Why we moved…

again…

It seems to be a common question lately.  I almost feel like I should print up cards with bullet points, as I usually forget at least one of the reasons and inevitably have the "DOH!  I should have said that" moment 5 seconds after finishing said conversation.  The topic at hand?  Why we moved from California to Virginia only for the father and husband in the family to depart nearly immediately for an unaccompanied overseas post.  

I continue to be asked this question again and again, and honestly, I don't mind.  However, I often feel like I have to justify our move somehow, so here we go with a few reasons:

• I enjoy torturing my children by ripping them out of schools they like and moving them every 2-3 years for the fun of it.

• I thrive on stress and the unexpected.  You want both?  Move 3,000 plus miles, don't get completely unpacked, then send your only help and your beloved overseas for a year by himself…stress and unexpected happenings aplenty!

• The U.S.P.S. was finally getting most of our mail to our correct U.S. address.  Time for a little shake-up!

• I stopped getting all of those new homeowner discount coupons and really needed a few (just kidding, signing up to get off those lists).

• I finally learned how to drive around most of the East Bay without my GPS and without getting lost….time to up the learning curve (yes, I know we've lived in VA before, but things do change).

• I really enjoy being the new person every 2-3 years and trying to start all over again, especially just for 12 months or so. 

Really?  Well, no, of course not.  The above items are exaggerations, of course, but what I feel like saying sometimes.  Naturally, there are a few more realistic reasons though I am still not sure they will satisfy everyone's curiosity:

• I get organized by moving.  As lame as it sounds and despite my tortoise-like slowness in unpacking, I am becoming far more organized just by virtue of this move.  I am realizing what we need, what we don't and rapidly clearing out the clutter.  I realized that if we stayed in CA for another year, it would be another year of me ignoring everything that was neatly stored on the shelves in our garage.

• Who doesn't want to spend a year getting to know this cutie (Baby Nate, of course)?  As much as we miss our CA friends terribly (yes, we really do :-(, we wanted the chance to reconnect with those in this area.  Nicholas and Baby Nate have quickly become good buddies and we are so not missing Baby Nate's first birthday party (it's only been in the works for, well, years!).  

• Not that we have not lived far away from family before (and we are still not exactly next door), but we wanted to be a little bit closer.  The only way to visit from CA would be to fly and that would either not happen or we would spend a fortune on airfare, car rentals and hotels (thus negating the anticipated savings from this UT).  We can drive to visit family at Thanksgiving, we are actually going to be able to attend my cousin's wedding in November and while we may have to fly at Christmas (should opt to travel), it won't be an all day affair. Given our hope is to be overseas for quite some time after this year, we feel we should get in as many family visits as we can now.

• Unlike the military, those of us in the Foreign Service do not get to automatically keep our state residency.  This was a HUGE blow when we moved to CA.  Not only were our taxes much higher (and home ownership pretty much out of reach), but we lost thousands of dollars in tax deductions.   All three kids have pre-paid tuitions plans with VPEP and losing our VA residency for two years meant far fewer deductions.  Oh, and not to mention the license fiasco…if we were allowed to keep our residency in VA, the DL issue would not have existed.

• We were not thrilled with our housing in CA.  While it appeared great in the beginning, when reality set in, it was not fun.  We were not interested in socking another nearly 3K/month into a house we didn't own, much less didn't want to live in for yet another year.  While our current home may not be our dream home, the upkeep is far easier and we feel as though our money is actually going towards something…oh, and when something doesn't work, I can call a repairman and have it fixed…sometimes even the next day (and to my specifications)! Changes, painting and upgrades…all up to me, and so glad to have that, even if only for a year…especially during a time when I have little control over anything else.

• And, last, but not least, the chance to go to events, meet other FS folks and know that they know exactly what we are going through.  From fall festivals where we randomly bump into FS friends  to organizational luncheons,   Stitch & B*tch  (at some point I will stitch…) and events such as the FSYF picnic yesterday.  We didn't see quite as many people as we had hoped, but ended up running into more friends from Iceland (having not seen them since we left Reyk) and other folks we had not seen in years. 

And there we have it…my pathetic, but true, reasons for moving.  As far as photos go, with the LG being extremely active at yesterday's event, I was lucky to snap this one photo of Kelsey just after she had her face painted.  So glad she has dark hair, as hoping no one else will notice the streak of black along her hairline  that I completely missed last night.  And with that, I must get going, as lunch with yet another FS friend is on tap for today!