Tacoma Girl and Aralena- Thanks for the great advice- you guys are rockstars!!!!

We move to Paris August 8th- If anyone has any suggestions or advice for moving to or living in Paris please pass it along.


I was late for my meeting last night. I ambled slowly up and down streets, taking the longest route possible, wishing I had worn shorts, listening to my Ipod. I saw Marty out watering his lawn. A few months ago I had placed an ad to sell chairs on Craig's list, all part of the great trimming down of possessions. I received a call for the chairs and recognized the southern accent.

"Marty?"
"Misplaced, I wondered if that was you- I saw your name and the neighborhood and figured it might be"

I didn't sell the chairs but we got to talking and I , having nothing else to show for my life, mentioned Paris.

"Well, you aren't going to believe this" Marty said, "but next June we are traveling around the globe for one year"

All the writing I've done about the mental dilemna of quitting a job, selling everything and moving suddenly I seemed like a whiney little bitch. Marty with his wife were leaving their jobs, his two young daughters were leaving there middle school (or is it high school I can no longer tell) and traveling around the world. Different visas for different countries, different currencies, just the paperwork required for Laos made my head spin.

Marty asked, "What is it, you suppose, that makes people like us do this? Not everyone can make this move and I'm not talking in a financial way. We are wired different than some of the others." Marty grinned. "You got time to talk more, I wanna keep watering the plants? It's funny my wife hates to water the plants, I love it. Most guys I know are sitting at a bar drinking an $8 martini and I get to water my plants and everyonce in a while a neighbor comes by and we get to talkin'."

I told him I was late for a meeting and we made tentative plans to resume our conversation. I moved on to my meeting where I'll be surrounded by people who have been given a second chance in this world. Marty's right, we are wired differently than others, for whatever reason. I walked slowly, still in no particular hurry.

Life is pretty spectacular.