Awaiting a New Chapter

I'll state it again:  living out of cardboard boxes is overrated.  Don't get me wrong; it's filled with adventure and possibilities, but after 4 moves in 3 years the process begins to wear on a gal.  J and I knew Boston was most likely be a short lived chapter in our lives.  We were guaranteed 12 months for fellowship and even when the chance of settling our roots here became available, we passed.  Everything from cost of living to the commute outweighed the benefits such as living by the ocean and being in a culturally diverse liberal metropolis.

Somewhere around the end of June and beginning of July moving trucks will park outside our residence and Edgar will undertake his 3rd relocation road trip.  This time we're moving to Milwaukee.  I honestly didn't think we would return to the Midwest, but somehow the stars aligned just so.

Milwaukee is known for such things like Wayne's World's dialogue (thanks, J.B., for reminding me), Harley Davidson, Laverne and Shirley, the Fonz and Cunninghams, cheep beer, and unfortunately Jeffrey Dahmer.  It also has some up's:  Lake Michigan, the historic third ward district, good public schools, universities, tons of summer festivals, and unique neighborhoods.  If we really need a good big city fix, Chicago is only 80 minutes away.  My great grandfather actually attended Marquette University for medical/dental school.  Back then, both professions spent the first two years of their education together before declaring their "speciality" of dentistry or medicine.  Times have certainly changed.  It will be kind of comforting knowing I'm returning to a place where I have distant roots.

Moving to the Midwest means that we'll be closer to Utah and to family, but it's not the same as being in the same neighborhood.  There, of course, are pluses and minuses to this.  This move will also be different due to my physical limitations.  Last year I was packing like a mad woman and this year I'm recovering from back surgery.  Although my pain is almost nil, everyone is truly worried I'm going to wreck havoc on my spine by lifting too much, twisting, leaning, etc.  I suppose they do have a point as I'm not even 6 months out from surgery.  It truly is aggravating to see the list of things to do get longer and feel so helpless about checking any items off of it.  A lot of tasks can only be accomplished by my husband.  

We've also begun a bucket list for Boston.  What do we want to see and do before we leave?  The list is composed of such items like:  restaurants to visit, friends to see, and historical places of interest worth exploring.  We had a similar list for Indy and we only were able to cross a couple off before we departed.  Now we get a second chance to do the same process here.  Hopefully we'll be much more successful with this new list.

What's also a bit up in the air is how long we will be in Milwaukee.  Will it become the place we set up roots or just another stop over for a few years?  That kind of limbo makes it a bit difficult to answer practical questions such as:  do we rent or buy?, what about our rental in Utah?, what are we doing with the kid thing without being so close to family?  Lots and lots of questions remain, but I suppose it wouldn't be life without them.