We are moving

This stresses me out, and I struggle to deal with my anxious feelings almost hourly.

We are still in the process of looking: searching through ads, trying to get a look at places on google maps, considering neighbourhoods vs. commutes, yard sizes, square footage, and monthly cost. My sister would like to move by the first of September (our current rental has both a leaky roof and foundation, neither of which the landlord deems worth fixing), but that's not set in stone: the landlord won't mind us staying until Oct 1 (it's not like she'll get another tenant, and the market hasn't quite rebounded to her benefit).

I am hoping to find a place close to our current neighbourhood, but nothing in our price range is available; it's an expensive town (think ads for 'executive' suites). I'd really like to find an older house on a larger property that is being rented out while waiting to be developed - that would fit my price range and my desire to garden and keep laying hens.

All of this is uncomfortable for me, mainly because of having to face the unknown. The fact that September is already a month of new beginnings for me and my kids makes it even more challenging. Add to that the thought of moving a 1/2 hours' drive from our current neighbourhood (45 minutes in traffic, yuck), into the heart of Surrey (not the most up-scale area), and I worry I'll be moving my kids into a crime-infested area where we're living cheek by jowl to our neighbours.

I'll certainly miss the privacy of our current yard, as well as the access to my childcare provider for the past 3 years. Not to mention my mother, who is only 5 minutes away in White Rock, and often provides free daycare.

As well, there's all that packing to contend with. We'll have to rent a truck, because we have a piano. And, of course, there are two outdoor cats to move and get acclimatized to a new neighbourhood and new neighbour cats to fight. Finally, there's our garden - how does one move a garden?! We'll be dividing, potting up, harvesting all sorts of veggies and ornamental plants, not to mention the five 7' x 7' raised beds to dismantle. We'll try to bring some of our trucked in soil as well. Sigh. This is going to be just as big a job as moving the contents of the house.

We're going to look at a place in about an hour. Hope it's not too ghetto.