Everyone calm the f*ck down, mmmkay?

In my last post, I discussed the random challenge we were faced with in receiving two competing job offers in one day. Well, given my overly-caffeinated inability to focus coupled with my mental and emotional exhaustion, I apparently didn't explain the situation particularly well.

Because of this, and the blowback I have received regarding our "decision", let me clarify a few things:

No, we don't hate living here. We just love Seattle and the plan was always to move back in a few years anyway. It's not a waving-the-white-flag situation, so keep your "I told you so" to yourself.

No, it would not have been "selling [our] soul" had we taken the Seattle offer. We knew it wasn't perfect, and that it would have been career-limiting, but it would have gotten us back up there (which was our only reason for considering it). Also, no, I don't make my decisions based on [this individual's] opinions. But thanks anyway.

Financially speaking, it would have been challenging and borderline irresponsible to move back. Moving 1200 miles is friggin' expensive! U-Haul, gas, food, hotels, and oh yeah, buying or renting a house; it adds up. Also, while we would have been able to sell our house quickly, we would not have even made back our down payment since we haven't lived here very long. All of that was a major 'con'.

While our heart may be in Seattle, sometimes you have to be a grown up and consider the responsible choice. Staying here and taking the local offer is the better career move, as well as the financially responsible move. Facts don't lie.

What I know everyone is thinking when
they say "I understand"...

Yes, I would rather live in Seattle than Wyoming. Duh.

Yes, I can be a Seattle girl even if I live 1200 miles away. I will always love Seattle. It's an amazing city filled with incredible art, culture, music, food, and people. And coffee. (God, I miss good coffee.) The climate and geography are amazing. The perpetual green is beautiful. The ferris wheel is... well, terrifying for me, on account of hating heights. But still. Living sandwiched between the ocean and the Cascades is where my soul is fed. Seattle is an incredibly special place.

Yes, I was looking forward to coming back. I had already made plans to spend my birthday up in Victoria with my childhood bestest friend, having high tea at the Empress (delicious!), roaming the cute little shops and bakeries, and hitting up a few of the 8,000 Irish pubs down by the harbor. I was going to kidnap other bestest friend, Ginger Jesus, and their kids for Thanksgiving. I was planning the annual Halloween party with my mom. I was invested in this.

And yes, I was heartbroken when it didn't work out.

But I truly believe everything happens for a reason, and apparently staying put is what we're meant to do for now. Hub's new company will provide him the valuable experience, marketable title, and global platform to grow his career in ways the Seattle job could never have. So while I miss my family and friends terribly, I understand that things worked out for the better. 

I'm sorry I let everyone down by dangling the carrot and then having to take it away. 

But we will be back. That much is guaranteed. 

And until then? We enjoy the journey and the experience. Next stop, Mt. Rushmore and Carhenge!

Vedauwoo, Ames Monument, and spontaneous roaming

No, that's not a sound you make when you sneeze.

Vedauwoo (pronounced vee-da-voo) is this huge group of granite outcroppings in the Medicine Bow National Forest, about 30 minutes west of Cheyenne. Vedauwoo was known to the Arapaho's as "Land of the Earthborn Spirit", and suffice it to say, it's a fitting name.

Since we're still very new to this area, and since I'm still fairly homesick for Washington, and especially since the holidays are (almost) over and we have more time now, we decided to start exploring our surroundings. You know, make attachments and memories and all that jazz. So yesterday we headed out to Vedauwoo to explore, since we've heard so much about it.

When we left our house, it was sunny and 40 degrees- brisk, but certainly tolerable. But the time we got up to Vedauwoo, however? 18 flippin' degrees. Luckily, we were all fairly well bundled, though we collectively wished we'd brought our gloves!

Here's me and my little guy taking refuge from the wind

Despite the fact that it was colder than a witch's ass up there, we hiked around for about 45 minutes or so. It's gorgeous up there, even in the dead of winter. The rocks are amazing, and I can certainly see why it's a climber's paradise.

