It’s been a month since my husband and I left Arizona for our new life in Massachusetts.
It’s been two months since I started my sabbatical for my marketing business, and stopped volunteering for KWSS Independent Radio.
This is Part One of Two. I have so many things on my mind and this doesn’t have to be a novel. This post will cover my personal thoughts after leaving Arizona. Part 2 will cover my business thoughts. Please forgive the stream of consciousness.
It’s been quite the whirlwind, at least in my brain. I went from doing ALL THE THINGS to packing up my life and driving across the country. We found a house within a week of arriving in MA. A WEEK. Everything just fell into place, which is a little scary but at the same time confirms the decision to move was the right one.
So now, we are in a holding pattern, staying with family until we can move into our home at the end of August. There is not much we can do until we sign the final papers and move in. Sure, we are finding insurance (home and health) and electric and internet and all the things that go with a new home. But those are phone calls and emails. Google searches. We are learning about things that were just standard in AZ: Choosing an electricity provider, propane for heat, sewer, well water vs. town water, where to take our trash/recycling vs. having it automatically picked up.
We are going to furniture stores and browsing around for ideas for items we will need (new dining table, bookshelves, etc), but we’ve also been trying to play tourist a bit too and travel around the area. Recently took a fun day trip to Plymouth and also Provincetown. It’s really great to be so close to water! I do want to spend a day in Boston before we move into our home, we will be about two hours away then.
Every road is gorgeous and green, even the interstate. We are very grateful for GPS because most of the time we feel like we are traveling in circles with all the twists and turns. Our dog, Lizzie, is living her best life right now because we can take walks in the middle of the day and it’s warm at times but also there is grass instead of gravel everywhere. She isn’t going to burn her little paw-pads off.
I’ve felt better than I have in a long time. In Phoenix, I had been taking an allergy pill every single day for several years. I’ve been taking one occasionally here (especially when I’m going to be around my sister’s cats!), but it hasn’t been daily.
Many friends have said “wait until the winter” as if I’ve never experienced snow and freezing weather before. Yes, I’ve never lived an entire winter in a place that snows. People leave snow to live in the desert, and I did the opposite. I have always loved cold weather more than hot weather. I imagine it will have its challenges, but I am grateful to work from home and not have to leave daily and navigate snowy conditions. At this time nothing would make me want to endure a 5 month-long Phoenix summer again.
I do miss the family and friends I’ve left behind. My daughters, my mom, my in-laws, my nephew. Really close friends and of course my local music community. Everyone is an adult and taking care of themselves. Bret and I have been “empty-nesters” for quite some time now. Staying in a place you’re not happy simply because you *think* you might be needed isn’t healthy. I’m grateful for technology so we can video-chat with people and see faces.
As a child from an abusive home and also having been in foster-care, I’ve grown up being afraid of making major changes in my life. I’ve always chosen the most comfortable path, the path of least resistance. Stability has always been the most important thing. I’ve missed some great opportunities over the years because I didn’t want to leave my comfort-zone. Leaving the comfort of what I’ve known for 46 years was terrifying, and exhilarating. I feel completely in control of my decisions, possibly because I don’t have to make decisions for my entire family any longer.
The universe continues to show me that this move has been for the best, and I look forward to finally settling into our home and having family and friends visit!