Everything is still going as planned for The Big Move! The cats are climbing all over the boxes we have stacked throughout the house, the final few fixer-upper projects are getting done, we sold and donated a bunch of extra stuff that we didn't want to move, we reserved a truck and a storage unit over near the in-law's for a month, and we're planning our route across the country for July. Which, South Dakota in July? Yuck. But I'm not complaining as long as I get where I want to be!
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Mom is thinking about flying out at the end of June too, so I can have some company in the car besides just the cats yowling in the back. (Thank god for sedatives.) ( For the cats.) (Although some for Mom might not be a bad idea either...) (Kidding Mom!!) If we didn't have the pets with us, we would want to take a side-trip to Mount Rushmore and some of the historical sites along the way, but it'd be way too hot to leave anybody in the cars while we were sight-seeing. We'll just have to save it for another time.
In other news, I still have a little bit of hope for going back to work. I called the financial company that manages our 401(k)'s to roll over the funds into an IRA with my bank, and they told me that I wasn't terminated after all - my company had accidentally sent in a termination notice for me to the financial company, but called a couple of days later to correct the mistake, but the financial company had already sent me a notice in the mail about rolling over the funds. So, long story short, I'm going to try to schedule a meeting with my boss and the president for next week to talk more about the possibility of working remotely. There's still a slight chance it could work out, and it would be the absolute ideal situation (aka, holy shit it would be frakking AWESOMESAUCE). I'm outlining some ideas to talk about and planning my attack (tasteful-yet-low-cut-shirt, professional-yet-endearing-and guilt-rendering-demeanor, etc etc). Wish me luck!!
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Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Forthcoming, Ensuing, Impending
Poor blog... fallen by the wayside...
So here's what's happening. Our Lovely Landlord put our house on the market a mere two weeks ago. We showed it for her three times, and she is now negotiating an agreement with a Lovely Family to rent-to-own. We really shouldn't have worried about the house not being desirable, because come on!
So... we have to pack up and move out by June 1! We knew there was a chance it would be soon, but I think we were ignoring the actual number of days on the calendar. Let the OMGWTF begin!
The plan is this: put our stuff in storage here in Toledo, load up the pets and a couple suitcases, and head for the in-law's place outside Cleveland for about month. B promised he would help them paint their house this summer, so we'll spend June working on that and continuing the job search out west. We've both put in quite a few applications out there already, in Seattle, one or two in Spokane, and all over Oregon, so if either of us line something up then we're golden. If not, we'll head out there around the end of June/mid-July anyway and crash at either my Lovely Nephew's or my Lovely Mother's house north of Spokane until we figure out where we'll be living and working.
Of course, the best laid plans of mice and men.... but we'll keep our fingers crossed and pray against wrenches.
So here's what's happening. Our Lovely Landlord put our house on the market a mere two weeks ago. We showed it for her three times, and she is now negotiating an agreement with a Lovely Family to rent-to-own. We really shouldn't have worried about the house not being desirable, because come on!
Bye, cute house! If we could put you on a flatbed and haul you across the country, we would!
The plan is this: put our stuff in storage here in Toledo, load up the pets and a couple suitcases, and head for the in-law's place outside Cleveland for about month. B promised he would help them paint their house this summer, so we'll spend June working on that and continuing the job search out west. We've both put in quite a few applications out there already, in Seattle, one or two in Spokane, and all over Oregon, so if either of us line something up then we're golden. If not, we'll head out there around the end of June/mid-July anyway and crash at either my Lovely Nephew's or my Lovely Mother's house north of Spokane until we figure out where we'll be living and working.
Of course, the best laid plans of mice and men.... but we'll keep our fingers crossed and pray against wrenches.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Out of sight, out of mind
Distractions have been easy to come by. I've hardly been online these past few days - Google Reader is overflowing, I post to Twitter maybe once a day, and I give Facebook a once-over in the morning with my coffee and that's about it. I've been watching NCIS from the beginning, crocheting, and the weather has finally turned spring-ish too. I've been spending my days outside planting things that will more than likely (a) not come up at all, (b) get dug up by squirrels, or (c) freeze when we get hit with a freak frost in May. But at least I'm getting some sun!
