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Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Being honest (on military moves)

Well, we're here.  We're unpacked for the most part.  About half of our things are in boxes in the basement, but we have unpacked what will fit in this house and I am afraid of what it will do to my sanity to bring them all up here! 
So let's chat about military moves.  I was so sad to leave Ohio, but excited at the same time to be going on an adventure.  Oops...I had forgotten about the "settle in" period.  It's rough.  Normal tasks like laundry are hard because I don't have cabinets under the sink in any of my bathrooms.  Where do I put the extra hand towels?  It's takes longer to do chores because things are different and I get frustrated with it.  I'm having to get used to a new living arrangement.  In Ohio, we were pretty secluded in our house.  Here there are people walking past and kids outside that can see right into these big windows if they choose to look.  Let me bust out the turbo jam DVD!  Not!  Our house is near two busy streets so i can't take the kids for a walk.  We had turned down renting a house about 30 min. from Dan's work due to gas prices, but at this point I'm so upset we did!  It was in this cute little town with an Audubon society, farm museum, cute shops and a 15 mile bike/walking path.  I feel trapped here, like I'm in a little jail.  I think this weekend we're going to scout out some paved walking trails (a must with 6 kids and 3 in strollers) and the beaches.  I looked online and all the beaches are very expensive!  For some reason I just thought beaches were free.  $150 season pass?  Yikes!  Add that to the $9 a lb. ground beef at the farmer's market and you have a very sad me! 
I don't want to sound like I'm complaining.  I'm thankful we have a 4 bedroom house and that we have a nice yard for the kids to play in.  I'm just being honest about what it's like to move...a lot.  About this time in every move I get depressed.  I wouldn't call it clinical or anything...just a feeling of lack of joy in general.  No friends, no church, no activities, no where to go except the commissary.  That on top of the disorganized house it makes for a rough couple of months or so.  I'm quite reluctant to even try and meet people since we're leaving again in 6 months.  It was so hard to leave our friends in Ohio and I just don't want to go through that again so soon.  Every box I unpacked seemed to have memories of our church or memories of hurtful events of the past. 
Maybe I can dig through the boxes downstairs and find my sewing things.  I have some baby presents I want to make and some dresses for the girls I'd like to try.  In the back of my mind I'm worried Dan will get upset that I'm sewing and not doing more with the house or homeschool.   I'd like to pull out the cloth diapers (we bought a non-HE washer so I could use them again and actually get my clothes clean), but he asked me not to worry about them right now since I have enough on my plate with getting the house unpacked. 
If you asked me right now, I'd say I never want to move again!  But if history repeats itself, I will be sad to leave in 6 months, but ready for the next adventure :) 
So if you ever wonder what it's like to move around all the time, here's a little glimpse into the not so fun part of it.  :)

1 comment:

Topher, Tina, Linnea & Sofia said...

Glad to read you are settling into a routine and your new home. We miss you here in Ohio. Keep us posted on prayer requests and future plans. We would love to see you!