Everything in Motion

As I sit down to blog for the first time, the main thing I notice is that I am sitting still.  I feel like the last three weeks have been in constant motion.  I'm physically sore all over from cleaning out closets and ridding our house of junk in preparation for moving to a house half the size of our current one.  I had the first garage sale of my life this week, which I might add was quite a success.  I had been warned that it would be a miserable experience, but I actually enjoyed it, probably because I like talking to complete strangers.  The fact that I like talking to strangers is a VERY good thing considering that, aside from those living with me, everyone I will encounter is about to become a perfect stranger.

The hardest part to keep from being in motion is my brain.  I can't fall asleep because I am worried about too many things and I awake at 4:00 am with lists in my mind of things I need to do.  My sleep is suffering dramatically and it is finally catching up with me.

Rich is in motion as he is currently on a plane somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean on his way to Zurich.  He needs to be there for meetings that are his responsibility area for his new job.  While there, he will check out the new apartment and measure walls and spaces so that we can formulate a better plan on what to bring and what to leave behind.  He is also taking pictures and once I receive those, I'll include them in another posting and describe the apartment.

But it is all the moving pieces that I need to come together that gives me the most distress.  Some of those pieces seem to swirl around me in a blur as they are dependent on other pieces falling into place.  For instance, we cannot move until the kids are accepted to the Zurich International School.  Jack is first on the list and will have a spot shortly, but Will is further down on the list and it may take more time.  Once Jack is accepted, that moves Will up to the top position unless there is another child who has a sibling that has already been accepted.  We can't schedule the movers until we have a moving date.  We currently plan to list the house next weekend to lease or sell and see which happens first (we go back and forth whether to sell or rent) but if we do get a bidder, we don't know when to tell them we want to close as it is dependent on when we move and that is dependent on the school.  If we could get all the pieces to fit together, we would like to move the first part of October.

And then there is the e-motion involved in the physical movement of our family that brings me excitement, sadness, anticipation and fear all rolled up into one.  I find the impact of our decision to move sweep over me in waves sometimes and I am truly overwhelmed. I find the best way in dealing with it is to focus on the little tasks that need to get done.  To sort through my clothes, paint the garage door trim, complete forms and applications.  Other times, I think of the excitement of skiing in the Alps, taking the kids to Paris or visiting the Coliseum in Rome. 

At some point, I look forward to standing still on top of a mountain in Switzerland and enjoying God's beauty laid out before me.  But I don't have time to think about that right now, there's too much to do!  I better get a move on!