We just got back from what feels like a whirlwind trip to North Carolina, and we’re all completely exhausted. We had such a great time, I don’t even know where to start. It’s so pretty there, and Dave really liked it too, so it looks like we’re all on board with the idea of moving there. Yay! So now all we need to do is finish the work on our house and (this is the tricky part) actually sell the damn place, and we’ll be on our way.

It was so much fun to get to visit with Cat and Tony, and it was an absolute riot watching Cate interact with e-baby. She surprisingly didn’t freak out at e-baby’s signs of affection; maybe because she’s a girl, maybe because Cate instinctively knew she was family, who knows. But it was totally easy, and Cate had a great time playing with her little cousin. It’s going to be so much fun watching them grow up together, I cannot wait.

Other weekend stuff:
* Househunting was great because we found some neighborhoods that we really liked, and Tony’s realtor friend was fantastic. Of course, most likely nothing that we saw this weekend will still be on the market when it’s time for us to move, but at least we have a pretty good idea of where we’re going to want to focus when we start searching for real.

* We got to have dinner with two of my friends from college, which was awesome. I don’t see or talk to them nearly enough, so I always forget how much I just adore them and how much fun they are until I see them again. But it was great, and I look forward to living closer to them so we can hang out more often.

* Oh, the southern food. Fried okra, hush puppies, yum. And did you know that there are Chick-Fil-A’s in North Carolina? And there aren’t any on the west coast? We didn’t have the chance to stop at one, so poor Dave has yet to experience the joy and wonder that is Chick-Fil-A. He was all, “Is it like KFC?” Oh, sweetie, it’s just so much better, you have no idea.

* The flights sucked, as it always does when you spend more than six hours on an airplane. But thankfully, none of the flights were nearly as bad as I was anticipating. Which is not surprising, since my anxiety level was pretty much focused on the absolute worst case scenario. Cate did amazingly well, and several passengers commented on what a good baby she was. In case you were wondering, this is my highly imaginative technique: pack tons of snacks, a variety of small toys, a portable DVD player for cartoons, and when all else fails, a half-dose of children’s Benadryl won’t hurt. There you have it.

So, the new year has begun and I am already freaking out.

It’s starting to sink in that this is the year that we are moving, and how on earth am I going to finish the hundreds of little things that need to be fixed around here, get the house on the market, then move a house full of stuff – plus two cars, four cats and a baby – to another location. Oh. My. God.

I knew this was coming, of course, it was just easier when I was still thinking of it as happening “next year.” Now next year has arrived. Hence the wigging out.

We booked our trip to Raleigh to check out the area and do a little house-hunting. We’ll be staying with the lovely and hospitable Cat, Tony and e-baby from March 6th through 10th. That’s a small item on my big huge list of “Reasons to Freak Out,” because we just did a super-long flight with a baby, and it was not exactly what I’d consider to be one of the more pleasant, stress-free experiences that I’ve had in the past, um, forever.

This trip should be slightly easier – we bought Cate her own seat, so the three of us can take up a whole row to ourselves. And she’ll probably (hopefully?) be walking by then, so I can set her down in the airport and let her toddle around a bit to burn off some energy. This last trip, she kept trying to wriggle out of our arms because she wanted to get down and crawl, and eww, gross. Just the thought of her little hands touching the same dirty floors that all those shoes have trekked across… yuck. Sorry, kiddo, not enough Purell in the world.

Anyway, I have a feeling that once the ball gets rolling on all of this move stuff, I’ll be fine. It’s just the anticipation that’s worrying me. I’ve started making my to-do lists now. Obsessive-compulsive? Maybe. But it helps me fall asleep at night instead of lying awake and twitching, so I guess that’s worth it.