Turn and Face the Strange

I'm taking a break from the packing and sorting to talk to you fine folks today. It's been a few weeks since we've chatted and I'm feeling reflective.

We're moving. We're leaving the house and moving into an apartment. I am so flipping excited because we are moving out of the hot and smoggy valley into a lovely place that is approximately 2 blocks from the ocean. We'll be within walking distance from the beach and from lots of theatres, restraunts, bars and lots of other things to do. It's exactly where we want to live, in the middle of lots of stuff!

While packing up our life, I can't help but take stock of what I'll be happy to be rid of and what I'll miss. I already miss the BBQ grill that we sold at the Yard Sale 2 weeks ago. I'll miss the hot tub when the nice lady comes to pick it up on Monday. I will completely miss having a washer/dryer in my pantry. I know the cats will miss the show constantly on in our backyard. Just last night an adorable little posseum tight-walked the back fence when Seen and I were in the hot tub only 4 feet away. I'll miss sitting in the hammock with my hubby, drinking a beer at sunset while the crickets and the finches sing to us.

To the next owners of this house I gladly leave the giant, weed-filled yard. I am thrilled to walk away from the blowtorch oven that runs about twice as hot as it should. Good-riddance to the roots growing in the plumbing and the poor patch job that the roofers did to the one panel on the carport.

For the first 14 years of my relationship with Seen (just about my whole adult life) I've moved every single year. Then we bought this house, a purchase we stepped into earlier than we had planned to accomodate his mother moving in with us. We have lived here for 4 years. His mother moved away, we did some renovations, planted a few failed gardens, had a TV show do more renovations. We gained our Ling Ling when the neighbors tossed her into the yard and lost our beloved Weasel in the back room last year.

I have wanted to move, out of this neighborhood, out of this house for nearly 2 years. While I'm excited to get started in a new place, with fresher air and a busier neighborhood, we've built memories here. Memories travel well, but a part of me always stay in our little ranch house in the Valley.