Yesterday my sweet hubby took the day off work to drive me up to Carson City for a b-day shopping trip. The only thing I really wanted to buy was a new set of dishes for Hawaii, since I recently got tired of my old set and my mom bought them from me. I've made a few shopping trips to Carson in the past and I've always left feeling like a giant ball of chaos. Either I don't have enough time to accomplish what I want, or I'm overwhelmed at the sudden opportunity to shop at seemingly countless stores and without children, or the crowd is too great and I feel frustrated, or I'm not able to find what I'm looking for.
But this shopping trip was different. I could tell it was my birthday because it was a great day. Peter & I shopped at 5 different stores for dishes and ended up both selecting the same set at World Market. Score. We went in another store and bought the 3 biggest suitcases we could find for our move to Hawaii. Mine is silver and has blingy wheels, making it easy to find at the baggage terminal. Score. (haha) I went to Ross to return 3 sweatshirts for Mark and decided to take a peek at the maternity rack. Surprisingly I ended up in the dressing room with 16 items to try on. ALL of them fit (there's a birthday miracle right there). And I bought all of them, only paying $30 after my sweatshirt return. Gotta love Ross! Score. The only bummer was that I didn't have time to go to Target, but I probably ended up saving money I didn't have left to spend anyway. Score.
On the drive home, I noticed that I felt happy. This shouldn't be unusual, but it was definitely in contrast to how I had been feeling since the election results. I had also been feeling very nervous about our big move for some time. Little did I know a little retail therapy was all I needed to snap out of it! I told Peter in the car, "I think I am getting excited about moving to Hawaii now!" I am looking forward to having people over, people I have not yet met in a house I have not yet seen, and having dinner at the table we do not yet own with my pretty new dishes. I am looking forward to meeting the challenge of packing our 3 ginormous suitcases (one for me, one for Peter, one for Alex & Aaron to share) in just a matter of days and living out of them for several weeks. Then finally flying with those few possessions to Hawaii where, hopefully, we will meet up with our shipping container and unpack into our new home.
I haven't felt excited about this move for a while now, and I've felt almost guilty about it. It is so clearly God's next step for our family, I have no doubt about that, I should be thrilled! But I could only focus on the great cost (financially and relationally) of making this move and the stress and sadness of it all. But I'm getting there. My heart is catching up with our decision to go for it. I would say I'm still soberly aware of the costs and that does put a damper on my excitement level, but I'm getting there. And if I start to slip into the pit of despair again, PLEASE someone take me to the mall!
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2 comments:
Ah, shopping... always cures the blues. I'm glad it worked for you! I find good deals on maternity at Ross as well. Score. :) You are funny! What size are you buying for maternity? I was thinking maybe I have some things I can send you. Mine are probably too big though. So do you have a house already in HI?
I don't know how this works, do I respond back to you on here? Anyway, I have small shirts and medium pants. But usually that changes as things progress. :) We don't have a house in HI. Not sure if we'll have something rented before we arrive or if we'll get something after we're there.
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