::reasons::

This morning when I was supposed to be thinking of a list of things to get done for the move I started thinking of a different list. And I liked it. It is:

Reasons To Be Excited To Move to New Mexico

1. garbage disposal
Maybe I've mentioned this on the blog before, but out here in Rhode Island (and maybe all of New England, who knows?) they just don't do garbage disposals. And since I'm a person that was brought up in "modern days" I'm very very used to them. And I love them. In fact I've found that not having one makes me want to do dish washing 100% less than before. And that's bad, because cleaning the kitchen is definitely low on my list of favorite household jobs. That crud catcher down at the bottom of the sink all full of disgusting bloated unidentifiable food particles? SO GROSS. Even just writing about it now makes me feel like puking, and the reality of it is so much worse.
SO--garbage disposal. GOOD!

2. Kris gets a real job
This is good and bad. Since we're buying the practice it's a huge commitment and a very intimidating undertaking--suddenly taking on a whole business with a big loan that needs to be paid, tons of different insurance policies, like seven employees, etc. etc. It's been crazy getting ready to take over, and I'm sure it will be stressful for the first while.
BUT he actually has a chance of making enough money to pay for our living expenses and student loans, and that would be exciting. The idea of having a real income is kind of crazy right now.

3. Kris only works four days a week
For now anyway. The current dentist is just doing four days. We may switch to five if we feel like we can get the office busier (see above about affording to pay living expenses, insurances, student loans, etc.) but for now the idea of Kris having a 4 day week, and those days NOT being 11 hour days is great!!

4. the dry air
I know there are some benefits to humidity. There have to be. But I can't think of them.
The real problem is that we basically live in the elements in this house--I'm sure I've mentioned this before. We don't have any sort of cooling system besides ceiling fans. And in the summer it gets hot, and HUMID. The humidity is really the problem with the heat. It makes the heat feel thick, it makes it hard to move. It makes you covered in sweat all the time. It makes even the shade hot. And the thing I don't like is that I can't really escape it inside the house. It's humid and hot in the house too. I just hate it. And I hate having all my papers turn all soggy. It's gross. And hate that it takes my hair hours and hours to dry. I could go on, but I won't.
So though I'm not looking forward to having to put lotion on Max every 10 minutes, since his skin is already dry out here, I do like the dry air. And it should make summers in a house with just a swamp cooler very nice.

5. a new schoolyard for Max with actual playground equipment
All Max's current school has is a big weedy field--really it's not even that big. It's got a couple of asphalt patches in it. One is a four square thing and the other has a couple of hopscotch things--one of which has been spray painted by some graffiti idiot to look like a phallus--and that's all I'll say about that. Max's new school will have at least two legitimate playgrounds. And it seems like it's going to be a nice place, with lots of community and parent involvement, so that's nice.

6. it's closer to the fam (and friends!)
Well this one's huge of course! Being within a reasonable day's drive and a quick 1.5 hour flight of both sides of the family (well, most of them anyway) is very exciting! It means that we can visit just for fun, and for weekends, and for big events like baby blessings and baptisms and birthdays if we want to. It gives us so much more freedom to be involved, and the best part is that I shouldn't have to do those insane 3 weeks trips anymore. Those are so exhausting. And the all day plane trips were too. So this is great!

7. serious improvement in house size
We're going to be paying a negligibly small amount more in monthly rent for at least 2X the house size. This means that we should have a nice room for guests (that means YOU!) and more than one bathroom! I'm excited to have a bathroom just for the grownups, and the guy that can't aim in his own. I'm really looking forward to it.

8. a garage!
We haven't had a garage for years, and when we had one we really liked it. The good news is, both cars should fit, and we should be able to get all the garagey sorts of stuff, like tools, bikes, camping stuff, crud, storage, etc. into the garage and out of the house, hooray!!!

9. better camping
This one is really for Kris, though I appreciate a good camping trip too. Not only does it rain less out west (which isn't necessarily a good thing normally, but good for camping trips) but you can actually go camping in the wilderness, not just a patch of wilderness that's basically in somebody's backyard. And there's more room, it's unlikely that the last camping site allowing dogs will fill up just as you arrive, as happened to us last year on the Cape.

10. swimming pool!
No, our house doesn't have one, but our little community we're moving into does. And Max is going to love it. What's better than being able to go to the pool in the summer?


The downsides of moving?
Well, moving of course, that's a big one.
I'm a little scared of rattlesnakes and coyotes, but I'm sure I'll have to deal with that somehow.
No beach within 45 minutes--crowded or not.
Leaving our friends behind in RI. We'll miss youguys. Come visit!

(photo by my mom)