Home

What a confusing word. When we pulled up at our old house in Ohio it was 10:30 at night. But the second Eva saw it she said- “Mama’s house!!!” I have no idea why she called it Mama’s house but I had to agree. She was so excited to be in it.

We had nice weather up there (and ironically it snowed in Chapel Hill while we were gone). I think she was most excited about her backyard. She is for sure an outside kinda girl.

When we got in the car after one more walk-thru our empty house (and a night at a hotel) Eva said, “I want to go home”. I had no idea where she meant. I looked at Andy and said, “well we don’t really have a home right now, do we?”

But when we walked into the townhouse at 11pm she said, “yay, home!”

Oh man I hope not. We are having issues with the new house and our closing has now been delayed until March 7th. It’s not the end of the world but now all of our stuff has to go into storage. And I have moved enough times to know that the more on and off a truck you get the more chance for damage and/or losing stuff. Not to mention the extra cost for the storage.

It is what it is. It’s out of our hands. I’m trying to not get upset that the lender waited so long to tell us they had an issue with the appraisal. It’s frustrating but that’s the way it goes.

Today is going to be a long day for some tired boys. Especially Cole. All three boys stayed with friends all weekend so lots of late nights. Only Austin woke up in a good mood and not tired. Teenagers know how to sleep in!

I am fully expecting the boys to be moody this week. No one wanted to come back. Lots of complaints when I made the round to pick up kids. But by the time they settled into the car everyone seemed fine. I know it could be a tough week. I really appreciate all the comments and emails- the encouragement keeps me going!!

Going back to our house was not easy, I knew it wouldn’t be. It was weird. The house felt like it shrunk. I don’t think Austin has gotten any taller but when he stood in our family room his head was inches from the fan. Everyone walked around commenting on how the house was smaller than they thought. Our townhouse is small- but has high ceilings- so maybe that is it.

Austin kept saying there are no trees in Ohio. How quickly he got used to living in a forest.

I realized that I miss my stuff, the pics of my kids, our couch, my clothes, everything… more than the walls that held all of that stuff.

Last night as we drove through the mountains of West Virginia and then Virginia which is now becoming more and more familiar- We count the toll booths (3) and the tunnels through the mountains (2) as markers to how much longer. It’s weird, this whole starting over. We will continue to have our ups and downs. But right now, even though we have the uncertainty of our house hanging over our heads I am ok. Ready to embrace this new life. And for now I feel like when I am having a good day I need to really embrace it because I know from experience that tomorrow might be one my teary days. Ups and downs, keep swimming.

After we closed on the house, I ran into the new owner in the hallway. I told him to take care of my house. He smiled and said, “I will. But I want you to know that I am actually jealous of you. I would LOVE to be moving to Chapel Hill”.

And since it is supposed to be in the 70’s this week, well that just makes me a happy girl.

So…. Moving on. I’m thinking a lot about this

When we lived in Ohio the kids (when they were in 4th or 5th grade) had to do a project called “Danger along the Ohio”. It was a big project.

The other day I noticed when I was picking up Cole that a bunch of the older kids were walking out with paper mache light houses.

And I realized that it will be fun learning all new history. Did you know Blackbeard the pirate was killed on the Outer Banks?

So that’s if for this Monday, oops it’s Tuesday. Settling in, finding our new groove. Moving on.