The Secret’s Out!

I’m so excited I finally get to talk about this big adventure out in the open.

The secret is out!

I have known for months now that I was going to be moving to Paris. I didn’t know exactly when at first, but I knew it would happen eventually. I am freaking moving to FRANCE!

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I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to continue working for my current company, doing my regular job all while I’m abroad (I’m not sure I ever explained that?) It’s such a relief after all that stressing, and I feel so fortunate to have a company that values me enough to tell me to go for it.

So since the end of June, I have known that I am moving, when I am moving, and all the exciting details that go with that kind of plan – and I haven’t been able to tell a soul.

Why haven’t I been able to talk about Paris?

A few reasons, most of them strategic and tied to work dynamics. First and foremost, I needed to tell my team myself, before they heard it from anyone else. And I didn’t need to tell them until a more appropriate time as the date got closer. If I was quitting, the most they’d get is 2 weeks. I’m not quitting, so 3 weeks is plenty to allow time enough for advance notice but not so much time that they start to worry about what it all means for our team (or for the rumor mills to start running). Since I wasn’t telling my team until 3 weeks out… I couldn’t tell anyone else.

Now, obviously my family knows, and I’ve slowly but surely shared the news with a few very close friends, all under the caveat that they couldn’t talk about it themselves. The concern, of course, was if anything wound up on Facebook or someone dropped a casual mention around the office, it could make for some awkward moments (you never know who’ll be upset about something innocent – it’s never who you’d expect). People mean well, but a simple slip of a “hey, check this out when you get to Paris”…. it would have been terrible if my own team heard by accident and not from me directly

Of course as these few months have gone by, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. I revealed my secret to more and more people, expanding that group of “only very close friends” to include… well, more people than I’d typically refer to as my closest confidantes.

But now.. the CAT’s out of the bag!

I’M MOVING TO PARIS!

Phew. That feels good.

Now it’s out and I’m free to be excited and nervous and to talk about what’s happening in my life (moving, packing, kitty roommates!) — all the things I’ve been dealing with and stressing over and having to hide. And now I’m free.