Avoiding the Stress

These days I’ve only been posting about our homeschool activities and really haven’t talked about life in general at all.  I think that’s because I’m avoiding the major things and enjoying the little things.  You see, we’ve been here a long time (12 years) and are going to be moving.  We don’t know where (away from Australia at any rate), though we do know when (probably in about five months).  I get pretty stressed thinking about all that needs to be done in order to move a family of five and a dog half-way around the world. I’ve been piling things up in the laundry room for a yard sale (and making long mental lists of “oh, I should sell/get rid of that”).

We actually have loved (and still enjoy) being here in central Australia.  We have some wonderful friends and I have a lot of fun activities that keep me energized as me.  I play the oboe in a wind ensemble; I play soccer and field hockey; I have some really good friends and go out with them from time to time.  I get scared knowing that I won’t have those outlets.  Still, the pull to leave and try new things, to be in a new area, to be closer to family outweighs those other factors.

So, from day to day, I tackle the toys and pick up, do the dishes and the laundry, try to keep the yard reasonable (the weeds have won, but I do try to pull them out… sigh…).  And mainly, I am really, really, REALLY enjoying the lull before the storm.  I’m truly enjoying our smooth homeschooling, our good health and the fun of being with the kids without having major, major things to tackle.

When we move we’ll have nearly five households of stuff to deal with.  When we first moved here, hubby and I had only just gotten married.  We had separate households of stuff that went into storage.  Why oh why oh why didn’t I get rid of the hand me down, worn out furniture, the silverware that came from someone’s grandma’s attic??? We obviously have a full house of stuff here (and with so many friends that have moved over the years we have LOTS of stuff that they got rid of on their way out).  Also, my Mom died while I lived here and we have lots of things from her — and my Grandpa also died.  He and my grandparent’s family members had lived in the same house for generations.  Anyway, I have lots of Grandma/Grandpa’s (and great grandparents) stuff in boxes in storage too.

Then I also stress about all the stuff we don’t have (beds for the kids, household furniture, electronic “stuff” that we’ll have to part with — kitchenware, my PRINTER and LAMINATOR!!! — not to mention the big ticket items… a house, a car, etc.)

Now that I’ve worked myself into a mental frenzy, I better get back to the kids and do what’s really enjoyable… spend the day homeschooling, playing and doing the little things. Sigh… yes, so when you see me posting like a maniac about all the fun stuff we’re doing you’ll understand that what’s really going on is keeping the thoughts of life six months from now from overwhelming me!