Hanging Out, Down the Street

Oh, here's something I haven't remembered to do in while - give an update, share my thoughts, any of that... What blog?

So much has happened that it's silly I haven't updated before this. Now I have to try and summarize it in a post!

We spent the summer in Wisconsin. We didn't intend to - we were going to visit a friend of the Boy's - an online friend. We'd met them at the Unschooling Conference earlier in the spring and since we were "close" (the conference was in Ohio), we decided to go for a proper visit. Timing wise we had a couple of weeks to kill before they'd be available so we decided to stop and visit one of MY online friends who I was itching to meet IRL. Well, my friend has two kids near in age to the Boy, and they CLICKED in such an amazing way.

The visit to the Boy's other friend turned into a disaster - I won't go into details because honestly I don't want to relive it, but it did NOT work out. The Boy asked if we could live in Wisconsin though, to be near the friends he clicked with. He was tired of traveling, tired of the inconsistent internet connection, tired of having half his stuff in storage and having to put everything away after he used it because we needed the bed to sleep in later and it was the only place he had to play.

He wasn't really keen on all of the exploring of new places that his Dad and I loved so much, and he wanted to be in a stationary house again. So we began to look for places to live and jobs for my husband in Wisconsin. Of all places. Not the West Coast where our hearts live, but Wisconsin where friends live. Friends we really connect with and that my son adores. 

So here we are. My husband found a job that pays what we need it to, we found an apartment we think we will like, and we're giving this place  a go for the next year. Why not? Kiddo needs some stability and I certainly can see the draw of having a full kitchen again, space to spread out and do things, and a full sized oven to bake in.

Which brings us to today. When we left, we put all of our extra belongings in storage in Oregon, which of course is where they still are. In order to retrieve them, we put the Husband on a plane early this morning. He's flying to Portland, picking up the moving truck, loading it up, then driving it back across the country. By himself. Which will take about 4-5 days.

The anxiety around this trip! Firstly, he and I haven't been apart for that long since we moved to Washington state in 2004. And that was for a week, and I stayed with friends until he arrived. It was just us, too - no children to worry about. Secondly the Boy has never been apart from his Dad like this in his whole life, so there is much sadness there. They are total buddies, too - they game together and play together and hang out and go for walks to talk about video games together. Five whole days for him is a long time to be without his Dad!

And of course his online friends are going to be offline this week, too, because they are visiting friends - the timing of this! Ack! We have two saving graces here - 1) We get to see our friends on Thursday. 2) Friday the new Yo-Kai Watch video game comes out, which is my son's very favorite game to play, especially with his Dad. And if all goes well, his Dad will be back Friday night. Fingers crossed!

Now I know that 4 days isn't a lot on the grand scheme of things, but right now for my son especially, it is a long time! And for me....well,  this will be the first time since way before my health tanked that I will be on my own like this. So much has changed since the last time we were apart for a week, and since  I was so sick as well. There's no way we could have done something like this 15 months ago - I wouldn't have been able to care for myself, let alone for my son. But here we are, my health drastically improved, able to take care if us again, and I know we'll be okay. It's a big step in so many ways.

And when my husband gets back, we'll be getting the apartment ready to move into, and we'll be moving in! Another huge step towards another new chapter in our lives. My son has never seen a big snowy winter before, or four distinctly separate seasons, so this will be an adventure for sure! Lakes that freeze and people ice skate on them??? Outside?!? Snow measures in feet instead of centimeters? And all winter? Oh my goodness.

Well, here we go...