***
The countdown begins...
B and I have started the job search. He had a phone interview today for a job that would send him out in the wilds of central Oregon for three months this summer. I sent my resume to Starbucks for a marketing job, emailed a prof I knew vaguely about a potential new position at my alma mater, and I keep looking in Seattle, Portland, Bend, Spokane, Missoula, you name it. I also keep my fingers crossed that something good will happen at my old workplace and I'll get a happy phone call one day soon.
Lovely Landlord is putting our house up for sale in the next couple of weeks. We've made arrangements with her to show the house ourselves, plus we still have a few projects that we promised to complete too. Tomorrow I'm going to try to scrounge some boxes from the old workplace so we can start packing, and put a few things on Craigslist.
In unrelated news, we think Jake may have figured out how to nose open the clasp on the gate to our kitchen. He managed to get in there last night and couldn't get out again... so he of course got into the trash, ate the cat food, mistook the basement floor for the toilet, and now he has the nastiest gas ever. My dog may have a cast-iron stomach, but holy lord, he's melting the paint right off the walls!
***
The countdown begins...
B and I have started the job search. He had a phone interview today for a job that would send him out in the wilds of central Oregon for three months this summer. I sent my resume to Starbucks for a marketing job, emailed a prof I knew vaguely about a potential new position at my alma mater, and I keep looking in Seattle, Portland, Bend, Spokane, Missoula, you name it. I also keep my fingers crossed that something good will happen at my old workplace and I'll get a happy phone call one day soon.
Lovely Landlord is putting our house up for sale in the next couple of weeks. We've made arrangements with her to show the house ourselves, plus we still have a few projects that we promised to complete too. Tomorrow I'm going to try to scrounge some boxes from the old workplace so we can start packing, and put a few things on Craigslist.
In unrelated news, we think Jake may have figured out how to nose open the clasp on the gate to our kitchen. He managed to get in there last night and couldn't get out again... so he of course got into the trash, ate the cat food, mistook the basement floor for the toilet, and now he has the nastiest gas ever. My dog may have a cast-iron stomach, but holy lord, he's melting the paint right off the walls!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Crossing fingers and toes and arms and legs...
I've mentioned it here and there, in passing, vaguely. I don't want to jinx it.
But here goes: we are making every effort to move west this summer!
By west I mean Washington or Oregon, maybe Montana, possibly Idaho or even Colorado.
B is graduating in May, and he's looking for jobs out there. I'm still holding hopes that I'll get called back to my job, mainly because when I mentioned the possibility of a move to them before I left, they were pretty enthused about having someone based in that area and were open to the idea of me working remotely. But in case that doesn't pan out, I'm looking too.
We have no idea what our timing will be - as early as June, as late as August. Our landlords are willing to work with us on the schedule, and we've promised to work with them on making the house sellable.
Our friends here in Ohio aren't too happy, but our friends and my family out west are ecstatic.
So, that's the general idea. As plans come together, I'll post some more. And if anybody has any recommendations for places to apply for jobs in the environmental sector, let me know!
But here goes: we are making every effort to move west this summer!
By west I mean Washington or Oregon, maybe Montana, possibly Idaho or even Colorado.
B is graduating in May, and he's looking for jobs out there. I'm still holding hopes that I'll get called back to my job, mainly because when I mentioned the possibility of a move to them before I left, they were pretty enthused about having someone based in that area and were open to the idea of me working remotely. But in case that doesn't pan out, I'm looking too.
We have no idea what our timing will be - as early as June, as late as August. Our landlords are willing to work with us on the schedule, and we've promised to work with them on making the house sellable.
