Itchy Feet

I have been know in the past to be a person with itchy feet.  I don't really like routine that much, or being comfortable in the day to day bits of life.  I like adventure, new scenery, the thrill of doing something different and challenging. 

When we became parents almost five years ago, we put many of our "normal" adventuring aside.  Being a parent was quite adventurous enough.  I can remember just wishing for a boring day that went something like my original plan. 

Just when we started to really feel confident and competent and in a routine with one child, we adopted again.  Our second adoption was trickier.  We thought it would be simple, because we were adopting a 3.5 year old.  Little did we know that we needed to do intensive speed parenting to make up for the 3.5 years we missed in his life.  It has made for an adventurous year and a half of being the parent of two amazingly energetic little boys. 

I love being their mother, it is the highlight of my life.  I also love being a teacher.  I have been in my current position for three years.  I know my stuff, I get my "who" and I feel effective (or at least as effective as one can be teaching 126 students and only having them in my room for 47 min. increments five days a week.) 

With all that said, I am at an odd and unfamiliar place in my life where it all feels just a little too stable.  I know, poor me (insert sarcastic tone here.)  This might sound arrogant, but oh well... I don't feel like I have been given the gift of loving adventure, compassion for those with less, not personally needing much, or a love for the outdoors, just to waste it by living comfortably in the suburbs. 

John and I have made a promise that we will live "normally" while our kids are in elementary school.  After that, I can't guarantee much.  How we are living now is the "top" of our normal game.  This is the most conforming I can be, and it feels awkward, like I am wearing shoes that someone else broke in for me.  I know that I can't stand being in Alabama forever, on the grid forever, or in suburbia forever.  But  then again, the word forever scares me, except in the context of being a mom to my boys forever. 

In the meantime I feel like I am on high alert.  Like the next great adventure is lurking around some corner, or will come with the next e-mail.  Maybe it is another child who needs a home, maybe it is a puppy or two, maybe, maybe, maybe...  For now, I will keep peering around each corner with an open mind and heart, knowing that when the time is right, the opportunity will present itself.