So, what the heck is up with the Bitchin' Life?

My life is spinning so quickly and so close to the edge right now that I feel like I could fall any moment. I've a million things to do, to remember, to plan, and execute that it has turned into an omnipresent cloud of anxiety that makes me want to run away and play Rock Band 2 all day, eat too much, drink too much, and then go out dancing at a gay night club.

And that is exactly what I did on Friday.

I abandoned the laundry (good God, yes, there's more!) and set up the Animal with "Thomas [the Tank Engine] on the 'puter" (his words, not mine), and proceeded to shred my way through New York and Montreal, stopping to switch over from guitar to microphone sometime during an 80s flashback hit by the Go-Gos. Those two hours (alright, it may have been closer to three) really got my head back on straight so that I could start packing again seriously on Saturday. Oh, yeah, and the night out with girlfriends making homemade pasta and then drinking martinis and hitting a gay club for dancing? That helped a bit, too. ;) And I didn't cry once (not even a tear-up) all night! Shocking, because these moments of closeness and bonding tend to me especially emotional these days as our move-out time gets closer and closer.

To provide a re-cap for new readers: My husband is returning to school to become a yacht designer. Yes, there are really people who aspire to do this! Where is the school that captured his attention? Southampton, on the southern coast of England. Why there, you may ask? Well, my husband and I have always talked about living overseas at some point and they happen to have an excellent program there. I had figured, since we have three children, that the time had passed for now and we would eventually live somewhere in Europe when we retired, but this opportunity came up and we decided to go for it. I've had a lot of misgivings about it and moments of terror, but after much consideration and after finding a house there, I have embraced the idea of moving fully and am excited for the adventure! It will be a radical change for us all and I think the shake-up will end up being really positive for our relationship and the kids. Plus: How adorable will my boys be with their little British accents?!? ;-)

Now, to explain a little more: this "living overseas" business was actually part of our marriage "contract." Did anyone else have one of these? It was just somethng that we talked about after getting engaged, not an actual document ;), but my husband let me know that it was a bit of "deal-breaker" if I was not cool with the list. So what was on my husband's list?

1. Live overseas for at least a year.
2. Live on a boat for at least a year.

Gee, twist my arm, honey! No, please don't make me!! You can imagine that back when I was 25 these did not seem like onerous demands. I have to admit that the boat one kinda makes me nervous now, though. My only demand for him was:

1. He would do everything in his power to make sure that I could stay home with the kids when we had them.

He has lived up to his promise and exceeded it, I think, in regard to my staying home with the kids. He has been supportive of my staying home, he has supported my wanting to go back to work, he has still supported me when I decided that I did want to stay home, after all, and he has supported me having this blog (instead of a job). Truly above and beyond, right?

So, his two "obligations" have been bandied about a few times over the years. I pretty much kaiboshed the "living on a boat" thing as long as we have kids. I am NOT home-schooling-mom material, in case you didn't already know that. So the idea of being trapped living on a 40' boat with only us and the kids is, um, what's the word I'm searching for.... terrifying? suicidal? those seem pretty extreme, so maybe I'll just stick with unsettling and unwise.

But living overseas has been a bit more open to interpretation. And the timing on this seems really good. And I won't bore you with any more details right now, because I think I'm now offically rambling. :)

But if you have any other questions, please feel free to ask in the comment section or email me. I will continue to blog once I get there about life in the UK as an expat and continued craziness with the boys, but this summer will be dodgy as we are packing and moving around.

I'd like to leave you with a funny thing my little Destructo said last week: I came downstairs in the morning and Destructo was sitting at the table. Immediately upon entering the room, he yelled excitedly, "Mom! Mom! I know how to spell jazz!! J-I-Z-Z!!!" Um, let's try that again, honey.... Hee hee hee! :)