A real-life update (what a concept!)
LJ has exploded this week and I'm not even going to admit to how many hours I've spent reading fic. The sheer quantity is mind-boggling, but the quality is even more so. I can't believe how quickly people are writing such outstanding stuff.
But as much as I wish I could just put my life on hold for awhile and immerse in fandom, I have too much going on to do so completely. And thus, I'm finally getting around to posting about the big, major thing that I keep meaning to post about but never seem to find the time to write up the long, detailed post it deserves. So here goes:
We're moving to Washington DC! In three weeks!
(OK, my heart just skipped a beat as I wrote that ... three weeks?? Good lord, how am I going to get everything done??)
It's not a permanent move -- Jim is taking a sabbatical for the 2008-09 academic year -- but we're very excited and looking forward to it. It's something we've been talking about for years, literally since he got tenure at the last college he taught at. But right after getting tenure there, he decided to look for another (better) job, so we had to postpone his sabbatical. Now he's got tenure here, and we're finally able to do it.
The process has been a long one -- he applied for four different fellowships in the Washington area this past winter, got interviews with two of them in the spring, and ended up getting offers for both. Then it was a big, difficult decision about which one to accept, made harder because the one Jim wanted most didn't really pay enough for us to move the entire family to what is a very expensive area. Ultimately, after running the numbers over and over, he decided to accept the one that paid more, mainly because we decided we were after the experience of living there more than him trying to have a specific type of job.
You'd think that would be the end of it, but it was just the beginning -- from there, once he'd picked which fellowship to accept, he had to go on *more* interviews, to determine what specific job he'd be doing. (The fellowship he turned down would have had him working on the legislative side, as a staffer of a member of Congress, whereas the one he accepted is an administrative fellowship, which has him working for a government agency in town.) After five interviews with various places, he got two offers, which he then had to pick between. He did, and we're going!
So that takes us up to three weeks ago, when we spent several days in the area, just me and Jim (my in-laws took the kids on their own vacation), to find a house to rent. We ended up getting really lucky and found exactly what we were looking for on the very first day. Normally I'm the type to leave no stone unturned when "shopping" and making sure I research all the options, but this house had most everything we were hoping for (but didn't expect to find) and it was in our price range *and* in a great location, so we jumped on it. We filled out our application the next morning, and signed the lease the day after that. Very exciting!
The house is in Arlington, VA, just a 10 minute walk to the nearest Metro station (which is just one stop away from Jim's future office building). The kids will be in the school district we were hoping for, the neighborhood is great, and there is shopping nearby. And we'll only be a 20 minute Metro ride away from the District!
The other fun part is that my best friend from college lives in Alexandria, VA, which is the next suburb over, and we'll be all of a 15 minute drive away from each other next year. We stayed with her while we were house hunting, and had a great time. It's been so long since we've been able to take a vacation without the kids, and we fully enjoyed it by going out to some fancy dinners with people she knew. The best was at a country club right on the Potomac River, with views straight out of a Washington postcard. Pretty cool. :)
So now we're back home and I'm going crazy trying to get everything ready. My to-do list is huge -- booking the moving company, getting the kids registered in their new schools, setting up the utilities in the new house in our name, etc. Not to mention all the packing. Plus all the stuff I need to do on this end to get our house ready for the person who is renting it while we're gone. *whimper*
Wish me luck; I'm going to need it! :)
ETA: Spoilers for "Journey's End" in the comments. Because it's awesome like that. ;)
But as much as I wish I could just put my life on hold for awhile and immerse in fandom, I have too much going on to do so completely. And thus, I'm finally getting around to posting about the big, major thing that I keep meaning to post about but never seem to find the time to write up the long, detailed post it deserves. So here goes:
We're moving to Washington DC! In three weeks!
(OK, my heart just skipped a beat as I wrote that ... three weeks?? Good lord, how am I going to get everything done??)
It's not a permanent move -- Jim is taking a sabbatical for the 2008-09 academic year -- but we're very excited and looking forward to it. It's something we've been talking about for years, literally since he got tenure at the last college he taught at. But right after getting tenure there, he decided to look for another (better) job, so we had to postpone his sabbatical. Now he's got tenure here, and we're finally able to do it.
The process has been a long one -- he applied for four different fellowships in the Washington area this past winter, got interviews with two of them in the spring, and ended up getting offers for both. Then it was a big, difficult decision about which one to accept, made harder because the one Jim wanted most didn't really pay enough for us to move the entire family to what is a very expensive area. Ultimately, after running the numbers over and over, he decided to accept the one that paid more, mainly because we decided we were after the experience of living there more than him trying to have a specific type of job.
You'd think that would be the end of it, but it was just the beginning -- from there, once he'd picked which fellowship to accept, he had to go on *more* interviews, to determine what specific job he'd be doing. (The fellowship he turned down would have had him working on the legislative side, as a staffer of a member of Congress, whereas the one he accepted is an administrative fellowship, which has him working for a government agency in town.) After five interviews with various places, he got two offers, which he then had to pick between. He did, and we're going!
So that takes us up to three weeks ago, when we spent several days in the area, just me and Jim (my in-laws took the kids on their own vacation), to find a house to rent. We ended up getting really lucky and found exactly what we were looking for on the very first day. Normally I'm the type to leave no stone unturned when "shopping" and making sure I research all the options, but this house had most everything we were hoping for (but didn't expect to find) and it was in our price range *and* in a great location, so we jumped on it. We filled out our application the next morning, and signed the lease the day after that. Very exciting!
The house is in Arlington, VA, just a 10 minute walk to the nearest Metro station (which is just one stop away from Jim's future office building). The kids will be in the school district we were hoping for, the neighborhood is great, and there is shopping nearby. And we'll only be a 20 minute Metro ride away from the District!
The other fun part is that my best friend from college lives in Alexandria, VA, which is the next suburb over, and we'll be all of a 15 minute drive away from each other next year. We stayed with her while we were house hunting, and had a great time. It's been so long since we've been able to take a vacation without the kids, and we fully enjoyed it by going out to some fancy dinners with people she knew. The best was at a country club right on the Potomac River, with views straight out of a Washington postcard. Pretty cool. :)
So now we're back home and I'm going crazy trying to get everything ready. My to-do list is huge -- booking the moving company, getting the kids registered in their new schools, setting up the utilities in the new house in our name, etc. Not to mention all the packing. Plus all the stuff I need to do on this end to get our house ready for the person who is renting it while we're gone. *whimper*
Wish me luck; I'm going to need it! :)
ETA: Spoilers for "Journey's End" in the comments. Because it's awesome like that. ;)