On Moving, Eeyore, and America

Last week was a challenge. After returning from the workshop in Austin, I spent the day seeing clients while poor BB started packing up our offices for The Big Move. We finished packing Thursday and Friday between ringing phones and meetings so that the movers could whisk everything over to the new building over the weekend. On the one hand, it is really great that someone else is going to lift and carry all those boxes to my new digs for me. On the other hand, everything had to actually fit into the boxes and the lids had to actually close.

I'm a military brat. I've moved plenty of times. I'll do just about anything to avoid moving. When we were expecting the Little One, we bought a larger house. We synchronized our move to take place two weeks before her due date so that we would have plenty of time to set up the nursery. And precisely two weeks before her due date, I went to my scheduled OB appointment just in time to hear the doc say, "Now, go on across the street to the hospital, and I'll meet you in about an hour." I start to freak out, thinking something is wrong with the baby. The doctor assured me that everything is fine - "You're gonna have a baby today!" "Oh, no I'm not," I nearly shout. "I'm moving this weekend!" My awesome friends descended upon my home to finish packing our belongings and take them over to the new house, while I remained in the hospital. Like I said, I'll do just about anything...

*************************************************************************************

My husband, though kind and considerate and fatherly, has upon occasion been likened to Eeyore. He's just a glass-half-empty kinda guy. While I roll on the floor laughing at the guy on America's Funniest Videos for losing his pants on the dance floor, my husband comments under his breath that those sorts of things wouldn't happen if people would wear belts. Overheard in the car today - "I take a pessimistic viewpoint with the optimism that the world will prove me wrong." Alrighty then...

*************************************************************************************

I should be nice to my husband. Yesterday was his birthday. He's older than I. And he always will be.

*************************************************************************************

Have you ever been accused of not being a team player? I got into some trouble at work for not meeting a deadline (silly me, I only had a workshop and a major move on my plate). No one likes getting into trouble, but I was outraged when I was accused of not upholding the vision of the agency. And there was a moment when I thought I was talking to my children. I wanted to say, "It doesn't mater how many times you ask me why I screwed up. It won't change the outcome. I can't unscrew up. The screwing up is a done deal."

*************************************************************************************

Hey, I just thought of something. Apparently I'll do anything to get out of unpacking, too. While everyone else is sifting through crates tomorrow, I'll be singing the National Anthem at a naturalization ceremony. I've had the privilege of participating in these ceremonies before. They are very moving. They remind me of my mother, a Japanese immigrant who loved America and everything American. There are usually several hundred individuals being naturalized at these ceremonies. These folks have waited for years, paid plenty of fees, and taken a citizenship exam that would challenge even a graduate student. With tears streaming and flags waving, they put their hands over their hearts and vow to denounce their homeland and to be good citizens. I wonder what our country would be like if the rest of us had to take such a vow.