How do you make HUGE life decisions? Do you meticulously plan everything?
I'm asking because it appears that we've become a fly by the seat of your pants type of family. Spur of the moment decisions have left me without a husband (temporarily) and reeling in a ball of anxiety.
Side note - Kudos to all the single parents out there. I don't know how you do it. This shizz is tiring.
Two weeks ago the husband scared the bejesus out of me when he arrived home early one afternoon, threw his tie on the floor and announced that he'd quit his job because his boss was a wanker.
To be honest I was more appalled at the tie on the floor. I mean really, how many times do I have to repeat that the floor is not a shelf?!
It was when I remembered that we'd just blown a tonne of money on airfares for a family holiday to Singapore that I started to worry. Because hello -
MONEY. My job as a professional
facebook time waster certainly doesn't pay the bills. This man had to find another job and pronto.
He surfed the internet and applications were emailed all over the place.
Meanwhile, I got increasingly irritated at the disruption to my routine we really enjoyed spending some time together. We even got around to checking off some of the things on the handy man 'to do' list.
Which is how a phone call in the nuts and bolts section of Bunnings started off this whole seachange caper.
It turned out that one of his applications had landed in the inbox of an old friend.
A an old friend who now owned a car dealership. A car dealership in Proserpine. Proserpine in North Queensland. Which is absolutely no where near the Gold Coast.
Bit of a commute?
And from the sounds of the conversation that he was having I could tell that he'd already made up his mind about the job. I avoided eye contact afterwards because I knew what was coming. He's a born salesman and I could just tell that he was about to try and schmooze me with this idea.
Edited conversation over a fancy, post Bunnings lunch at Sanctuary Cove...
Him - "What a coincidence, hey?"
Me - La la la la la la la la, this conversation isn't happening...
Him - "Hey Alex, want to fly to the Whitsundays tomorrow?"
Me - A holiday?! "Yes." Sucker.
Him - A few clicks on the iphone. "Sorted".
Which is how I found myself getting off a plane in Proserpine a day later.
Proserpine it turns out is in the middle of sugar cane farming country. Not exactly the tropical paradise I'd envisaged.
Probably my worst nightmare. A tiny town in what felt like the middle of nowhere. Dusty, small, old.
The husband's new BFF gave us a tour of the town and the dealership and then we headed off to the Midge Point pub for lunch where they were having a little fundraiser.
Conveniently located in the middle of nowhere, smack bang in country bumpkin, bogan central.
Just picture your typical small outdoor country pub. Beer, dogs, daggy music. Not a lot of teeth. Bored teenagers sitting around smoking.
Not my scene at all.
Husband saw the expression on my face and quickly fetched a few vodkas to sedate his horrified wife.
In that pub I made up my mind that I was definitely not doing this.
There's no way I was going to uproot my family from the bright and shiny Gold Coast to go and live in a shitty, little country town (no offence to anyone who lives in little country towns I'm sure they're lovely once you get used to it).
Eager to show off their hood (the middle of nowhere) our hosts took us for a bush bash in their 4WD. Showed us a swamp that a crocodile may or may not live in. Vodkas turned into wine and we spent the night across the road in the Whitsunday Cabins (conveniently also located smack bang in the middle of nowhere).
The next day, we hopped into the Holden and drove back through Proserpine towards the suburbs of Cannonvale and Airlie Beach and hopefully, civilisation.
15 minutes away from the dusty, dry sugar cane fields of Proserpine this appeared. The famous aqua water of the Whitsundays. Goodbye country town, hello paradise!
All that flat water to go paddle boarding on! The Great Barrier Reef and all the islands in the Whitsundays just a boat ride away. It was time to play tourist.
I'm now as leathery as an old boot after a few days soaking up the sun. We stumbled upon a spot close to Hideaway Bay where the view was spectacular.
Me - "Oh my God stop the car I need to take a photo!"
Turns around and sees sign.
Tourist cliche.
It was nice to have a few days off from the rest of the kids and chill in our little cabin at night. We were in holiday mode.
Which was all well and good until all of a sudden this happened. Someone put on a work shirt and I flew home with the baby.
Husband keeps saying everything happens for a reason. Maybe.
Working with his new BFF might be a platform for bigger things, business wise. Which is a good thing. Happy husband, happy wife.
Will moving the kids to a smaller town mean they miss out on the things that we love to do? The theme parks (sad face)...the beautiful Gold Coast beaches (bigger sad face)...
But for now it appears that we're doing this. I'm waiting until school finishes up for the year then swapping the bright lights of the GC for the leisurely pace of the Whitsundays. Will it work out? Will we be happy?
I don't know. Sometimes you just have to stay stuff it and see what happens.
If I was looking for a sign that we were doing the right thing then this would be it. Boom tish.
PS. I sincerely apologise for calling the locals bogans. You were fun drinking buddies. Now can you all go to Proserpine and buy a Holden so I can go to Singapore please. Kthanxbai.