Our friends here in Ohio aren't too happy, but our friends and my family out west are ecstatic.
So, that's the general idea. As plans come together, I'll post some more. And if anybody has any recommendations for places to apply for jobs in the environmental sector, let me know!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Sweat Equity and the After-Effects of Manual Labor
I've planted myself on the couch today, with no plan to move. I didn't even do anything that exciting these past couple of days, but it left me a bit painful.
On Sunday I got a bug in my butt to finish the basement bathroom project that I started, oh, sometime last year. (Or was it two years ago...?) When we moved in, the floor was done in indoor-outdoor carpeting (which my cats decided would double as a litter box) and bright blueberry walls and cabinet. So we ripped out the carpet with plans to put in vinyl tile, and re-painted it in cream and aqua with matching paisley curtains. But the floor, it waited... and waited... and waited... until finally on Sunday I opened the box of tiles and started laying them out. It really wasn't that hard of a project, except that (a) every wall in the room was crooked, so there was nothing to square the tiles up to, (b) the toilet was permanently affixed to a concrete slab, so I had to cut around it, (c) the rest of the floor was wood sub-flooring, which was fine except that (d) it wasn't level with the concrete slab, and (e) there was an access panel cut into to it to get at some of the plumbing. So okay, it really wasn't that easy, but it's a tiny room so it only took me one day despite the challenges. I still need to run a bead of caulk around the base of the toilet to cover the cut edges of the tiles, and the sink is still not functional, but it looks pretty good for what we were able to do.
I had some tiles leftover, so yesterday I decided to rip out the badly stained and fraying carpet on the landing inside the back door and re-do it with the tile. I also went stair by stair, trimming the carpet to fit better and re-stapling it to the underside of each stair. The carpet is still pretty worn out on the stairs, but it looks much tidier and the landing will be easier to keep clean. I have one piece of trim left to install once B cuts it to size for me. Not bad for a weekend amateur DIY'er like myself!
So after all this bending/kneeling/climbing/cutting/whathaveyou, I'm a little sore. My hands are dry and cracked, and my back and legs complain every time I move. You'd think I'd done something a little more strenuous, but I'm just that out of shape.
But the house is really starting to look sharp - just in time for us to move this summer! But if it helps our landlords sell it, I'm all about helping. They've been so understanding and such great people to deal with. (And if anybody is looking to buy a house in Toledo this summer....!!)
On Sunday I got a bug in my butt to finish the basement bathroom project that I started, oh, sometime last year. (Or was it two years ago...?) When we moved in, the floor was done in indoor-outdoor carpeting (which my cats decided would double as a litter box) and bright blueberry walls and cabinet. So we ripped out the carpet with plans to put in vinyl tile, and re-painted it in cream and aqua with matching paisley curtains. But the floor, it waited... and waited... and waited... until finally on Sunday I opened the box of tiles and started laying them out. It really wasn't that hard of a project, except that (a) every wall in the room was crooked, so there was nothing to square the tiles up to, (b) the toilet was permanently affixed to a concrete slab, so I had to cut around it, (c) the rest of the floor was wood sub-flooring, which was fine except that (d) it wasn't level with the concrete slab, and (e) there was an access panel cut into to it to get at some of the plumbing. So okay, it really wasn't that easy, but it's a tiny room so it only took me one day despite the challenges. I still need to run a bead of caulk around the base of the toilet to cover the cut edges of the tiles, and the sink is still not functional, but it looks pretty good for what we were able to do.
So after all this bending/kneeling/climbing/cutting/whathaveyou, I'm a little sore. My hands are dry and cracked, and my back and legs complain every time I move. You'd think I'd done something a little more strenuous, but I'm just that out of shape.
But the house is really starting to look sharp - just in time for us to move this summer! But if it helps our landlords sell it, I'm all about helping. They've been so understanding and such great people to deal with. (And if anybody is looking to buy a house in Toledo this summer....!!)
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