On Moving and Being Nice


                                                          [present house, fireplace guys]

We move tomorrow afternoon, and this morning I took one last run through our little neighborhood.  I saw a family of wild turkeys (?), a mama and two baby turkeys, on the side of the road as if waiting for a bus.  We've loved our neighborhood, and not for the wildlife, since that's rare, but because it's just beautiful here.  And on my run I was thinking about all that's happened here in the last year.  A lot, that's what.  So much that it doesn't feel like there's time to go into detail before I go to work, but work is part of it.  Sam and I weathered the bad job situation here. 

[note from sam on our front door chalkboard in the very depths of the bad job.]


I got the new job, the good job, which is still good.  I've dropped nearly forty pounds in the last while, which is really a just a physical sign of bigger changes inside my head, in how I think about myself and interact with other people and attempt to see the world as a nice place.  I won't say more about that right now, but it's been huge.  And I haven't noticed that more than I have lately, in the last few days/weeks, when the closing on our new house has been pushed back and back and back, and Sam and I have tried to pull all of our stuff together and box it up.  This move feels so different from the last.  I have more energy, more emotional AND physical energy.  And maybe Sam would disagree, but it feels to me like I've been less witchy and whiny.  Don't get me wrong, I've had my share of witchy/whiny moments, but I'm finally healthier, and it's so much easier to stay rational when I'm healthier.

Does anyone else have fantasies when they're packing about the days when everything people owned fit into one suitcase or a little bandana tied to a stick and they could just pack the suitcase, palm their hat to their head, kiss whomever goodbye and be on their way?  I obsess over that when I'm packing, imagine becoming a minimalist, wonder and wonder why I have so many dang pairs of shoes.  Anyway, the only trouble with moving now is that we probably can't move into our house yet.  Our stuff can, which is such a relief, but we'll head to a hotel and chill for a week (we hope only a week ...) until closing.  This panicked me at first.  But this morning, running our neighborhood for the last time, I decided the hotel wil be great: I'll have Sam and my cats (try not to think about three cats in a hotel room), and we'll be done packing and we won't have to UNpack just yet, and we can just chill.  Maybe we'll watch movies.  Maybe we'll have a dip in the pool. 
[present house, tooled leather walls, bird garland from paris]


[one more shot of the fireplace dude.  goodbye fireplace dude.]

Comments

Jan said…
Obviously, your buying house, but, where? Congrats on the accomplishments of the past year.
Deja said…
Jan, we'll (still) be in Brighton. We thought about Jamaica Plains, but Brighton kept us. We'll be in the Oak Square area.
eden said…
i kinda love the fireplace dudes. (: but i'm happy things are working out with a new place.

also, if i was there, in boston, living in my own place, i would maybe offer to take your three cats for a week so you could enjoy the hotel more. even if they hated me. maybe some day i'll actually live in boston (it's on my list of places to look for a job) and you'll need someone to take your cats for a week, and i'll say that i'll do it.

one can dream, right? (not necessarily dream of taking in three cats for a week, but if that comes with the territory... so be it)
Stacy said…
I loathe packing. Abhor it. Not only do I fantasize about being a minimalist...I wish I was a duck. They really know how to migrate. They don't bring any things, but instead bring everyone they know!
Reba said…
a lovely goodbye. yay for such a wonderful fresh start. 40 lbs? yo go girl (hm, that didn't sound like me). is your new house as charming?
Deja, I couldn't be happier for you. A new house, a new start. I hate packing, love unpacking. Love the newness of a new house (although our homes have always been super old, but new to us).

Way to go on the weight loss. For me, losing weight is so much more than just eating certain foods and exercising. It's more an emotional/pyschological issue than just simply eat X, Y, Z and you'll lose weight. Because until I realized that food was not to be used as a drug did I lose weight. Ha! Now I'm pregnant and GAINING weight...:)

Anyway, so so happy for you and Sam. You are great people, and the note that he wrote is even more evidence that you hit the jackpot.
Bryson and Tara said…
Congrats! Moving is stressful and it brings out the whiny/witchy side of all of us...but it's also so exciting! Especially when you're moving into your own home.

Good luck!
As long as I'm book crazy, it will never be easy to move.

Those fireplace guys are hilarious.
Amara said…
Thanks for cueing me on a new post. I've been checking and checking but I guess I missed a day. What a great fireplace. I hope you can enjoy this break and just chill. Waiting for things is the worst kind of stress. You and Meesha are my heroes. I really need something, but am still on the fence. I'm getting a crease in my behind I've been on here so long I know.....
belann said…
Just checking blogs. I know you are still at the hotel. But, hope springs eternal for next week. Some things about the old lovely place you will definitely not miss.
meg said…
i love your dream about the good old knapsack days. i dream about being scandinavian and living in a small place in the city with bunk beds for the kids and hidden storage everywhere and walking to the market every day to get fresh food for our meals. one can dream, hooray...
you've inspired me with all your changes this past year. i'm glad you're feeling so well and hope it all continues. you deserve it.
Anonymous said…
Deja--
Somehow I ran across a comment you made somewhere deep in blog-land and I saw your picture and your name and thought, "I sat next to her in a Linguistics class at BYU." So if you are the right person, Hello, there. You've always stuck in my head somehow because you loved creative writing so much and I love writing too.

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