.....make new friends, but keep the old....

This weekend while hubs and I were snuggling up on the couch, he turned on the fireplace because, "there's a chill in the air." I look over at my 80 year old husband "with a chill" and realize he's wearing a polo and shorts. Whereas, I'm sporting a tank top and capris. No wonder we're chilly, it's October and we're dressed for July. But you'll have to excuse us, less than a year ago we moved from Ohio to Virginia. So at the moment we are a tad climately challenged. Now geographically the southern most point of Ohio is more south than where we currently live, but everybody north thinks we went south. And I suppose to their credit we did cross the Mason-Dixon line.

Relocating to a new state where you know NO ONE is an adventure, but not like you'd see on a half hour sitcom or even a two hour movie. This adventure is not for the faint at heart. It makes you late to the new doctor's office because you got lost getting there, forgetting to pay the gas bill because you thought you set it up online but apparently didn't (which does not go over well with the CPA hubby), spending over an hour at the grocery store for 15 items or less because you can't find anything, finding out skinks (lizards) are normal around here after almost stepping on one ... Are you getting the picture yet?

Amid these moving debacles, we have had the unwelcome experience of an earthquake and Hurricane Irene. I debate telling you the story of how I thought there was something wrong with my car and didn't realize we were having an earthquake. But really, I moved to the east coast not the west. And honestly we don't really get that many hurricanes- the locals assure me.

Finally after seven choatic months we finally have friends, meet all our neighbors, have favorite restaurants, know which baristas make a better latte, a good beautician, no longer look over my shoulder when making a u turn (illegal in Ohio) and haven't gotten lost in quite a while or even turned the GPS on.

So while all this has been at times frightening, I wouldn't change it for the world. My children  have gained a sense of pride that is very well deserved. I see it in their eyes and in my mirror, too.