Do you see the face!?

After exploring for awhile (and shortly before our fingers froze off), we got back in the blessed warmth of the car and followed the signs across the freeway to the Ames Monument. The monument is in honor of Oliver and Oakes Ames, who were instrumental in the first intercontinental railroad across America. It's basically this gigantic, 6-story, granite pyramid rising up out of the plains.

Ames was a fairly quick stop, because the wind had picked up and (as you can tell in the above pic) we were all curled up inside our jackets trying to stay warm! The monument is located in Curt Gowdy State Park, so once the weather warms up to a tolerable temperature, we're going to go back and find some hiking trails out there.

After Ames, we headed back to Cheyenne for dinner. This was our view…

The skies here are amazing, which makes the spontaneous exploring of our surroundings even more beautiful. Maybe this place will start feeling like home after all!

Navigating the parent trap

My last post shared an article about that moment when you see your kids as they are; when you realize where you are in life, and you have that singular, acute moment of parental and personal clarity.

The thing that article didn't mention, though, is that this happens far more frequently. These little moments are not a once-per-decade occurrence. Hell, I have them a couple times a week, at least!

It's true, most of your parenting time consists of something akin to herding cats. You're running around in circles, trying to keep the peace; reminding the youngest one to keep their hands to themselves and use their words and not their fists; reminding the oldest one to speak kindly and stop bossing the others around like they're minions; and keeping the middle one from using her pillow as a weapon when her brothers piss her off for the zillionth time today.

In short, daily life is chaos. It's hectic. It's challenging. And some days you feel like an utter failure and want nothing more than to crawl back in bed, curl up in a ball under the blankets, and imagine yourself on a sandy beach sipping a very strong tropical cocktail (or three).

But in between those moments of Are-You-Freaking-Kidding-Me-What-Made-You-Think-Climbing-The-Refridgerater-Was-A-Good-Idea, there are moments of joy, beauty, and utter parental pride.

And yes, that occasional clarity where you see your children as individuals with unique personalities and relatable stages in life (as opposed to vindictive hell spawns seeking to make you crazy one "quit touching my Legos" argument at a time).

I have three children- Bug, Sweet Pea, and Monkey.

(Not their real names, obviously. I'm a hippie, yes, but not quite to that level!)

Bug is my oldest. In terms of personality, he is the most like me. He's very sensitive and academic. He loves to read, he has an insatiable appetite for knowledge, and dreams of being an architect or engineer when he grows up. He loves nature and being outdoors. He has a very high intellect, and he knows it, which makes for confidence and success in the advanced classes, as well as an insufferable know-it-all tendency (we're working on that). Lately, it's like he has suddenly become this childlike grown-up. I find myself being able to relate to him on a more mature level. We can have full conversations about geology or recycling or global warming or the sneaky intentions of marketing. Certain things he says, as well as certain actions and characteristics, floor me on a regular basis because they make him seem so grown up. At times he is all child. Other moments, total teenager. It's weird and heartbreaking and fun and emotionally trying all at the same time.

Oh yeah, and he started puberty. And that's been a real hoot...

Sweet Pea is my middle child. She was born premature, but is now the picture of health and vitality, though I still worry sometimes. She loves animals (like, straight up Little Miss Dr. Doolittle). She is funny, goofy, a show-off, and very artistic. She loves to draw and craft and create. She possesses a sheer joy for life that I admire and hope she holds on to as she grows up. She is athletic (she gets that from her daddy!) and confident in her physical abilities, but is also very timid and sensitive. She is wicked smart but still questions her academic abilities. We are working to build her up in that manner, but she still compares herself to her brother and has a hard time understanding that he is older and therefore farther along in school. She dreams of being a paleontologist and a veterinarian, simultaneously. She is also sassy as all hell. And beautiful. Daddy is going to need to invest in a shotgun as she approaches middle school! She is still young, yet I occasionally see glimpses of who she will be when she is older. Certain things she says and does are so teen-like that it freaks me out. She and I are also the most different in terms of personality, so I know that we will have our mother-daughter struggles as she gets older. I dread her teen years...

