Where to start?

Sometimes, do you feel like someone has just asked you to move a beach, one grain of sand at a time? Which grain of sand do we move first and to where?



Moving seems simple enough at first. You think: "Oh great, a fresh start - a new beginning!" Then all the icky details start to present themselves to you such as: the thousand little household tasks, uncovering or replacing vents and windows, getting the house power-washed, making sure both cars are travel-worthy when one really needs to be traded in, going through clothes and items for Goodwill...we don't want to move things we do want to keep. Making arrangements with the movers, the packers, finding the right date to move in to the rental, getting that set up with the rental agency, and when to start work...how to handle the four cats and Molly too. Oh, it goes on: getting the carpets cleaned and clutter removed to show the house better. Having photos taken and the house listed online, deciding on a price, dealing with people coming to look at it time and again....keeping it clean! Working out the logistics on getting us there in one piece. In the meantime, the daily tasks need to be done too...laundry, meals, bills need to be paid, and Molly does need our attention, love and time...lots of time...and diaper changes and playing and rocking to sleep and, and, and . . . . . . . . . . . AAGGHH!!!

> > > insert mini-stroke here < < <

(ok, where were we?)

At the moment, we are a bit paralyzed with too much to do. Where do we begin? It's not as though we haven't done this before. We are somewhat experienced at the tremendous upheaval of moving from one city to another. For some reason, this move just feels harder than the last one. Maybe because of the initial impact our move to Richmond had on us...we're afraid of that happening again? At least this time, we won't be staying in a cruddy apartment in a rough part of town with guns going off at night and fights in the parking lot. Also, this time, we aren't leaving our families and friends behind. That was very hard for us when we left Albuquerque.

Our first impression of Richmond was not a good one...but oh how that changed in a few months. Once we got settled in to a nice home in a nice neighborhood, we grew to love Richmond...especially Mechanicsville where we live now. It is a great area and we will miss it.

I can only hope that we will grow to love Knoxville as much as Richmond. I guess we will find out soon enough. We will be there sometime next month. After we iron out all the details and send many more emails, we'll know for sure the date of our arrival.

How can a 450 mile move feel so far? Now, it's time to decide which grain of sand to move next. Clean the garage? - or - Empty the attic?