It's starting to sink in that my time here is growing very short. Not my time on Earth, sillies... just my time here in Texas. I was born here. I've lived 36 years of my life here. There was that short time warp in Mississippi that I can't seem to wrap my head around... seemed like forever, but couldn't have been more than a couple of years... you'll have to forgive me - I was a kid, it was a long time ago so shuddup. The majority of my life has centered around the same 10 mile radius. This is where most of my friends are, this is where my parents are, this is my comfort zone.... My traffic-infested comfort zone. I'm really starting to hate it here... too many people.
When I started dating Mike I knew I was in for an adventure. I also knew we were in it for the long haul even before we officially started dating. Somehow I knew he was it for me, he was the one... can't explain it, it just works. So at some point early on, when he flat out told me that he was going to get me out of League City, I knew he wasn't joking. And I was ready for a change, had been for a while. It's taken almost three years to get here, but his prophecy is at long last being fulfilled.
At first we thought we were headed for Austin. Austin is a nice place, or it was until it got to be so crowded. Guess too many people saw the allure of it so the property values soared, the traffic snarled, and to be honest it has become something of a headache to navigate. Then we considered a suburb outside of Dallas, but we weren't terribly excited about it... it was a job opportunity, and the area is nice, but it is still suburban, and we were ready for rural. We decided to expand our horizons a bit and open the door to the possibility of living somewhere outside of Texas (gasp! did such a place exist?). We actually went about it somewhat scientifically... we compared taxes, we evaluated gun laws, we looked at what the terrain had to offer and weighed it against the value of the land. We decided on Tennessee because it was a good fit all the way around, so we did something daring (for me anyway) - we hopped on a plane and went for a visit. Then we fell in love... with the people and the land. By the end of that first trip it already felt like home.
So here we are today. We're downsizing from a 4-bedroom house to a fifth wheel (a nice one). We were going to sell my house, now we're renting it out (still not sure how I feel about that). We were going to make the house available on July 1, now it's June 1. I'm quitting my job so that I can travel with Mike. Then there is the 2-5 year plan to start Nashoba, our wolf refuge - daunting to say the least (but thrilling). I am excited about these changes, but they also make me very nervous. We
have a lot to do and some days I wonder if we'll get there or if it's all going to fall
apart.
NASA seems to be out of fashion lately. The public doesn't seem to give a crap about it anymore, and morale is low with all the layoffs we've suffered since the shuttle program was decommissioned. I've always been irritated that most people don't understand that NASA is about far more than space. The research that is done here has bettered people's lives in so many ways, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Tang or freeze dried ice cream. That said, I don't love my job. I like the people, there is some prestige in saying I work at NASA (even though I am only a contractor... and a budget analyst at that), but a job is a job is a job and very few can honestly say that they enjoy what they do. Over the past few years, the fun has been sucked out of it... too much red tape, budget issues, manpower shortages and so on. Plus, I'm not quite as professional as I probably 'should' be, because I refuse to conform. Still, with the countdown clock ticking away, and even though my leaving is voluntary... it feels like I grabbed onto a trapeze, forgot to put on the harness, and just found out that the union went on strike just before they hung my net. I've been training my replacement for the past month, I don't know why it's important to me to leave them in capable hands but it is... I've worked with most of these people for thirteen years so they feel a bit like family. It at least makes me happy that we hired someone I feel is capable, and in my opinion, she's going to do nicely.
Everything seems so complicated. We try to get something accomplished and there's always some hassle. Even
the mail is complicated... we are so rural that we have to apply for a
911 address... have never heard of such a thing. Was trying to be
proactive and get that taken care of before we move, but we have to
apply in person. Kinda sucks because I have to figure out where to have
our mail forwarded to. We are trying to get most things sent to us electronically,
but there are magazines and other things here and there that can't be helped. Think we can have things sent to general delivery at the local post office until we get it all sorted out.
So now that most everything else has finally fallen into place, we can start to focus our efforts on the process of relocation. We have a truck that seems reliable... we like it a lot, barring some minor issues here and there. We have a hitch that just needs to be installed and that should happen within the next couple of days. There are some repairs to the fifth wheel that need to be seen to (primarily the hydraulics on the self-leveling jacks). "All" that's left now is packing up the house, putting our building up, and moving in (I can't say 'erecting' without giggling so I mostly don't even try to say 'erecting', hahaha... 'erecting'). I scheduled a mover yesterday, U-Pack... so far, so good... which basically means I like their pitch, but beyond that we'll have to see. The building... that is something I'm not looking forward to... we are most likely going to be putting that up ourselves, and we have to fabricate our own end walls. We had the land cleared, water lines are run, septic is in, and my cousin, Jason, is in the process of pouring the foundation. He does amazing work, so we can't wait to see how everything has come together once he's done.
If I don't look at the big picture for too long I don't get (as) overwhelmed. I try to keep things in perspective, break it down into manageable tasks. Some days it's easier said than done. Last night I was all kinds of pouty. Today I'm good. Don't know what tomorrow brings.
