One Year Florida Anniversary

It's Memorial Day weekend, which means it has officially been one year since we made the big move to Florida. I was pretty miserable when we first arrived. Actually, May-August wasn't terrible. I expected the summer to be hot and it was. But, we still enjoyed going to the theme parks and seeing my family. Then, September was still really hot and I started to get tired of it. And, it was 90 degrees on Halloween. By then, I was super sick of the constant, unbearable heat. Every day seemed to hit a new record high. And, work wasn't great. Then, sometime in November, the weather got really nice and we could comfortably be outside all day every day. It was amazing. And, I was back to enjoying life in Florida. We had a lot of fun being outdoors and I was very grateful I didn't have to deal with awful, eczema hands (my hands crack and bleed if I don't keep lotion on them 24/7 in the winter when it is cold). My skin felt so much better and I did not miss the snow at all.

So, I feel like I have a better understanding of the weather, which will hopefully make the long months of summer more bearable. I don't mind the heat for a few months. But, I really hated that it continued all the way through October. This year, I will be better prepared. I know that is a lot of talk about the weather, but it had a big impact on my mood and level of Florida enjoyment.

I have enjoyed being close to my family. I liked that we had a family Christmas party and that I got to see them frequently. We had a great time going to a play and dinner with Kim and Dave. I loved the nights that Anna and Kara spent at Marta's. It was such a nice break. And, I finally have a (sort of) friend here, which took a long time. I actually text with a couple of people. They are moms of kids in Luke's class. One of them lives just a few houses away, so I hope we can stay friends even if the kids aren't in the same class next year. It is still fairly superficial, in that our conversations are mostly about what is going on with the kids, but, it is better than nothing. I went to another bunco night in early March and may give that another try once it is allowed. I still don't have any friends at work, which is unusual for me. And, I don't see that changing anytime soon (not just because of the quarantine).

The kids have all adjusted well. Jack and Anna had an easy transition to middle school. They haven't witnessed any bullying and the kids here seem a little lower on the drama scale than what we experienced in Maryland. Of course, that could be attributable to many different reasons, like their level of comfort with kids they have known for 5+ years. Regardless of the reasons, I was very worried about their transition, so I am glad it went well. Kara and Luke also had an easy adjustment. Luke still comments on how much he misses our playset and he and Jack both miss living across the street from the Wills.

Like most things, there is good and bad. It is hard to accurately judge at the moment, since we have been isolated since mid-March. We had plans to see another play and would have celebrated birthdays together, which I am sure I would have loved. Until last week, we weren't getting any benefit from being close to family, because we couldn't see them. Kim's family is coming up tomorrow, so we are slowly easing back into some aspects of normal life.

I wanted to move to Florida for a few reasons, primarily: to be close to family; to be close to amenities (i.e. not have to drive 2 hours to get to a Children's hospital); and to enjoy the theme parks. All of those were realistic and have been realized (or would be if it weren't for the pandemic). But, I still miss a lot of things about life in Maryland: having friends; our weekend trips; all of the history and battlefields; our house; access to a reliable babysitter.

The bottom line is there are things I like about Florida and things I don't. There is a lot I miss about Maryland and I definitely have some regrets. Thomas still does not like it here. I will offer him and the kids the opportunity to write their own blogs if they want to memorialize their thoughts. I was going to end by asking everyone in the house a simple question, are you glad we moved? But, it is too complex for me to answer, so I don't know how I can expect it of them (except Thomas, he is a very clear "no"). If we hadn't moved, I would likely have regretted not giving it a chance. Right now also isn't a very fair time to judge since everything is so abnormal (I would definitely have preferred to quarantine in Maryland. That basement and backyard would be amazing right about now). Also, there is a difference between wishing we had stayed and wanting to move back. We could never return to exactly where we were. Our house isn't ours anymore. The kids would be in new schools and their friends would likely change. So, maybe I will ask two questions. Are you glad we moved and if we could return would you? My prediction is that no one is glad we moved (although, there are certainly moments where they love Florida) but that no one wants to move again either.

1) Are you glad we moved; 2) if we could move back, would you want to?

For me: yes and yes (glad we moved, but would go back...or stay, I can be happy either way)
Thomas: no and yes (not glad we moved and would go back)
Anna: yes and no (it would never be the same if we went back)
Jack: yes and yes (he's glad we moved, but wants to move back)
Kara: yes and no (we're too settled here to move again)
Luke: yes and yes (he likes our pool and neighborhood, but would prefer to go back to Maryland)

My predictions were wrong. And, that is it for this long, rambling blog.