A spot of cuteness...

I am taking a momentary rest from painting and/or packing to bring you this little bright spot in my day...

Reality sets in...

It's been 6 days since we found out we are moving and now reality has set in. Michael and I are feeling positively overwhelmed by everything. And, yes, we know, "do one thing at a time" and all that but there are moments when that doesn't help. Thank goodness I have off from work and school this week b/c I would have been a disaster for sure. My mind is just constantly thinking things that need to be fixed, packed, sold, moved, given away, cleaned, etc. that it's hard to keep them all straight sometimes. To combat this issue, Michael and I are using google docs to help keep everything in order. Thank goodness for the internets.

The hardest part so far has been watching how sad this move makes my husband. I know he's excited about this really freakin' awesome job he got but he's a family guy and I know it pains him to move so far away from them. The second hardest part has been contemplating my return to this house with neither husband nor dog in tow. It reminds me so much of when my mom and brother moved to the Chicago-area after graduation but I returned to Lanky-town for 6 weeks to finish my scholarship obligation. Plus I was living by myself in a house with no furniture and only a few dishes and it was just weird. This time Grandma won't be packing every last dish until it's time to put everything on the moving truck:> It's a bittersweet time to be sure.

So, enough moping. Must get dressed and start painting. And do some more laundry. And meet with our realtor. And keep my sanity.

The big news!

At last! Michael accepted a job at a lovely robotics company (musn't say the name lest we be dooced) in Sunnyvale, CA near San Jose. We're moving him and the dog at the end of April and I will be returning to finish the spring quarter at school and get our house packed and ready for sale. More news to come soon! A job! Finally! California! Moving! Aack!

5 years later...

Okay, I meant to post this last month but what can I say? I'm a procrastinator and busy as hell.

5 years ago I moved to Ohio from Lanky-town and a whole crazy lot has happened. Let's review:

• I moved into my first "big girl" apartment where I lived (blessedly) alone with my 4-legged companion
• I was adopted by my awesome friend Marg, who introduced me to the city and to internet dating and has made my life in OH way more entertaining than it otherwise might have been
• I tried internet dating. All in all, a fairly good experience as far as dating goes and that's how I met my wonderful and amazing husband
• I met Michael in Jan '04 and here we are happily married for over 2 years. We have a very nice life (albeit a tad stressful at the mo'), a beautiful home and each other.
  
• We also have a mortgage and HELOC debt, we've put 2 dogs to sleep and adopted a third, deal regularly with crazy family member issues and struggle to keep our sanity while Michael looks for a job
• I realized along the way that non-profit organizations are every bit as soul sucking as for-profit companies but without the salary and benefits package, bonuses and extra PTO that for-profits often provide. We're expected to pay our bills with warm fuzzies instead.
• Oh, yes. My parents got divorced somewhere in there. I almost forgot that one.
• I quit my "real" job and took a waitressing gig while going to nursing school.
  
• Realized the life plan I had when I came out here 5 years ago is nothing like real life as it has unfolded.

So, it's been a busy 5 years and it's turned out very differently than expected. Not in a bad way, mind you, just different. I never thought I would have stayed in OH for longer than 3 years and I had no hope of meeting the man who would become my husband. And I definitely never thought I'd have to put by baby girl to sleep anytime soon. But here I am and here we are.
We're facing a lot of uncertainty until Michael gets a new job and then we'll be off on some new adventure. Stay tuned....