Sweet Home, Not Alabama ~ Florida-Bound!

Just a few more days until moving day. I've never been so happy to leave a place as I am now.

Not that this move is a piece of cake.... Vivian's two year molars have surfaced and let's just say she is in full Diva form!! So I'm doing what I can in between fits, hysteria and her clinging to my leg. (fun times!) A few new friends have shown their faces to bid us farewell also -- roaches, beetles and other bugs. These things tend to happen, unfortunately, when you have a room full of boxes that were formerly in storage.

On the bright side, this is the first time that any organization is paying us to move and is helping us pack. Therefore, there is less work involved. At this point, we're mostly cleaning and arranging items into piles.

But there is still much to finish between now and Thursday. All that deep cleaning that I hate to do and have maybe done once in my life -- things like cleaning the oven, wiping down walls, washing windows, wiping down blinds (you're supposed to do that??) and the list goes on and on. So this will be my last post for awhile. I won't be visiting other blogs for a week or longer. I will miss you but I'm sure you understand - I'd rather be visiting you than dusting and vacuuming!

Anyway, how do I feel about leaving? Well, I have no sentimental feelings about departing from Montgomery, Alabama. Other than a handful of wonderful friends I have made here (ironically, most of them are not originally from this area either), I have no reservations about moving on.

Not all of Alabama is bad, mind you. I saw some very beautiful sites in the northern part of the state, like in Huntsville. Birmingham has great shopping. The beaches in the southern parts are beautiful. But for being the capital city, Montgomery just doesn't have much to offer. Not for my family anyway.

But none of that matters now. We're leaving. We're about to find a new community, hopefully one that will truly feel like "home" to us.

I do want to end on a positive note though. After all, I have vowed to be a happier, glass is half-full kind of person going forward. Therefore, I would like to list a few great things that have happened to me while living in Alabama.

Here they are, in no particular order:

- My writing has gone from being non-existent to something I do almost daily. It began out of frustration I was feeling and has now evolved into anything that comes to my mind that I feel like sharing. It has pushed me to new depths and now I never want to stop writing.


- I made some awesome friends, both in real life and in the virtual world. If it weren't for these folks, I would have been completely miserable and depressed for the past sixteen months. They got me through quite possibly the darkest few months of my life. Here are several of these wonderful women (pictured below):








- My job, although very stressful at times, pushed me to do things that I didn't know I was capable of doing. Because of this job, I have learned what I do want and more importantly, what I do NOT want to do in my future profession.


- Kirk and I have become even stronger of a couple. In our misery over where we lived, we held onto each other tighter and found even greater happiness in our marriage.


- Watching Vivian grow has been a joy. She went from a baby blob who couldn't even sit up on her own when we first moved here to a running, dancing toddler that she is today. While Alabama didn't have anything specific to do with her growth, she has aged here; therefore, this place is a small part of her life.


I do believe that things happen for a reason. Call it spirituality, nature or karma. Although our family hasn't felt at home or content here, I understand that we were meant to live here in order to appreciate where we've come from and to lead us to this next phase in our lives.

I was destined to meet the people that I have met. And I was meant to have the job that I've held here. All of these things have enriched my life and provided me with knowledge that I'll remember going forward.

So I can't believe I'm saying this but.... thank you Alabama! You're not my sweet home but you've taught me many things about myself, my strengths, my weaknesses, my beliefs and my talents. I wish you well in your future. Take care of my friends here and show them the love and kindness that they deserve.

Here is a great quote that I found about departure:

Never say good-bye because good-bye means going away, and going away means forgetting. - Peter Pan

I won't forget what I've experienced here. Rather, I'm just taking these lessons and applying them to a new place and a new chapter in my life.

Our computers will be turned off after today. So the next time you hear from me (probably a week from now, or slightly longer), I will be living temporarily in a hotel. Hopefully my first post back will be with me just be coming in from soaking up a few sun rays next to the pool with my complimentary wine and appetizers in my hands.

Until then, virtual hugs and best wishes to all of you! Florida, here I come! Talk to you in a week!