New Life

I am back and I have a new life!

First of all, the gala dinner at my old job on my second to last day of work was awesome. I still don't know the totals for what we raised, but I think it was at least $26,000 if not a little more. People showed up all dressed up and the food was awesome and the entertainment was great. Before I left the next day, my boss told her that one of the long-time credit union movement people told her it was the best credit union event in the history of the state, which made me feel really great. In addition, I am just thrilled to have raised so much money for the hospital.

So after the great event, I had one more day of work. I actually cried when I left the office for the last time. It was surprising to me... I knew I was sad, but I didn't realize how sad. Apparently I set all the women off crying too, and it continued on well after I left. Ugh. That night, we had invited friends to meet us at Q Bar (a cool bar popular with the political crowd and the media) between 9 and 11 to say goodbye. We got there at 9 and nobody was there so we felt like losers, but shortly thereafter, a ton of people showed up. Everyone from our city council member friend and his wife to a state legislator, to people from Neil's work and our personal friends. It was really nice to see everyone one last time and it felt good that they all took the time to show up. I did a bad job of inviting people from my work (i.e. forgot to send a mass e-mail) and felt dumb about that, but at least I had the opportunity to say goodbye to all of them the previous week.

The weekend was spent packing and saying goodbye to my family. We went to The Melting Pot for my early birthday that Sunday night, which was a lot of fun and one of the first times we were all together in a long time when we've laughed and felt comfortable. I am grateful for that for sure.

The next morning, the movers were an hour and a half late, but then did an awesome job loading or 16-foot truck. It was almost completely full and our house was empty and we locked the doors, loaded the dogs into the cab and drove away.

The first night we stayed in Oklahoma City with Sophia, a friend we met thought Neil's work in El Paso who is working at a TV station in OKC. It was great to see her and she was sooo nice and let me take a bath in her big tub. Our dogs were the worst behaved that night and barked on and off throughout the night which made me feel soooooo guilty. Sophia was really nice about it, I still have a feeling we should send some flowers.

The next night we stayed in Memphis with our friend Mary from college who we hadn't seen in five years. On the way there, once we were officially in "the South" I actually saw a confederate flag hanging on the side of the freeway. That was a completely weird experience. We also saw the Clinton Library in Little Rock (but didn't go in). Mary lives in a really nice house in Memphis and we got to go to dinner with her and her boyfriend, Michael, who was really nice. Then we stayed in her guest room and the dogs were quiet and the bed was so comfortable. I wished we could have spent more time catching up, but we had to leave early for our longest day of driving the next morning.

Our final night was spent in Chapel Hill, NC where Rachel and Brian live. We were overdue to visit them and check out their new home and meet their new dog, so it was great to be there. The following day, we hung out for the morning and got to see some of Rachel's favorite places and take a tour of the UNC campus. I was struck by how beautiful North Carolina is and what a cool community there seems to be in Chapel Hill. Also, Rachel took me to the coolest art store that sells toys that are art. They all look like Japanamation characters, but come from all over the world. (I did a terrible job describing that)

That day we drove to D.C. and stayed in a hotel and got ready to move in the following morning. Overall, we drove about 2,200 miles in four days. It was a good road trip, but there wasn't enough time to see what we were driving past. In spite of enjoying our time on the road, I'm glad I don't have to drive back anytime soon.

Stay tuned for -- The Move In...