Is it summer or just a vacation?
How is it September already? I know we say this every summer, but really, where did the summer go? I know summer is kind of a loose term here in Cali since we don’t get winter like most of us think of winter, but the kids are back in school so summer is, as we like to think of it, now over!
It was an interesting summer for us to say the least. From the moment we left IN it just kind of felt like a vacation. We expected our drive out here would feel like that, but that “feeling” didn’t really go away once we got to CA. Now don’t get me wrong, I have had several moments where it didn’t feel like vacation at all. Say for instance, arriving in a new state where you know a total of 5 people (and one of those 5 was a toddler, an adorable one, but a toddler nonetheless) and then your husband leaves for a work trip for 5 days. You are the one who gets to make sure the truck carrying all of our belongings gets to a house that is so new it barely shows up on Google Maps! Then there is the unloading and unpacking so you can feel some sort of normalcy – even if that “normalcy” is sleeping on mattresses on the floor for 4 nights. Then add in that you don’t know how to get anywhere and there are all sorts of things to be bought. Oh and throw in the fact that our neighborhood is new and there are new houses going up everyday, so they gate off the back entrance into the neighborhood at night, and that’s the way your GPS always wants to take you! The kids just reminded me that I had a moment that first week where I tried to get in that back way at night and couldn’t so had to turn around and hope and pray that Google maps would re-route me the right way (which of course it did and my mini panic attack subsided :))!
All I can say is thank goodness I had my 3 kids to help those first few days. They completely unpacked the entire kitchen for me. Yep, they were rock stars.
Even though that week was a tad stressful, it still at times felt like a vacation. We were eating out a lot and buying many new things, oh and also having dessert on a regular basis (the McMullens’ do love their dessert). I had to keep reminding the kids that we weren’t on vacation – that this was just a stage in the process, and as soon as life got settled it would be back to normal.
Well, that didn’t really happen! There were too many new things to experience here. It was summer after all so “why not” was my motto. Our summer adventures were pretty amazing. We hit the beach and the pool often, Ty paddle-boarded and learned to surf, we went to Sea World with my family, spent an afternoon in La Jolla (pretty sure this is my favorite Cali spot so far). We went to the Surfing and Skateboarding competition on Huntington Beach, watched some beach volleyball Olympians play on Long Beach, and did something the kids have been begging to do for quite awhile…Universal Studios (pretty sure that day went down as one of their faves of the summer)!! We also traveled back to Utah for a family reunion. We got to spend time with family that we hadn’t seen in years and it was SO much fun!
But even doing all of those things, we still had a lot of down time. The kids hadn’t really met anyone yet, so I became their entertainment…every day! Now, don’t get me wrong, I love my kids and love spending time with them, but the question of the day (every single day, and I’m not exaggerating) was “what are we going to do today?” Soon that question became very annoying. I have never been a parent that feels like I need to entertain my children, but then I also felt badly because I knew they had no one else but their family. But we made it through, and we all still want to spend time together so I guess that is a good sign 🙂
Even though we had moments of sadness and nothing really felt normal, I am pretty sure this summer will go down as the summer that felt like a 2 month vacation…and you know what? I am perfectly fine with that!
I know, I know…it has been way too long since I have written anything! Believe me, I have so many things to say and to update you on. But time is not my friend right now! I need about 5 more hours in a day or the ability to not have to sleep would be great too!
Then There Is California:
These last 2 weeks have been rough! Well, if I am being completely honest they have just down right sucked. I am trying hard to stay positive, keep my head above water and not just end up mad at the world. Some days I do better than others, but man am I ready for some normalcy!
Change is an interesting and imminent word! Some love it and some hate it. I get that because when I look at pictures of my kids from this long ago I hate it, but when I think about the amazing young women and men they are growing up to be – I love it! For some people just hearing the word change sends them into cold sweats and makes them want to run for the hills. Then there is the other group that loves change, they find it exhilarating, they like it be right in the middle of it as much as possible and they crave the chaos that change can at times bring. Throughout my life I have seen people on both sides, and I am a true believer that living in either extreme just isn’t good for anyone.
There were a lot of conversations, thoughts and prayers that went into making the decision to move, and to have our family separated for close to 5 months. Daryl and I talked about what it would be like to be apart for that long. We talked through logistics, talked about those things that he HAD to be home for, talked about what needed to be done before he left and talked about how the kids would handle it. We even had several conversations about what it would mean for our relationship. How we would handle being apart, what we would need to do to stay connected and how we might feel when we came back together again for good. Even though I felt like we talked about everything we could think of, I don’t think any of it prepared us for some of the emotions we have experienced.
Moving across the country is an easy decision right? You apply for a job, you interview, the offer comes and as long as all the numbers add up and you know you can make it work. So it’s an easy “yes” right? After all, you were the one who started looking. You decided that you were ready for a change. You knew you wanted to be someplace warm. You knew that it would mean a move for your family. But an easy decision?? Not at all! Actually, it is one of the hardest decisions we have made!
Well hello there! Welcome to tammymcmullen.com, because I couldn’t come up with anything more clever…no really it’s the truth! For those of you that may not know me, I am just a little ole midwestern girl who’s lived all of her life in Indiana and is moving her family across the country to California. Yes, you read that right! I did say California!