My morning
I sit here in McDonalds in Missouri. The picture of this would be more fabulous if I was in a cozy Starbucks or Panera, but I’m just not that cool, really I’m not. Confession: I love McDonalds breakfast. It’s so gross, yet true.
I was recently checking out top life stresses online and ran across a quiz that rated how likely your recent experiences were to make you physically ill. I took it. I also took a quiz that told you what city you should live in. I found out I was in danger of becoming physically ill and I should move to Barcelona. Big day for me.
The weather
*he kept yelling at the wind. “stop it guys, stop it.”
I actually am finding this change fun. I have lived in California my whole life and I am looking forward to the unpredictable crazy weather that everyone is telling me about. I like change and I like extremes. While my friends are jogging the streets in shorts and tanks today no doubt in California, I woke up to 19 degrees and a “feels like zero” on my weather app. Hmmmm. It is cold. Crazy cold. When I tried to get gas on that below zero day a couple weeks back I swear I would have cried if I wasn’t scared that the teardrops would freeze my face off. So, while some dream of sun, dare I say I dream of snow? A white Christmas. I am glad I get to experience it. The grocery clerk asked me the other day where I had moved from and I said California. I got the typical head tilt and, “oh wow, and how come you moved to missouri thing”. So, I said “alright..what am I missing, EVERYBODY responds like that”…he says, “MA’AM it’s probably because of the weather”.
My week
By Monday at about 10 am it was clear that my goals were not going to happen. Chore charts, meal plans, school in session, etc. I had to dumb them down quite a bit. I spent the week, sick in bed, crying my guts out {not fun, but totally necessary in this process}, and finding things in this city. I have spent time exploring areas, trying to figure things out, and finding where my places are. You know the bank, the dry cleaners, blah blah blah…because one thing for sure everywhere you live things are different and I decided this time to try and figure some of this stuff out now, so I can make adjustments. Car washes like we have in California don’t seem to exist here and grocery stores are crazy different. The little things. The little things in the life of a mom. Just changes the way you do things.
One thing I have discovered is there is SO MUCH TO DO around here. Honestly, I am so excited about that. I could go on and on and I am sure you will see in my posts in months to come. I never really spent time thinking about what the midwest was like, but I guess I would have said fields and a red barn with a windmill. But nope, there are just tons of cool areas I can’t wait to check out. Lots of museums, shopping, dining, artsy things, and on and on. I have an ever growing list of places I want to take the kids.
My days
We are super comfortable in the temporary housing we are in but I can not tell you how excited I am to get into our own home and unpack. I feel all out of sorts. Which is probably good for me. We all need to be disrupted at times and I am trying to make the most of it. For I recognize without a home to maintain I do have more time to play, rest, and BE with my kids. All good things. All good things are happening with our new home as well. We are on track to close escrow somewhere around Valentines Day…
*performing for the local mall. kinda rad to be in a town where you know like 7 people. The likelihood of running into them at somewhat embarrassing moments is very slim.
My chickens
I miss them. Kinda weird, but I do. In our new house we aren’t allowed to have them. It seems like most places to live around here are subdivisions with rules. No chickens seems to be the normal. So I will go back to buying eggs.
I will miss their chubby cluckiness in my yard. A lot. We sold the hens to friends of ours from church. He is a chef. He swore he wouldn’t eat them. I only half believe him, although he promised.
We were about to get a goat in California before we left. Ironic we left our wanna be farm in California to move to the midwest and we can’t have one here. We are going to live right near a lake. Maybe I can have a duck or something? ya think?
You know what is fabulous?
My husband has worked a six day work week for the past 5 years and now he works a five day work week. There are no words for the level of joy this brings me for our family. One day off just is not enough to unwind. We are enjoying this change a LOT, because we kinda like him.
*also fabulous, the local thrift shop. Vest for the wee one and a Isaac Mizrahi mug for me. $3.00 bill for the win.