We're moving on up....to NW OK

It's official. We are leaving Mustang. To Woodward we go. This transition has been in the works for awhile now...well, since the beginning of November. Riley found out that there was an opportunity at Woodward Regional Hospital to work as their physician practice manager. Although at the time he didn't really know what being a practice manager entailed, what he did know was that it was an opportunity to begin work in a health care setting which has been his goal since graduating with a Health Promotions degree in 2006. After sending a resume to the hospital and waiting a few weeks, he finally got the call asking about setting up an interview. Riley interviewed for the position on November 23rd and was offered the job a week later. I knew he would do great...and also he looks pretty snazzy in a suit! We put our house on the market on Dec 13th and so far we've only had two showings I'm sad to say. Our realtor did not give the best outlook when she met with us...she made it clear that the market was very slow right now and showings are few and far between. The for sale sign is up, but no one is biting. So the big question is....WHO WANTS TO BUY OUR HOME???

Once the decision was final I honestly felt like life was out of control. And if I stopped and thought about it really hard, it was too much to take in. How was I going to work full time, take care of Hallie, keep the house spotless for potential buyers, manage the daily chores, and pack our house? How was I going to make sure Hallie's routines stayed constant and how would I have enough time to play with her and make sure she was getting all the attention she needed? I can answer those questions now after having spent our first week alone. It was tough. Very tough. And I wasn't even really alone because I had Grammy here on Tuesday and Nanny here on Wednesday and Thursday. Thanks to them for babysitting this week while my Miss Mindy was on vacation!

My first task was finding a job. Luckily, the job found me. It's not every day you get two job offers in a 24 hour period. I feel very blessed to have had this opportunity fall into my lap. I am very thankful at the moment that I picked a profession that keeps me in high demand. It just so happens that there was a job opening at Woodward Regional and they called me to set up an interview. In the end, Riley and I decided that it would be best for me to take a more flexible job in the home health setting. This would allow me to work part time but still have the option to put in full time hours...also I have the option to work four days a week if I choose to do so. Another very cool part about this job is that I will be working with (well, kinda) Matt. Matt and Riley are long time friends and I graduated with Matt. So I will now be working for Northwest Physical Therapy and Sports Rehab doing contract home health work. And yet another cool aspect of this job is that I will be doing most of the home health visits in and around Shattuck and will be close to my aunts & uncles and grandma & grandpa everyday!

I was devastated to have to part with my Emmi. She is my cuddle buddy at night and keeps me warm. So far Emmi has had two different homes through this moving process. First as I wrote about in an earlier post, she traveled to stay with my parents in Enid for two weeks. We picked her up on Christmas Eve and she is now in Woodward with Riley. Trouble just seems to follow that girl wherever she goes. She scratched my mom's arm up and down and made sure to tear up every good dog toy in the house. The other day I got word from my mother-in-law that she was exploring the backyard and decided to wander out on the ice-covered pond...Kathy noticed a freezing cold dog shaking off in the backyard and discovered that she had fallen in the pond. She reminded me that I was wrong about her being the first to fall in....

So now that I have shared a bit of my thoughts I would like to share some very positive information to offset my nonstop worry fest. Riley started his job as the physician practice manager on Monday and so far he is enjoying it very much. He loves the fact that he will have regular hours unlike his previous job which usually started at 6:30 am to anywhere from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Hallie and I will appreciate that part of the job VERY much! He tells me that it's going to be a steep learning curve but I know that he is up for the challenge and ready to take on anything set in front of him. Hallie and I were so excited to go visit dad at his office on Thursday. He met us out front in the parking lot in his suit and tie...lookin' good! We got the grand tour of his office and the orthopedic floor. I must say that he seemed to fit right it and was on the phone doing business and shooting emails to coworkers like he had been doing this "managing" stuff for years. We were very proud to say the least!

I'm not trying to sugar coat this situation or make everything seem rosy at all...because like I said, life seems out of control. The strange part about it: I no longer seem to have control over anything. It's pretty tough to find a place to live in a town that is 2.5 hours away. It's also difficult to find an at home sitter when you don't know anyone in town. That leaves me with other people making decisions for me. Hence, the out of control part. Since this all began, Riley and I made a pros and cons list. We didn't actually write anything on paper, but we would make mental notes on our lists. I would venture a guess that Riley's pros list is monumentally larger than mine but I do have a respectable list of pros as well. Through all of the chaos that this has brought, we somehow still find a way to laugh about it. Like just yesterday: we were sitting in the parking lot of On the Border with baby and dog in tow. We were out wasting time while the realtor showed the house. The dog was jumping back and forth from the front to the back seat. I was eating the dashboard because Riley's truck is less than desirable for holding a baby carrier in the backseat. Hallie was hungry and screaming. Riley forgot to put a coat on Hallie and she didn't have a blanket so she was covered in his jacket. We just got a text saying that the viewer didn't like the house. And....the truck would barely start. Riley's new turd. An older Ford pickup that he bought after he had to give up his company truck. He didn't want to get something nice right now while we are in this transitional phase so he settled for a turd. We were laughing to the point of crying. Uncontrollable laughter brought about by enormous amounts of stress. It's official. We have lost our minds.

Most days I feel like I am being dragged kicking and screaming while yelling "I don't want to move, I don't want to leave our home, I don't want to pack, I don't want to quit my job, I don't want to find a new babysitter, I don't want to send my dog away, I don't want to leave my friends!" Call me a baby if you will. Call me selfish. But change is hard...and scary. I feel uneasy about looking at houses in Woodward while our house is still on the market. Two mortgages and student loans? I don't think so. So I do believe a rent house will be the route we will go. We are both fearful of leaving our life of anonymity in Mustang and heading into small town gossip and seeing ten people you know everytime you go to Walmart. Everything is in God's hands, everything is in God's hands. Why is it that even though I keep repeating that phrase in my head, I still get nauseous everytime I think about all that has to happen for us to finally get to Woodward and get settled. Once we do get settled, I do have faith that it will be nice to have family nearby. I do believe that it will be nice to have twenty potential babysitters (family members) to watch Hallie at the last minute. I do believe that we will make a house a home. I do believe Riley will love his job. I do believe that we will settle into small town life. And I know God has a plan. I just wish he would give me a hint every now and then....;)