Bloggy funk updates

I'm in a serious blog funk. I just can't be bothered lately. With posting that is. I still love and enjoy reading everyone else's blogs but taking the time out of my day to create a post of my own? Yeah, not so much. My new found independence is getting in the way. With no kids around there's so much more I'd rather be doing. Sitting at the computer all day seems like a shameful waste of alone time.



So, here's some updates.



1. No news on Italy. I'm kinda thinking it isn't gonna happen. Papa Smurf hasn't pursued a conversation with his boss because he was busy all week playing catch up at work since our vacation. He says that he'll approach it by asking if an overseas assignment will help him advance in his career. If the answer is "no" then he won't pursue it. If the answer is "yes" then he'll take the Italy opportunity more seriously. My Italian language classes start this Monday and I'm SO geeked! We now have a group of 5 family members in on this class. It kind of snow balled.



2.Papa Smurf and I are now considering moving. Which is really kinda silly in this housing market. We went looking at houses last weekend for shits and giggles and now have the moving bug. We found our dream house.....for a mere 1.7 million dollars....*gasp*....just a smidge out of our price range. I think we've decided to spend the next year preparing our house to put on the market...sort of a "design to sell" period of time....with small upgrades and renovations. We'll see what happens. That's assuming this Italy thing doesn't happen, which, like I said, seems like a pipe dream at this point.



3. I finally made it to the Doc's yesterday. Remember this post? That was....like....a month ago. And, yeah, I'm still sick....as is hubby. Papa Smurf hit our neighbor (a doctor) up a few days ago for a prescription and I finally caved in and made a trip to my doctor. Turns out I have a sinus infection and bronchitis. Who knew?



4. I'm suppose to run 20 miles tomorrow.....TWENTY MILES......to.mor.row! Did I mention I have bronchitis? Yeah. Training for this marathon has been a HUGE problem lately. Totally struggling with getting in the miles.



5. First week of school has gone great. Smurflings are back into a routine....as am I. I like routine. Routine is good. I find I'm much more productive when I have a schedule. And no kids to clean up after. Or feed. Or referee. My first week of independence was spent on a home improvement project. Still have a few finishing touches to complete but should have photos and a post ready sometime early next week. I'm hoping to have it done for my first "Tackle it Tuesday" project in almost 3 months....I'm long overdue for a good tackle.



6. Oh yeah! And K, one of my favorite people IRL, has recently had a beautiful baby boy. She delivered 2 days before we left for our vacation...they were SUPPOSE to go on the trip with us until she went and got knocked up!....the nerve....=). And so....between that vacation and now being sick I have YET to meet their newest addition. You MUST go on over and check out the gorgeous photo shoot proofs she has posted. Amazing. And I get to hold that little bundle tomorrow! I can't wait to meet him!

And that's all for now.

Should we stay....or should we go.....

As much as I need to stay away from this computer to get ready for our departure tomorrow...I just can't do it. I'm addicted to blogging and the support, encouragement, and advice from comments.

I have an overabundance of nervous energy right now. And find no solution but to write it out. Unless, of course, someone has a spare Xanax or Valium they can send my way.

My nervous energy is completely premature and unnecessary at this point. But I'm a basket of nerves non-the-less.

Hubby came home from work 2 days ago and said the following...

"I had an interesting conversation with C (his boss) today. We were discussing the issues our company is having with our European operations and he (kinda) jokingly said...'so, do you want to move to Italy to run and "fix" our European operations'....Papa Smurf said he sorta blew the comment off but then looked up to find C silently looking PS straight in the eyes with a smile on his face waiting for a response.

Papa Smurf just laughed it off without responding.

My immediate response was HELL no.

But as the night progressed I found myself thinking about the possibilities. I was getting more and more intrigued and excited.

I even spent 2 hours on the internet that night trying to look up Italian real estate.

2 years in Italy.

What an adventure it could be for our whole family.

Some of the positives......

We have (distant) family in Italy as 3 of my 4 grandparents are either from Italy (my maternal grandpa) or are 1st generation Americans (my maternal grandma's and paternal grandpa's parents were born in Italy). What a fantastic experience it would be for my kids. I may finally learn to speak Italian. My kids would learn to speak Italian. We could use this experience to travel all of Europe. This opportunity will probably never come again. Family and friends could come visit.

Negatives?.....

2 years without our family and friends (my parents live right down the street from us, folks....and I live within a 5 mile radius from almost every other family member). New culture. New schools. What about gymnastics & dance classes? Where would we live? What about our home here? How do you transfer all your savings to Italy? Do we close all our accounts here? Would we have to live without our "stuff" or do they ship all our belongings? How would this effect my kids emotionally, socially, psychologically, educationally? Our dog!!??? What about our dog??!!

The questions keep coming and the anxiety is growing and yet I can't help but be a little excited at the prospect. And this all stemmed from a seemingly innocent question from my husband's boss.

So, we asked the kids how they felt about it. The boys shrugged their shoulders...looked a little apprehensive while saying "I don't know...It'd be scary but it'd be kinda fun." My daughter's response? "Would Grandma move with us?" "No....but she'd probably visit....and we'd come back to visit"......"then I don't wanna move."

I told my husband to look more into it. Get some questions answered. He's a little scared to bring it up because he feels he'd be opening a can of worms that would be difficult to close. But he sent his boss an email yesterday saying "So how serious were you yesterday when you asked me if I wanted to go "fix" Europe" his boss replied with "hmmmmm, sounds like we should talk".

I called my mom and within 5 hours me, my Mom, my Grandma, and one of my brothers were signed up for beginners Italian language classes at the Italian - American Cultural Center.

Premature? Absolutely! But the language course is something I've been talking about doing for years and now with all the kids in school full time I can actually do it.

I'm jumping out of my skin waiting for my husband to find out more. Which probably won't happen until after our trip. He's crazy busy at work right now trying to prepare for this vacation.

He's not sure the company would seriously let him go...he's involved in too much here and has too many things on his plate for them to just let him go. IF it did happen it would be many months from now and he's not sure they're willing to wait that long to "fix" Europe.

I'm a very status quo kinda gal. I don't like change. I don't like to "shake things up." And I'm NOT spontaneous....I'm a planner. And I have an unhealthy fear of the unknown. I love my life. I'm happy here. I'm right where I want to be. Couple that up with my slightly high strung nature and O......M.......G..........

And yet.....passing up an opportunity like this (assuming it IS an opportunity) would just be a damn shame. Even I recognize that. It's only been 2 days since this topic came up and already I feel like I might be a little disappointed if nothing comes of it.

So what do you think? Would you do it? Keep in mind I have 3 kids (11, 9, and 5).