Some people say, "winter is coming..." but at the moment, I'm focused on "my POD is coming..." I am trying not to overly freak out that my move is rapidly approaching and I don't feel even remotely prepared for it. I am trying to listen to people when they tell me to just take things one step at a time and it will all come together; unfortunately the little voice in my head is sometimes louder than those around me and it tells me that using the wrong kind of tape on my boxes is going to effect what job/housing situation I am going to end up with when I move. Yes, I may be more than slightly crazy but it's pretty typical for someone who belongs to my very, how should I say this, eclectic family.
I feel as if I got quite a bit accomplished to prepare for my move over this long weekend but looking around my apartment, I know I didn't accomplish near enough... I tried to balance work and play some over this weekend and there was some time spent away from the process. On Thanksgiving, I spend some time over at my dance instructor's house; every year she collects "orphans" (people who don't have anywhere else to go for Thanksgiving) to her house for Thanksgiving dinner. I skipped last year but felt as if I should go this year since it will be my last opportunity to attend. On Black Friday, I participated in my own tradition of taking myself to the movies instead of partaking in the insanity of shopping - I used to have movie theaters to myself (or a very small group of other people) but this year, there were about 20 other people at the movies. I have already invited my sister-in-law to join me at the movies next year because she said that sounded like more fun than her usually working on Black Friday (even though she doesn't work retail).
When I wasn't "playing" this weekend, I went though my kitchen cupboards/freezer/fridge and cleaned them out, I went through the clothes in my closet (and donated lots of bags of clothes/shoes), and I boxed up all of my kid's books (for teaching) and my books. I have sore muscles that I didn't think were possible and I know I should have accomplished lots more but I am proud for what I did get done. Going into this week, I am hoping to come up with a list of things to try to accomplish each day off of work because there has always been something very satisfying to crossing things off of a to-do list for me.
Some of the other things I have to cross off my to-do this week is I have an interview tomorrow afternoon, I need to call to find information out in regards to my car lease, and I need to tell the parents/kids that I'll be leaving. Even though I know that I need to tell them, I'm not sure how my announcement is going to be received. Working where I do, people are constantly coming and going for different reasons but I have been here in once capacity or another for just shy of nine years. I know that I would like to give them a heads up so they (the parents and the kids) can ask any questions they would like to ask and I can hopefully give them answers - they may not necessarily be the answers they're looking for but I can give it my best shot.
Well my dear readers, I should probably bring this to a close for this evening and start my to-do list so I can work on crossing items off of it as I go. Since time is drawing short to the start of the next leg of my quest, I would ask if you're the praying type, please say a prayer for this Gypsy. Thank you for joining me, my dear readers! =)
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Adventures...
The adventure of my leap of faith is starting to get real; I wrote my official resignation letter today which I will present to my boss tomorrow. Once I've given my official resignation, I will start to tell the kids at work and their families. Even though many of them will be on vacation this week since school is out, I will probably send out the first email to them either tomorrow or Tuesday and follow up with a hard copy written notice the following week. I know that it's going to be difficult telling the kids and their families but I figure I should start telling them sooner rather than later so they can ask their questions and hear about it from me.
This past week at work we had a staff meeting where I announced that I would be leaving next month. It also came up today at church that I'll be leaving, too. At both places, the strangest reaction happened - I had people coming up to me telling me how much they're going to miss me and they don't want me to leave - all of which was a shock to me. This reaction is coming from people who have often treated me as if I've invisible or they look at me like I'm the outcast they can't wait to get rid of. The fact that they reacted like this, just kind of threw me for a loop.
