until we left!)

Regardless, we had a good time.  Such a good time that we ended the night at Taco Bell at 2a...with a broken purse.

Good times...good times!

The One with the News

We've done it.  AB accepted the job.  We're moving.  West Coast in the houuzz!  We're leaving our comfortable Mid-West life and starting a new life somewhere in the Bay area.  

We've had so much going on the last few months.  In March, he had the phone interview.  April we went to visit and just think about the possibilities.  May was a lot of negotiating.  And thinking.  And we did a little NYC trek.  One day I would be totally against it but Andrew was full throttle.  The next day I would think, "he's right" and jump on the band wagon.  The next day Andrew was worried about my sister and her relationship with the boys.  And I would convince him she'd come to visit and their relationship would be even more special.  We would go back and forth for days.  One evening I couldn't stop crying.  Thinking of the worst things that could happen.  My parents.  It still chokes me up.  But I know they want me to be happy.  I'm not even sure when we made the decision to go forward.  It just kind of happened and we started making the plans.  Getting the house ready to sell.  Mapping out the dates to give our notice.  It just all started taking shape.

The best part of this for me is that I'll spend every day with my boys.  There were days that I would go to work and just feel so guilty for having someone else watch them.  It's so important to me to teach my kids..and I was letting someone else do it for me.  I don't think daycare is a bad experience or horrible.  In fact, I think it's pretty awesome.  But I want to be productive in their world and some days I really didn't feel up to it...and really wasn't doing anything I felt good about.  I was doing a job.  And although I enjoyed my job...it wasn't fulfilling any thing for me. 

The next best part is that I will be fulfilling a life-long goal.  When I was in high school I wanted to live near the beach.  I wrote in my high school journal that in 10 years I wanted to be living on the beach, working in fashion...maybe married.  I didn't mention kids because I wasn't sure about kids until I was around 25.  So I've worked in fashion for about 13 years.  It was a good run and some day...I may go back.  But now...it's time for the beach and my boys!  I can't wait!