Home again
Things have a way of circling about. Many, many months ago, I sat blogging in my empty house, with little more than a bedroll and a laptop. Tonight, I'm doing it again, but since I'm moving in instead of out, I have a few more groceries on hand. This week has been a killer as the storm of resettling hit full force.Sunday was a breeze. Of course, we essentially spent the day in Chicago, enjoying the last day of our vacation with my folks. We caught an evening flight back to Seattle, returning to my mother-in-law's house just after midnight. The entire trip back has to have been one of the smoothest flights we've had in a long time.
On Monday morning I called a man about a job. Before we left for Chicago, I had applied and interviewed for a position at a printing company in Seattle. I basically called in to see how the interviews were going, fully expecting that the job had gone to someone else. Instead I was invited to come up for a second interview. I buzzed up to Seattle, answered two questions and was offered the position. Remember how earlier I said that I had gone against conventional wisdom and had gotten two of my jobs via the want ads? Well, make that three.
Also Monday, I discovered that we had screwed our move. We had hoped to get our stuff delivered on Thursday. I had forgotten that the paperwork clearly states that they need 15 days notice to deliver our crates. Oops. We eventually worked it out so that we can move in on Tuesday, but we'll be paying for it. After that crisis, we went out to look for a car. We found one we liked and arranged to pick it up the next morning to have our mechanic look it over. Before I went to bed, I cheerfully transferred the required money over to our checking account.
On Tuesday, while Yau Neih and I took care of business in Seattle, our friendly neighborhood mechanic looked over the car and pronounced it unworthy. (He also scolded us for not contacting him a month earlier so he could have set us up with a decent vehicle.) We took it back to the dealer and put car shopping back on our to-do list.
Wednesday was my first day of work. It was enjoyable. The work was a bit simplistic, but I was indeed rusty after two years away. While I was laboring, Yau Neih and the girls ventured over to our newly vacated home to have a walk through with our rental agent. I came over after work to change the locks. My first impression was that plants can really grow in two years. It looked like our renters hated yard work even more than I do.
Thursday I had my second day of work and my first company barbecue. I think I will really like this job. Afterwards I returned to the house to finish the lock changing. (I had bought the cheapest locks at Home Depot and they only fit some of my doors.) Yau Neih and attempted to do a bit more car shopping, but we were too frazzled to approach it with any sort of intelligence. We decided to skip shopping until after the move.
On Friday, Yau Neih stayed at the house to do some painting and greet the various repair guys who she had scheduled to visit. (Our renters didn't really damage the house too much, but some things needed fixing and others need an estimate.)
On Saturday we once again ventured northward. Yau Neih finished her painting and I laid some carpeting in Ga Dai's room. I also completed a handful of other repairs.
Which brings us to Sunday, our day of rest. Except for the shopping I had to do, and the unpacking. Six days of commuting from Tacoma to Seattle was enough to convince me to move back into my house without the furniture. And so I settle down to sleep, missing my family and grumbling that Siu Wan's room now smells of dog....
posted by John @ 10:18 PM
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