The trouble with Moving is. . .

Well, moving poses lots of trouble I suppose. In Chicago, not only do you need a realtor, but you also need a lawyer and everyone hires an inspector and then there are all those city taxes. Don't even get me started on the Deep Tunnel Project's Impact on Northside Homeowners (book I'm working on after the Edens Flood a few years back). But, the thing is, when you're getting ready to move - your house looks sooo good. This weekend, we completed one of several painting projects. This one was mostly some touchup work, but included replastering an area that leaked before we got new windows. We also re-arranged all the wall art - they say you have to get rid of "personality" on your walls. The wedding pictures, the family vacation photos, all came down. More patching, moving around. And, it looks good with all the stuff on the walls, but in some places, it looks better without! (doh - candidate for some reality show here) So, they say to get rid of all that personality, but I distinctly remember looking at a condo that was a tribute to George Washington and at a house that should have had a disco ball given all the 70's-vintage appliances within it - isn't THAT personality?! We seriously considered them both! Anyways, the trouble with moving is that your house just looks sooo good as you prepare for it - you repaint, refinish, refurbish, reject and even actually clean it (haven't gotten to that part yet) - who WOULDN'T want to move into it! And, in this house, unlike the condo we sold to move into, doesn't even have a black ceiling (another topic) - most of the ceilings are even white! So, if you think you might want to live near the river on the city's northside in a darling little community once known as Budlong Woods, look us up. Great curbside appeal; one block from schools; motivated sellers; new paint and we might even give you our house-cleaner's phone number!

The Battle of Time

In a lot of ways, time is not our friend when we consider this move. We want to be able to finish up the school year, but be firmly in place before the next. Meantime, we need to find time to find new jobs, a new home and leave the existing ones. Put that on top of the my own angst about my current job. As in, I hate it. It hasn't been right since day 1 and I've been ready to quit and now that i know that I will (soon), I'd prefer to do it today. But, how long will it really take to find a decent position (and pay) in or around Cedar Rapids? And, can we take a position sooner but wait to actually start based on our own ideal timeframe? So, we continue through each day as if nothing has changed, battling the anxiety associated with the decision we've made. After all, if we were handed a job in Cedar Rapids today, we wouldn't want it! We're just not ready! In another 30 days we might see things differently, but patience has never been one of my strong points. Sigh.
We're off this weekend to explore the housing market anyway. I think I am clinging to the house search as something tangible. Something I can waste time on the web with and something I can dream about. Everything else is too untouchable for now. And, the house search is fun - do we want something on a few acres of land (homemade salsa and pesto from my 2-acre garden?) or something nestled in one of those high-brow (no corn fields nearby) neighborhoods next to the country club with a swimming pool out back(make that 'cement pond').
I am glad that February is close to arriving so that we can begin to cross a few more things off the list. In the meantime, I toil away at some long term efforts that i know I will not be seeing through. I only hope I can keep my head above water at work, keep management off my back and maybe make a sale or two that I will get paid for before I leave.

Embracing the Decision

D "quit" his job yesterday. I say "quit" because he works for such a small place, they can't truly repplace him and I imagine that he can hang out there as long as he likes. But, he had to resign otherwise they'd never replace. I guess that means we've completed STEP 1 in the Chi to IA move. Whew. i could probably sit down and moan and wail about it for a long time if I think too deeply. But, we have a lot to do and a lot of people to prepare. Right now, most of my visions for the move are on the romantic side - we'll get this sprawling place in the country that everyone wants to come visit and everyone will; we'll see the grandparents once or twice a week; I'll find a Yoga Studio a block from my farm; we'll buy a condo in downtown Chicago and frequent it whenever we want; I'll jet into the City every few months to hang out with our friends and do city things, like shop at Whole Foods and in Lincoln Square and buy real seafood and ethnic spices. I suppose I need a few months now to come to grip with reality - no Zagats, for one! And, I suppose I'll need to constantly remind myself that while we're leaving a pretty good gig, we're on to a new adventure. One where our kids will be able to be out and about more, where they may not be able to read a transit map to save their life, but a compass will prove to be much more useful, where they learn the origin of a porkchop and appreciate it and that corn doesn't come in cans and can be real stinky to grow. So what if they have no idea who Richard Daley is or can't distinguich between Picasso and O'Keefe - at least they'll be able to vote Republican OR Democrat in every election and they'll be able to learn to drive on roads that no one ever travels and a 30-mile drive or commute will take them less than an hour.

So, off we go. I made lots of lists, too, by the way. We need to get this old house ready to go back on the market. I wasn't finished with it yet and I have yet to throw that big deck party on that new edifice, but on we go. Wrap it up, move it out. Iowa here we come!!

The Begining

It all started in December, 2005. We were planning our Christmas visit to MI, where C's family lives - three sisters and their families and the 'rents. Four women collaborating about something can create a lot of drama. S1 calls (the practical one) - "you're going to be surprised. Dad looks awful. He's lost lots of weight. Something is wrong. You shouldn't stay at their house. So, I call S2 (the drama coach). She says "you will FREAK, he is SOOO skinny". You need to stay with me." I check in with S3 (the baby), just to make sure. Several clandestine calls to mom when dad's asleep. LOTS of drama. We make the visit, stay with the rents anyway. Dad ends up in emergency and is later handed a Christmas Card from his new lung cancer docter. BAM! So, there is drama, there are the holidays and we head back to our non-family island in Chicago. We ponder, we nest, we have a quiet holiday.

C says to D, "you should think about your parents". A couple weeks later D announces that he wants to look for a job in IA (D's parents live there). The situation in MI is still not clear and C does freak this time. No way! But, a week passes, the Cancer Doctors give some hope and Dad starts treatment. Emotions emanating from MI have quieted. C begins to agree. IA is calling.

We start to talk about it home. We lose lots of sleep. We start to talk about it with friends. We start to talk about it with family. D's parents are giddy. We tell them on a Thursday night, on Friday morning, Mom is emailing D's job interview schedule. Can she have his resume? (fear that she'll paste the baby picture on it sets in). C decides to test the sister connection. "What's the difference" S2 says, "Chicago or IA, you're not here". Hmmm. S1 agrees. Still need to call S3 - the baby is always the last to know. Now Mom. Her response was sprinkled with understanding and a little old-fashioned-ness - "married women usually end up following their's husband's family". REALLY??!! She calls back a couple hours later. "Dad thinks IA is better than Chicago." (He likes to fish, hates the big city - of COURSE he'd say that!)

And, the momentum seems to be in place. We begin the journey of picking up our 2 boys, our dog, our junk and moving them into a corn field. Does IA have Starbucks?? There isn't ONE SINGLE Zagat-rated restaurant in the WHOLE state! Can I get internet there???! After 15 wonderful years in the Windy City. Fifteen years of playing in Lincoln Park and on the lakefront and in the City and riding the El and wathcing the Lincoln Ave motels come down. I feel like it will be a 'long walk off a short pier'. I need to go make a list.