Monkey is my baby. Only he's not a baby anymore. It feels like he is growing up too quickly- I think he's trying to catch up to his older siblings. He is all boy- rambunctious, wild, physical. He loves to run and jump and climb and yell and tumble and explore. He has no fear, which of course instills fear in me! He looks the most like me, to an eerie degree. I can't yet tell whose personality he takes after the most, but he is very sweet and loving and kind. He loves animals just as much as his sister. He is intelligent and sensitive, but also adventurous and a little crazy. I think he'll be the one to end up spending a night or two in jail! But for something silly, like streaking through a football game, or tagging a building with an invite to prom, or some other impulsive dare-type stunt. He's also a ladies man already. I'm already working on my best glowering stare for the hordes of chicks he'll bring home that I will inevitably disapprove of.

Like any parent, I have my fears for my children. Besides the obvious fears of illness, injury, and outside threats, I also have individualized concerns for each of them. For my oldest, I worry about his social interactions. It's not easy being the smartest kid in the class, and I worry about him being picked on, teased, or bullied. For my daughter, I worry because she is very pretty, and also has the makings of the "popular girl". Girls are cruel, and I know firsthand just how murky and twisty Girl World is. I hope my sensitive baby girl doesn't get crushed by that world. For my youngest, I worry for his safety, as he is still very young. I also worry because he is so impulsive and outgoing- I don't want him getting hurt, getting in trouble, or getting into the wrong crowd.

My children can be mentally and emotionally trying, but they are also my greatest source of joy. Their spontaneous creativity, their joie de vivre, their genuine and unconditional love- they are amazing. I'm proud to be their mommy. And like any parent, I just hope I don't screw them up too badly!

Greetings from the other side... of the Rockies

Hey hey! I'm back from the abyss.

And by abyss, I mean the internet-less world of moving.

Man has it been crazy lately. Like, mind-bogglingly so. I find it hard to believe that we left Washington only a week and a half ago, it feels like longer (and shorter all at the same time).

So here I am, in a new state, in a new time zone, in a sort of temporary limbo whilst I await our house being built.

The OCD organizational side of me? Not loving it.

The hippie, gypsy, free-spirited side of me? Going with the flow, man.

Cause really? That's all I can do right now.

I'm a little bitter, because the apartment we're renting until our house is done doesn't allow satellite dishes to be put up, so we had to suspend our DIRECTV service for a few months and go with Comcast.

And to be clear: I. Hate. Comcast.

Why, you ask? Because they suck. Exhibit A? The fact that our DVR doesn't work. At all. I can't record anything. I can't pause, rewind, etc. I can't enter in any favorites. Nothing. I get an error message saying that the DVR function is disabled and to call customer service.

And when we called to figure out what was going on, the stupid customer service rep said it was just because we weren't pressing the buttons on the remote hard enough.

Let me repeat.

Our DVR isn't functional, everything we try to do is met with an error message, and we were told it was because we weren't pressing buttons hard enough.

Special kind of stupid, I tell ya.

So after several more phone calls, we finally have a tech coming out on Thursday. I guess my reality TV escapism will have to wait...

Otherwise known as the Real Housewives of somewhere or other

Peace-ing out

Tonight is my last night in my first house. Tomorrow is my last day living in Washington.

(At least, for the foreseeable future)

Goodbye Snohomish. I heart you.

Goodbye Lake Roesiger. You've been lovely and you will be sorely missed!!!

This area of Western Washington is a gem and will always hold a special place in my soul...

Homeless on the range?!?

Hey hey!

So I know I fell off the blogging bandwagon lately. I've been a little busy. You know, that whole preparing to move multiple states (and a timezone) away. It tends to be a bit time consuming.

But I'm back bitches!

So this past weekend we were down in Cheyenne, getting the lay of the land and trying to accomplish certain pre-moving goals. Like establishing a place to live. You know, crazy stuff like that.

Suffice it to say, it didn't go as planned.

First of all, if someone is offering full price to buy your house... take the freaking offer. Don't play hardball just because you can. Shit like that pisses me off. We encountered that when we were buying a home up here too. Builders decide "hey, there's interest in my houses, let's try to squeeze every last penny from them!"

No dice, bro. Unlike some homebuyers, I'm more than okay with walking away if you decide to be a wanker. Mama don't play like that.

So we found a property we liked and we made an offer on it. 3,000 square feet, three bedrooms, two baths, with a full, unfinished basement (that will eventually give us five bedrooms and three baths) on 35.5 acres! For a good price!

The catch?

The house isn't built yet, so we'd have to rent a place for about four months in the meantime. Le sigh.

But for my dream home? Sure, I can deal.

We made an offer- full price, just asking for closing costs. The builders decided to play hardball, and countered. We were unimpressed. After mulling it over, we countered their counter-offer, and made it clear that we were more than willing to walk away.

Because is the house perfect? Yes. Is it worth being put over a barrel for? Nope.

So after waiting until the last possible second before we had to leave Cheyenne on Monday, the builders finally got back to us- they had accepted our offer! So we are under contract. Check one thing off the To Do list.

Did I register my kids for school down there? Nope. Because I was too busy running around trying to scramble and find a place to rent. And that took up an unimaginable amount of time.

Did we leave Cheyenne with a short-term rental lined up? Nope!

*facepalm*

*heavy sigh*

*long drag of a cigarette even though I don't smoke*

Sad Keanu understands

So here's the thing with Cheyenne.

It's a military town. At any given time there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of military personnel in town- all needing a place to live. And many, if not most, of them rent. On top of that, most of the available (and decent) rental houses won't do a short-term lease, and we only need a place to rent for about four months while our house is being built.

*grumblegrumble*

So we turned to townhouses and apartments.

I totally struck out on townhouses. No one called me back. Not a single one. Jerkfaces.

And apartments? Well, all but one of the nice complexes in Cheyenne are low-income, so we make way too much to even be considered. And they're all full anyway.

And the non-income-restricted places? Well there is only one nice, newer complex in town. And it's booked out months in advance. Everywhere else? Run down, outdated... and full.

We did finally get a call back from one complex shortly before we were leaving town on Monday. We went to check out the unit that was becoming available, and... well... there's no way in hell I would allow my children to live there. To put it mildly. It had a very distinct rape-y vibe about it, and I'm pretty sure we would have gotten an infection of some sort from the carpets. We bailed about as quickly and politely as humanly possible!!!

So we left town Monday afternoon totally defeated and dejected and anxious and stressed. Yes, we found a house for our family, yay! But we lacked a place to live until then... un-yay.

Monday night after we got home I went into OCD mode. I google'd every rental option imaginable in the Cheyenne area, and then branched out to the surrounding areas as well. I did find a cute little house in Cheyenne that was available, but the owners were assholes, and after several conversations with them I chose to walk away. You can only take so many times of someone reiterating that they are looking to benefit themselves and not to help you out before you want to tell them to fuck off!

So after numerous phone calls, e-mails, and mini-panic attacks, I am pleased to announce we finally have a short-term rental lined up for when we get down there. It's a cute two-bedroom (plus a sunroom) apartment that'll suffice until our house is done. Not my ideal situation to be back in apartment mode, but whatever. It's temporary.

The first catch? Because we're doing a non-conventional lease, we're paying more per month. To be paying this much for a two-bedroom apartment boggles my mind, but I'm letting it go.

The second catch? It's in Fort Collins.

As in Colorado.

As in 40 miles from Cheyenne!!!

