The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

I've discovered that I hate sharing big news -- good, bad, indifferent, it doesn't really matter. I always feel awkward making big announcements. I like when I have a PR person (Jessie, for instance, is very good at sharing my news here in Newburyport -- which I love!) or can somehow slip a little of this or a little of that into a conversation. Of course, it is even MORE awkward when the big event is upon us all and I still haven't spilled the beans. This is rather ironic because I'm a) not a particularly good secret keeper and b) I like to guess/make up other people's big news. Nonetheless, it is what it is and I doubt I'm going to change anytime soon.

At this point, many of you know that we're moving. Not down-the-street moving but across-the-country-to-a-whole-new-land moving. John's posts about the great Canadian Northwest pretty much gave the story of where we're moving to (Legion Hall and giant highways here we come!) but I don't believe that I've come out and said it directly -- mostly because I've been in denial. As we have reached the point of T-minus one month until move date, however, denial isn't as useful a coping strategy as it once was. We've got movers, we've got a new house out there, we've got plans for flights home so reality has snuck in and it's time to accept that we're leaving our lovely little house in our lovely little town where we are close to lovely friends and family. Lest you think that I'm all gloom and doom about this, I'm not. We're moving closer to other lovely family, this is a temporary, two-year move (LOVELY!), and John really likes his new job (I'm not sure that it qualifies as lovely, however). There's a lot to miss here but there's also a lot to be gained on this new adventure so it's definition of bittersweet, in many ways.

On the bitter side... my new friends: I've been very, very lucky as a new mom to have met some really, really great friends in a short period of time. They have made the transition to mom-work so much better and easier. I talk to my friend Jessie almost every day and Molly loves her and her daughter Sadie a whole heckuva lot. I'm really going to miss her now that I've abandoned her to the wolves on the mother's club board. There's also our playgroup, which has also turned into a playgroup for the moms, and it's been really special to have a group to go to music class, the playground, and to the beach with at pretty much the drop of a hat. While I hope I'll meet some great people out in Penticton, I'm not sure I'll find the close-knit community I've found here.

My old friends: ahhhhhhhhhhh.... I'm not sure I can touch this one yet. I love these pals of mine and we've seen each other through a lot of stuff. We're a bit more spread out now but we still see and talk to each other a ton. You couldn't ask for a better crew to laugh, cry, and gossip with than these gals. I've loved watching them get married (or will soon) and have really loved watching their kids grow up and know that Molly will have some good friends for a long time. I don't get to see most of them on a day to day basis but it's never very long between visits and it'll be tough to go months between visuals. We've already weathered long distance since people have moved to the west coast and gone to school in other places so I know these friendships will remain strong and thriving. It's just that I'll MISS them!

My family: I definitely don't feel ready to touch this one at all. Safe to say that my family is incredibly, incredibly important to me and I can't even begin to fathom not being close by. So, I won't. I'll live in denial on this one a little longer. For various reasons, this spring was a stressful one in some ways and every single person in my family stepped up without hesitation to help. You can't buy that sort of dedication anywhere and I'm not sure what I'm going to do without them all.

I'll also really miss having John's parents close by all summer. Trips out to BI are always wonderful and it will be hard to miss those visits this summer. They've been so supportive of our move and transition and my complete scatteredness, and I can't thank them enough.

Now, the sweet... We are moving to central British Columbia, which is only a several hours drive away from Seattle, where we'll be close to Eric and Mary and the girls. I'm really happy to be closer to these folks. Also, we'll be on the same side of the world as Holly and will hopefully get to see her more as well. We're sorry to be leaving Karin and Rebecca (sorry, this is supposed to be the sweet side) but hope we get to see them out west, too. I've also been able to e-meet some people through friends of friends of friends and they have been really wonderful in helping me get acquainted with all things Candian (don't even think for a second that our neighbors to the north don't have their own set of rules and regs. It's a whole new ballgame up there. Except that ballgame is a hockey game... anyhoo).

This is also really beautiful country... or so I've been told. We visited when it wasn't exactly peak season but I do hear that it's very, very pretty most of the year. We'll be in BC during the winter Olympics and we're close to lots and lots of outdoors stuff. If you come visit, I won't even make you camp out in the backyard because there are cat-eating owls and black widow spiders. Other outdoorsy stuff abounds, however, and I am looking forward to taking crazy Molly to the beach (we're snuggled between two big lakes) and out on hikes (which will be at the blazing speed of .1 KM per hour since she will likely insist on walking instead of being carried in the pack), and cross country skiing in the winter (and no, winter doesn't start in August even though it is Canada). Our new locale is in wine country, believe it or not, and it's a desert there we have a relatively moderate climate to look forward to.

Rest assured (or maybe it's your worst nightmare), we will be back for visits and the cliche holds true -- our welcome mat is always out and we would L-O-V-E visitors. You've probably all been waiting for just the right time to visit the Kootenays or the rodeo in Merritt, right? Who's coming with me?

The reason that I'm writing this tome today, by the way, is that some friends gathered last night for a good-bye BBQ for us. I promptly ignored the reason behind the gathering and instead focused on being around friends and lots of little maniacs. It was really fun and thanks to Katie for hosting and to the rest of you girls (and boys) for organizing and being there. It did remind me that this is pretty much the right time for writing some of this down, however, as we head into the home stretch.

We got a couple of shots of the whole crew but for now, here are the moms with babes (minus Sarah, she decided not to borrow one of Liz's brood but she was there).




p.s. see comments for some other big news.