Moving

So it's official: we are truly out of limbo and really moving. The date is less than three weeks away. I've been packing like crazy, sorting, organizing, throwing, recycling, giving away, selling, and making phone calls. I've been choreographing car shipping, truck rental, plane tickets, home selling, home buying, Marce's job details and professional licensure, and all the other moves associated with moving. I'm starting to feel a bit like the girl with the red shoes (I think that's it), in which the poor girl of the fairy tale puts on shoes that dance with her in them and never stop. She gets danced to death because she can't take them off. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to take these "shoes" off in about 6 weeks, but I'm not sure I'll not be danced to death by then. Cross your fingers for me.
Sleep has become a commodity much sought-after but continually elusive. I'm like those commercials for sleep aids, before some butterfly flitters by a peacefully slumbering actor. I've been thinking the silver lining of this cloud is that at least I'll already be acclimated to the Pacific time zone, two hours earlier. Midnight here is a respectable 10 p.m. there. Voila! Of course, the other side is that I've been waking up at 5 or 6, so will I be waking at 3 or 4 there? I hope that I'll at least just be waking with the early light.
In the meantime, I'm still doing laundry, cooking (well, a little less), cleaning, doing dishes, prying fighting children apart, etc.
Either way, Visalia, here we come! We will definitely be in town by Aug. 11, the day before school registration. It would be nice to be in our own home, but we may very well be staying with family still. Should be quite a fun crowd!

Reunited and it feels so ... odd

So last month was my high school 20-year reunion. Yikes! I can't believe it was 20 years ago I finished high school and was finally able to go West to college, what I'd dreamed about for years.
I didn't get to go to the 10th reunion because I was about to give birth to Marissa. Traveling in a car for about 6 hours didn't seem like a good idea at the time. I figured this time I was bound to go. Since we have been planning on moving, it was also a good time to attend, since I wouldn't be back for a while.
So I went. I wasn't happy about my larger figure (thanks, stress!) but I got gussied up in a pretty pink dress and put on makeup and actually spent 20 minutes with my hair. Rare I get to do THAT, I'll tell ya.
Aside from the weight, I was apprehensive. I wasn't particularly close to a lot of people in my high school, mainly because I was only there for 2 years. But I thought I would be happy to see several, so I went. It wasn't too bad. I was shocked at how OLD so many people looked! Some looked just the same, and several told me I looked exactly the same (I guess they were overlooking the weight gain). So it was all a fairly good boost for me as I realized that not everyone has stayed the same as 20 years ago, so I'm entitled to a little change. (That has kind of faded with the passage of a few weeks and the visuals I've gotten of myself in photos there. Aack! The mirror is much kinder.)
I stayed a few hours, showed off my "arm candy" (my handsome husband), and exchanged hugs and conversations. It was interesting how some of the less mature students I knew then have grown up and become pretty responsible, likable people! Very reassuring. Of course, there were a couple who were obnoxious then who have become ten times more obnoxious. Goes both ways, I guess.
All in all, I came out of it fairly unscathed. I just hope that if I go to the 50th, I'll have lost these 35 extra pounds...