Looks like we're commuting for a while.

*sigh*

Home, home on the range...???

So things have been... interesting around here, so say the least. Remember awhile back when I mentioned that pesky gypsy wind was wreaking havoc with my status quo?

Well she came back.

In gale force.

And my life is about to be turned completely upside down.

Let me explain.

So back when I wrote that blog post, I had been searching and applying The Husband for jobs for several months. He has been unhappy with his current employer for awhile now, ever since they made some, shall we say, douche-y decisions. So I started looking around the greater Seattle area.

Local city governments, school districts, hospitals, major businesses, small businesses, utility companies, you name it I checked it out.

Now, The Husband has been in the IT industry for over 15 years now, and in probably any other part of the country that experience and expertise would be in demand. But not in Seattle.

IT people are a dime a dozen around here, and employers either want the entry-level tech who will work for $12 an hour, or someone who holds three Master's and two Doctorate's. There's nothing in between. Combine that with the fact that Boeing is getting ready to do a major layoff of thousands- yes, thousands- of IT people, and the odds become stacked even more against you.

So I branched out.

San Francisco. Portland. British Columbia.

More of the same. Too few jobs being competed for by too many overly qualified IT people.

I even devised a hair-brained scheme to move to the incredibly beautiful but incredibly tiny town of Joseph, Oregon. Why? Because it's pretty. Are there jobs there? NOPE! Their industry dried up years ago, so unless you are an established small-business owner, you're out of luck.

This is where the culmination of my frustration turned into the blog post about wanting the gypsy wind to take me away.

All I can say is, be careful what you wish for!

Shortly after that, my aunt suggested looking at the hospital in her city. She had heard they were hiring for IT, and sure enough, they were! So I applied The Husband, assumed it would be more of the same, and forgot all about it.

Until they called. And I began to panic.

Because the hospital where my aunt lives?

It's in Cheyenne. As in WYOMING.

Yeah...

Fast forward to today, and my life sits on this giant precipice above a gnarling torrent of chaos.

That sounds a bit dramatic, eh? But it's so true. The offer that the hospital presented to The Husband was... incredible, to say the least. Too good to turn down. Husband gave his current employer a chance to counter the offer, and they did. However, the counter offer was nothing more than a token gesture, and was actually a bit insulting when you consider that he has given them his blood, sweat, and tears over the years.

So we're moving halfway across the country.

I don't think it has fully sunk in yet. It seems surreal to me. And let's just say that no one is really taking it well. My family isn't speaking to me. Husband's family is split- some are excited for us, some are pissed. Our friends are all heartbroken, but they have all promised to come visit regularly. And naturally we will be back up here to visit as well.

But still. It's a huge move. And it's scary, and sad. But it's also a really good thing.

By the way, did you know that Wyoming has antelope?!?

Ooops

So you know that saying "Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it"?

Yeeeeaaaahhhh....

Clearly I didn't take it seriously enough!

I can't really get into specifics, because nothing has actually come of it yet, so until something more firm is in place and decisions are made, there really isn't any point in getting people all riled up.

It's just weird how things work out. The timing, the unexpectedness, the fact that when you want something to happen, it won't, and when you truly believe something isn't going to happen, it does.

It's like Alanis said. Life has a funny way...

So I suddenly find myself with a lot of information to wade through, a lot of potential decisions to make, and a lot of unknowns. And in case you missed that memo: I don't like unknowns!

Predicability is good for me. Routine and normalcy are my friends. And I'm about to throw all that down the drain willingly!

Housewifery, Canadians, and tattoos

So my To Do list for this weekend keeps growing. And growing.

The weather is crappy, so no yard or garden work will be getting done, but that's okay, because my inside chores are enough to keep me plenty busy.

