We live in Austin now: an update

July 15, 2013

Moving was such a big thing, you know? From Minnesota to Texas, a flurry of boxes and cleaning all the things and saying goodbye and hello. In some ways, moving from state to state feels like you’re being transported through time. Everything is that new. But the date is the same and the people in our home are the same so we’re okay. I mean, if the calendar date had inexplicably changed, I might not have made it. Time is tricky enough going along at its usual slow/too fast speed, 24 hours a day.

The kids are amazing. It’s as if nothing happened. Maybe it’s simply because they’re young enough to really only concern themselves with whether or not their parents and siblings and Things are together. Sometimes they ask questions that reveal their confusion, and that they miss certain things and people. We talk openly about all of it and then I hold my breath for a moment and try to believe it will all be okay. Mostly, being away from family is not okay and so we pray that it will become okay, by looking forward to visits and talking about that a lot.

Ryan’s job is going well. He’s really good at what he does and it seems the people in the office here are happy to have him. He has a beautiful drive and he gets up really early to make the commute, avoiding traffic. He is gone before I wake up. This is so weird. If you know Ryan, you know I am the early bird and he is…not. But he’s enjoying the rituals of the early morning and it’s becoming a new normal for him. I’m the one still confused about his empty side of the bed when my eyes open in the morning.

I mentioned before that there’s an in-home preschool RIGHT next door, in the home of the kindest most organized and positive woman I’ve met in a long time. Her name is Michelle (my sister’s name!) and she rarely has openings. There’s a waiting list and babies and kids go to her house from 6 weeks to kindergarten. FOUR are grauduating to kinder this fall and this leaves her with ONE toddler opening after the waiting list is covered.

Elsie Jane is a toddler. I have no childcare right now for the working on the writing and all the things. We secured Elsie a spot next door last week by doing all the paperwork, etc. She is free to join in next door all week if need be, but it’s FLEXIBLE, so I can bring her whenever I need to bring her. It doesn’t have to be full-time and WOW. I just can’t believe it. Grateful. Yes.

We’re about 20 miles north of downtown Austin, but we keep going to events in the city and around the suburbs where we live. There’s so much to do, a person could seriously keep going every day on and on and never run out. We’re a get up and go kind of family (except when we’re not) and so this is really good for us. We love Austin, exploring and even the heat. (This is where I say thank you to friends I know through blogging that have helped so much, and our friends Nicki and Dio who have welcomed us and showed us the Austin way, each of them.)

My Grandma moved to an apartment after many many years in the same home right around the very same time we moved here. I miss her and wish I could more easily sit in her new living room with her. We have the buffet my grandpa built in our dining room and a painting my Grandma passed on to me in our living room. These are the things I take with me, because things are just things….unless they aren’t. I love to add things to our home that mean something. You know that quote that says something like have nothing in your home that you do not find beautiful or meaningful. I try to keep it to that. I must LOVE it or it has to mean something. Otherwise, it’s just more stuff sitting there asking me to dust it or put it away.

I love to dust the buffet. I’m just saying.

In less than two weeks I’m going to Chicago for a few days to run the Serenity Suite and to speak at HealthMinder Day at BlogHer. This will be the first time mom is away since we moved here and I’m nervous. That’s that.

There’s so much to say, but those are the Big Things, I think. The boys will start school at the end of August and I’ll cry. So for now, we’re just hanging out, sometimes quietly and sometimes really LOUDLY and adventuring. We’re drinking in summer quite literally because I cannot seem to get the kids to stop gulping water at the pool and in the bath, where we try to wash off all the dirt and grime and chlorine and sweat.

I tell them they’re drinking pee when they do that, but they don’t seem to care. Kids are weird. Kids are kids wherever you go.

Love, Dr. Heather Seuss

P.S. If you like to write stuff and could use a dose of free-writing, come back later tonight when I put up Just Write. And if you have a favorite photo that speaks “motherhood” to you, please send it to me.

 

{ 21 comments }

Lindsey July 15, 2013 at 8:58 am

Congratulations on your move! And yes: kids are kids, wherever you go. Both marvelous and confounding, that! :) xoxo

Mandie July 15, 2013 at 9:09 am

What a big thing for sure!! FIrst of all, that preschool/daycare situation is perfect. So happy you found that gem! Second, I’m just happy for you, for this new experience in, from what I hear, an amazing city. Happy rest of the summer to you!
Mandie recently posted..Chicken Medium*

Kim Jorgensen Gane July 15, 2013 at 9:16 am

What a lucky break on the toddler care! And boy, do I feel ya on the moving thing. We were in San Diego for just less than two years, and it felt like a foreign country, and it was an entire country away from my girls, which was so not ok. Even moving back home felt weird and disjointed and odd. I’m still trying to find my legs here, though it’s good to feel like I can get to my girls much more easily, if ever the grownup women with their husbands to care for them need me. Yeah…that’s weird, too. I thank God that I have a ten yr old boy at home to keep me sane and grounded, and yet this transitional summer, in which I’m no longer *just* a stay at home mom, but trying to be a write at home mom, is so tough to claim. …Back at home where everyone expects me to be what I was before I left and California changed me.

