Weeding and Waiting; or, A Move in the Near Future

Almost two weeks after I wrote about the uncertainty (and lack of control I have) over our current condition, nothing has changed.

This I do know: I am definitely not in control.

I know this: We are moving to a new house.

No, it's not a new house in a new country. Instead, at least for the present, we are moving to a new house on base.

I got a nice surprise when I opened my email a few weeks ago saying that we were being offered a brand new house. We've been on a waiting list for a larger house for a year now. Then I panicked---what if I get a transfer? Do we want to move twice in a few months?

I also know that, as of today, I'm still Category F in the transfer round. This is the main reason I decided to say yes to moving to a larger house. We can't control the transfer round, but we can control the size of our house---a first since we moved from Texas in 2012. Base housing is free. That's the good. I'm not going to sound like an ingrate about my free house, so I'll just say that the best part of this move is that we won't be connected to neighbors anymore.

It's not that we have lousy neighbors; it's just that it's difficult living in a duplex house. I haven't shared a wall with neighbors since we lived in an apartment in Colorado over 20 years ago. I wish I had a dollar for every time I've said the following: Don't stomp up the stairs. Turn off the bathroom fan---it's too loud. Please come downstairs to talk to me instead of screaming. Turn down your music. Quit bouncing the ball on the wall (why do boys always do that?). You can't play your guitar because it's X-o'clock and the neighbors are probably sleeping. We try to be considerate people, but it's really a challenge with kids who have never shared such close quarters with neighbors.

I do know this, too: we still have a lot of fine quality crap that we hauled here. Some of it we hauled from Mississippi to Georgia, Georgia to Colorado, Colorado to Washington, Washington to Texas, and then Texas to Cuba. Seriously, 22 years of marriage means lots and lots and lots of fine quality crap.

I keep reminding myself that unlike a lot of our friends and neighbors here, we brought EVERYTHING with us to Cuba. We also moved with less than a month's notice to clean out lots of closets and an attic and a large garage. We didn't do so badly, considering the circumstances. We had a garage sale this past weekend and got rid of several things. It was nice to say goodbye to clothes and toys and books and small appliances.

As with everything else, we don't know when this move will happen; we are waiting for phones to be installed, and last I heard (three weeks ago), the phone equipment was on the barge. *sigh*

I don't like feeling like I have no control over the future, but that's sort of how you have to roll in this system. It has really been an exercise in trying to live more in the present instead of hyper-focusing on the future (something I've done since I was a child).

Moving to another house has given me a large positive goal to focus on. I'm just grateful to have something in my life I can control right now. It will be a lot of work (we have to move ourselves), but instead of sitting around, worrying and wishing and waiting, I can be unpacking and rearranging and still simplifying our lives by weeding out what we don't need.