Why, hello. Is there anyone still out there? I've been wanting to come back to the blog for a while now - framing stories in my head and wanting to share life's small developments. After sitting down several times to write a re-entry post, I realized that the thing that was holding me back was the whole "summary of what's been going on" thing that seemed necessary after being gone for a year and a half.
In truth, a lot has been going on. Tons of stuff has happened since July 2010. But any time I start to write about it, it turns into a list that I find boring to write and that therefore will likely be boring to read. So I'm skipping all that. Some of it will surely be covered in future posts, and please feel free to ask questions, but really there's no point in doing this if it's going to be boring. The key thing to know is that we are once again on the path to moving. Not just to another dump in CollegeTown either. (Though, in the interest of full disclosure, I must state that the house we are renting now is quite nice. It's not the filing cabinet mentioned in my last post, though we did live there. Suffice it to say that it was an entertaining novelty for a while and then it wasn't.) No, we are on our way to Vermont.
The Husband and I have long joked about the three rings of heaven. The outer ring (Level 1, if you will) is Bloomington, IN. This is where we went to college and where we met. People who stay there tend to wax rather ecstatic. With good reason - it's a nice college town with great restaurants and a progressive political vibe, surrounded by beautiful hills. Yes, it's in southern Indiana, which is kind of a drawback, but it doesn't feel like southern Indiana. Anyway, I met my life's love there, so I have a soft spot.
The inner ring of heaven, Level 2, is Madison, WI. If people wax ecstatic about Bloomington, they downright gush about Madison. We've never been there, but have friends who recently moved to the general area. They say it's all true. The restaurants are filled with local food, the country is beautiful for miles around, and it's nowhere near southern Indiana. Basically, everything Bloomington can do, Madison can do better.
The center of the rings - the crown jewel of my very mixed metaphor - is Vermont. We had always said we'd like to end up there, but that was just based on the fact that it is the land of organic milk and backyard honey. We want to be crazy hippies, albeit well-groomed ones, and Vermont very hippie-friendly.
Then we visited last May and we knew we need to actualize the heretofore somewhat vague plan to get the hell out of Illinois and be the organic hobby farmers we were always meant to be. Having spent several years in the purgatory of Illinois, we earned the right to go straight to heaven's core. We decided on a 12- to 24-month time frame for a move, although I think both of us were afraid that we would lose steam and give in to inertia. Then, conveniently (ha!), the Husband's job ended more quickly than planned, and all of a sudden it looked like 12 months was actually realistic.
So here we are, getting ready to move yet again, though we don't know exactly where. I have told my boss that I will likely be leaving before the summer, though I haven't put in official notice. Leaving my job is the aspect of the move that I really regret, as it is by far the best job I've ever had. We are both now looking for good jobs in Vermont - the Husband has even applied for his teaching license there. If jobs don't manifest, then at a certain point we'll move and take what we can get. We have some savings to fall back on and our needs are fairly simple. Time will tell if we are totally brave and awesome or totally stupid and nuts.
