Moving, Marriage, and other Major Milestones

At a bachelorette party I attended this past year I was chatting with a friend of a friend about how long and miserable the flight from Europe to California is...the boring and unbearably cramped space with poorly circulated air and crappy food, then having to exchange your money, find your bags only to re-check your bags, the long line at customs, jet lag, germs, crowds, lines...  Awful!  Then another friend chimed in and said "Ya know, I used to feel the exact same way.  But now I have a kid... And what I used to think was miserable before, is all the more miserable now with a cranky baby that you are constantly trying to entertain, and keep from crying, and keep their diapers clean, and keep from offending everyone else on the flight...You have no idea what a treasure a long boring flight is! What I would do now for a 12 hour flight alone to myself!"

Wow, and I thought I had problems... My most recent problems?  Trying to figure out what to put on this wedding registry....first world, middle class, god-forbid-I-ever-have-anything-serious-to-worry-about problems.  I just spent I-don't-want-to-tell-you-how-much-time comparing prices and reviews on a garlic press, before I gave up.  I don't know which one to get!? Then I realized I have lived the past 30 years of my life without a darn garlic press and I am just fine.  I do not need a garlic press.  Moving on... Next item...  Egg slicer?  Seriously people!?  How often do you use an egg slicer?!  No, no, no, no no.

Ok, I do not really have any problems.  I realize that my life is pretty alright. But even without babies or any real catastrophes per se, life can be pretty stressful.

A couple months ago one of my co-workers asked me "so, when's the big day?"  This was the day after my work friends threw me a bridal shower, and two days after I handed in my two weeks notice that I was quitting, and 5 days before the last day in our Santa Barbara apartment, and the day my name had been posted on the company monitor as a summer birthday.... So, could you be a little more specific?  By "big day" do you mean my last day at work?  Or my last day in Santa Barbara? Or the day we move in to Boston?  Perhaps the day we start this epic road trip adventure? Maybe you mean the wedding day? Or were you thinking of my 30th birthday?  Because they are all pretty big days and they are all happening within 4 weeks time.

My original intention with planning it this way (yes this was planned), was to get everything over at once.  I knew that each of these life changing events would all be pretty darn stressful.  Moving across the country, finding a new place to live, leaving a job, finding a new place to work, planning a wedding, turning 30...all very chaotic and anxious events.  My genius idea was if I get them all out of the way at the exact same time, then I can limit the duration of time in which I will be an insanely nutty worrywart.  This plan is a great idea assuming one critical condition: that there is a limit to the level of anxiety one can achieve.  Well of course there is no possible way I could be more anxious then I am now, right?  Soooo sure! Why not then do it all at once? Could be worse right?  Right.

But hey, at least we don't have a crying baby to deal with on top of things, right?