36, Day 47 (Written Friday January 27) ~ I Have Found Me A Home

I have always had a theory that my iPod has great intuition. It always seems to know what kind of mood I'm in and what I need to hear. All I have to do is plug it in and put in on shuffle and the iPod handles the rest. Tonight was one of those nights.

The drive from Valdosta to Pulaski is about eight hours long, so I listen to a lot of music on the trip. Things have been a little unusual lately. We've been living in two different worlds: one in Pulaski and one in Valdosta. Tonight, about the time I got to the Giles County line, my iPod played a Jimmy Buffett song that seemed very appropriate. The song is called, "I Have Found Me A Home." In the song, he describes finding a new place to live that immediately captures his heart, so much so that he doesn't even want to bother with going back home to pack up his stuff and move it there. "The days drift by, they don't have names. None of the streets here look the same. And there are so many quiet places. Smiling eyes match the smiling faces. I have found me a home. You can have the rest of everything I own. 'Cause I have found me a home."

That describes how I'm feeling right now. We spent all day Thursday at the new house. We painted, changed out faucets, put on new cabinet knobs, hung shelves, walked around the lake and drove all around town. We gazed at the palm trees, felt the warm eighty degree breeze (in January no less!!!), smelled the salt water in the air and looked out over the lake. We looked at so many houses and then found the perfect one for us. Although the church is in Valdosta, we will actually be living in Lake Park, Georgia, a small town fifteen miles south of Valdosta. It's a town about the size of Lynnville, just five miles from the Florida state line. From my mailbox I can look to the left and see one of the dozens of lakes filling the town, and look to the right and see the golf course. Jade can ride her bike to the grocery store, public library, post office, fabric store and Chik-Fil-A! When this morning came, we didn't want to return to Pulaski. I debated whether or not to write that last line because I was afraid it would sound harsh to our friends and loved ones who are here, but I said when I started to write this blog I was going to be honest and tell the truth about my feelings. This town has been good to us, we have always loved it here and it has been home for many years, but not anymore. I will still treasure my opportunities to come back to visit Pulaski, but I have found me a home.