Counting Down the Weeks

I have had a fairly easy schedule the last few months. In reality, I only have one hard month left, and two different 2 week rotations that will actually require any amount of work. It's kind of amazing to think that after all this schooling I've subjected myself to, I can see the end coming. In only 13 weeks (I think) I will be done, and heading back to Seattle. I'm so happy to be going back to Seattle, for many reasons. I will definitely miss the predictably wonderful weather we have here, but this has never felt like home. Part of that was probably my doing. I always knew this would be temporary, so I never tried to set down roots. I'm looking forward to finally feeling settled. I want to have a home. I want a yard that is mine. I want to finally unpack all our wedding gifts. And I want to stop moving. Dear Lord, do I want to stop moving. I was fairly stable through high school, only moving a few times. But since then? I lived in one dorm my freshman year, three different places my sophomore year, two places junior year and one apartment senior year. Not counting all the off-terms spent at home in Seattle. After college? I lived at home for about a year, sub-let a room in a house with Kate for a month or two, lived with Emily for about a year, moved into a house with a bunch of random people for about a year, then moved out with one of those roommates for about a year. She got married, and moved out, so I moved in with a friend of hers who needed a roommate for another year. Then, during my 3rd year of medical school I lived in Anchorage, AK for three months, back in Seattle living at home for 6 weeks, spent 6 weeks in Sheridan, WY, six weeks in Buffalo, WY, six weeks in Great Falls, MT and then back to Seattle. I think I moved in with Kate at this point, with another 6 weeks stint in Great Falls, MT. After Kate went back to law school, I moved into another room found on Craigslist. But the passive aggressive notes of my roommate got to be too much, so I moved in with Adam until I came to San Diego. Here I had my little studio for 9 months, we house sat for 2 months, and finally have been in our current place for almost two years. I think. So in 15 years, I have had 24 different homes.

So I am ready to go back to Seattle and hopefully stay put for awhile. Currently, Adam and I are trying to figure out the best approach to take with moving back. We have his house in Ballard, which is a fine house in a great neighborhood. It is not our dream house. The kitchen is small, and I suspect will frustrate me when it comes to cooking. The yard is small, and doesn't lend itself well to exercising Vizslas or growing tomatoes. There's only one shower. But it has 4 bedrooms, it has a big basement. It is close to the Burke-Gilman trail, making bike commuting easy. Do we move back into his house, perhaps invest in a kitchen remodel? Build a fence? Do some landscaping? Or do we keep renting out the house and find a new place for us? If we go that route, do we buy another place (assuming someone will loan us money after looking and my income to debt ratio)? Or rent a place that has what we are looking for, with the knowledge that after I finish fellowship, we might not stay in Seattle? My mind is overwhelmed trying to figure out the right approach here. I keep going back and forth. But it always come back to my need to feel settled. I can't keep moving like this. I seriously have boxes that I haven't unpacked in 2 or 3 moves, because I know I'm only going to have to pack them up again.

But regardless, we will be back in Seattle. And that will be good.