MamaManagement

I have not shown up here on MamaManagement in many months. There are lots of reasons I could list as to why. But, I think the core of it is that I haven't had much to say. We've had a lot of "stuff" going on...all of which revolves around us moving from Pennsylvania to Illinois in August. Plus, for a while there, back in Spring and early summer, I was working hard on book revisions (decidedly NOT the case now. Sigh.). But mainly, I've just been really self-absorbed lately. Both in good ways and in bad. Truth be told, I've been a bit of a hermit these last few months. Much of my reclusiveness was born out of prepping for the move and then moving. Moving a family from one state to another is a full time job. And it's stressful. It throws your family's entire life off its rhythm. And, in my case, it also throws your mind, body, and spirit off-rhythm. My mind has had so much on it that it no longer works properly. Information flows in and out lik...

**Warning: You are about to read an emotional "dear diary-like" lamenting from my latent teenage, self-involved, emotional self. Just count your lucky stars that it doesn't include bad poetry. And be nice, or I'll dig out my bad poetry from when I was eleven and make you read it. Trust me. It's terrible. And painful to read. The Clocktower- Hudson, OH It's been five months since we moved from Ohio to Pennsylvania. All of the boxes have been unpacked. We are mostly settled into the new house. Many of the rooms have been painted (and then drawn on by the two year old). The kids are into a new routine at a new preschool. We've found our way around town. We go to the libraries every week. The kids are in gymnastics. I'm learning the new grocery store and even have a preferred gas station. The kids have a few favorite places to eat out. All in all, we're settled and doing well. For the first few months after the move I was overwhelmed with...

The last three weeks have been a whirlwind of activity and fun and chaos and stress and lots and lots of driving. Hell, the last three months have been filled with all those things too. Moving is hard. I guess that's why it's one of the most stressful life events. (It depends on which source you consult, but it typically lands just behind death and divorce on the list.) For me, it has definitely been a roller coaster of highs--like fun outings with the kids, sweet time with friends, and bonding time with family-- and lows (which I won't go into because I'm no longer focusing on the negative; but sufficed to say there were some pretty low lows…some tears and a bit of shouting and much jaw-clenching!). But here we are. In our new town. In our new preschool. In our new house…surrounded by boxes and unable to find many things and stalked by flies that joined the family during 8 hours of doors-wide-open whilst the movers unloaded the truck. Here we are at a new beg...

We're moving. Sigh. I have come to terms with the move. With leaving our home and our friends and the world we know so well, the world we've built over the last 13 years. I'm even beginning to look at building a new life in a new place as an exciting adventure. A new phase in our lives. It'll be fun to decorate a new house.. . But for the last two months I have been drowning in the ridiculously overwhelming amount of stuff there is to do to orchestrate a move. The sale of a home, the purchase of a home, the act of having all of one's belongings physically moved from one state to another, the closing down of one life, and the setting up of a new life in a new place (without even being there). And the exponentially greater difficulty of doing all of this with two small children and a dog. It has begun to feel like everyone involved in the process is either actively out to get us or, at the very least, only concerned with their own profit from our situatio...