SurLaLune News: Heidi in Transition

"Baba Yaga's hut" by Reuben C. Dodd

So folks, you may be wondering why I have been mostly absent as well as my sudden reappearance. Unfortunately, I am only in the eye of the storm and am playing catch up--or at least trying to get my head above water--for the last few days. Tomorrow the chaos starts afresh for me.

What happened is that my John Dear and I have bought a new home--or should be closing on one later this week. Although the plan was to relocate sometime during 2012 this came upon us much sooner than expected. As in, virtually no pre-planning was involved. John was casually looking at houses and I casually agreed to walk through a few, mostly to show appreciation for his efforts in real estate research. And what do you know? The FIRST HOUSE was THE HOUSE. The house I needed to fall in love with enough to inspire me to uproot myself from my beloved home of the past eight years. For I adore my current home despite some of its faults and inconvenient location. It is filled with light even on the gloomiest days which is a necessity and keeps me working, not curled up in a corner mourning the sun.

You see, I work from home. I am a homebody. Eight years ago we searched and searched for a house that would fit our needs and it took months and months. We ended up finding a floorplan that worked and gutting the house. We couldn't even move in for three months after closing. This house has been customized to my needs and tastes and I have loved it ever since we moved in. That was then. Now our work patterns and needs have changed as well as family needs. We love our house but its inconveniences outweight its benefits.

This year we found the house that better suits our current needs--and it needs work, too, but mostly extensive painting and a few fixture changes, not full gutting. There was no waiting on it since a bidding war was threatening because the price had dropped significantly the week we saw it. So I woke up one morning with affection for John and his enthusiasm but with no plans to move anytime soon, months at least as I prepped and planned for the dreaded uprooting. Silly me, I went to bed that night with a contract on a new house. With NO preplanning. All of the sudden I was covered in home buying/selling paperwork, my regular job (the one that pays the bills, like house notes) as well as prepping our current home for selling. That meant packing and decluttering and painting primarily.

The highs and lows in home buying/selling don't need to be recounted here but the end result is that a month later we are closing on the new house and need to start the work to make it move-in ready. Meanwhile I keep working the paying job and trying to occasionally sleep, too. So SurLaLune, while it is my passion, is not getting my full attention. And it won't be for another six to eight weeks as we transition and complete the moving process. While working the jobs that pay the bills. SurLaLune supports itself, not me, alas. When you are self-employed, you cannot take time off from work for moving. One works and moves and is grateful for the opportunity to earn the money that makes it all possible even if sleep is elusive.

And I really wish, at times like these, that my house was on chicken legs and could move and grow and accommodate my needs at my whims. Magical closets and windows that catch all the day's light and that I never, ever had to pack box after box after box. With the knowledge I will have to unpack it all again soon. Ugh. (Why do I own so many books?) But Baba Yaga I am not, so I must do things the hard way.

So I am blessed and all is well, just really, really intensely busy at the moment. I have family and friends who love and support us. Life will be more enjoyable in a few months. Right now it is merely adventurous and stressful.

But I have ideas on how to invite you to participate here and keep SurLaLune rich with content. So stay tuned. Some of you, especially Gypsy, have already been beyond generous and I adore you all for it.

And when this has passed I will also be starting new SurLaLune projects and finishing some other ones. Stay tuned. Big things are happening, projects I started before I decided to uproot my life! They are on hold, but the wait is only making me more anxious to start them.