We Are Not Moving

So much has been happening in our house and with our plans to move that I have not been paying attention to Baltimore. Spring has come and gone and summer is here. It was a gorgeous sunny day. In my normal life I would never stay inside on a beautiful Saturday, but our lives are so not normal now; we are entirely geared toward moving to Ecuador and that takes precedence every moment. I was back in the office today, saying goodbye again and attacking my mountains of paperwork. Maya was at a skating party with many of her friends from school and from dance class. I was delighted that she tried to skate again. Two Christmases ago she had tried skating at an ice rink in Edmonton, and had fallen on her face. She came off the ice screaming with blood pouring out of her nose. She refused to skate after that, and insisted that she would not get on the ice today. But she did skate and she did enjoy it, and it was a good way to say goodbye to her friends.

Moving to Ecuador is who we are now. It defines our daily lives, our relationships with our friends and every waking moment! Our house must be ready at a moment's notice for potential renters/buyers ( I am not selling the house!), Eric and I have university/office work to do anytime, anyplace. and any time at home is devoted to readying the house in some way. There are always more boxes, more tasks, more cleaning, more organizing. And with each day, the urgency mounts. If we accept the recent lease contract, we must get out next week. We will be in Canada with my family celebrating my niece's graduation the week after and Eric will leave for his two month teaching stint in Woods Hole by June 19, so we have literally three or four days to remove every bit of ourselves from the house (except for the suitcase we each bring to Ecuador). I am not sure where Maya and I will live after July 1. I guess we did not think of that. Maya has ballet camp and I had planned to see more patients into July. Perhaps I will crash somewhere, we certainly have not planned adequately! We offered the house for July 1, but Eric and I decided that I needed to work a little longer to create a bit of a cushion....perhaps we did not expect to get renters as soon as July 1. I find myself reasonably calm about this; it will work out.

Moving to Ecuador occupies all our moments and our conversations. I am repeating the story with each appointment, and at Maya's party I am again divulging details about our plans. I had my hair cut today. I had a half hour between patients, enough to run down to the salon near my office. I took the only available slot, and my hairdresser was a large bodybuilder, who when I mentioned my Ecuador journey, told me he had a regular client who worked in the travel business promoting the Galapagos. I heard all sorts of wonderful things about Ecuador, but also worries about the rainforest disappearing and the Galapagos becoming overpopulated. This man had spent much of his time watching Discovery channel and National Geographic and knew Ecudaor well he had never been there. Of course he thought I was incredibly lucky to have this opportunity. I hear that from everyone; what an amazing chance this is. Of course I agree, but it is easy to forget how remarkable this adventure is. I can get so lost in the burdensome details and forget that in weeks, I will no longer be moving to Ecuador, I will be there.

I was supposed to meet my friend Emily at 5 PM today and was grocery shopping with Maya and her friend, knowing that I was supposed to be somewhere else but not quite remembering. Either there is just too much on my plate or I am truly dementing. I was horrified when I arrived 25 minutes late. Emily is a university professor and a mother and is taking a six week sabbatical to Australia and is totally organized , and is buying a new house too! I was in awe! No more complaining for me! Everything is working out well.