West of the Mississippi

So, I've left my temporary (of nine years -- longish temporary) East Coast digs for someplace West of the Mississippi. (on a side note -- I thought I was pretty big stuff in elementary school when I could spell Mississippi) The past nine years have been fantastic -- amazing friends and community who we are very sad to leave physically. I've enjoyed exploring the area -- the beach and the mountains, the D.C. area. It's been fun, and we already have dreams of buying a vacation home in the area one day so we can spend lots of time in our second home. And in the meantime, we'll start saving up for plane tickets for a shorter vacation. But as I crossed the bridge over that big, muddy river last week, I realized again that there's something about the great wild West that really feels like Home. (of course, on the flip side, I'm generally one who feels like home is really about people....but we are often connected to our environment as well)

But enough philosophizing....my moving and transitioning brain has a list, of things I forgot about moving in the past nine years:

1. There's a lot of little stuff to do
2. There's a lot of big stuff to do
3. Starting a new job is way disorienting. I feel like a fish out of water
4. Moving from a small city/big town to a Big City causes me to feel like a country mouse. I feel in the way, out of place, a bit lost
5. You're not going to learn your way around overnight.
6. Finding a place to live can be complicated, and is often an exercise in prioritizing and compromize.

so, that's it from my random brain today, at least, the little bit not taken up by thoughts of house-hunting.