Isolated

Sometimes I feel isolated. I know, it's ridiculous, since I am immersed with over 100 students every week, since I have a broad presence and reach online, since I am not altogether shy...but living where we do, the way we do, tends toward sometimes leaving us on the fringes.

Not that there's anything (usually) wrong with that.

We are unfortunately between towns, counties, districts and such that our services are helter-skelter. For instance, we live in Harvey county, but the closest town, 4 miles away, is in Butler county. We would be in a school district (if we did not home school) in Butler county, even though we live in Harvey. We attend a 4H club in Sedgwick (2o miles away) that we like, but the robotics club is in Newton. One of our kids goes to preschool in Benton (16 miles away). I work in Andover. Our kids participate in PE in El Dorado...

...and thus we are a people apart. We are a part of everything, but then again, nothing. We do not have a solid base of operation. We go to a 4H event where we know no one (or, we are at least lucky enough to know one family at one of the things we are involved in), but they tend to all know each other, to have grown up together in 4H, slugged it out at their county fairs together, sometimes in-bred. They go to the same schools, churches, etc. often. We don't really ever get to know anyone beyond a superficial level, and no one seems to extend an invite to anything, etc. to get to know us.

Sometimes it makes me want to either a) relocate or b) put all of our energy into one town/county, etc. The later has not been our choice to date, for we have found good programs, schools, etc. by shopping around.

Sometimes I think I should man-up and put lots more energy into being outgoing and invite people over to our place, build our own day care if not pre-school, something like that.

Anything would be better than whining about it, eh?