Last time?

You know those milestones in your life that will forever change you? I'm talking about instances such as - getting married, having a child, sex, etc. I remember back to some of these events and leading up to them I would always think things like; this will be the last time I _______
- sleep in bed ALONE
- write the name Christensen
- wear real shorts
- wear a two piece
- sleep for 8 hours straight

I've started doing it again. Now it is always a question in my head, will this be the last time I ______ in Wisconsin?/at our house?

- refill the Jet Dry in the dishwasher
- sweep out the garage
- go get a Kopp's custard
- have to rake our lawn
- buy something at this Target
- visit this playground

The list gets longer and longer as moving time approaches. 31 days isn't very long considering all the crap I have to get done. I don't know how my mom did this almost 10 times. And she has five kids. 10 moves, all but one or two of them were moves further than 750 miles away. Granted, she had moving companies doing the packing for many of the moves, but that is a lot of work regardless. My sisters and I moved around a lot as kids, so much so that I went to three different high schools in three different states. Each time my dad told us we were moving he tried to make it fun and appropriate for the place we were going. Examples:

- Living in Kansas at the time, driving home from church on Sunday my dad decides he needs to get something at the gas station. Naughty. So he goes in and comes back with 7 pairs of sunglasses - and proceeds to tell us we were moving to Florida. Brutal.
- Living in Florida, my parents decide we should go out to dinner as a family. What do they pick.... California Pizza Kitchen - and so, just 9 months after having moved to Florida we are told we will now be moving to California, at dinner. (it's odd but you would think I would have bad feelings for that restaurant now, but I don't)

It didn't get easier with time either. Each one was just as hard as the first. And it didn't help that I'm not that outgoing. I don't talk to people I don't know. And I'm not very social. What was I supposed to do, go up to random people and say, "hi, I'm new here, will you be my friend, for anywhere between 9 months to 2 years?" Thank goodness I was an athlete and played basketball. Instant friends!

So, then I graduated and moved again - this time to college. I joined a sorority, and again, instant friends - some not as instant as others - but it made it easier. And now I will be leaving Wisconsin, moving back to California - which I left almost 13 years ago. That is such a long time. And even though I've lived there before, the circumstances are so different this time around that it may as well be Alaska. It's unfortunate that moving has taught me not to put time and effort into making close friendships. The inevitability of me leaving one day was always in the back of my mind. I guess that's why I chose a husband who's career required him to stay in one place; and hopefully, California will turn out to be that place.