Home Again / Kim's Arrival / Ryan Moves Out / Dad's New-New Job / End of Game Nights?
I've been back from house sitting for a week and a half now and I'm relieved to have heard that the returning home owners approved greatly of the condition of the house and animals I was in charge of. Whenever I'm in charge of things that important for so long, I do get a little paranoid, so to hear everything is better than perfect is not only an ego boost but also a big relief. Since being home, I've gotten back to my suddenly lucrative selling on Amazon and eBay alongside waiting by the phone for Maxim to give me new marching orders on the job they've all but told me to report for. I'm taking it day by day while enjoying the last of the summer warmth and sun. Leaves are beginning to fall off the trees; Fall is upon us. Look out the window one last time and watch the season end. How depressing! You're welcome!
Kim, Ryan's long-distance girlfriend of around three years, has officially arrived in Oregon. Last week, just as I was getting back from house sitting, Ryan flew out to Ohio to help Kim load up her car and make the 2,400-mile, four day drive back here to their new apartment in Beaverton. Since arriving, my family finally got a chance to meet this mysterious woman whom Ryan has been keeping from us for years. I say that because we know so very little about her. Ryan never gushes about her, he doesn't keep around or show many photos of her, he vanishes into his room when she calls and she's never been out for a visit although Ryan has traveled there several times over the past couple years. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with not gushing about a girl, but maybe it's just the difference between my brother and me. When I date a girl and things get serious, I bring her home. Many times. Jacalyn, for example, is on absolutely wonderful terms with my family and her and my sister get along like, well, sisters. I hope Kim can reach that same level of friendship and acceptance within our family and I don't see why not. Having met her and been around them during the last week, she seems very nice. She's quiet, shy and reserved, but that's to be expected when you think about it. For her this is probably quite an adjustment to this strange land not to mention the anxiety of finally meeting her boyfriend's family. I am sure, however, that in the months ahead, that will wear off and we'll finally get to know this mysterious person. And with them now living together here in Oregon, their relationship must be reaching a whole new level.
Now that Ryan and Kim are here and they're in the new apartment (Which Ryan signed the lease on only a couple weeks ago) it's time for Ryan to move out. Since his work week destroys him for four days at a time, he hasn't been able to do much moving, but we've already begun moving the larger things. On Monday, we moved this heavy awkward reclining couch. It was a very humid day, too, and I don't do well in humid heat. I must have looked like a rabid critter drowning in my own sweat, but we got the couch moved somehow. I hate couches. I've decided that when I get my own place, no couches. Just recliners. Maybe a love seat. Or a very light, easy to move couch. I don't know. Who knows.
Big changes are coming. Yesterday, my dad was offered a new job at a different technological manufacturer here in the Portland area. He's been with his current job for at least half a year now and because the economy is still in the tank, we're all concerned that moving to a new job is risky when a stable job already exists for him. Although, it is hard to argue against taking the new job. His pay would nearly double, he'll be working more human hours, he'll be back doing the work he's been educated to do and this is a real job without a temp agency being the cut-taking middleman. He's already given his notice with the current employer and is ready to start in mid-October. The fun begins.
I've said it before: It's been a simply crazy month of insane change and adventure and it just gets even more so every day. I'll have more details in my next journal entry about this latest event, but here's the main details right now: Cassandra, one of my best friends from college who settled here in Portland with her husband and mutual friend, Matt, has been offered a very cool graphic design job in Medford, some 300 miles south of here. This means they're moving and so ends our nearly-weekly Saturday night "Game Nights". For at least half a decade, friends from our days at EOU have been congregating for evenings of board games and social conversation most Saturday nights. This Saturday will be our very last game night and could possibly be the last time I see those two for a very long time. It will be quite an adjustment not having them around! Everything is changing! What's next???
Kim, Ryan's long-distance girlfriend of around three years, has officially arrived in Oregon. Last week, just as I was getting back from house sitting, Ryan flew out to Ohio to help Kim load up her car and make the 2,400-mile, four day drive back here to their new apartment in Beaverton. Since arriving, my family finally got a chance to meet this mysterious woman whom Ryan has been keeping from us for years. I say that because we know so very little about her. Ryan never gushes about her, he doesn't keep around or show many photos of her, he vanishes into his room when she calls and she's never been out for a visit although Ryan has traveled there several times over the past couple years. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with not gushing about a girl, but maybe it's just the difference between my brother and me. When I date a girl and things get serious, I bring her home. Many times. Jacalyn, for example, is on absolutely wonderful terms with my family and her and my sister get along like, well, sisters. I hope Kim can reach that same level of friendship and acceptance within our family and I don't see why not. Having met her and been around them during the last week, she seems very nice. She's quiet, shy and reserved, but that's to be expected when you think about it. For her this is probably quite an adjustment to this strange land not to mention the anxiety of finally meeting her boyfriend's family. I am sure, however, that in the months ahead, that will wear off and we'll finally get to know this mysterious person. And with them now living together here in Oregon, their relationship must be reaching a whole new level.
Now that Ryan and Kim are here and they're in the new apartment (Which Ryan signed the lease on only a couple weeks ago) it's time for Ryan to move out. Since his work week destroys him for four days at a time, he hasn't been able to do much moving, but we've already begun moving the larger things. On Monday, we moved this heavy awkward reclining couch. It was a very humid day, too, and I don't do well in humid heat. I must have looked like a rabid critter drowning in my own sweat, but we got the couch moved somehow. I hate couches. I've decided that when I get my own place, no couches. Just recliners. Maybe a love seat. Or a very light, easy to move couch. I don't know. Who knows.
Big changes are coming. Yesterday, my dad was offered a new job at a different technological manufacturer here in the Portland area. He's been with his current job for at least half a year now and because the economy is still in the tank, we're all concerned that moving to a new job is risky when a stable job already exists for him. Although, it is hard to argue against taking the new job. His pay would nearly double, he'll be working more human hours, he'll be back doing the work he's been educated to do and this is a real job without a temp agency being the cut-taking middleman. He's already given his notice with the current employer and is ready to start in mid-October. The fun begins.
I've said it before: It's been a simply crazy month of insane change and adventure and it just gets even more so every day. I'll have more details in my next journal entry about this latest event, but here's the main details right now: Cassandra, one of my best friends from college who settled here in Portland with her husband and mutual friend, Matt, has been offered a very cool graphic design job in Medford, some 300 miles south of here. This means they're moving and so ends our nearly-weekly Saturday night "Game Nights". For at least half a decade, friends from our days at EOU have been congregating for evenings of board games and social conversation most Saturday nights. This Saturday will be our very last game night and could possibly be the last time I see those two for a very long time. It will be quite an adjustment not having them around! Everything is changing! What's next???