In my work around the apartment this weekend, I took the family photos that I had displayed on a shelf down, wrapped them and put them in a box. That simple act already has this apartment feeling less like "home". In living here, I was told not to put any holes in the walls so family photos were displayed on a shelf while others never made it out of a box. Granted, the ones that stayed in the box now contain the ex's of three out of four kids in the family so it's probably better that they remained in a box. With me living closer to the rest of my family maybe we can have some new photos taken with the current members of the family for me to put up in my new home/apartment or wherever I end up. I realized that even the photos I have of my nephews are a couple of years old at this point but they are the ones that I have; so with them coming down off the shelves, it already makes it seem more empty.
I know that in order to make this move, it's going to have to feel less like home in order to get everything packed away and actually move. I think part of it is bringing up some memories/emotions of the last time I moved (after the divorce was finalized) but I'm trying hard not to necessarily dwell on those feelings. Maybe part of it is also coming from the time of year it is - this is the time of the year that the wasband walked out leaving only a letter. I am trying to realize how far I have come in the last 8 years but sometimes it's difficult to push those memories/emotions away. I guess this is all part of my quest...
Last night, in order to help remind me about my quest, I watched "Man of LaMancha" while I was looking through boxes. That's always been one of those movies that helps to put my quest in perspective - Don Quixote was the persona of a mad man who dreamed of a life of chivalry who became a knight errant. Some might say that my quest to move cross country is mad but sometimes the maddest of quests means you make the best of friends (as Don Quixote had Sancho and Duncinea) and your story is remembered. Those things sound pretty good to me.
Well, my dear readers, I should probably bring this to a close for the evening. The kids don't have school this week so we have three days of full day programming (from 7 am - 6 pm) so we'll see what kind of trouble we can get into. Thank you for joining me along this quest and I hope you take some time this week to reflect on what you're thankful for. I am thankful for you, my dear readers! =)
This past week at work we had a staff meeting where I announced that I would be leaving next month. It also came up today at church that I'll be leaving, too. At both places, the strangest reaction happened - I had people coming up to me telling me how much they're going to miss me and they don't want me to leave - all of which was a shock to me. This reaction is coming from people who have often treated me as if I've invisible or they look at me like I'm the outcast they can't wait to get rid of. The fact that they reacted like this, just kind of threw me for a loop.
In my work around the apartment this weekend, I took the family photos that I had displayed on a shelf down, wrapped them and put them in a box. That simple act already has this apartment feeling less like "home". In living here, I was told not to put any holes in the walls so family photos were displayed on a shelf while others never made it out of a box. Granted, the ones that stayed in the box now contain the ex's of three out of four kids in the family so it's probably better that they remained in a box. With me living closer to the rest of my family maybe we can have some new photos taken with the current members of the family for me to put up in my new home/apartment or wherever I end up. I realized that even the photos I have of my nephews are a couple of years old at this point but they are the ones that I have; so with them coming down off the shelves, it already makes it seem more empty.
I know that in order to make this move, it's going to have to feel less like home in order to get everything packed away and actually move. I think part of it is bringing up some memories/emotions of the last time I moved (after the divorce was finalized) but I'm trying hard not to necessarily dwell on those feelings. Maybe part of it is also coming from the time of year it is - this is the time of the year that the wasband walked out leaving only a letter. I am trying to realize how far I have come in the last 8 years but sometimes it's difficult to push those memories/emotions away. I guess this is all part of my quest...
Last night, in order to help remind me about my quest, I watched "Man of LaMancha" while I was looking through boxes. That's always been one of those movies that helps to put my quest in perspective - Don Quixote was the persona of a mad man who dreamed of a life of chivalry who became a knight errant. Some might say that my quest to move cross country is mad but sometimes the maddest of quests means you make the best of friends (as Don Quixote had Sancho and Duncinea) and your story is remembered. Those things sound pretty good to me.
Well, my dear readers, I should probably bring this to a close for the evening. The kids don't have school this week so we have three days of full day programming (from 7 am - 6 pm) so we'll see what kind of trouble we can get into. Thank you for joining me along this quest and I hope you take some time this week to reflect on what you're thankful for. I am thankful for you, my dear readers! =)
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