Some Bad News and Some Good News
So, the bad news is that I'm totally addicted to caffeine again.
The way this happened was that I went to yoga teacher training, which was just...almost beyond description. More about that soon.
So then I got home on a Sunday night. Monday: I started teaching yoga, Tuesday: my husband closed the deal on the sale of his company which meant that he is unemployed and we are moving back to Austin, Wednesday: my parents arrived for a ten day visit.
It was either coffee or heroin.
No, I'm kidding. (Well, not about the coffee. That part was real.)
But all of the other stuff was just a set-up to deliver the real news, which is that, after five years in New York, the Coopers are moving back to Austin, Texas.
As you might imagine, emotions are running high, and in my case, conflicted. Coop is ready to move back--his business network is there, his beloved cycling group is there, his brother is there and he does better than anyone in the climate there. He's NOT a cold weather person.
Kath doesn't want to move. She would have had to change schools anyway, because her school only goes through ninth grade, but she is really grieving leaving her School of Rock community here. Plus, she hates the heat. And also, she's fifteen. Fifteen is hard, no matter what, but especially moving.
Jane (12) thinks we should have done this a LONG time ago. In fact, why did we make her move in the first place? And oh, can we buy our old house on our old street so she can run down to her best friend's house at a whim?
As for me, I'm all over the map. The Austin we left is not the same Austin welcoming us back. I went last month for a flying visit to house hunt and heard someone HONK in traffic. (I almost got out of my car to see who it was.) And oh, the house hunt! The market in Austin is so hot that we are trying to discover properties before they even go on the market. (Luckily, our realtor is a genius at this.) Something like 80 people PER DAY are moving to Austin. It's crazy.
But, you know, I'm not remotely the same person I was when I left Austin, either. I've had this very devastating experience with chronic pain, and then a total transformation through yoga. When I left Austin, I was kind of a party girl --I was your go-to girlfriend when you needed to sit down and have a glass of wine. Now I'm a tee-totaling, vegan yogi. I'm your go-to girl when you need to drink a green juice and talk about the Yoga Sutras.
So, anyway, that's the big news. I know I haven't written in a while, even though I have so much to tell you. But Coop asked me to keep things quiet until he had wrapped up a number of work-related issues and I kind of felt like the news was burning a hole in my pocket. Like, if I talked about other things, I was HIDING the real news. (Look, I don't make the rules in my twisted little brain. I just report them.)
I'll keep you posted on the struggle to give up the coffee. I know what you're going to say about how a little coffee never hurt anyone, but y'all, when I drink it, I can hear my pulse IN MY EARS. This makes it hard to hear the still small voice.
Let me know if you hear of a house for sale in Austin in the Rollingwood area, preferably before it goes on the market!
The way this happened was that I went to yoga teacher training, which was just...almost beyond description. More about that soon.
So then I got home on a Sunday night. Monday: I started teaching yoga, Tuesday: my husband closed the deal on the sale of his company which meant that he is unemployed and we are moving back to Austin, Wednesday: my parents arrived for a ten day visit.
It was either coffee or heroin.
No, I'm kidding. (Well, not about the coffee. That part was real.)
But all of the other stuff was just a set-up to deliver the real news, which is that, after five years in New York, the Coopers are moving back to Austin, Texas.
As you might imagine, emotions are running high, and in my case, conflicted. Coop is ready to move back--his business network is there, his beloved cycling group is there, his brother is there and he does better than anyone in the climate there. He's NOT a cold weather person.
Kath doesn't want to move. She would have had to change schools anyway, because her school only goes through ninth grade, but she is really grieving leaving her School of Rock community here. Plus, she hates the heat. And also, she's fifteen. Fifteen is hard, no matter what, but especially moving.
Jane (12) thinks we should have done this a LONG time ago. In fact, why did we make her move in the first place? And oh, can we buy our old house on our old street so she can run down to her best friend's house at a whim?
As for me, I'm all over the map. The Austin we left is not the same Austin welcoming us back. I went last month for a flying visit to house hunt and heard someone HONK in traffic. (I almost got out of my car to see who it was.) And oh, the house hunt! The market in Austin is so hot that we are trying to discover properties before they even go on the market. (Luckily, our realtor is a genius at this.) Something like 80 people PER DAY are moving to Austin. It's crazy.
But, you know, I'm not remotely the same person I was when I left Austin, either. I've had this very devastating experience with chronic pain, and then a total transformation through yoga. When I left Austin, I was kind of a party girl --I was your go-to girlfriend when you needed to sit down and have a glass of wine. Now I'm a tee-totaling, vegan yogi. I'm your go-to girl when you need to drink a green juice and talk about the Yoga Sutras.
So, anyway, that's the big news. I know I haven't written in a while, even though I have so much to tell you. But Coop asked me to keep things quiet until he had wrapped up a number of work-related issues and I kind of felt like the news was burning a hole in my pocket. Like, if I talked about other things, I was HIDING the real news. (Look, I don't make the rules in my twisted little brain. I just report them.)
I'll keep you posted on the struggle to give up the coffee. I know what you're going to say about how a little coffee never hurt anyone, but y'all, when I drink it, I can hear my pulse IN MY EARS. This makes it hard to hear the still small voice.
Let me know if you hear of a house for sale in Austin in the Rollingwood area, preferably before it goes on the market!
Comments
A friend of mine took a stress test recently to figure out why she was feeling ill - and moving rates something like 75 points on this test. And moving AGAIN, when you've had five years to adjust to being someone else, somewhere else - wow. I feel you on the coffee. Definitely a better addiction than heroin just now.
I changed, when I was in Scotland for five years, and have come back confused about my role. Just who the heck am I now? But, it's sometimes good to return to the same-ish place, because you can make new rules about who you'll be now.
These are the things I repeat to myself now: I can be new here, too.
Waiting to wave flags for you as you win through this, too.
Your friend,
☺t
We moved back to our newlywed hometown after a 22 year absence. In that case, I think it helped that we were apart for so very long; everyone had changed, not just me. Some friendships are missing but others have grown in place. And if you are still willing to sit and drink green juice while others are having a glass of wine, I foresee some wonderful conversations and rekindled relationships n your future.
Best wishes to you & your family!
(And maybe step down from coffee to green tea before totally giving up the thing that is helping you cope right now?)
*Kath might appreciate that my word verification includes the word "stay"... but you can remind her that college choices are only a few years away.
" If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it" No idea who said it, but it is brilliant!
Clearly the unoverse has degreed that a green juice drinking yogi in Austin is a must. Go with the flow. you are, btw, bravely nuts.
What an exciting/hard/scary thing moving can be. I hope that some of your old friends have also evolved. If not, you have some wonderful things to teach them. Lisa is on to something with the green tea. Go to Teavana. It's loose tea crack, or pretty darn close in my imagination. And if your soon to be highschooler really wants to be back east, then she can work hard and apply to colleges; it's a healthy carrot given how competitive college admissions are.
You might try to be in aisd though. The high school is harder to transfer into than the middle school. Just saying.
We have a sweet young thing working here, a graphic designer, who I adore who is moving to Austin in August with her soon to be husband. I should send her to you for...yoga...life lessons...crap i don't know. I think everyone should know you.
You know I'm facilitating a Gifts of Imperfection group which met last night. I have a member that struggles with chronic pain and I was telling her about you. And then I grabbed my iphone and showed them all the picture of your scorpion pose and they were all VERY impressed. And I just felt like today was an important day to stop by and say "Hey Barb, I'm insanely glad I know you." So there's that.