Friday, July 31, 2015

Eastward ho!

Hi all! {waving wildly}  Hope you are all having a great day.  I have a very important announcement!  Okay, it's important to me, maybe not so much to you.

What would you do if you were offered a terrific job, much more appealing than your current job, with more money and better working conditions, closer to some family (including your daughters), and the only catch is that you had 4 short weeks to pack up everything, move 900 miles away, and be ready for that new job?  Well, I'll bet you can guess what we've done!  Yep, we are moving. We are thrilled, our family is happy, and we trust that things are going to work out.  It's never a bad thing to choose the bigger life, and that's what we're doing.

Friendship swap blocks that I received last week were the last things on my design wall, which is now only a memory.

There's a reason why "moving" is one of the most dreaded words in the English language.  Everything is a mess!  I've been obsessively making lists, and trying to sort things, and trying to put things in boxes, and trying to use up all our food, and trying to do the paperwork for my new position, and, and, and!

See--a total mess.  No one could work in there!  Everything has since been removed and this room is a bedroom again.

We will miss our home here so much.  We love Wisconsin. It's a beautiful state where we raised our family and lived for a long time. But we trust that our new home in Pennsylvania will be equally wonderful and we will make some great memories there as well.  Here's another wrinkle, though--we are selling the house here and so we will be in rented housing for a while, maybe months! This was never in the plan.  I am really not sure what is going to happen, but again, we're just going to trust that it will be okay.

My quilt books, ready to go!

Of special concern, of course, is packing up the sewing room.  This is when I'm glad I have a small stash, but packing it doesn't seem so small.  I sorted out a bunch of things to be sold, but have no time to sell them right now, so into a separate box they go.

Box o' fat quarters, ready to be loaded up.

The machines are coming with us in the car, of course, and so is some of the fabric.  All of my projects are in their own project boxes, so they are safe and ready to travel.  All of the completed quilts are packed, including my lovely new Odd Fellows.  It made me sad to close up that box, but I'm sure it will be like seeing an old friend when I open it.

So, I will be "off the air" for a couple of weeks while we drive two cars and a trailer to our new place and then carry 45 boxes of books into my new office.  (Yes, you read that right. I was amazed too!)  A tutorial for the new RSC color will post on Tuesday as usual, but after that I'm thinking it will be at least two, and probably three,  weeks before I can get any sewing even started.  Thank goodness I have ongoing projects, so I won't lack for things to do!


While we're in radio silence, I'll be obsessively reading your blogs and living vicariously through you, so be sure to post encouraging pictures!  Maybe I'll find time for some handwork, too.

That's it from here, friends!  Wish us luck, and I'll see you from a new area very soon!

One last look at the formal gardens.

Sharing at Confessions of a Fabric Addict  and Finish it up Friday, because this is certainly a finish!

21 comments:

Jo said...

Oh wow an exciting time. We had to do it in 10 days and find my son a school. You will be ok. Enjoy the process. You will be proud of yourself after it is done.
Will be watching for any news... Take care

Quiltdivajulie said...

Major congratulations!!!!!! Sending hugs for stamina and humor ... Enjoy the journey!!!!!

The Cozy Pumpkin said...

Congratulations! I wish a company would say to my husband, "How would you like to be relocated to Pennsylvania?" Oh my gosh...I would begin packing before he even said yes. I miss PA sooo much. Sadly, that won't ever happen for us so I'll have to live vicariously through others. :) I hope the journey is a smooth one for you. :)

Anonymous said...

Moving closer to kids would make this a no brainer for me! Best of luck for the road ahead of you. It WILL be worth it all!

Gina said...

Good luck and see you when you get settled.

Tanya Quilts in CO said...

Moving is such a pain, but this is a wonderful opportunity! Good luck.

Karisma said...

Oh Mari, congrats on your new position! Amazing! But wow - four weeks to move! You are totally wonder woman. I wish you luck in your move as well as settling into your new space. How wonderful it will be to be near your girls! =) Aloha.

bunbear said...

Good luck and God speed!

Ramona said...

Thoughts and well wishes for safe travels and an event-free move. Welcome to the East Coast!

Myra @ Busy Hands Quilts said...

How bittersweet. I hope you have safe travels and good new beginnings.

Tawa said...

I know what you mean about the books. They are the first thing I always pack, then after filling a small room with the boxes, I realise that all I have done is pack the books, and I'm out of room to pack boxes in. I know academics who have built a library, to house the books that overflowed from university office space. I'm not quite that bad, but we do have seven bookshelves at home. If you ever need a book on hydrology, statistics, pedology, geology, or plant ecology??

Bernie Kringel said...

I am so excited for you!!! Wishing a smooth transition for you. Cannot wait to hear an update on how all of this is going. Packing is awful but it is always a good time to purge and get rid of things that have just been cluttering up your house. A fresh start, new home, new job, new community and to be closer to your children. It's all worth it. Hurray!!

MissPat said...

Congratulations on the new job and good luck with the move. Sometimes it's better not to have too much time to think (and worry) about things. Just get it done and sort it out later. And by renting for a while you'll have time to look for ther perfect studio, er, house. Safe travels.

Aunt TC said...

Congratulations! I'll look forward to reading your blog once you're semi-settled in PA.

Quilter Kathy said...

Yup... it's exhausting, but so exciting too! Congratulations on this wonderful opportunity, and on having the courage to go for it!

Carie @ Space for the Butterflies said...

Wowee how exciting! I hope the move goes smoothly and your new house has the perfect spot for sewing!

Sheila said...

Congratulations! A new job and a new home. Sounds like an adventure. Take your time. You know where we are.

JanineMarie said...

Congrats on the new job!! Of course, what grabbed my attention is that you will be closer to your daughters. How wonderful! Good luck to you as you start a new adventure. I'll be looking forward to seeing pictures of your quilts in new scenic spots.

PaulaB quilts said...

Congratulations on the job and moving near your kids. Our move here to WI was also done in a month. The one advantage is that if we had had time to think about it we never could have done it. You will do it too. God bless you on your way.

viridian said...

45 boxes of books for an academic. Yes, sounds about right. Best of Luck with the move.

Rachel said...

Congrats! We executed a similar move recently. I wish you all the best of luck in your travels, your new place, and in getting set up for sewing again faster than I have! ;P