I’m not sure, yet, but I may hate moving

Moving is EXHAUSTING! We’ve taken 3 trunk-loads of stuff to donate to the thrift shop, 3 coats and a blanket to the homeless shelter, 3 trips to Best Buy (where they have a recycling program for old tech!) and trash to the dumpster every few hours (as needed). Getting all that stuff out of the house and to the right places, as well as picking up boxes from the U-Haul store and getting all the mail sorted out is tasks enough, but then there are all of our household effects!

We’ve mailed about 500 lbs of books to McLean. It’s just under $0.50/lb to mail them media rate and would have cost about $0.75/lb if they’d gone on the moving truck (then unloaded at a climate controlled, indoor storage unit, and then reloaded onto a long distance truck and hauled out to us within 10-14 days of when we ask for it). Instead, my dad now has lots of small, heavy boxes with which to build box forts if he wanted to.

I’m tired and rambling. We went to be around 11:30 last night, but I’m fairly certain that I didn’t fall asleep until 3 AM. Then I woke up before my 7:30 alarm even went off. Blergh.

Like I said, I’m not sure, yet, but I may hate moving. On the other hand, if this is the worst of it, moving may be OK after all!

OK, off to Ben’s lab group farewell dinner. Mmmm, Italian food.

Also, the packers packed my baggie of plastic utensils and my tool boxes! WTF, guys. Those were set off in a separate area for a reason. Grumble….

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It’s official!

We are moving to Maryland. Ben had his interview last week, just as Sandy started to pummel the East Coast. Things are moving forward: we let our landlady know that we plan to be out by the end of December and I’ve put in requests for moving companies that also provide storage to come visit and give us estimates (though we’re more likely to go with a friendly company than a cheaper one).

As for me I’ve been nannying for a some family friends of ours who just had their 3rd baby and just need some help getting the 2 older ones to school, going grocery shopping etc. Soon, I’ll also be working part-time at our synagogue while they look for an office assistant/administrator. Hooray for keeping busy and getting paid for it!

That’s all for now.

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How do I relocate my life?

I finally feel like I have the right number of friends: enough that I can call someone if I need someone to talk to and not overwhelm any one person but not so many that I feel like I’m constantly playing catchup to keep up with all of my friends.

Then there are my volunteer commitments, I recently backed out of one because I didn’t want to leave them in a bind when we move, and am looking for someone to replace me in 2 others (CSA media/newsletter writing and shabbat kiddish team). I’m concerned that once I leave our CSA will have no media presence and no bi-weekly newsletter. Bleh. I hate that I let things get so reliant on me!

Employment is a whole other issue. The firm I’d been working for all summer sold their building and closed shop. Doh. Thankfully, I had an interview for a new job before the old office was even packed out. Supposedly I’m the first choice of the interviewees, but they’re still debating whether to fill the position or just shuffle current personnel to fill the vacancy. I’ll just keep waiting. Until then, I get my last paycheck, for a 1/2 day’s work tomorrow. That ought to cover the groceries and tank of gas I bought on Sunday. I felt torn about even taking the interview, I don’t want to make them feel like I’m abusing the job opportunity by taking it for only a few months and then leaving, but I need a job. Our savings our not as much as we’d hoped to have by the time Ben graduates in December, so the only way we can really afford the 2-3 week trip to Europe we’d been hoping to take is if I get a job and put most of what I make into our savings account so that we don’t deplete it by taking a month off to move and go traipsing around Europe (my mom is currently working as a Child Psychiatrist for the US Army in Germany).

Yes, it’s offical: Ben is graduating in December. He’s been extended an offer to apply for a job at UMD College Park and is planning to take it. I’ve been looking at townhouses and condos online, since rent in places that aren’t corporate apartment megaplexes are PRICY! We can afford a tiny bungalow, but those are all old and require lots of maintenance, something I don’t think we’ll have the time or desire to care for if we also want to grow our family.

I’ve been chatting with a realtor who is looking for an end unit townhome or upper level condo with 3 beds and 2 baths that is near a bus line connecting to UMD and in Montgomery County. She’s found us a few things worth visiting if we were closer, but I’m sure they’ll all be sold in 3 months when we’re closer to moving. We’ll have to visit some synagogues in the area too, but

Uh, and to compound it all there’s family planning mishagas to deal with. No, I’m not pregnant, despite the unflattering outfits I sometimes wear and once-overs from old ladies. I don’t want to be until we’re settled somewhere. I just bought new skis! Skiing is probably a no-no while pregnant, even early on, so I’ll just nip that in the bud and keep taking the little orange pills. Also, I have trouble sleeping when I’m stressed. I’m guessing that moving and looking for a home will be stressful. I prefer to tackle challenges one at a time when possible. No babies (yet).

What other brain-dumps can I make on the internet? My in-laws are in town for sukkot. They’re here in time to watch people spin around helplessly after a teacher/awesome lady at our synagogue lost her battle with pancreatic cancer last week. The funeral is today, in half an hour. I’m having trouble deciding if I want to go, it’s so beautiful outside and I’m in a weird mood. Also, I volunteered to make shabbat dinner for her husband and adult son next week.

In other news both of my brothers are currently employed (Dan in San Francisco and David in DC, living at my parents house). Apparently only 2 of the 3 of us can be in a goos spot financially at a time. Doh!

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