Today I discovered another item to add to my long "What to Expect on a Cross-Country Move" list. This is a list I began to keep on this, our third, cross-country move experience... an idea I should have employed on our first big move, but didn't. Moving myself from Ft. Worth to Bryan/ College Station after our wedding hardly counts as a cross-country move for a Texan, so I'm omitting that one from the tally.

Today's addition...Number 35: It takes right at six months to establish a working routine. (I wonder how many months should be added for the addition of each child we hope to have? I'll update you. Maybe this should become a best-selling book... like 1000 Places to See Before You Die! 1000 Things to Remember When You Move.)

Tally that with additions like Number 6: Don't jump into a job right away (You've done that before... don't forget the nightmare of anger and recrimination that produced!) and Number 27: Don't be so hard on yourself. Number 1 is a good one for my "Type A" personality: Don't try to unpack and flatten every box the day the truck arrives! Don't do it! Number 2: Do find the plates, cups, sheets and towels as soon as possible. Number 30: When you have too much time to think, get on the treadmill or go jogging. (That really happens on occasion.)

I guess the hardest part is the dreaded transition period... the time when all of the boxes are unpacked and disposed... when Jason is thoroughly established at his job, the vet is chosen, the doctors' and dentists' appointment cards are already hanging on the fridge... Number 36: It is completely normal to feel lonely and purposeless. Number 37: Search out a new avenue... a new career... another degree... polish up on an instrument you've neglected... get a part-time job. Then I remember that I need to add Number 38: Enjoy this. When will you have so much time at your disposal again? Answer... the next time we move!