Ohhhh, that’s what she meant!

When we first moved here a dear friend, a local, said to us, “You’ll know you’re a local when you appreciate a day on the couch.”  Until today (literally, the lightbulb went off today) I didn’t fully appreciate her statement.  I realized retrospectively that I have still kind of been in “not a local yet” mindset.  November and December were crazy busy on the island, friends here, the holidays, and on New Years Eve, Andy’s birthday.  My body was tired and our checkbook nearly spontaneously combusted 😂.

Witness this week.  I genuinely believe that this has been our first “we truly live here” week since we moved in late October.  If I had a blindfold on I’d have not known if I was here or back in Charlotte.  Andy is back at work, I’m at work, and when I’m not working I’m watching a TV show on YouTube, horizontal on the couch, or napping.  We’ve cooked dinner and eaten at home all week.  For the first time since we arrived I have not heard my brain saying, “But but but, the beach is right out there, you have to go!”  It didn’t even occur to me until I heard another friend say they’d been at the beach.  My first thought was, “Oh yeah, the beach.”

I think moving here late in October then essentially going right into holiday season didn’t allow our brains to just shut off and truly process everything that had happened to us since the fateful day in July when we decided to move here.  Now it’s quiet.  We’re settling into our routines.  Really, they look no differently than they did in Charlotte, the scenery is just different.  Occasionally we’ll start the day on the beach, but I realize now that, for the first time since we discovered this island a decade ago, I don’t hear my conscience tapping the inside of my brain reminding me that I have an “agenda” that I need to cover in 7 days, so “get up! We have to go!!”

I heard quite often before we moved, “Living here is different than visiting here.”  Yes, I believe I understand those words now.  Thankful for a week of what a routine is going to look like.  Thankful for a week of rest, as my body needed it.  And grateful for my dear friend who reminded me that, when that is the rule rather than the exception I’ll know it’s “real”.