I realized a few weeks ago that something amazing had happened ( Read more... )

On Saturday, Jeff and I went out for our Microsoft-sponsored home tour, which included both apartments and houses. We weren't sure prior to the tour which we'd be most interested in ( Read more... )

A couple of days ago, I got to visit Trader Joe's. I've never been to one before, but it's a store that inspires undying devotion from people. I wasn't sure what to expect; I had the general idea that it was like Whole Foods, except cheaper. It's probably more accurate to say it's the Big Lots of Whole Foods. Organic items are impressively ( Read more... )

We're successfully settled into our temporary housing near Seattle. Surprisingly, it's on Mercer Island, one of the richer neighborhoods in the area. Paul Allen (co-founder of Microsoft) has a home here that's probably worth more than the gross national product of some third world countries. And for those who know Boca Grande, it reminds me of that ( Read more... )

Yesterday, Jeff and I cleaned our Austin apartment for the final time. Last night, we went out to Hula Hut for our last meal with friends in Austin. I had one too many margaritas, excellent food, much giggling, and a wonderful time ( Read more... )

There is a symphony of sounds coming from my living room. Tape ripping. Cardboard sliding against cardboard. Shuffling of paper. Clanging of dishes. Howling from the cats in the bathroom. The move has started ( Read more... )

At 4:00, I still had not heard from my movers about when to expect them, so I called them again. I discovered that I have not been talking to my movers. I thought they were my movers because, well, they've been talking to me about moving my stuff. But no, I'm talking to the subcontractor for my movers' subcontractor. And they don't know when the ( Read more... )

Tomorrow, the movers come to pack. I think I'm almost ready, although there's a ton of tiny little things that can't be done until the very last moment. (For example, moving the cat bowls and litter boxes into the "Do not Move" pile, or bringing home the monitor and mouse I use every day.) That's actually causing most of my stress right now. It's ( Read more... )

My lists for the move are getting out of control. This is mostly because coordination is more complex with Jeff in Dallas for bridge nationals (he left this morning), and both of us going to Ohio before leaving for Seattle. I decided this morning to create a free Backpack account just to keep all the lists in one spot where both Jeff and I can ( Read more... )

It occurs to me that I haven't announced here that I'm moving to Washington, probably to Redmond (near Seattle). I didn't post while we were deciding, and now that we've decided, I forget that not everyone knows. We'll be moving in mid-April and Jeff will begin working for Microsoft while I'll continue to work for IBM, albeit remotely ( Read more... )