Apr
11
Oh my god what a relief to finally be able to talk about what’s going on, and thank you so, so, SO much for all your lovely comments. Now it really seems real, you know? It was so weird to have all this major upheaval happening, but having to stay quiet until the final details with JB separating from his current job were ironed out. I mean, the only non-vodka-based coping mechanism I’ve ever developed for dealing with stress—aside from troweling enormous portions of high-calorie food into my carb-hole, that is—is writing about it online. THIS HAS BEEN VERY HARD IS ALL I’M SAYING.
Anyway! JB starts his new gig on May 7, which is . . . yeah, that’s coming right up, isn’t it? Without potentially wading into murky water by calling out the company by name, this job seems custom-designed for him. He’ll be working for a business that designs and manufactures specialized hunting equipment, and I think that in addition to the job itself sounding challenging and awesome, the environment and people will be right up his alley.
It’s a big change from Microsoft, for many reasons. I am so incredibly proud of JB not only for finding this new opportunity, but for being brave and true enough to his own self to take it.
We’re a little up in the air on our immediate next steps, because we do have a rental house squared away, but it won’t be available until the first week of June. JB will for sure be in Eugene on his start date (his new company will cover 2 weeks at a hotel, and his brother will let him stay at his place the rest of the time), but I’m not 100% certain what I’m going to do. His parents offered to let me and the boys stay with them in Coos Bay, and that would actually be totally fine—the kids would love it, and I’d probably find it easier to get my work done with more people around to help—but I’m not sure about bringing our cat to someone else’s house for 3 weeks (especially since they already have a cat). We could stay in a hotel with JB in Eugene, but again: CAT.
So maybe we’ll end up renting our own house from the buyers for a few weeks (they’ve already indicated they’d be open to this) and I’ll stay here with the kids through May? I don’t know. CATS, MAN.
What do you think sounds less insane:
• Moving all of our stuff into a storage place, then everyone, including the frigging cat, staying somewhere temporary in Oregon until we can get in the rental, then moving PART of our stuff back into the rental while leaving things like shop equipment etc in storage, the benefits here being that at least we wouldn’t be 300 miles apart during May
OR
• Me staying here by myself with the boys until June, at which point we move everything straight to the rental and store the extra stuff
OR
• Some better situation I haven’t managed to think of yet?
I’ve already talked to Riley’s teacher about the possibility of him leaving school early, and there’s no problem there. It was funny how tentatively I brought it up—like, will he need some sort of graduation document? And she was sort of like, um, it’s kindergarten. You’re cool.
Our general plan is to rent for the summer while we look for a place to buy, and I’m all kinds of nervous about that upcoming process, but I’m telling myself it’s one step at a time, one step at a time. First: close the house sale here. Next: figure out when the boys and I are leaving, and where we’re going. Also: pack. Rent a truck find a storage facility talk to schools set up short term COBRA call the—
Aaaaaaaaaaaaand breathe. It’s all going to be good, I know it.
(Lovely Eugene-area images courtesy of Don Hankins.)
Apr
10
Some of you mentioned that the space above the bookshelf looks bare. I agree. But I’m not going to bother hanging anything there, because in a matter of weeks, someone else will be living in this house.
That’s the plan, anyway. The plan that I’ve been dying to tell you about, but couldn’t until now. The plan that came together in a rush of exciting new opportunities and downright terrifying decisions.
Two years ago we started working in earnest toward our goal of moving to Oregon. Two months ago I believed it wasn’t meant to be—that we’d done our best, but it was time to move on and stop dreaming.
Today? Well, shit, friends. Everything has changed.
JB has an amazing new job in Eugene that starts in May. Our house went on the market earlier this month and we got a solid offer two days later. We have a rental house in Eugene that looks like the perfect temporary location while we plan our next real estate step.
Soon everything is going to be so different, and oh, you guys. I’m so excited and nervous and I can hardly believe this is finally happening.
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