Do so hope to meet you in Chicago, Heather! My husband loves Austin, though I’ve never been. Best of luck with settling-in to your new normal. It will likely change you in wonderful, amazing ways, too, although you’re already pretty amazing, and clearly didn’t need to be coerced (kicking and screaming) into accepting you were a writer, as I did.

Heather July 15, 2013 at 12:12 pm

I had to be convinced as well. At first, I just thought I liked to ramble.

You have been on such a journey and I’m happy for you, for finding your way home, in both the literal and the figurative sense.

Please come see me in the Serenity Suite at BlogHer!

H

Kim Jorgensen Gane July 24, 2013 at 10:46 pm

I absolutely will be seeing you in the Serenity Suite. I’ve been reading your posts about it and love the concept. Looking so forward to the serenity in the sea of so much new.

Sarah July 15, 2013 at 10:27 am

You are so awesome. Every word you write puts a smile on my face. Glas Austin is treating you so well! XO

Amy Whitley July 15, 2013 at 11:24 am

I’ve been thinking of you and yours! Glad you made the transition ok, and congrats on having the physical moving behind you. It’s a good time to purge yourself from the stuff that doesn’t matter, material and otherwise, isn’t it? Have fun at BlogHer, and WHAT a blessing to find childcare that can be drop in. WOW. That’s awesome!
Amy Whitley recently posted..Where we are: Day 16

thekitchwitch July 15, 2013 at 12:08 pm

You like to DUST? Whaaaa? Dusting is my nemesis. Probably because that was my bi-weekly chore as a kid.

And Whoop! for childcare! That’s terrific. So glad you’re settling in and enjoying your new town.
thekitchwitch recently posted..The Summer She Saved Me

Heather July 15, 2013 at 12:11 pm

I think I just mostly like what it feels like after the dusting. So shiny :) DOING it is a whole other thing. Except my g’pa’s buffet…I dust it and feel connected to him or something.

xo

Heidi July 15, 2013 at 12:28 pm

Let’s make a date to play after the big kids start school. Someplace that has treats :).
Heidi recently posted..Splash Pad Feature: Bartholomew Park

Heather July 15, 2013 at 1:38 pm

Yes, let’s do that, Heidi. It’s so busy now. gogogogogooooooooo….and you do it with FIVE including a baby. You’re awesome.

H

tracy@sellabitmum July 15, 2013 at 1:03 pm

Minnesota misses you. Cannot wait to hug you at BlogHer. xo
tracy@sellabitmum recently posted..I’m Structured And I Know It #girlsaretrippin

Nita July 15, 2013 at 1:19 pm

Keep choosing to do well in your new home. Keep choosing to explore the community. Keep choosing to get involved in local events. Keep choosing to be happy. Separating from family is hard. Keep choosing to accept and acknowledge that it is painful and that it is normal and okay to feel homesick at the same time that you are choosing to do well in your new home. Hope this makes sense.

Heather July 15, 2013 at 1:38 pm

It made so much GOOD sense. Thank you.

Heather

Kim Jorgensen Gane July 24, 2013 at 10:48 pm

Excellent advice I wish I could have heard my first year in San Diego. So much time wasted. Yes, keep choosing…as long as it takes to feel at home.

Elaine A. July 15, 2013 at 2:22 pm

You bring back a flood of memories from when we moved here four years ago. Yes, it’s been that long. And yes, I’m still calling Texas home.

That’s SO awesome about the day care RIGHT there.

Excited to see you soon!!! :D
Elaine A. recently posted..Seattle’s Best {Iced HOT Giveaway!}

anna whiston-donaldson July 15, 2013 at 3:58 pm

Loved this update!!!!
anna whiston-donaldson recently posted..ALL CAPS!

Heather July 15, 2013 at 4:04 pm

I keep wanting to ask you if you’re going to BlogHer. I have this feeling you’re not. Maybe I witnessed somewhere via social media, you saying you’re not, or something. I really want the answer to be YES but….let me have it.

I just really like you and want more time with you than the last time.

xoxo

Kim July 15, 2013 at 6:30 pm

We LOVE having you here. xoxoxoxoxo
Kim recently posted..In The Quiet

Leigh Ann July 16, 2013 at 10:18 am

So glad to have you here and that we’ve gotten to know each other. And I’ll be crying with you at the start of school.
Leigh Ann recently posted..The Torreses get some culture

Austin Texas | Kevin August 12, 2013 at 4:53 pm

Congratulations on your move to Austin. I think you will find it very different from Minnesota. It may take you a little while to get used to the heat during the late summer months, but the winters are so much nicer. Have fun exploring the area. You couldn’t have pick a nicer city.
Austin Texas | Kevin recently posted..Austin Best City for Jobs

Comments on this entry are closed.

Previous post:

Next post: