Moving in itself is hard — even for those who like change and are very organized, I would think.  You really don’t hear many people talking about how much they enjoy the moving process.

So… let’s just take the basic unpleasantness of moving itself.  Then, let’s add to it, shall we?

• We don’t get to pick where we move to.
• Not only are we completely unfamiliar with Chicago (the place chosen for us), but we don’t even know yet where in Chicago we’ll be going.  (Can’t look at neighborhoods.  Can’t look at houses.  Can’t look at schools.)
• We have to be there in 85 days.
• Chicago is slightly more a sh*tload more expensive than where we live now.
• Our neighbors, who wanted to buy our house (which would mean not having to show the place), can’t buy our house because they’re in a hurry and everything on our end is moving at a snail’s pace not moving at all.
• Did I mention that I have four young children and school’s out?  And the house has to be CLEAN when people come to see it?  Maybe I should hit the tent sale at Wal-Mart.  We can clean the house and then go camping for a couple of months.

Okay… rant over.  It’s getting me depressed.  I don’t want to be depressed.  I want to be happy!  Yay!  We’re moving to Chicago!

Help.  It’s not working.

THE LIST, in case you didn’t know, consists of 17 cities. One of these cities will be our place of residence for a minimum of four years. If we like it we can stay forever. If we don’t, we can put in for a transfer and then wait and wait and wait and wait for there to be an opening.

Best case scenario:  we get assigned to a place we love.

We will not know the city to which we are assigned until mid-April. Once we know, we’ll have 90 days to get there. The kick-off to the whole process begins in a few weeks with the turning in of THE LIST.

Here are the cities, in no particular order:

San Francisco
Los Angeles
San Diego
Phoenix
Dallas
Houston
San Antonio
Chicago
Detroit
Philadelphia
Boston
Baltimore
Newark, NJ
New York City
Washington D.C.
Atlanta
Miami

I’d like to know how you think we should rank these cities – first choice to last.  You don’t have to rank all of them, but at least give me your top five and tell me why. Keep in mind we’re a family of six with small children.  (So, please don’t tell me how we should go to such-and-such a city because they have an awesome singles’ night life.)

One more… complication.  Just because we’re assigned to one of these cities, doesn’t mean Dan will be assigned to work in the actual downtown office (except in the case of New York City).  For example, we’re currently assigned to the Memphis office, but Dan actually works here in Clarksville, some 4 hours away.

Okay… ready… set… go!  I can’t wait to hear what you have to say!

P.S.  We do get to turn in THE LIST, but it doesn’t necessarily mean a thing.  We will be assigned where ever it’s deemed most beneficial (and not to us).  But, at least we get the chance to think we get some say in the matter.

While The Little Boys napped and Maria and Jack were glued to the dreaded TV, I was able to get some things done. Namely, I made sure I had everything I needed for the night’s Uppercase Living open house my good friend (The Ironer*) was hosting. I had all my samples, my catalogs, a door prize gift and a small gift for my friend for hosting the party (a cute little pail filled with chocolate and the word HOPE applied to the side of it). I was even able to pack the car so all I’d have to do was walk out the door as soon as my husband gave me the nod.

With all of that accomplished, I prepared the grill (the old-fashioned charcoal kind… remember those?) so I could put some burgers on for dinner. The Little Boys were no longer napping by this time, and I needed a distraction while the fire got going.

I chose a run to the bank. (I know, Mom, but the fire was outside.) I had some checks to deposit and our bank isn’t open on Saturdays (?!?), so I thought I’d get things taken care of before the (bank) week ended.

“Everyone get in the car!” I demanded. “No shoes needed, no one will be getting out of the car. Come on, let’s go!” I hustled Maria, Luke and Jack out the door and then grabbed Sam and everything else I needed before following them out.

Lo and behold, when I made it to the garage with Sam, they were all in the van and in their seats! But, horror of horrors, I realized they had gotten into a van full of Uppercase Living supplies.

“You didn’t touch anything did you?” I demanded.

“No!!!!!” they all responded.

“Are you sure? Nothing?”

Shakes of the head.

As I was strapping Sam in, however, the smell of chocolate wafted over to me.

“WHAT are you eating?” I asked.

“Nummnmnm,” I hear from the back.

“I didn’t do anything,” Jack said innocently and quite clearly.

I looked back at Maria and Luke, who were desperately trying to chew and swallow the chocolate before I could see it. Unfortunately for Maria, not only did the smell give them away, but also the chocolate drip at the corner of her mouth.

When I told them they had just eaten The Ironer’s chocolate I might have seen a wisp of guilt cross their faces…

…before the remaining sweetness on their tongues mollified them.

*If she ever gives me the nod to use her real name, I’ll quit calling her The Ironer – she’s much more than that.

So… I recently became an Uppercase Living demonstrator. have you seen this yet?!? It is sooooo cool. I was actually in search of something like this for Maria’s room and when I found uppercase, I jumped right in with both feet. I’ve never sold anything (other than girl scout cookies 30 years ago) but I didn’t hesitate. The product sells itself! These beautiful expressions can be easily applied to your walls, windows, mirrors or any other relatively smooth surface. And (drum roll, please…) they can be REMOVED without damaging the surface. what an awesome way to add something to your home, office, car, etc.

Not only do I get to be the first to show people this great new product, but I also get to have some adult time in the evenings when I do demonstrations. I didn’t realize how much I needed this. It’s really put a shot of energy and excitement into things for me.

Go check it out at www.uppercaseliving.com. my ID # is 832718 and token is “cheerio.”

The picture here is of my little boys’ room…