Me and My Place in Space

Confession: I like where I live, but I don't like my house or my neighborhood. Does that make sense? My house is smaller than I'd like, with one bathroom and two bedrooms for five people. We are working on getting an upstairs room ready for Frances, but it's not a great bedroom. She'll be happy there, but I wouldn't want to sleep up there (it's hot in the summer/cool in the winter).

My neighborhood is in a nice location, but the neighbors are not great. To the right up the street are the "constantly working on their cars at all hours of the night" neighbors. To the left are the "we're in a band, but we only know one riff" neighbors. The neighbors on either side of us are fine, but they don't have kids, and don't seem to understand them. There are some kids down the street, but they have absolutely no parental supervision whatsoever. I cannot tell you how many times I have almost run them over when they dart out into the street on their bikes. I don't mind them coming over, but there's no room in the house and they disregard all my rules outside. That, or they try to lure my kids out into the road, which according to them is a perfectly safe place to play!

If I had a bigger house and a few different neighbors, though, I'd really love where we live. Why? Let's start from smallest to biggest:

1. My House: It may be less than ideal, but it's the first house Ken and I bought together. Our kids were born here and have spent their whole lives there. I do hope we'll be able to move at some point, but it will be sad to leave all our memories behind.

2. The Neighborhood: We are within walking distance of our schools, jobs, church, and grocery store. Ken frequently walks to and from work. We have walk and biked to school and church, and even the grocery store if we're not buying much. My commute is so short, the van doesn't really heat up in the winter or cool off in the summer before I get where I'm going!

2. The City: Harrisonburg is a great city. It's not too big or too small. It's a college town, so that attracts a wide variety of cultural activities. We also have lots of kid friendly events and venues to explore.

3. The Valley: The Shenandoah Valley region is gorgeous. If you come through this area, you'll want to check out this list of things to do.

4: The State: Virginia is a beautiful state, plus it is so much history! My kids have been able to participate in field trips Historic Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, and the like. We're also close to the nation's capitol of Washington D. C. which has even more historically significant sites to visit.

5. The Coast: The East Coast is a good place to be. We are the dominant time zone when it comes to most TV viewing, so we are not usually subjected to time delays or spoilers. We've got lots of beaches to visit up and down the coast, and if you want to visit more states in less time, the East Coast is the place to be!

6: The Country: I don't know how to say this without privilege, but I'm thankful every day that I live in this country. We aren't a perfect country, by any means, but I think we have the potential to be amazing. I don't enjoy the constant fighting that seems to go on over different issues, but I do recognize the fact that there would be no fighting if we lived in a more dictatorial location where people are persecuted for speaking their minds.

7. The Western Hemisphere:  This is one I hadn't thought of until I was stretching to fill out ten items, but I think the Western Hemisphere is pretty cool! Home to North and South America, as well as the Caribbean, we've got a lot to talk about over here!

8. The Northern Hemisphere: As much as I'd love to visit Antarctica to visit some penguins and Australia for all the reasons mentioned in this post, I really prefer living in the Northern Hemisphere. I don't think I could adjust to wearing parkas in June or celebrating Christmas in my bathing suit!

9: The planet: I don't think I'll hear any arguments about this one! The planet Earth is just the best planet you could live on, hands down! It's not too close to the sun where you;d get burnt to a crisp. The atmosphere consists of almost 95% breathable air, and the gravity is just perfect for keeping us grounded.

10: The Solar System: Again, like Earth, this solar system is just perfect for sustaining life. Sure the sun may explode in about 5 billion years, but until then: this is the place to be!

Do you live in a cool place? Tell me about it!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Putting Down Roots and Growing a Family

Last week, Frances tried to sneak her blankie "Pink" to school.  I will remind you that Frances is 10 years old and in the 4th grade.  She tried to sneak her blankie, the one she's slept with her whole life; the one she named "Pink." I only discovered it because when I started to hug her as I dropped her off before school, I noticed she looked puffier than normal.  She had stuffed the blanket in her coat and was trying to smuggle it on the bus.

I took it from her and finished saying goodbye before I took Benjamin over to his daycare classroom (located on the same church campus as the kids' before/after school program).  As I was leaving the daycare, with the blanket still in my hands, I saw Frances' 3rd grade teacher.  I waved and held up the blanket.  "She tried to sneak her blankie in to school today!" I shouted with an exasperated laugh.

"She wore it around her shoulders all day yesterday,"  she yelled back. BUSTED!!

When I saw Frances that night I told her, "My spies said you were more successful in your smuggling attempts yesterday."

First her eyes got really big, and then she looked down, ashamed of what she'd done.  Don't get me wrong, I didn't scold or punish her. It really wasn't that big of a deal.  I don't want the blanket going to school because my grandmother made it for me 36 years ago and it's getting a little ratty.  I also don't want her using it to be a distraction to her classmates.  But I wasn't mad.

After I explained that to her, she grinned and asked me who my spies were.  I told her there was no way on earth I was ever going to tell her who my spies were!  It's no good having spies if you tell people who they are, right?!

Those spies are one reason I love living in this town.  I written about my town before.  It's a college town, which brings some unique challenges to the area, but that also brings unique culture.  I hear lots of people saying it's too small, but I think it's a perfect size.  Ken and I live within about a 5 mile radius of school, work, church, the grocery store and day care.  We can, and do on occasion, walk or bike to those places; with and without the kids.  I've been known to pull the kids in the wagon to the grocery store, use the wagon instead of a shopping cart, and let the kids walk back home while pulling our groceries. 

I've heard people complain about the school my kids go to.  I've said before it is a very impoverished school district.  Most of the families with any kind of money pay to send their kids to private school.  But I love the diversity my kids are growing up with.  I love that they hear different languages and see different cultures every day. And the teachers there love what they do!!

We've talked about moving and some of the kids' teachers and afterschool leaders were worried that we were going to leave.  I have been quick to reassure them that I hope to do everything in my power to find us a house in the same school district.  We've made so many friends and such great connections that I can't bear the thought of leaving.  I would lose half of my spies!

My family moved the summer before I started 4th grade.  Before we moved I had some very good friends.  I was very upset to be leaving them behind.  I have since found one on facebook, but I'm still looking for the other (so click here if you want to read my plea).  We moved to a very small town.  I started there in 4th grade, and I made good friends.  But I wasn't anyone's cousin and I hadn't been anyone's neighbor or best friend since Kindergarten.  When I graduated 8 years later, I still felt like "the new kid."

Maybe that's just my hangup.  I certainly don't want to pass hangups along to my kids.  But I like living in a place where the woman at the grocery store deli has watched my kids grown up.  I like living where we can walk to church and pass friends along the way.  I like the fact that one of the 4 year olds from my very first practicum placement when I was in college just turned 18 and is teaching my son's Sunday school class! (OK, that one makes me feel old, but I still appreciate it!)

I don't want my kids to feel stuck here in this town.  I will encourage them to go out and see the world as much as they want.  I'll probably be sad if they decide to move far away from me when they get older, but I wouldn't stop them.  Just, for now, I really enjoy living in a place where we can put down roots and grow a family.

How about you?  Do you enjoy the adventure of moving around? Or do you prefer to settle in one place and stay there?