packing up and moving out

With the economy in turmoil and the job outlook for next year not looking good, Tim and I have decided to stay in the Navy for an extra year and move down to Portsmouth. We have spent many sleepless nights debating the merits of staying in vs getting out, weighing the opportunities of living on the farm in Maine vs having a steady paycheck. It would be heartbreaking to move our family up there and then have to sell the farm because we couldn't afford to stay.

So, over the next several months I will organize all our belongings from the basement to the bedrooms, take Julia Ellen househunting, and finish up the school year and all our activities here in Washington, DC. We can find a new piano teacher, ballet studio, YMCA for swimming lessons, but one thing that will be much easier will be finding a church home.

Our favorite parish in the world, St. Benedict's, will soon be opening their new sanctuary and we will find many of our old friends sitting in the pews. There, Will won't be the only altar boy under the age of 20, though he won't be able to serve every Sunday. There, we will be able to send the children to CCD, using the Baltimore Catechism. There, we will be able to get involved in parish suppers, cleaning the church, helping with the homeschool group, and attending retreats. I will also be able to visit with my elderly grandmother and bring flowers to Mother's grave regularly. I will know where everything is, from the best thrift store to the grocery that makes the best raspberry pies I have ever eaten (best heated with a scoop of Breyer's vanilla on top).

Our delay of moving up to the farm makes me a little sad, for I want to move up there with my whole being, but a short delay is not a tragedy, after all, the children will still spend much of their summer in Maine with trips to the lake, to the top of mountains, and to the lobster pound.