I got some wonderful news from my wife yesterday.

Nicole came home from work and said, "We can give notice. We can leave for Georgia at the beginning of November."

[caption id="attachment_629" align="alignright" width="300" caption="From front to back"]<a href="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/DSC_0208.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-629" title="DSC_0208" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/DSC_0208-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" /></a>[/caption]

Our beautiful new house outside Griffin, Ga., has been sitting empty since we closed on it at the end of March. The original plan wasn't to occupy it until next March, but as the months passed, I think both of us simply became more and more ready to be there.

The view in this picture is from the entry foyer, looking back through the dining room, the living room and the sun room to the back of the house. The view out the back window is of a hillside at the back of our lot and then another house behind it.

It really is a beautiful house and it's part of a beautiful community. I don't know if I ever would have imagined myself living in a retirement community, but there are so many nice things about <a title="Sun City Peachtree" href="http://delwebb.com/communities/ga/griffin/sun-city-peachtree/index.aspx" target="_self">Sun City Peachtree</a> that I feel very fortunate to have the chance for us to spend our retirement years there.

Of course I've been "retired" for nearly three years now, and Nicole is planning to work full-time for a while yet by telecommuting and then part-time for some time after that. I think that's terrific, because it will ease the transition for here, and once we get to Georgia, I'm hoping to find something to occupy my time, whether it's part-time work or simply volunteering.

In a way, a very real one, it's a fresh start. I'm reminded of the wonderful Jimmy Buffett song "Come Monday," especially one line of it:

<em>"California has worn me quite thin ..."</em>

There is something about my native state, and particularly Los Angeles, that really does wear on you. I loved living in La Canada Flintridge for 16 years, because it seemed almost like a secluded little town even though it was less than 15 miles from downtown L.A.

But since we sold our house and moved into an apartment, it hasn't been quite the same. I am definitely ready to have a yard again, and to grow a garden and put food on the table with my own hands.

I am ready to be in Georgia.

Six more weeks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnepPZChA5U