On the move

It is now official! Steve has accepted a job at MGH starting summer 2013 for two more years of fellowship. I think he will then be done with training. He will top out of the PGY scale, which sets salaries for postgraduate/post med school trainees, after the first year, so really I don't think he can do very many more years? I say that sarcastically, but don't get me wrong - I'm 100% supportive, while somewhat ambivalent about the implications, and incredibly excited for him.

My friends, we agonized over this decision. Ultimately, it came down to the fact that Steve feels this will be much better for his career, will give him more flexibility long term for whatever academic jobs are open in 2015, and he cannot actually do the same type of training here because it's so specialized. We are very happy to be going back to Boston. I know it won't be the same as when we left - many friends have moved out of the area or to the suburbs and you can never go back to another phase or time of life. Things were pretty idyllic our last year there since I worked part time in a great job and we had lots of friends with babies or young kids in our neighborhood. Even knowing much has changed, we are really excited to enjoy seasons again, have warm summers, walk by the river, pop around our favorite neighborhoods on foot, enjoy the magnolia trees on Comm Ave, walk along brick sidewalks, hear the squeaking of the T, picnic in the garden, eat JP Licks, secretly root for the Lakers, stock up for the first big snow, and, most of all, reconnect with the friends and family still in the area and do weekend trips with the other peeps spread around east of the Mississippi. And, I'm planning on taking Grace to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2013 (probably the worst idea i've ever had).

On the flip side, I'm desperately sad to be leaving San Francisco, and more so, the west coast. In the two times we've lived "back east", I've realized that I'm truly a westerner in heart and soul. I need huge open spaces, tall craggy, snow covered mountains, dramatic coastlines and evergreen trees. I love the Pacific Ocean. I love west coast cuisine, the diversity of California, the misty mossy grey-green of the Pacific Northwest, the mild winters, and the ethos. Plus, we have seen my family so much more since living here. Yes, we're still nearly a thousand miles from my parents and Bucket and Lindee, but we've not gone more than a few months without seeing some or all of them as well as Steve's parents. And we have such dear family here in the Bay Area who have opened their arms and homes and holidays to us. Add to that the old friends with whom we've reconnected and the new friends we have made, and I just feel sick to think of saying goodbye. I have a really good job, and we love Grace's school and our church, and finally after almost two years, San Francisco is feeling like home.

In a nutshell, I love Boston, but I desperately wish it was on the west coast. Whenever Steve or I get on a cross country flight, we think "does it feel like we're going home or leaving home?" And heading west always, fundamentally, feels like going home. It's possible that we could spend the rest of our professional lives on the east coast, but we are westerners.

We will celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary shortly after returning to Boston. If you're counting that will be five cross-country moves in ten years. I'm already overwhelmed at the logistics, most notably applying to preschool. And Steve has already said we cannot purchase any more "durable goods." Despite all the to dos, we are determined to enjoy our last year here and to be present here. It's too wonderful not to.