Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Maybe in Another Life

In the past week, I have booked and re-booked 5 airline tickets (for three different people), two hotel rooms, three rental cars and a rental truck. In the past 10 days I have spent an iadmissable amount at the mechanic and purchased a washer and dryer (I really feel old now - I own an appliance), as well as $80 in clothes I sort of needed (maternity things, purchased now rather than later due to changed schedules), $50 in road trip food, $70 in groceries for the in-laws who don't apparently eat unless we come to visit and an as-yet-undetermined amount for a stay at a teeny little hospital in a teeny little town in what I am sure is approaching the middle of nowhere.

I have also "moved." I use the term lightly as "moving" meant flying to a new city, 2,200 miles away and going to work (after finding something moderately suitable to wear for my first day, given my collection of vacation clothes and growing belly). I have no home, I have no church congregation, I have not a clue what I'm doing at work (yet), I know almost no one.

Then I remembered that Baby Girl arrives in approximately 14 weeks. And my nearly complete "must have" list dropped to nothing, when I realized moving meant returning everything a very generous friend had loaned us.

I think that was the last straw.

I find myself completely overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, grumpy, hormonal and ready to throw my hands in the air and concede to a life of digging myself out of this grand idea.

It's no wonder. Experts say that one should, ideally (key word here), only experience one major life event at time. Well, I got to counting our life events that will occur in the span of 4 months:

-New baby
-New jobs
-Moving 2,200 miles
-Close relative diagnosed with terminal cancer
-Major financial purchase (I'm counting the washer/dryer and the car repairs - since they are combined more than I've spent on anything other than a car in my life)

Someone re-convince me this really is a good idea ...

5 comments:

Heidi said...

You can do it! Andy and I did something sort of similar. We found out we were having twins, moved across the country, bought a house, changed jobs, and I stopped working all within about 4 months also. It is really hard at first, and often times still is, but...it can be done and I know you can do it! Please do let me know if you need anything. I know how stressful it can be! Good luck and congrats on the baby girl!!!

Oliver said...

I rather doubt it was a good idea. But will you be happier once you get into the swing of things at work, you have your house sorted out, and you have a new baby girl?

Happier. Probably.
Crazier. Definitely.

foculbrown said...

When it rains, it pours. When our "little one" (not so, any more) was on the way, we:
* lost job and insurance
* moved 800 miles to live with my in-laws
* found job after 6 months
* lost a grandfather 1 month before the birth
* moved into new apartment the week after the grandfather died (40 miles away)
* insurance kicked in a month before the birth

The "Experts" are wrong. You never have only one major life event at a time. The all happen at the same time.

fiona said...

Wow, that is overwhelming. At times like that, I find that I tell myself often, "This time next week/month/4 months from now this will be over" or somehow changed for the better ;)

Heidi Totten said...

Here are the benefits:

-Lower cost of living
-A raise with your new job
-New challenges with your job instead of what you were doing.
-Way less traffic
-Live a lot closer to family so baby girl will know her relatives including her new cousin
-You could actually own a house!