So We Sold Our House

You guys. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but in a quicker-than-expected follow up to So We Have Some Big News I can finally say we are under contract to sell our home and we close in less than 2 weeks if all goes according to plan. I thought our home would take a little while to sell because of the real estate market but we ended up getting several offers and we just couldn’t say no. Instead of moving towards the end of summer, it looks like we’ll become North Carolina residents sooner than expected!

In my mind, I dreamed the weeks before moving would be filled with trips to our favorite ice cream spot, hikes in Valley Forge, and leisurely lunches with friends. Instead, I’m going non-stop from the moment I wake until I fall into bed exhausted, mind racing, around midnight. A typical day consists of dropping the kids at school or camp, rushing to squeeze in all our doctors appointments, meeting with contractors, packing boxes, trying to keep up with the blog, and juggling about a million different details/ phone calls/ forms and more. Then I pick up the kids and we run errands or they play while I pack and make phone calls. Sometimes I squeeze in a trip to Rita’s Water Ice in between while we still can. 😉

And, oh, we had to scramble find a place to live in NC since our home won’t be ready until fall plus a storage space since our living space is downsized by half until our house is ready. Which means packing TWO sets of boxes, one for our apartment and one for long-term storage. It’s been fun, y’all.

In an already busy life, the momentous amount of to-dos is a bit unreal. I sometimes just sit back and laugh and wonder how I’m getting it all done, or IF I’ll get it all done! I’ll get it all done, right?

Quite honestly, the weight of this move and the impact on our kids crushes me when I stand still long enough. To avoid that, I’ve decided to just keep swimming as Dory would say. When I’m busy I don’t think about the emotional side. Once in awhile it hits me when I’m driving past their former preschool or a spot where we like to explore and I fight back tears thinking about how I’m taking my kids away from the only home they’ve ever known.

Then I remember. I remember how I feel like hibernating November through April. I remember how good it feels to live in a place like North Carolina where the clerk at the gas station would say “I appreciate you, darlin'” every time I bought a pack of gum. I remember how hard it is to make friends in this town if you weren’t born in this town. Perhaps I was young and naive when I first moved to NC in my 20’s, but I made lifelong friends who are like family to me. That gives me hope I can find the same once again, despite not being young and naive any more.

Well, this got emotional quickly.

It’s a tricky time of year for me– Abby’s birthday is quickly approaching, and that brings ALL THE FEELS (or, PTSD as some people call it– I’m gonna stick with ALL THE FEELS) as her birth and first few years of life were so difficult and scary. I’ll never look at fireworks the same way after seeing them from the NICU window the day after she was born, or drive into Philly without my hands shaking because it reminds me of all those months having to drive to see my darling baby in the hospital. In large part, moving away will be letting go of that part of our life for better or for worse.

You can just call me the Hot Mess Express at this point.

The funny thing is I’m handling it all well, but apparently I’m just gonna let it all out on the blog. I didn’t even know I was feeling this way until I started typing. I’ve been oddly unemotional about it in real life but late nights and a glass of champagne on top of exhaustion will do it to you. Blogging… the best therapy money can’t buy. 🙂

Thanks for sharing this ride with me. I feels so strange to sell a home when I haven’t even revealed several of the rooms here on the blog yet! But, such is life. It sure does seem to speed up the older we get, am I right?

I’m off to go pack a box (or three). I have posts lined up over the next few weeks and the blog will be going strong all summer thanks to a pretty amazing team of helpers. But no doubt I’m in summer mode, as are you, so I think you’ll enjoy the slightly slower pace and easy ideas we have waiting for you.