Hi Y'all and Welcome!

Mountain Man and I left Ohio bright and early, 4:30 a.m. to be exact, on Thursday, August 26.  Our circus train resembling the Beverly Hillbillies began with our 17 year old Ford F250 loaded to the gills and then some, pulling a car carrier that carried our 16 year old Nissan, also loaded to the gills.  But, can I go on?  Oh yes I can!  Underneath the car rode our truck ramps and on top of the car was tied our full size canoe.  I only half teasingly told the fam that I was going to put a rocking chair on the top of the truck and ride like Granny!

The trip itself was rather calm and uneventful other than the barrage of calls and texts from our banker and real estate agent.  Mountain Man drove and I worked and in 11 short hours we arrived at our temporary new home.

Upon our arrival our local friends invited us over for dinner, but being road weary and brain dead, we opted out.  I threw a couple of frozen dinners, that I had brought with us, into the microwave. We ate, showered and were in bed before eight.  

We woke fresh and ready for the world twelve hours later.  Little did we know, that while we slept, our welcoming committee had also arrived.  Still quite groggy, I stumbled into the kitchen ready for my first of many cups of coffee. As I was pouring the coffee, I noticed a couple little tiny red ants scamper across the top of the stove.  No big deal, I was warned by more than a few people that I should expect a whole new variety of critters in the south so a few little ants were the least of my concerns. By now Mountain Man was up and dying of starvation (according to him).  So, being the good little mountain wife that I'd like to think that I am (yes, I can hear you all laughing), I put out a spread fit for a king.  I poured the Cheerios and put out the almond milk for my lactose intolerant MM.  I had also brought along a few doughnuts and muffins, so I added them to the smorgasbord.  MM dug right into the doughnut box to get one of his favorite iced jelly filled yummies.  I saw the look of horror on his face and instantly knew that something beat him to his favorite treat.  Yes, there on top of all of that gooey white icing were teeny little red ants.  I swear that they were laughing at the fact that they had won the prize.  Not to be beaten by those stupid ants, I told MM that I also had some tasty blueberry muffins that were inside of a plastic container, so I KNEW that they had to be safe!  Wasting no time, MM opened the package, grabbed a muffin and proceeded to take the paper wrapper off all the while holding it over his cereal bowl.  My MM was well trained by his mountain mama and is very neat and tidy.  This fact usually serves him well.  Except for that morning.  As he was unwrapping his muffin I watched in disbelief as one little red ant after another fell from the bottom of his muffin paper into his gourmet bowl of cereal.  Needless to say, that was the end of breakfast for both of us!  After cleaning up the kitchen and finding several more of the welcoming committee, we made a trip to our local Ace Hardware. We walked straight in and right to the aisle of death knowing just what we needed to eliminate our new found friends.  I hope this isn't a sign of things to come when we get into our permanent digs!

We have spent the last few days visiting our local coffee shop and a few local restaurants and hangouts and meeting some very nice people who are also transplants to the area.  One of my fears was that I would be made to feel like an outsider looking in.  So far, that's not been the case.  People seem genuinely happy here and happy to have new people among them.  

Sometimes, as we are driving down the road enjoying the mountain views I start thinking that this is just another vacation and wondering how many days that we have left till we have to head home.  Then I come back to reality and realize that, wow, I am home! 

Goodbyes

As they say, I don't know who "they" are, by the way, all new beginnings start with and end.  My end was very emotional and bittersweet.  

I guess, before I get to the ending of the new beginning, I should give you a little history so  all of this makes a little more sense.

My mountain man and I have been married now for  26 years.  Most of them for better a few of them for worse.  Together we raised our three great kids. Changed jobs, careers, houses and pets.  Last year was one of our epic "for worse" years.  Only a year after Mountain Man's long time employer decided that he and MANY of his coworkers no longer needed to be employed my Mountain Man had the health year from hell that ended with a completely torn off hamstring.  Oh, and by the way, I also had to go back into the work force.  

As all of my family and friends know, that whenever things go from bad to worse, my go to idea is that I'm just going to run away from home and find a tiny little cabin in the mountains where no one knows me.  One year, our family had a "dream" Christmas.  We all picked the "perfect" gift to give each other and wrote down what we chose to give and why.  Mountain Man and I, with a good amount of surprise, gave each other a cabin in the mountains.  The idea was planted.

While Mountain Man was layed up for a full six months with surgery and recovery, I played nurse (quite effectively, I might add), and continued to work my menial job.  Needless to say, by the end of this period MM was quite lonely and depressed and I was exhausted!  When MM's best friend who also lost his job, he and his wife decided it was time for a new start in a new state and arrived here in Georgia last July.  So once MM was back on his feet (and his a__) he informed me that he decided that at our age life was getting way to short.  He made arrangements for us to come down and spend a few weeks with our friends.  Oh, AND look for a cabin in the mountains.  Since I've always encouraged my kids and my friends to take chances in life and try new things, who was I to say no to this new adventure?

Not thinking that we would ever find anything that we would like in our price range, or that the area would actually be appealing, off I went on this big adventure.  Well, surprise!  The third cabin that we looked at was not only affordable, but was the exact layout of my "dream cabin" of that past Christmas.  Being one who firmly believes in omens and signs, off we went to make an offer on the cabin and you guessed it, the seller accepted!  Things like this just don't happen this easily for us.  To loosely quote one of my favorite lines from my favorite movie, I couldn't have been any more surprised if I woke up with my head nailed to the carpet!

Long story short, after a few false starts our Ohio digs sold and from various hitches and giddy ups we had three different closing dates.  I'm packing like a mad woman and arranging my first out of state move.  Out of state moves require MUCH more detail and organization making me even MORE of a mad woman!  AND since the closing dates didn't line up, we are now temporarily staying in an adorable little cabin on the Nottley River.  Bonus vacation days before the second half of "the big move".

Now that you have the, believe me, VERY abbreviated version of the story, back to the goodbyes.  Our oldest daughter lives in Florida.  Needless to say, she was ecstatic that we would be only eight hours away from her now.  Our middle daughter was VERY supportive of our decision.  She sees it as a new vacation opportunity.  Smart girl!  Our youngest, "the token son" and his wife, our third daughter, since we have known her since she was six, were the least happy of all.  In all honesty, since they have our only two grandchildren, this was the most difficult part of the move for me.  I have never been separated from my younger two or my grands for more than a few months.  Logically, I know that all three of our kids were raised as well as we could and that they will be fine without mom and dad's help.  Missing them will be another story all together.  I still miss oldest daughter like crazy and she's been in Florida for 10 years!  You have to understand, I'm the mom that even though my kids are all in their 30's now I still love to get the rare opportunity to put my head to their chest and listen to their hearts beat.  They are the best part of me and my grands are the best part of them, which makes them absolutely perfect!  

The night of the goodbyes was an evening filled with laughter,  love, and lots and lots of tears.  I am realistic enough to know that with all of the modern conveniences of telephone and internet that the Ohioans are literally only a button click away.  But you can't hug, kiss, sneak a stolen sniff of their own personal scent or just snuggle on the internet.  I, for the first time in my adult life, will live in a place where the only other person that I am actually related to, that knows me as well as I know myself will be my husband.  No kids, grands, cousins, or anyone else.  Just he and I.  I will now start the second half of my life finally learning who I am, as just a person.  Not hiding behind the title of mom or Bhakti.  I am blessed with a Mountain Man husband who encourages me (I'm stealing a line from a commercial here) to be the best I can be.  No excuses, no hiding, I'm on a new adventure and I hope you'll join me for the fun, the fears, the laughter and the tears of Mountain Mags!