And Another One Bites the Dust!

This morning I heard our secretary talking about selling prices for her home, closing costs and that sort of thing. She was providing full information about her and her husband's contact information, etc., so being the "newly ensconced"** Leslie, I just assumed this meant that she was selling a house in Missouri where she and her husband hailed from.

But I was wrong. She's selling her house HERE and moving to MO. This after a phone call last night from another person I know on campus who is looking for a new job. If she can't find it on campus, she'll have to move, but she doesn't want to. This after my office neighbor moved to a new job in the business college last week (and she's still sorely missed! Who can I go run and tell about something crazy I just did...not to mention it's awfully lonely back here in my closet all by myself). This after I found out that one of my favorite profs is moving to North Dakota! NORTH DAKOTA! Is Mississippi really all that bad?

I mean, I know that the hurricane really messed things up around here and that it's not been a picnic since then, but is it really necessary to go and pull the rug out from under my feet all at once. I need something to hold onto. Something steady in my life to keep me from spinning totally out of control--you know how the skaters focus on that one spot and snap their head around as their spinning around so that they don't get dizzy. I need my focus spot, and it seems like everyone around me is just up and moving so that there aren't any focus spots left!

I also know that summer here really stinks. It's hot and muggy and doesn't let up until October at the earliest. But it really isn't all that bad. We have air conditioned buildings and houses and almost as many swimming pools as California, plus the beach a mere, well, 3 hours away now that the Mississippi coast has been flattened. But is that enough to want to move away and leave me all by my lonesome? And it IS a little terrifying thinking about the possibility of another hurricane hitting us this year. You can feel the tension with everyone you meet. It's usually topic of conversation #2 or 3.

So, yes, I'm a little jealous of someone picking up and moving on to brighter places. I don't really want to go anywhere in particular. I want David to have a better job where he can be truly appreciated for his talents. I want to go someplace where I can do my evaluation work and get paid a "real" salary to do so. I want to live among people who have a Texas mindset--when something goes wrong you fix it, not complain about it until someone helps you.

I say that while I know that we couldn't really do much better financially anywhere else. The cost of living here is pretty reasonable, and we have a fabulous house that we have almost fixed up like we want it. The kids like their school and their friends and seem happy enough. So, why do I want to run away? Why is it that the thought of another person I like moving on and leaving me to find more people I like so distressing?

I guess it's because all these people have made life so much more tolerable and I really do like them, so the thought of not having them around makes me sad. And I'm tired of being sad and missing people and trying to figure out when we can go see them. It's all enough to make a girl throw her hands up and quit.

**I'm fighting my basic nature and trying to look on the bright side of staying put for 3 more years when I've really just wanted to pick up and move on for about 2 years now.