a couple of weeks ago I posted something about my wife accepting a job at Ohio University and our forthcoming move to Ohio. Thanks again to all of you who weighed in, offered well-wishes and prayed for us. We really appreciate it.
At the end of the day, we settled on moving to Athens, Ohio as opposed to buying a great house we found in Bexley, Ohio. We looked at the possibility of living in the Columbus area from every angle and the commute just didn't make sense. It's an hour and change in perfect weather with no construction and no traffic. Honestly I think I could put up with a commute like that, but it just seemed like a stretch to ask my wife to do that. You could tell the idea of it wore on her. Living in Athens a long commute would be 15 minutes and we're likely going to live closer to her office than that. I just got approval from my current position to continue my job remotely...which removes the stress of having to find something new.
Athens is what it is: a neat little college town. We talked to a lot of people who have moved there for a job at the university and we heard a lot about the pluses and minuses. A big plus for me is that even though I'm fully expecting a culture shock for my kids coming from the Bethesda/DC area, it might be muted a bit because there are so many people from so many other places. Throughout this whole process I've talked to professors, administrators, staff and coaches from all over...none of them seemed to actually be from Athens, but seem to really enjoy it. The university really will be able to offer our family a lot and I'm guessing we'll lean on that heavily.
The thing we'll have to get used to is more or less losing our anonymity. We have a pretty good community here in Bethesda, but there are times when we can go out and not be seen. Almost everyone we talked to mentioned that they run into people they know every time the leave the house. I guess on one hand that's sort of comforting. On the other, it'll be an adjustment to feel like everyone is in our business.
My kids have also been troopers through this. They were able to shadow a student in the class they'll be joining in January last Tuesday and both came away somewhat excited about going to school there. They're both still apprehensive about the move, but at least they now have a frame of reference. My son, who is somewhat introverted, it a little nervous because they were going over division in the class he sat in and his current class is still covering multiplication. Having said that, I'm sure they'll be tears, but all in all I think they'll be fine.
Thanks again for everyone's input. Bloomington will be a relatively easy car ride again for me (4 or so hours if I recall correctly), so maybe I'll catch some of you at a football/basketball game sometime.
At the end of the day, we settled on moving to Athens, Ohio as opposed to buying a great house we found in Bexley, Ohio. We looked at the possibility of living in the Columbus area from every angle and the commute just didn't make sense. It's an hour and change in perfect weather with no construction and no traffic. Honestly I think I could put up with a commute like that, but it just seemed like a stretch to ask my wife to do that. You could tell the idea of it wore on her. Living in Athens a long commute would be 15 minutes and we're likely going to live closer to her office than that. I just got approval from my current position to continue my job remotely...which removes the stress of having to find something new.
Athens is what it is: a neat little college town. We talked to a lot of people who have moved there for a job at the university and we heard a lot about the pluses and minuses. A big plus for me is that even though I'm fully expecting a culture shock for my kids coming from the Bethesda/DC area, it might be muted a bit because there are so many people from so many other places. Throughout this whole process I've talked to professors, administrators, staff and coaches from all over...none of them seemed to actually be from Athens, but seem to really enjoy it. The university really will be able to offer our family a lot and I'm guessing we'll lean on that heavily.
The thing we'll have to get used to is more or less losing our anonymity. We have a pretty good community here in Bethesda, but there are times when we can go out and not be seen. Almost everyone we talked to mentioned that they run into people they know every time the leave the house. I guess on one hand that's sort of comforting. On the other, it'll be an adjustment to feel like everyone is in our business.
My kids have also been troopers through this. They were able to shadow a student in the class they'll be joining in January last Tuesday and both came away somewhat excited about going to school there. They're both still apprehensive about the move, but at least they now have a frame of reference. My son, who is somewhat introverted, it a little nervous because they were going over division in the class he sat in and his current class is still covering multiplication. Having said that, I'm sure they'll be tears, but all in all I think they'll be fine.
Thanks again for everyone's input. Bloomington will be a relatively easy car ride again for me (4 or so hours if I recall correctly), so maybe I'll catch some of you at a football/basketball game sometime.
