A Change of Plans

When we talked over the idea of Fred applying for, and hopefully getting, a job in a new city, we knew there was a very good chance Fred would have to move ahead of the rest of us, and I would stay behind with the children until the house sold. We also added the caveat "or until Christmas, whichever comes first" to that statement. I think we came up with it so the separation would feel short-term, and a lot more manageable than if we viewed it as indefinite. I also think Fred maybe wouldn't have accepted the job offer if we hadn't established some sort of timeline. Plus he got the offer back in July, and December seemed so far away.

So here we are, Christmas is two weeks away and the house hasn't sold. It's only been on the market for three months, and the holiday season isn't exactly peak house selling/buying time. I'm not too upset about it (apart from the whole solo parenting thing). But, there is just no way we can all move to Atlanta with the house unsold. If I had a job lined up, we could be together, but that hasn't happened either. Librarians like to hold onto their jobs, plus my ultimate goal is to get my dream job in a school library, but I need to wait until the next school year for that to happen. What does that mean for us? It means Fred will continue to live the bachelor life in Atlanta, coming home at the weekend and I'll hold the fort in Tennessee, wrangling the kids and working until the house does sell, or I manage to get a job before the next school year. We seem to be surviving okay. Indefinitely is where we are heading.

And if the house doesn't sell? Well, we'll go to Plan B and see if we can rent it out. While I know we can do this for several more months - we've been doing it for four already - there is no way Cy is starting fourth grade in Tennessee, and we also want Ruby to start Kindergarten in Atlanta. Something will work out. I know it will.