Moving Time

It's really never boring around here.  We finally put our house on the market a week ago.  It seems like we have been talking about doing this for about a year now.  So the sign is up and we are listed.  We've had three showings so far and a fourth tomorrow (which is a second look).  The preparation for showings while having a full-time job working from home and three young children to take care of isn't exactly the easiest task around, but so far I have managed.  I know the house doesn't have to be perfect before each showing (especially when they give you four hours notice), but I have learned that there is no in-between for me.  I can't walk out of the house until everything is perfect.  When I vacuum, I start with the far side of the room and back out so that there is not even a single foot print in my vacuum lines.  I'm glad I do this though because during the last showing, I thought the people didn't show up (which really ticks me off) because the realtor didn't leave their business card on the counter.  Luckily, I was able to confirm that the showing occurred by the foot prints in my carpet lines upstairs! See, crazy does pay off sometimes, right?

So, the big question is where are we going?  I haven't really had to answer this until the sign went up.  Everyone is asking, "Where are you moving?" When I shrug my shoulders and say, "Don't know!" I get the funniest looks from people.  Could it be because we have three kids, jobs and a very established life here in Chester County, PA?  After my answer, I have typically gotten the wow-better-you-than-me-I-have-to-plan-everything-out response.  This usually leaves me feeling a little uneasy.  I mean, I'm a planner, too.  I just don't happen to have one at this point in time.  Then I usually have to go through this mental process of justifying why we are doing what we are doing.  First and foremost, this home was never meant to be our forever home.  This is our "starter" home.  I was eight months pregnant with Brielle when we moved in here.  We always expected we would have moved within 3-5 years.  Definitely before Brielle started elementary school.  We always said we wanted to be in a slightly warmer climate and some place new and different from here.  Brielle is just about to finish her first year of school and while it has been very smooth and pleasant, we are just not satisfied with the school district overall.  And since we are not catholic (and I'm not really an advocate of Catholic Schools anyway), there really are no options.  Of course, you can't really tell people this since many of our friends and neighbors send their kids to the local public school, too.  So we have been going with, "'We've outgrown our house," too. 

So, we do have a plan...it's just not very, uh, specific.  Plan is....we sell the house.  If by the time we sell, we do not have any promising leads any place else, we simply rent a home temporarily.  I don't love this plan, but I guess it's not the worst thing ever either.  I'm still working on the part of home selling where you are supposed to "emotionally detatch."  We have a nice home, great neighborhood, awesome back yard, nice swing set, etc.  The kids love it here and we just have such a nice system.  So the idea of moving to a rental...probably a town house, just really bothers me.  What bothers me more though is moving and being stuck with two mortgages because we couldn't sell our house.  So I'm trying to remain focused on the end result. 

I guess selling our house and moving implies that we are unhappy or that something isn't right here.  It's really not the case.  I guess that is why it's so hard to explain and even process in my own head sometimes.  Are we messing with fate?  I'm terrified of making a change and then feeling like we made a mistake.  I sometimes feel like we are being greedy, even though we are not chasing wealth and fortune. 

I am trying to remind myself of two important things.  1.  At least Greg and I are on the same page and keeping each other level-headed and 2. We are relatively intelligent people, so I doubt we will choose a new place/job that is not right for us.  I always think about how much I will miss this because of what we have, but then I remember that we are looking to improve, so our next place will hopefully bring us even more joy and satisfaction than we already have.  Right?

So....big changes on the horizon for us.  Just have no clue what those changes invovle just yet!  So for the next person that comments on how relaxed I am and how chill I am, they really should read this.  I'm so not that way!  I have to have vacuum marks, people!