Everybody needs a comfortable, familiar place to go to at the end of the day to leave behind all the stress of work, worry, and homicide-inducing coworkers. No matter where it's at or what type of building it's in, we call this place home. For the past several years, ever since I joined the Army, I don't feel that I've had a home. Even after I got past the living in barracks thing I still lived in an apartment and not at any one place for more than a year. I don't think I can really ever see an apartment as a home though. You share a building with other people who are often loud when you want things to be quiet, have annoying children or pets, and the apartment management can come in any time they like. If you try ignoring the knock at the door you may find a worker using his own key to get in anyway, and that just makes for an awkward moment.
So, the husband and I are planning for our next move. It depends largely on where my husband gets a job. We are considering several places: Washington D.C., Virginia, Augusta GA, Arizona, and Maryland. Quite a mix of places with each having their pros and cons. So where do I want to live? My answer changes day to day. Yep, I'm one of those moody types who can't seem to figure out what they want to do. That's why I'm leaving it largely in my husband's hands now as long as he doesn't try to move to Alaska or something.
I had been resisting the idea of moving to Arizona until today. It just seems like the easiest option with the most jobs available. The town we would move to is a comfortable size for me (small town but not so small there isn't a bookstore), it is warm (love warm weather), and the housing there is cheap compared to what we'd be making. So, you might ask, why don't you want to move there? I'm from Georgia and hence, am a huge fan of trees and lots of them. There is far too much non-tree atmosphere for me. And, I know several people that work there, which isn't necessarily a good thing.
So what about my other options? Washington D.C. has horrible crime and traffic and is just too large for my tastes. Maryland seems better but there's still traffic and I feel that I would somehow betray my southern heritage by moving north of the Mason-Dixon. I'm sure the ghost of General Lee comes to haunt all southerners living in the Yankee states. Virginia would save me from rebel retribution but wouldn't be too deep south. Augusta would be not much different from where I'm living now, and honestly getting away from Georgia might be a good thing for us. That obligatory family thing going on - not our problem. As long as you live far enough away from family, you don't feel obligated to deal with family drama. A phone call will suffice.
As you can see, we've got a lot to consider. Pretty much any place we move we'll find something we don't like about it (I know, so pessimistic). And, this move doesn't have to be the place we live for the rest of our lives. Still, I long for an actual house that I can call mine and a place I can call home. I just wish I knew where that should be.
