The moving story

I’ve been thinking about how to tell you all about what’s been going on in the last oh…18 months? Has it been that long? Dam I can’t even remember. POW, do you remember? I know you said you were leaving right after I did…sad that I may have to look at your archives to know for sure. Anyway, a lot has happened. Some good, some fucking awful. I guess I’ll start today with the move, since that’s what everyone keeps asking me about.

I know for a self professed LA snob, it seemed at one point like I’d never leave California. Trust me, no one was more shocked that me when it happened. We’d been spending all of our vacation time in Colorado for the past few years. Hanging out with family, roller blading, jet skiing, boating, camping (bleh), hiking (puke), biking; this city is great for all of that and much more. Logan’s from here, his family lives here, like his entire family, except for his parents and sister. His parents are planning on “retiring” here in a year or two. I put that in quotes, since I know they won’t actually retire, they’ll just do what they do somewhere here. There’s a lot to do here and we’ve always loved it. Summer sports, winter sports and all of the cousins alone made it a great place to be.

Last year when we were out for Memorial weekend, I guess a few of Logan’s cousins got together with him and asked him to be a partner in his business. It’s something he’s always wanted to do, to have his own business, but he was awhile away (like say ten years) from being able to do that in LA. There’s just a lot more risk involved in LA right now. He told them he’d think about it, that he’d love to, but he doubted I’d move. He also told them, he’d want to bring our best friends and have our friend James work with them too. They agreed. So the guys got together and discussed it, at great length I’ve heard. Not about if they wanted to, but how best to break it to their wives, me and Kate, my best friend. They went with her first, mostly because she’s a push over. Then the three of them came to me.

At first I was adamant that there was no way in hell I’d even think about it. I was pissed that he went behind my back, pissed that he’d gotten Kate and James involved and pissed at the whole thought of it. Then reality started setting in. The reality of our life in LA and how INSANE it was. The reality of the amount of hours I was working, just to afford the lifestyle we had created in LA. The reality of sending my kids to private school, just so I’d feel like they were getting the best education possible. Private school doesn’t come cheap. I had to weight the pros and cons. Cheap vs. expensive. Public vs. private. Clean air vs. orange skies. The list went on and on and on. What sold me was the thought that I could spend more time with the kids, that we’d have more family time; that the baby that I was carrying (story for another day) could be born in a place that was relaxed. That I wouldn’t need to put it in day care at 8 weeks. That my girls could ride their bikes outside.

I was sold, we were moving. I told Logan, well let’s put the house on the market and see if it sells. We had a contract on it in 48 hours, which was great because I didn’t have to try and keep it clean for months on in. Unfortunately, they wanted it in 6 weeks and they’d pay extra for that. We found an apartment to live in temporarily out here and we packed our shit and moved.

It’s been a huge adjustment, I won’t lie to you. Some days (often) I’d kill to sit on the beach and watch the waves crash. I miss the friends we left behind. I miss my family that’s out there and dam it they don’t all just want to pack up and move out here too. I miss LA: the food, the weather, the life that I lived. But I’m getting used to this lifestyle too. There’s enough city out here that I feel okay. There’s clean air and “traffic” to the people out here is laughable. Sorry, but you don’t know traffic, until you’ve been on the 405 in rush hour, which is to say, all the dam time. Hell, there are songs written about the traffic on the 405.

The end of summer was rough, for reasons I’ll get in to later. Fall was a bit better; I loved the weather and the easiness of life. I love that my kids can be outside and that they have friends in the neighborhood. Winter was well….snowy. Did you know it snows often in winter? Maybe if I’d been writing, one of you could have warned me about that. I love me some snow; you know, when I want to ski or snowboard, not all the dang time. But I’ll get used to it one of these years, I’m sure.

So we’re here and we’re here to stay. It’s worth it, for Logan’s business, for my kids; for our finances. Me, I’m still a bit lost here. I haven’t found my groove. The company I worked for in LA shut down the Denver office, about a month before we moved. I’m working part-time doing bookkeeping for a guy, but it’s not something I plan on doing long term. I’ve written (well half written) a parenting book, that I’m trying to get an agent for, but no luck so far. So I’m just here, waiting to see what to do next. All I know is that, I needed to blog again. To write again, even in these last few days has made me feel so much better. It’s nice to put my thoughts somewhere, as they take up a ton of space in my head all the time. I’ve missed this, I really have.