I only told a handful of people I was moving and the last of those people were my parents. Why? I don’t know. I guess I didn’t want them to talk me out of changing my life because the one I was living wasn’t working out anymore. I didn’t tell anyone else, mostly because I wanted to see if I could keep my mouth shut and not make a big deal about it. Plus, I didn’t want anyone making up insane reasons about why I left town.
It’s been three months since I made the move to Texas and it’s still so new to me. Everything is big, referred to as big or has ‘big’ in the name. Stars are used to punctuate everything from words to signs to pavement markings. If you look out of the car window while driving down the expressway, you can see for miles straight across in either direction, overwhelming proof of the fact that even the smaller cities in Texas are big. Texas pride is as big as the state with the locals as well as transplants. You’ve never seen so many people ready to tell you how amazingly awesome the state of Texas is – even if they came from New York City. Even the military base, Fort Hood, is big; it’s called “The Great Place.” Every trip through the main gate, I’m welcomed to “The Great Place” as if I’d forget if they didn’t remind me.
You can say that all military towns are the same, but I can tell you they are not. The only constant is the demographic population, which is mostly military. But the overall vibe I get from here is positive, so far. That could be due to the fact that I haven’t gotten out and met that many people. Before I made the move, I was warned that the Killeen area was awful and that I would absolutely hate it. But, you can’t judge a place by location, but only by the company you keep. So, in theory, if you have good friends, you will always have good times no matter where you are.
That said, there aren’t too many places here to have those good times and I’ve only made a few friends who I rarely see outside of work. I've been to Austin twice to check out the live music scene and ended up at Coyote Ugly, just to have something to do. It’s a huge contrast to living in dramaville where there was always stuff to do locally and people to do it with, it just depended on how much drama or bull crap you wanted to put up with at any given time. That’s not to say that I didn’t have good times in the ‘ville, I had great times, stressful times and a fair share of dramatic WTF times. As my brother said, I’d “worn out my welcome years ago” and it was time for me to “move on.” So, I did. I couldn’t have picked a bigger place to move, either.
I joke that I moved to the only state large enough to contain all the awesome that is me, that I was too big for the 'ville. But the truth is, after getting laid off from my job, and having a tough time finding work in the ‘ville, I started looking at my options if I were willing to relocate. My job opportunities multiplied once I expanded my search area. When my boyfriend moved to Texas with his job, I decided to send out my resume to a few companies in the area where he was living. After spending a year on unemployment and getting turned down for jobs I was more than qualified for because I didn’t have a college degree to prove it, I honestly didn’t expect much response.
But, to my surprise, I heard back from all the companies I sent a resume to and was offered jobs from more than half of them. I just had to decide which one I wanted the most, where would I be happiest and how fast I could move because everyone wanted me to start the day before last week. I made the move in less than two weeks with what I could fit in my car to accept a job working for the ‘A-Team.’ It was the job I initially wanted when I started looking for work i the Fort Hood area. Was moving the right decision? Maybe for selfish me, but I’m sure that mommies aren’t supposed to choose paths that take them 1,300 miles from their kid. But here I am, in a state that’s so big it could be its own country. Now, instead of being a big fish in a small, crowded pond, I’m a small bling in a huge constellation of stars. Literally … there are stars everywhere here. And Mexican restaurants.
I’m looking forward to a few things now that I’m settled: enjoying my job, spending time with the boyfriend, seeing the entire state of Texas – which I understand could possibly take a while – meeting the locals and having my daughter out here in the summer to share the experience. I hear the summers are brutal in Texas, just without the humidity. I’ve already started to experience the mood swings in Texas weather, from windy mornings to the scorching afternoon heat. This can’t be good for my wrinkles, but there's a cosmetic surgeon literally up the street and around the corner from where I live. Talk about "location, location, location."
