The Waiting Place

One of my favorite children's books is Dr. Seuss' Oh, The Places You'll Go. It talks about life and the ups and downs we have and the opportunities we each face. It also talks about the Waiting Place, how people there are just waiting for things to happen. Well, right now, I feel like I am in the waiting place: waiting to be rid of our house in New Jersey; waiting to close on our house here in Massachusetts; waiting to start this blog because we don't have our computer set up, just the laptop; waiting for John to get home from work. :-) It seems like we're just waiting for our lives to "start" here. I'm not sure I like the "waiting place." Since there is nothing I can do about most of the things I'm waiting for, I can do something about starting the blog, and I got some motivation from seeing the adorable blogs posted by my awesome sister-in-laws Chandra and Cami.
To get everyone "up to date" on us: John got a new job at Saint Gobain Containers in Milford Massachusetts. He started June 30, 2008. We've spent July and August living in a hotel (Yuck! definitely don't recommend it to anyone, especially with kids) with Toma and I traveling back and forth between NJ and MA. (another Yuck! 6 hours in a car each way) We've been trying to sell our house in NJ, but with no luck. Thankfully, John's company is going to buy it from us. They aren't giving us the best deal, but in this market, we are just grateful to be able to get rid of it. We consider it a HUGE blessing. Now we are just waiting to finalize everything with them.
We found a fully furnished house to rent in the beginning of September, so Toma and I came up here to stay (at least until we have to go back for the movers.) We've also been looking at houses to buy for the last few months. We had an offer on one that we really liked, and after waiting for three weeks, we ended up being out-bid on it. It was a huge disappointment. But we found another one we liked (not quite as much, but it's still great) We are now under agreement and waiting to close on it on the 23rd of October.
Our first Sunday together in our new Franklin Ward, the ward was split into a ward and branch. We asked the bishop if it was a bad time for us to transfer our records into the ward, and he just laughed and said we were just in time. I got a calling the next week. I am teaching the 10-12 year-olds in Primary. So far I've only taught one week, but I enjoyed the 4 kids in my class. John is still waiting for a calling.
The last two Sundays I've been in Utah. My grandma, June Warner Poll, passed away on September 30th, so I flew out for the funeral and spent some time with my family. I am very grateful for my brother Rick's friend Julie who let both Milt and I have buddy passes to fly home for the funeral. It really meant a lot to me.
Hopefully all will go well and we will be able to get out of this "waiting place" next week. The movers are scheduled to pack up (yep, I don't even have to pack) next Monday, the 20th. The 21st they are supposed to load up all of our stuff. Once our stuff is out, we can close the deal with St. Gobain and be done with our first house for good. It is very bitter-sweet. I love that house! We are set to close on our house here in MA on the 23rd, and the movers are set to deliver our stuff on the 24th. Yes, next week will be very busy, something very different from just waiting!