This is it: our last full week living on L'ambiance Court.
We have searched and worked for and dreamed of this moment for years and it's finally falling into place (with the help of some intense scheduling and forward planning.) We've lived in this town house for exactly 4.5 years today. During that time, we've gotten married, had many great adventures and our share of tense moments. I've changed careers and gotten my Masters Degree, Rhett has commuted an ungodly amount of hours to and from work each day and spent almost as much time trekking back and forth from Newark Airport, we've had many medical scares and surgeries from which I've recuperated in this house, the final one resulting in a beautiful baby girl. We brought our Oscar Wilde home to this place as well as our daughter.
When you live somewhere for almost five years, I think by default it becomes "home" even if it takes you a while to feel that way. I know my way around most of the surrounding towns now that I never would have gotten to know had I stayed at PUP. I met some incredible people student teaching in Metuchen and in classes at the gym but I never made friends. I think I can fairly speak for both of us - well, all four of us, really - when I say that we most look forward to meeting the people who will become our dear friends once we settle into life in New Providence.
Our spring was a constant parade of to-ing and fro-ing to some pretty incredible places, so much so that we blinked and here we are approaching my 29th birthday and the big move. We were so fortunate to share these adventures with Tempest from her first flight in April to Miami, to the long, long drive to Maine during which we both had raging colds, to Kiawah and Charleston in May, to Key West and Orlando in June. Travelin' Tess has earned her badge of honor, that's for sure.
I will also never forget what a trooper she was, beginning in March, when I'd load her up to spend at least half a day house hunting nearly an hour north of our current home. Our then 6.5 month old was so tolerant of the shuffling about but secretly, I think she enjoyed nebbing in other peoples' homes. We'd spend at least 2-3 days a week looking and hoping and losing faith and then cursing the absurdities of the NJ real estate market until one day while we were still in Miami, a potential home popped up on the GSMLS listings in my inbox. I nearly gasped aloud. It looked like a winner! It had to be a winner. I NEED TO SEE THIS HOUSE WHAT TIME IS OUR FLIGHT TOMORROW???
Naturally, we landed and I scheduled the showing for the very next morning so Rhett could see it with us. It was pretty darn close to perfect: it had the yard, the space, the hardwood throughout. Naturally, it lacked a decent 21st century kitchen but the bones were there. We found ourselves taking on the one project we said we absolutely did not want to take on: a kitchen renovation. But honestly, we're both pretty excited to see the finished project. (Currently knee-deep in the demo phase and waiting on the permit...)
By Cinco de Mayo, we had made an offer and by Mother's Day, we were under contract.
Speaking of Mother's Day, a little someone started saying "Mama" -- ok, more like MUUUUUMMUUUUUM -- the day after on May 11. It barely registered at first as just more babbling but when she consistently said it all day and then continued to use it almost entirely appropriately during play when she wanted my attention or when she was finished eating and wanted down, I realized that my child in fact was saying my name. We're still working on "Dada." She said it twice and both times, he missed it. Now we're onto the "ffffff" and "vvvvvv" sounds.
Since the verbal leaps, we've also gained a cruiser who can push a walker and even stand up on her own for a few seconds. Tempest is on the verge of independent steps. I can feel her straining every time she pulls herself up and turns around, one handed, to me as if to say, "Just you wait, muuuuum. You'll be chasing me in no time." She understands "no" and ignores it as she pleases, she can climb the stairs with ease, she can sort of spoon feed herself without gouging out her eye, and she can spit out food she finds distasteful or, alternatively, hand it to Oscar who is always lurking nearby. The dog is smart but the baby is smarter: she knows that if she hand feeds him her scraps, he'll be her best pal and in fact, he now allows her to climb on him with little more than a brief growl of annoyance.
We have no idea what we're in for once our belongings are actually packed up and professionally unloaded on the other end but we can safely guess that we'll have our hands full with a very curious and mobile 10 month old and an anxious pup who just wants to patrol his new fence line and make friends. Thankfully, we have almost-professional help from two people who have done this, oh, twenty-some times. I would lose my mind without them so thanks, Mom and Dad, for putting up with the circus mcgurkus. While we cannot repay the kindness, I am thankful that I have a small part in making memories for you, for me, and for Tempest when she's older. I look forward with joy to reminding her of all the Big Things she did before her first birthday.
