The Reed Report: Moving to NYS

Oh boy - this is a crazy time for us!

Jason got a job clerking for a Federal Judge in Albany, NY. This is an awesome opportunity and he is really excited. The job starts the second week of September and our lease here is up on August 31st, so we're hitting the road on August 31st.

As you can imagine there are a million things running through my mind that need to be taken care of and I swear, every time I check something off that list I think of an additional five things that need to be done. We already took care of getting an apartment and I've found a new midwife. Those were two of the biggest things for me, so it's a relief to have them out of the way.

Right now my big fears all come in the travel to NY. I am going to be 32 weeks pregnant when we make this drive - Jason and I went on a car ride tonight that was about 1.5hrs and in that time we stopped so I could pee, I had to go again as soon as we were home and I was extremely uncomfortable for a majority of the ride. So naturally while we're driving I'm wondering to myself, "What would make me more comfortable right now?" I tried multiple positions to see what worked and was brainstorming about pillows... Maybe I'll try things out over the next couple weeks or perhaps I won't so that I don't over-think it. Thankfully Jason's mom, Cindy, is flying out to help with the drive (if I were doing the drive alone I would be completely panicked). It is an 18.5 hr drive normally. I've read I should stop every two hours at most to walk and stretch. The problem is that when it comes to road-trips I am the type of person who wants to just go go go. With all of the stops we're going to be making it will dramatically lengthen the amount of time the drive takes and it's already a long drive! It's going to make me go crazy, but I know I just need to get over it. Anyway, any suggestions anyone has about traveling long distance while in the third trimester would be much appreciated!

My next big fear is that our cat, Sonny is going to be in the car with me and Cindy. I have no idea how to travel with a cat. It's stressful enough trying to figure out my own travel but I also have to figure out how to make sure my cat doesn't meow (the WHOLE drive), puke, poop, pee, run away, get stuck, etc. But it's just not an option to leave him behind. I know there are people who would be willing to take him, but we love him too much and can't bare the thought of not having him. So again, anyone who has suggestions about traveling 20-some hours with a cat in the car, advice would be very appreciated.

Once we are to New York I imagine all my stress just melting away. We have movers lined up to help us unpack our moving truck (we are working on throwing away as much crap as we possibly can so we can fit everything we take with us in a 16ft truck - wish us luck!) So we will supposedly be completely unloaded into our apartment by noon on September 2nd. That's when all the fun really starts! I have not been able to go into any sort of "nesting" phase in this pregnancy yet. Sure, I love to look at all the things we have for the baby, but we always knew that we would be moving somewhere (never imagined NY) before the baby arrived so most of his stuff has stayed packed up. I'm going to FINALLY be able to set up his room and really go through all the fun things we have for him. I am so excited! I'm also excited that I'm not going to be in any sort of rush to get moved into the apartment. Which is especially good because I'll probably be moving a bit slower then than I am now and I'm already having a slow time packing things up. I'll basically have 8ish weeks until baby arrives (yes, I know, he could arrive at any point and I shouldn't put things off because it'll be a disaster if he shows up and we still have unpacking to do, yada yada yada). It's just going to be so nice to have some time to take things (semi) easy before he does arrive.

I can't believe we're going to be living in New York for a year. I know it's not going to be the most ideal year to explore and super get to travel the area, with a new baby and all. But we'll get to see some of it and it's going to be awesome. Because of law school Jason and I will have lived in all four of the continental time zones in the past 3 years. That's pretty fun. We've really gotten to go on some good adventures and this is going to be another fun one. I am just so happy that if we had to move to another state temporarily that it's going to be a really interesting one! We are going to miss Minnesota though. We really love Minnesota and the life we've made together here. It's hard to leave the great people we've met but it is made a little easier knowing there is a fairly decent chance we'll be coming back (this is the only state Jason is likely able to practice law in, unless he decides to take the bar exam in another state... who knows?). So just for fun, here are some pictures of our Minnesota adventure of the past three years!