Fresh Starts

Fresh starts are for everyone, right? Well, our little family is undergoing a bit of a change, as one of us will be traveling to the west coast with enough frequency to just about claim status in another zip code.

I was sitting in church today and thought about all the new beginnings and fresh starts. In this economic time it's a rare, brave, and possibly foolish soul that says "no, boss, I'm not going to do that" - unless of course, it's illegal and then I expect the old "do the right thing" motion. And so we find ourselves at the beginning of a new adventure, a fresh start. For a week a month, on a regular basis, one of us will be based on the west coast. A new beat, a great company, and probably the expectation that we'll all be west coast based in a bit more than a year.

So sitting in church I began to place my thoughts into two categories - the denial and the adventure. Because otherwise this will seem too much like the slowly-pull-off-the-bandaid approach. I prefer the rip and the clean break.

Maybe this will just be more traveling - and heck, people travel tons more than this. And maybe this will mean traveling to a great west coast city for vacations and part of the summer holiday. And maybe this means not taking each other for granted so much, simply because the luxury of rolling over in bed and saying "no, you let the dog out" just won't be there.

I am trying to adjust slowly - since for years it's been me on the travel train. And now it's not. And since I know his appointment on Thursday is with a realtor I am also certain that only huge prices and icy cold weather could dampen his enthusiasm for sunshine, fog and great views. He may not realize it yet, but he's falling in love with another girl - the west coast girl. And she's going to tempt him with fabulous restaurants, new construction, sunshine and attitude.

I'm only certain that home is where my family is - and for now, it's in the east. I'm not cheering for either team - just hoping for the opportunity to make our own choice, and fall in love together.