Closing and Opening
Saturday, January 1, 2011 at 11:16PM Well. An old year ended and a new year has begun.
At the end of this year we were working towards (read: waiting on some papers to come through) closing on the new house. We assumed that I could sign the papers from here (Florida) and then send them overnight, if need be, so that our friends could go on and close on their new house. But a more adventurous route won out. I actually had to fly home on Wednesday morning for one day in order to sign the papers; there was no way around it in this particular situation. I found out about this on Tuesday evening. I was at Wendy's house and I informed her that she might have to keep the kids while I headed home (they ended up spending the day all together, with their cousins, and then sleeping at Mike's moms, where they had been all along). I was already feeling emotional (surprise!) about many things.
And I still did not have a soda. Proud? You better be.
I left with my mother-in-law early in the morning (early enough to see a hot pink sun rising above the horizon...wow) and arrived in Dallas at 1:30-ish. I brought home two suitcases full of our Christmas presents, which we were going to have to ship back...in a twisted kind of way we saved money on shipping. But, not really, since airplane tickets cost, like, three times more than the shipping would have cost. I'm trying to think positively here, people. At the baggage claim, one of my bags was not to be found. And, of course, it was the bag that I borrowed from Wendy, the one which really needed to return to Florida with me.
We left the airport after filing a report, and when we got home I showered (airplanes = yucko). We headed straight to the closing after that, and it took FOREVER to sign our life away all of the papers. It was finally done, and we were going to go out to dinner and celebrate. How often do Mike and I get to be home alone?! We realized that we needed to run by the new house and get the keys and some pertinent information from our friends, the previous owners (it was now our house!), so we went on over there. We ended up being there for about an hour and a half. By the time we left, it was pretty late, I was running on the energy from two packs of airplane peanuts (a.k.a. NOT MUCH), I think we were both cranky and hungry, I was feeling sad about the move, and neither one of us felt like making a choice about where to eat. We ordered a pizza from the Pizza Hut up the street from our current house, picked it up on the way home, and watched a movie we had started a few months ago while we ate. Then we walked through the house together and Mike asked me about different pieces of furniture, different piles of stuff, and if I wanted to give him any specific directions about any of it. It was overwhelming. I just wanted to cry. (And I did.)
I DON'T WANT TO MOVE. I DON'T WANT TO MOVE. I DON'T WANT TO MOVE.
All right. Just had to get that out.
I got my luggage all ready for my turn-around trip, and by the time we got to bed it was pretty late. The alarm went off at 6:45am, and then again at 7am. I lay in bed, thinking,"You've got to get up. You have to get back to the airport. And you need to at least brush your teeth first." The phone rang at 7:18, and the voice on the other end said,"We have your bag and we need to arrange a delivery time." I was very happy to hear that, and even happier when I told them that I had to come to the airport for a flight anyway and they responded with,"We have a voucher for you when you pick up your bag."
Sweet!
So, here is the crazy thing we did. I still needed to have several bags for my second trip back home, in order to get the rest of our Christmas presents back, as well as what we brought in the first place. I had one large suitcase with a medium sized suitcase inside of it (these were both new...a strange and wonderful coincidence that we got new luggage this year), and then I had our old medium sized suitcase with a carry-on sized bag inside of it. The plan was to switch out the stuff in Wendy's bag (which needed to stay in Dallas) with the carry-on bag, so that Mike ended up with our suitcase containing Christmas presents, and I ended up with Wendy's bag plus our carry-on (which was packed inside of the checked bag).
Confused? So was the lady at the customer service area when I tried to explain why I had two bags, but I was picking up a bag, and needed to switch the contents of two of my three bags in order to get on my flight. After I flew in yesterday. I'm sure it was very suspicious looking. My armpits were already sweaty at 8:00 in the morning.
We accomplished our mission, however, without attracting too much attention, and Mike and I parted ways so that I could return to Orlando to finish out our vacation. He went home to pack up our chaotic life and try to move it to another location. Minus the chaotic part. Poor Mike.
I made it back to Florida just fine (flying makes me very nervous) and the kids barely knew I was gone. I'm happy that they are so comfortable with family. Michaela and Eliana came with Diana to pick me up and they were crowing like roosters when I got in the car. (The girls were crowing, not Diana. Although that would have been darned funny.)
So, Mike and I are now home-owners again. I'm scared. I'm nervous. I'm excited. I'm sad. I'm grateful. I'm a mess, as usual. There will be a lot of changes once we get back home. I mean everything will be changing. The time we get up in the morning, when I go grocery shopping, getting Christian to karate, managing to walk with my friend, how we take the kids to school, how we pick them up from school, how we get them to choir, Bible study, piano lessons...it's all going to be different. I know God doesn't leave us to manage all these things on our own...I just need to trust him, and also be willing to do my part to make these changes lead to a healthier family life and a better way of living for everyone.
The end of the year. I can't say this has been a great year, in many ways. I, personally, had a very hard year. The beginning of 2010 was rough. I struggled through a very dark time, a pretty deep depression that was (and is still) kind of unexplainable. It affected every aspect of my life, and those around me (obviously). We lost a pregnancy. This is still something I think about all of the time. I would have been about seven months pregnant right now. We decided that we would buy our friends' house, after not even two years in this one. As I've said before, this decision has created quite a myriad of emotions in me (and the kids).
Then there is the beginning of the new year...the opening of all kinds of new doors. Literally, the door of our home. As well as the door to a whole new way of living. So, while we have closed on the house, and will soon close the door for the last time to our home up the street from the church, we are walking together through the door of a new home. Together one step at a time, right?
Together one step at a time.
Reader Comments (6)
I wondered why you were flying alone the other day. :)
Wow Christina. Blog posts appear one at a time and as a reader, I haven't thought about the cumulative effect but you have indeed had quite a year.
I hope the stability of being in YOUR OWN home will give your mind and soul a feeling of peace and rest. Maybe you can sit still and put down some roots. Roots feel good.
You've hung in there for a LOT of ups and downs and changes for the years and you're still standing. Still getting up each day and functioning and you're even able to see the positive in things and laugh at yourself.. You're going to make it.
I just know it!
What a year you have had! I am so glad to have met you!
I hope that 2011 is a healing and joyous year for you and your family.
Wow. Was that ever a lightning round! I'm glad for your sake that that much is past. Praying for you as you go forward. I completely relate on the level of changes. Our lives are upside down from what they were last year (it seems this is the case for a lot of people I know this year. What is with that!?) Grace and peace to you my friend as you trust in Him and follow Him wherever He leads you.
I could not follow the bag switching at all.
At all.
But then, I'm not very bag bright.
"Nothing changes on New Year's Day." --Bono
And yet...new harvests from old seeds, new grains for new seeds, new grapes for new wine, new skins for old skins, a renewal of a new song...
(Ignore Bono)