Goodbye, Whanganui

Well, it is our last day in Whanganui. We are almost all packed, and we found a moving company that will take our things to New Plymouth tomorrow (Saturday) and drop them off. I am so thankful that we will not have to stay in a hotel or mess around with different pick-up and delivery days!

Things have worked out amazingly, actually. We got the moving company sorted, we have a great house to move into, I have an exciting new job, J's job has no night shifts, and we just keep hearing about how amazing New Plymouth is. So all is well in that direction.

Unfortunately, none of that stops me from being very sad to leave Whanganui. I have loved living here, and will miss it.

I said goodbye to all the teachers, parents, and children at Noah's Ark yesterday. I managed to get through the day without totally losing it, but I am feeling bereft at the loss of all of those relationships. I particularly lament the loss of such amazing co-teachers, because it is so special to find a group of people who work so well together and get along so well. The teachers threw me a party on Wednesday evening and gave me some lovely gifts, and some of the parents and children brought me gifts as well! People are so kind here, and I feel both blessed to have known all of them and stupid for leaving them. I told the children that I would do my best to come and visit when I can, so I will have to make that happen.

I went to my Zumba classes this week as well, and the teachers made me promise to come and visit when I can and gave me a free t-shirt! I couldn't believe it. Again, people are just so nice! There are Zumba classes in New Plymouth that I will try, but I just don't think it will be the same.

I also said goodbye to the neighbour kids today, after we played a long game of fetch with Holly. I was surprised at how much it affected them to say goodbye. Bonnie, especially, just kept coming back for hug after hug, and seemed quite sad. I was very sad as well - it has been quite special to be a part of their lives.

Tonight, we are having dinner with Harry, Jonny, Anna, and Ollie at the Spice Guru, which is my favourite restaurant in Whanganui. It will be hard to say goodbye to all of them, although I know that we will visit each other regularly. Still, they are amazing friends, and it is hard to leave amazing friends. (Also, it's is hard to leave amazing food, and I will miss the Spice Guru).

Of course, it is not new to J and I to say goodbye to amazing people and places - we've done it too much, recently. It just seemed like a perfect little spot just opened up for us in Whanganui, and we fit right into it, and are not having to pry ourselves back out, which is quite uncomfortable. However, I am continually reminding myself that things are fitting in quite nicely in New Plymouth already, so I bet we can find a lovely spot there as well.

J and I have talked about it, and we are really going to try to stay in New Plymouth for a long time. We are both tired of moving, and J is particularly desirous of not making me quit any more jobs, because he feels so bad about it. J still wants to move into an epidemiology position in MPI at some point, but that is years in the future, so we have decided to stay in New Plymouth until that opportunity presents itself.

Wish us luck with the move tomorrow. It will be good to officially be moved, so that I can stop all this crazy anticipation and maybe stop feeling pulled in two different directions.