Madison: Ready or Not, here we come!

This is the blog post that I have sorta dreaded typing out.

I'm so conflicted in with my emotions that I've decided to just put my head my head in the sand.

Just stay with me as I type it all out here. I'm using this post as my therapy session because Lord knows, I don't have time for a session!!

The Joneses are moving.

We are leaving our humble (and thankfully sold) abode and moving to Madison........but not before a little month and a half detour to Sand Hill first.

This move has been going on for months now, but I have been in denial until now. There's just something about having strangers pack up your belongings that make it real for you.

Our closest friends and family have known about the move.....but they also knew NOT to bring it up to me unless I talked about it first. I have been a delicate flower on the moving subject. Again, I'm using this post as my therapy session.

I LOVE Laurel. And our home. And the cows in our backyard. And the majority of our neighbors (side note- NEVER join your neighborhood FB group. It will make you realize that you live amongst crazy people with too much time on their hands). I never wanted to leave the home that baby Jax was brought home from the hospital to. Or the home where we created the perfect nursery for him. Where he learned to crawl....and walk.....I need to end this paragraph now, otherwise, I will have to get my baby out of his bed and rock him. 

H has tried to console me on all of the reasons that I don't want to leave our home......and he does have some valid points, but y'all. 

If you know me in real life, you know I don't like change. I mean, HECK, I don't even like changing the sheets on our bed much less homes, neighborhoods and cities! The fitted sheet is of the devil. 

Laurel is my comfort zone. It's where my people are. It's where Jax's friends are. It's the only place that he has called home. Someone please come and refill my wine glass here. 

I'll admit though, moving to Madison isn't that bad. When I throw myself a pity party, H will start naming towns in MS that I need to be thankful that we are not moving to. I get his point, but sometimes I just need to plan/host and be the star of my pity party.

Buying our new home has been the most comical adventure we have ever had. This is our 4th home to purchase and our 2nd one to have comical drama. We have a great realtor that has listened to our every want/need/wish........but, we wanted to make his life easier (and let's admit, a little more pleasant).......so we did a lot of research and driving around on our own. We have been traveling to Madison for weeks marking off and highlighting subdivisions that we are interested in. If you have ever traveled to Madison, you know there are 239,938 subdivisions. Heaven help us now.

First trip to Madison was used to secure Jax a new school.
The very first school we pulled in the parking lot of, we pulled right out of but quicker.

The next 2 schools were ok, but I didn't feel it.

The last school was the winner. As my heart was starting to realize it, I felt the tears coming on......and y'all.....I couldn't stop them. I started crying the ugly cry to the point that strangers were hugging me and handing me tissues. At one point, as the tears are still flowing, I had to hug a girl and cry on her shoulders because she reminded me of my friend and our children's minister, Cindy.

Since that episode, when I call Jax's new school, I simply refer to myself as "the crazy lady who cried during a 2 hour tour of a 1 hallway school." I had to see every room. I wanted to meet everyone. I couldn't leave without a peace of mind. 

At Jax's school in Laurel, on his first day, I had to trust complete strangers to watch and protect my 3 month old baby. Within less than a week, I grew to LOVE LOVE his infant teachers. They loved on him to the point I cried when he moved to the 1 year old class. I then wondered if I would like those teachers and questioned if Jax would like them, etc. Of COURSE they are the best and my child asks about them after school and on the weekends! One of the teachers even babysits him and he will wake up asking for his "Mimi"! THAT is what I was looking for in his new school. I need him to be loved on that much. Thank goodness, I think we found it.

On trip #2 to Madison, right after we asked Jax what he thought about moving to a new house, he opened his mouth and vomited everything he had eaten since birth.

Awesome, kid.

Thanks.

Mom didn't bring extra clothes.

I did the only thing I knew to do. I called our honorary grandparents in Madison and said "we are on our way! Meet us in your yard with the water hose, we will explain when we get there!" I had to laugh to keep from crying. After that fiasco, I bought onesies from Kroger and Jax wore one home that wasn't snapped due to him being too big for them.

Trip #3, 4, 5, and 6.....we looked at homes that we really didn't like. I can't tell you the number of conversations that H and I had like this:

H: did you like that house?
Me: no.
H: why not?
Me: it just didn't feel right.
H: was it the colors, or their crazy furniture, or the neighborhood?
Me: it just didn't feel like home. Show me something else.

I finally said.....just buy a house. Just buy a house and text me the address. Surprise me. I'm checking out of this process.

In the middle of house hunting, my dad had a hip replacement. The geezer is recovering so well......but on the day of surgery, it's a little nerve racking when it's your dad.

The nurses called our family to go meet dad in his recovery room. As that was taking place, H called me and told me NOT to go with my family because he needed to talk to me right then. Immediately. Mucho important.

Ummmmm.......H....this betta' be good. I'm ready to see dad. And ask him important questions while he's drugged up. 

My convo with H was pretty much:

H: How's your dad? Ok great. Listen. I just sent you an email. Look at this house. Look at it with your mom. Think long and hard, but make it quick on if you like this house. It meets all of our needs for our family. It has everything on our check list. I'm looking at it this afternoon and then I want to make an offer on it.

Me: Holy Smokes. I need to sit down. Ya' know what........just buy it.

H: Really?!?

Me: I like all of the small thumbnail photos that I can see on my phone. Really. Just go buy it. Let's do this.

H: Are you stealing meds from your dad?

Me: not yet.......but you better believe I'm about to ask the nurse for a little water cup of valium.

4 hours later, H put an offer on the house. 12 hours later, we are under contract. 2 days later, I see it in person for the first time.

I have never been on a blind date before. I can only imagine the crazy emotions you have leading up to meeting someone that you may or may not like and sizing them up on a first impression. Seeing our new home for the first time was like my blind date.


By the time we left our new home after doing our walk though, I stood in the front yard and cried. I'm sure the neighbors were like "Awesome! We are trading normal people for this crazy crew."

We do not close on our new home until the end of July......so, thankfully, we are moving in with my parents. I had a little family meeting with mom and dad to set the ground rules:

1- don't feed my child sugar. 
2- Jax isn't on vacay. He goes to bed at 7:15pm still. 
3- Mama makes the rules......not Granna......because generally, Granna doesn't have rules.....which is why we need rules. 

Mom and Dad are so happy about this they have agreed to the above rules. Poor Jax and Oscar have NO CLUE what's going on. 

Due to our crazy summer schedule......I'm ready to move now. I think God did all of this on purpose so I'll be ready and excited to move. I see what he did there......and I appreciate it. 

Madison: Ready or not......here we come. In a month and a half.