the ATL

M took me to Atlanta over the weekend to see Wicked and spend the night in an actual hotel, just the two of us. S spent the night away for the first time. It went really well. He loved it, Grandma loved it, and the two of them are nothing but trouble together. Such a team, those two. I always thought I’d be jealous of anyone else that my child loved, but it only makes me happy. Because it makes him happy. And anyone that makes him happy is okay in my book. Well, almost anyone. Richard Simmons? Probably not.

ANYWAY, it was so good to be in the city. I felt as if I were a sponge soaking it up – the diversity, the weird conversations I overheard, the traffic, the new buildings, I loved it all. And it hit me. I WANT TO BE HERE. WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? We’ve thought about it before, we were worried about how big Atlanta has become. And indeed, it is large. We worried about the traffic. Yes, there is a lot. But it feels so nice to be there. We have a history there. That’s where we met, where we lived when we were married, where we went to college. I know that it is a large city with many problems. I know it is crowded, but I love it. And M does, too. It is close enough to the mountains, close enough to the beach, close enough to M’s aunt and uncle, and still close enough to all of the things a city has to offer. And now that I’m not in contact with my mother, I don’t have to worry about her running my life. I think that had to happen before I could fully embrace moving there. And I’m so ready.

So, we are going to start looking at jobs next March or so, and we are going to start researching good day care options now. We are still trying to figure out exactly where in Atlanta we want to live, and then I’ll pinpoint where to look for jobs. But we are excited. Rental prices are the same as here in Hooterville – and the selection is a lot larger.

I really think that we’ll settle in there. We’ve already shown a lot of progress in the fact that we haven’t run back to Denver, like we usually do. We know that neither of us likes the cold weather. I know that M’s aunt and uncle (we call them the grandparents) love S so much, we don’t want to take him away from that. If we didn’t try it out, we’d always regret it. And, we've got a reputation to uphold. Can't go more than a year and a half and not move, can we?