From Atlanta to Buffalo, With Love

To procreate or not to procreate?

heatherwillow — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:10:04 +0000

So my latest issue is whether or not I want to have a kid. I figure at the age of 35 I better make up my mind. I always thought I did, and it was an issue for a long time with my husband, who didn’t really want them. Now that he has come around and is open to it (although truth be told he would really rather not), I don’t really know if that’s what I want for sure. Living in the suburbs, being surrounded by moms and families, is a lonely place to be for a childfree married woman. I don’t know if it’s annoyance at the trampoline noises barraging me from every adjacent backyard or bitterness at what I don’t have or the way my former best friends who have become mommies have slipped away and become different people, but the whole momy plan just doesn’t sound very appealing right now. What’s worse down the road? Regret at what I didn’t get to experience or regret for lost freedom? The older I get, the better my life gets…would a baby make it even better or screw it up for good?

Moving

heatherwillow — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 13:47:58 +0000

Aargh, it’s moving time again. Being a military spouse for the last 10 years has given me much patience for change and moving in particular. It’s time to do it again, this time from Atlanta, GA to Buffalo, NY. Our house is on the market for rent or sale, whichever comes first, and I’m wrapping up this semester at school, saying goodbye to friends, looking for a NY house online, transferring my teaching and massage licenses to NY, and looking for a new job. All this while keeping my bed made every day for potential house-buyers. It’s a lot. And of course, there’s everything else that comes with selling a house–the home improvement jobs that must be done (deck refinishing, wood rot repair, etc.), and the constant worrying that it will sit empty for longer than we can afford. Let’s also not forget the fact that I’m doing most of this by myself (as usual) in GA, since he has already moved to his new job in NY, and that everything is cloaked in the umbrella of emotion that is reconciling after a divorce (that’s right, my soon-to-be husband is my ex-husband) and trying to build anew.

Why do certain people come into your life?

heatherwillow — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:59:43 +0000

Why do certain people come into your life at certain moments? Why do we feel drawn to some people more than others? Why do we feel an uncontrollable force to have specific people in our lives and get to know them, to open up more than you do with most other people you have know your entire life? I’m a firm believer in what The Celestine Prophecy explains, but still it astounds me how true and powerful it is. It’s up to us to figure out what these people have to teach us, good or bad. And the lessons that are the most painful or difficult are usually the ones we most need to learn. Life is so much easier when you don’t think so much, I know, but it’s a whole lot less fulfilling.

Who am I?

heatherwillow — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 14:59:20 +0000

In a very small nutshell, I’m a 35-year-old high school English teacher/massage therapist/yoga instructor currently obsessed with my dog, ipod, Diana Gabaldon novels, and a closet full of unfinished (and unstarted) knitting projects. My personal goals for this year include getting back into creative writing, taking up photography, and spending more time at the gym.

Hello world!

heatherwillow — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 13:59:21 +0000

I never really “got” why people blog until I suddenly found myself spending all my free time on Yahoo Answers. What can I say, getting “best answers” is like getting a gold star on your 3rd grade spelling quiz. But house to clean, school work to do, books to read, knitting to get done, dog to walk, food to eat (okay, that’s a stretch)–nothing got accomplished when my laptop was open. So I figured blogging was the next natural step in my progression towards carpal tunnel syndrome.