So… It’s Been A While…

It has been quite a while since I’ve written a blog post (mid-May, I believe).  Come to think of it, it’s been quite a while  since I’ve gone geocaching, which explains in part why I haven’t blogged much.  This is, after all, a blog about my (and the GeoKidz’)  favorite hobby.  🙂

But, life gets in the way sometimes.   Right now, our family is undergoing some pretty cataclysmic changes that are keeping us from our usual weekend geocaching adventures.  They are ultimately changes for the better, to be sure…but there’s still a lot of upheaval right now.  Beginning at the beginning, kinda….

Some of you may remember that in late May/early June, my Prodigal Son, GeoTeen2, went missing.  Not kidnapped or anything horrific like that, thank God… he just up & ran away.   He was gone a full seven days before he was caught.  A whole week.  One Hundred and Sixty-Eight Hours. Ten Thousand, Eighty Minutes… of not knowing where my kid was.  If he was safe.  If he was dead.  If he was hurt and in a coma somewhere.  If he was eating.  If he was getting in trouble.  If he fell into the wrong hands and was trapped in a nightmare.  If he was coming home.  If he was even in Georgia anymore.  If, if, if…. IF!  It was the longest, most exhausting, most horrific week of my entire life – all thirty-eight years of it so far.   I was playing phone tag with detectives.  Answering myriad questions. Asking even more.  Emailing as many of his Facebook friends as I could.  His sister was scouring through Loganville, finding as many of his friends as she could, searching for him, for some clue, ANY clue, as to where he was.  I even began to solicit local radio stations for help.  His siblings and I were terrified we’d never see him again.  Here’s a friendly tip for you to stow away in your memory:  If you are looking for your MIA teen, never, ever, EVER Google “what to do when your teen runs away”!  The statistics of runaways and what can happen to them are horrifying and will do nothing to contribute to your peace of mind.  

Yeah, so…that was a bad week.  Thank God they found him…thank God.  Safe and sound and in one piece.  The Loganville Police Department, and in particular Detective Massey, were absolutely out-freaking-standing during this time.  They worked hard to find him for me.  They were accessable, responsive,  patient with my dumb questions, my moments of panic, and my random, miscellaneous emails/calls/messages whenever I thought of any little thing, no matter how absurdly ridiculous or tiny, that maybe, just might help.   His little disappearing act got him another 30 days, but I’m OK with that… I know where he is and he can’t take off from there! 🙂  Ha! He’ll be home soon.   Speaking of home…

The biggest change of all.  The most difficult.  I hesitate to write of it. 

Our family is in the process of moving.  We are not moving far at all, just a little over six miles down the road, but move we must.  As a newly-single mom, I simply cannot afford the mortgage, the bills (especially the inside-the-city-limits water/sewage bills…OUCH!), and whatnot.  And even if I could…honestly, I think a change of location just might be good for us, especially a certain teenager. 

Now, don’t go thinking that you’re getting rid of us.  Oh no, not that easy!!!!! 🙂 We are not moving far at all.  Just far enough to where we will be in a somewhat rural area (with cows for neighbors…yay!) and different schools.  But not so far that we’ll have to change churches and babysitters and scout troops and whatnot.  Just enough change to be good for us, and just enough stays the same to give the kids some measure of stability in the midst of it all.   Loganville is still our hometown, and we are still firmly rooted in the community.  The big move happens within the next week or so, so this weekend is my last bit of free time to frantically scramble to get everything packed and ready to go.  I made progress last weekend, but still have a good bit to go. OK, most of it. haha.  Since I put the “pro” in procrastination and excel at the last-minute-freakout-to-get-everything-done, haha, I predict this will be a really productive weekend. 😀

I love where the kids and I are moving.  We are renting a 101-year-0ld farmhouse that just OOZES peace and tranquility…qualities we all very much need right now.  But I’m sad, too.  Deeply sad.  Leaving this house we live in is probably the hardest part of all.   When we bought it, I swore I’d live there for the rest of my life.   There’s an amazing story behind our home.  The community poured out SO MUCH LOVE and so much hard work to create this home for us.   So many did so much with a ton of love.  To walk away from that feels like a betrayal of everyone’s love and everyone’s hard work.   It feels like a slap in the face to those who poured themselves into the project.  It feels disresepctful.  It feels shameful…disgraceful. It feels like failure.  This isn’t how the story was supposed to end.  Nope, I was going to stay planted RIGHT THERE till the very end of my days…not because of the actual house itself so much, as the love that was poured into it on our behalf.

But…well, Life has a way of interrupting our plans.  This is not a decision I reached easily.  This is not even a decision I want to make.  But… when all is said and done, I’ve got to do what is best for my family.  My kids and their well-being come first.  Period.  We need to live in a more affordable home in a more affordable area.  We need a fresh start in so many ways.  When it comes right down to it…. We’ve got to move.  Just no other way around it.   So… move we shall.

So, that’s why there have been no blog posts about quirky adventures and random travels as we hunt down cleverly-hidden geocaches all over Georgia.  There’s just been no time.  Our world has collapsed, shattered, and imploded.  Picking up the pieces and rebuilding a whole new world is a full-time job, and then some. 

But once we’re all moved and settled in, you better believe that the GeoKidz and I will be back out there, hunting for our hidden treasures…using a billion-dollar satellite system to find Tupperware hidden in the woods, having zany adventures along the way.

There are lots of geocaches in the area to which we are moving.

I’ve already checked.  🙂