Blog
June
Thursday 3rd June 2021
I missed April and May—wanted to finish Taking the Sun and then we got busy! As I write this I am sitting between two tables laden with stuff to be packed into boxes and eventually loaded into a container for yet another trip of our belongings across the Atlantic—4th time!
After over a year of discussing the pros and cons of doing this, we are planning to move to the USA. We both have dual citizenship (UK and USA) and some would say we are fortunate to have the choice as to which country to live in. But sometimes having lots of choices can be the harbinger of a lot of angst, stress, and sleepless nights. Because more so than my English husband, his American wife has been on the fence about making the move. The trouble/adventure? began when she moved off the fence.
We are moving to the eastern shore of Maryland. A state our only experience of is on Interstate 95. We are buying a house we've only seen via a 'virtual' walkthrough by our buyer's agent. We thought this would be the hard bit.
We tried to book a flight into Baltimore. There aren't any BA flights into Baltimore right now. So we booked to fly into Philadelpha. A couple weeks later that flight was cancelled. We immediately went in search of Plan C. Flight sorted.
Then the house we thought we were buying was 'cancelled' by the seller when we asked to move the closing date out by two weeks because of Covid restrictions. They could have just said 'no'!
Our UK house has been sold. There was no time to feel sorry for ourselves—we needed yet another Plan B. At 3:00 AM that same night we found a nice house in a neighborhood we'd originally been interested in, in a town we also liked. Fortunately, it was only 10:00 PM in Maryland so were able to contact our buyer's agent to arrange a 'virtual inspection'. So far so good—the house would be ours in July.
After a bank holiday/Memorial weekend of entertaining immediate family at our house we planned to spend the next day getting organized for the movers to pick up a 2nd load. Surprise! They were on our doorstep at 8:30 AM. We quickly sprung into action and managed to fill their trucks (not huge moving vans—they would never fit down our road much less our drive).
The following day, just when we thought all our ducks were in a row, our dog Abbey's flight was cancelled—we needed yet another Plan B for Abbey—another city to fly into, hoping flights weren't all booked. Working on it.
I'm not sure I want any of these events to ever figure into a book, but inevitably they will because I've been here before—first on the same fence, then having to face one calamity after another (although this move has surpassed all the others).
Back to the fence. And all the questions I could never answer before my feet got tired of waiting for a decision—do I actually move, quit my job, sever ties with whatever friends, family, associates, commitments I've made? My husband is excited about the potentials—meeting new friends, visiting new places. So am I, to a point. But I'm older now. I no longer want to be known as the 'expert packer'. I don't mind a suitcase, but a whole house!!
I have now entered that somewhat happy space known as 'whatever'. What will be will be. If we're meant to move we'll move. I'm continuing to pack—almost done. Ready for the last load if the USA is ready for us.
And I have begun to plot out my next book. Like all my fiction an idea just popped into my head and I began to work on the possibilities—was this a good plot? This is my ultimate happy place—where I can create my own adventure and mayhem. No one really gets hurt, all packing is virtual, and it can end exactly how I want it to!
