Changes

So I find myself here, after trying for about 30 minutes, unable to sleep. Maybe it's the freaks doing their vacuuming at 10pm trying to get all their chores in. Maybe it's the car alarm that keeps going off at random or that annoying yappy dog that doesn't know when to quit. Maybe it's this hot weather that is not lending itself to sleep. Who knows. Regardless, I'm awake.

This is the season of change, where one season changes to another. The weather out here is virtually the same all year long, so it's harder to distinguish, but I can still feel it coming. And it's not just the seasons that are changing. Mike and I are moving to North Carolina at the end of the month. At this point we are unsure of employment, but secure enough in the knowledge that California is not a long-term home for us to feel like this is the right choice.

Last month we visited Mike's parents and siblings, and it made me realize how much I miss mine. I guess talking on the phone and email every week or so masked how little I get to see of my family being out here, but the trip brought it out. This is the longest stint that I have been without seeing my parents.. ever. You might laugh, but it has been almost a year. Granted, my first year of college it was a year before they moved back, but I think that time was not as bad because I did not have the option to go and see them. Now I could...if I had the money...and vacation time... and had not just added to my family list.

Ah well, moving to the East Coast will help that. We will be within 4 hours of Mike's family, 7.5 hours of my sisters, and a quick (cheap!) flight away from my parents. Additionally I'll be within 4 hours of 3 different aunts and uncles. It will be a veritable plethora of relatives! I'm very excited. Nervous, but excited.

I'm not looking forward to packing and driving again. I'd love to simply ship my things over, or put them on a matter transporter (I wish!) to arrive instantly. That would save many problems. For example, driving with 3 cats will not be a day at the beach. Shipping them (live cargo) and then letting them stay in a pet safe area at an airport till we could pick them up or someone else could, is .. shall we say .. incredibly expensive. Outrageously so. At least the vet has agreed to give us some sedatives for the cats.

Well, and so it begins. Goodbye, California, hello, North Carolina.