On the Move

I have some news....

Duncan and I are moving to Kojonup! (Kojonup is about 2.5-3 hours south of Perth and has a population of roughly 2,500-3000 people).

Just before seeding finished in June, Duncan received a call from a mate of his who manages a farm down there, and he offered Duncan the position of managing the cropping program. He’d been badgering Duncan to come and work for him for years, but we always thought, “Umm maybe sometime well down the track.” Now a concrete offer was on the table. We thought about it, prayed about it, ummed and aahed about it, and finally got to have a good look at the farm in September on the way home from Albany after my school reunion. We accepted the offer that day.

It is a really good opportunity for Duncan who is very much a people person and will get to manage about five farmhands in his new role. Not only that, it is much closer to family on both sides (1.5 hours from Albany and 2.5 from Dunsborough), and when my Nan got sick, I realised I wanted to live much closer to her in her final years. My mum and dad care for her as she lives under their roof, and they haven’t had a holiday together in about two years. With us moving closer, it means we can do some Nana-sitting occasionally and they can have a life.

We’ve also been thinking about having kids in the next few years so we’ll be closer to family (although I didn’t want to be on their doorstep), and have a bigger house. With a bigger salary, it means we won’t have to worry about money since we would drop to one income. I was beginning to realise I cannot guarantee my book will be a success, and very few authors manage to live off their work alone. Although more money also means more opportunities to be generous.

It’s no secret that I’ve found it tough to break into the wider community up here, and I had my reservations about moving at first in case I was just trading in one small town for another. But Duncan’s new boss told us he has found the Kojonup community very supportive and caring. I’ve always felt welcomed and accepted in the church...it’s outside that I’ve found very few people I have much in common with.

What I am a little apprehensive about is the fact that all of the other girls living on the farm have young children.  In just 2.5 years of marriage, we've already been made to feel like odd bods because we haven't started popping kids out like there's no tomorrow.  The pressure you get, especially in the country, is unbelievable.  I hope I'm not going to feel the same pressure down there, or just feel left out because I don't have a cute baby to talk about.  Even when we were given a tour of the farm, Duncan's new boss mentioned, "Oh and there's a great playgroup in town." *Sigh*

Part of me feels like I’ve just moved and can’t be bothered moving again. But mostly I’m really excited!

We’ve both resigned from our jobs and will be heading off sometime around Christmas. 

It’s quite emotionally draining to be making it public and being in the ‘goodbye phase’.