First, my bestest friend in the whole wide world, Adrienne, is coming to visit on Tuesday, so I need to get my house absolutely spotless. Not that I need to impress her. I mean, we've been friends since we were almost five, so I'm pretty sure she won't judge me if my house isn't in museum shape. But still, my OCD requires that my house be as perfect as possible for guests. (Then again, I try to keep my house spiffy anyway for my own sanity, so I guess nothing's really new!) (A tidy house equals a tidy brain)

This is the first time Age will be visiting our new house. Well, I guess it's not that new, we've been here for over a year and a half, but she was living all the way across the continent until just recently, so her last visit was almost three years ago. I'm excited to get to spend some time with her. I feel like she makes me sane. While we have plenty of friends around here, she's the only one that I feel totally myself with. She's known me almost my whole life, and it's rare to have people in your life for that long. She's a peach!

Age is going to be here for the better part of the week, and while it sucks that the kids and I have school and The Husband has work, we'll still rock it! On Wednesday my sister and I have appointments to get tattoos, and Age is pretty much an expert in that field (*cough* cough* getthegypsytattooyouknowyouwantto *cough *cough*) so she's coming along for moral support. And I'm trying not-so-subtly (see above) to convince her to get one she's been thinking about for quite a while. She has her whole back and both sides done, but hey, there's always room for more!

This will be my second tattoo, and my sister's first, so we're both very excited about it. I'm a little nervous since I'm getting mine down my spine, and the pain factor is... unknown and intimidating. But I'm a big girl and didn't even flinch during my first one, so hopefully I won't be the sissy whimpering in the corner...

Besides that, Age will also be here for my daughter's birthday party next weekend, which is super awesome! She can help me plan and cook and decorate! Yay for free help friends!

I don't know what else we will end up doing this week, I think we'll just wing it. One of the nights we want to take her to our favorite restaurant, assuming we can get a sitter. Beyond that? Who knows!

Coinciding with Age's visit, spring quarter starts on Monday. However, the portal opened yesterday, so I'm going to try and get as much of the first week's homework done as quickly as possible. That way, I won't have much to do that will be interfering with actual, you know, fun stuff. Of course, this means that I need to get a move on, like, now.

A gypsy wind...

First of all, I'm pretty sure I saw Ted Nugent at the grocery store today. Or his twin brother. Or his doppelgänger. So that was the exciting part of my day.

Inoright?!? It's a small life I lead...

So spring break is officially over. Well, for the kids at least. I have a week left before my spring quarter starts up. And then ten weeks until I'm free for the summer! And yes, the countdown has already begun.

So something weird has been going on with me lately. Over the last few weeks I've suddenly developed this burning desire to get the hell out of dodge. Which is kind of crazy because I genuinely LOVE where I live. 

I love my house, I love my town, I love the kids' school, I love it all.

And yet...

This little spark of adventure has crept up inside me, wanting to try something new. To boldly go where I haven't gone before. 

The last time we upped and moved completely spontaneously, it backfired horribly. We moved to Alaska on a family member's promise of amazing job prospects, but those jobs weren't actually there, and everything quickly fell apart. Naturally, I'm a little hesitant to have the same thing happen again, since life is good here and there is always risk involved in rocking the boat. But at the same time, I have this little gypsy spirit inside of me that gets restless every once in awhile, and given some unnecessary drama that has gone on lately, Husband and I have sort of tentatively discussed getting away from it all.  Plus, I feel that everyone should move away from their home state, at least for awhile, and get a taste of life outside of that bubble of familiarity.

There are a couple of areas that I have in mind. Both are several hours away from where we live now. Both are smaller areas, more rugged and rural, with a lower cost of living, a slower pace of life, and amazing natural beauty. One area specifically isn't as pretty, but it has the most job prospects. The other areas are vastly more beautiful and very artsy fartsy, but more limited in other ways. 

Potential future views?

Clearly, this is a HUGE decision, and not something that will happen remotely soon, but it is still bouncing around in my head and I will continue to do my research and gather information... if for no other reason than to dream...

Potential future main street?