Well, y’all, I think that I might be halfway settled, now.

Where have I been?  Well, here’s a twenty second recap: in the first 2 or so weeks of June, my dear Jon accepted a job in Starkville, Mississippi!  This was great news for us but sort of mind-blowing news, too.  We attended Mississippi State as undergrads, it’s actually where we met, and we never thought that we’d be headed back here.  Not that we didn’t want to go, you understand, it just seemed unlikely.  Over the years, we had many thoughts of where we might go…some of them, recently, were very specific thoughts of somewhere else…..but then this opportunity just landed in our laps in a meant to be sort of way.  So, we found ourselves headed where we were headed 20 years ago, only instead of heading here alone to attend college, we’re arriving with 4 sons and each other and the changes 20 years have wrought.  Starkville is the same in all the great ways as before, though, and we feel sort of like we are home again.

But, oh, the furious packing.  It was crazy and rapid.  We said many goodbyes (and left many unsaid, unfortunately) to our wonderful friends in St. Louis and we said goodbye to the city as well.  I told my boys it was okay to miss St. Louis — how could we not miss it?

They are happy here, though.  The boys are being comforted by the food, the presence of reptiles, the closeness of family, and, in the case of James, the prettiness of every girl he sees.  Not that there are no pretty girls elsewhere — it’s just that his awareness of them occurred around about our moving.  He has since declared love for our waitress at the Starkville Cafe — among others.  That she has 30 years on him and a husband is not at the forefront of his mind.  No, she was sweet and pretty and she brought him Coke.  He has since asked me if he is permitted to marry……yikes.  I’ve been changing the subject.  I have  to find my courage to take that thought on…surely I packed it…it must be around here somewhere.

So, that’s where we are.  Settled (sort of) in a rental house that has attributes and things we’re working on.  The things-we’re-working-on list is longer than its list of attributes but we’re hopefully going to switch that around.  After lots of mopping and cleaning and arranging and unpacking it’s showing some promise despite having more wood than I really care for in a kitchen, a detached laundry area, and possibly one of the ugliest bathrooms in the state.   The house is a blessing, though, in that it has hardwood floors and abundant storage.  It is super convenient and I like that my husband can come home for lunch.  Also, his commute is a whopping 6 minutes. We are close to the boys’ schools, too.  You know how a little town is — you’re like 5 to 10 minutes from everywhere.  No Trader Joe’s or Target or TJ Maxx or Goodwill, though.  Oh, well.  I’ll manage.

That’s the news from here.  I hope that the month of July treated y’all well and that you find this new month of August to your liking.  Our August is ramping up for school that starts on the 7th.  How crazy early is that?  Anyway, y’all know that my interesting folks make the beginning of school a time for me to break out my Lamaze breathing.  So, that’s up next.  Maybe it won’t be a bumpy transition….but I think that I’ll be wearing my seatbelt — just in case.

Y’all take care and have a great Friday!