Home Sweet Home

Where I spend 40 hours a week!

Considering I am going to be moving into a new place (of my very own!) in about a month I figure I should let you see where I'm living right now. I am currently renting a room in one of Tacoma's um...more transitional neighborhoods. I honestly haven't really had any trouble living here and my block is really quiet if you ignore the  yappy dogs in the alley. I did make the mistake at looking at the sex offender registry the other day and figure out that there are like 6 in my immediate area. But I guess that happens a lot of places! Anyway, I have 3 roommates,all male--D a nurse at a local hospital, H a podiatrist and S an accountant. They're pretty cool dudes and for the most part I don't really see them. I think I've only see D 5 or 6 times in the 2 months I've lived here. I see H (and whomever his flavor of the week is) and S the most. I have my own bedroom and bathroom which is great (and the only way I could probably live with guys or really people). I thought it might be a disaster (I'm not great with living with people...only child syndrome) but honestly I have no major complaints other than H's current flavor of the week is very noisy (and young) so when they're in the living room you can hear her in the tristate area. The house is old and creeky so when people move around in the hallway you can hear them but that's unavoidable. But without further ado, here are some photos of my living space (bedroom and bathroom). Oh and the bonus one of my cube above.

View of the bathroom, the shower is kind of a pain and leaks on the floor but its fancy

other view of the bathroom. That wood used to be a window. It has fallen through at least twice

Yeah sorry didn't make the bed. View of the room from  bathroom

Another view of the room from the bathroom. Those speakers don't
work they make good tables

View 1 of the closet

View 2 of the closet

The love seat that mostly has become a dumping ground of my random stuff

Throwing off the Bowlines

Source: google.com via erika on Pinterest

Well the suitcase, save for a handful of things that I still need to use until Tuesday and my electronics and medications, is completely packed and has been since Wednesday (hello Type-A). This packing is courtesy of 2 space bags and my mother. Also I was smoking absolute CRACK (the good stuff) to think that I was going to get 6 weeks worth of clothing for 4 different states (and 2 VERY distinct climates) into a carry on. I barely got it into a large suitcase and to be honest I'm going to be cutting it pretty close to the weight limit so I hope that I don't have to play rearrange at 5 in the morning at the airport. I packed enough clothing so that I don't have to do laundry until I get to Katie's because I don't want to waste precious touristy time and time with friends and family on laundry. My mom is out of town for 4 days but I think Monday night when she gets back we're going to go through it one last time and see if I can cull anything out. Since at the moment I cannot buy a single souvenir along the way and I REALLY want to buy a pair of cowboy boots in Austin.

The getting ready to move process is complicated by my broken stomach as I've had to run around hunting prescriptions and transferring the one I can only get a 30 day supply at a time for to a Walgreens since there are no CVS on the west coast. I also remember I was going to be gone for election day so I had to send away for my absentee ballot. I also parent proofed my room (hiding all um...adult things) and cleaned it for while I'm gone. There isn't a whole lot left to do except for finally go through all the tour books and start planning my tourist activities.

I've been keeping a notebook of all the things I will need for the trip, lists, packing, meds, tourist sites etc. Hopefully I will also use this notebook to track some of my feelings etc surrounding this journey so that I can come back and share them with you. Like the amazing Mark Twain in the quote above I know that I would have been more disappointed if I didn't do this and at least try to make a life somewhere else then I would be if I try this and it doesn't work but throwing off the bowlines is always a nerve wrecking process. So as everything gets closer I'm feeling a bout of anticipatory nervousness. Once everything gets going I hope to enjoy the ride as much as possible knowing that it won't always be sunshine but it certainly will be better then it is now!

I've had a couple of interviews and a couple more planned so hopefully getting employed will come in short order. The only downside being a lot of the job openings I'm attracted to are contract positions without benefits so I may have get a second job at a coffee shop or something in order to have insurance. But I will make it work.

I'm not sure if I'll have time to post until I get going on the trip but I will talk to you from the road!

Catching Up

So its been a week since my last post. I wish I could say I haven't been posting because I've been doing widely important things leading up to my trip (in 8 days!) But really in the last week I have accomplished a lot of really mundane things like a trip to the dentist (no cavities!), a trip to the gynecologist, a final happy hour with friends, going to services for Yom Kippur, my last 3 days of work, fighting the insurance company because they sent my Colitis medicine the SLOWEST way possible (they estimate 5-7 days and it took 16 all said and done to get the meds), going to the DMV to get my driving record which every job in Washington seems to want, changing my checking account to the one with free withdrawls etc etc.

I've also been soaking up a lot of time with my parents since time is short with them. I've spent the last 2.5 years living with them and while that has been A LOT of togetherness at times they're my best friends and my biggest supporters so I'm going to miss them and struggle with being so far away from them. My mom and I went yardsailing on Saturday and had a really successful trip. I bought a giant calphalon frying pan for 5 dollars (retails for over 50) and a set of really nice knives for 10 bucks (retails for 60). Plus some trashy chick lit for the bathtub (don't trust myself with the kindle in the tub!) for 50 cents. I love thrifting/yard sailing/estate shopping! I'm really happy that Katie who I'm staying with in Washington also love them. We can be old ladies together at them!

In other news, I had my first interview for a job in Washington. It sounds fantastic up until the point where they told me that its an overnight job. Like 12am to 8:30am. I still want to be considered for it but I'm such an old lady that I don't know that I could do an overnight job successfully. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there. It feels good to get at least one interview considering I've only applied to like 10 or so jobs out there so far and I've still got a little over 2 weeks before I even land in Washington.

As for things upcoming, I'm going out dancing one last time with some friends on Wednesday, have a couple of minor procedures I need to get out of the way Thurs/Friday morn, I need to finalize the packing nonsense with my mother (she'll be out of town for a few days leading up to the trip) and decide if i'm shipping things or just biting the bullet and checking luggage (to the tune of 90 bucks for all 4 flights!), go to the jewelry store and get some rings re-sized, and need to figure out if there is a CVS in the state of Washington so I can pick up a prescription or if I need to transfer it to rite-aid or walmart.

At some point things will slow down enough that I'll be able to full feel the nervous breakdown that it is building about picking up and moving my life 3000 miles away from my family. But right now I'm just trying to stay busy. And breathe. Breathing is good.

Project Switch Coasts

This just got for serious ya'll. I just booked my ticket for my westward expansion. There is no going back now (unless the Army calls at which my followers from coast to coast will hear my scream). I leave on October 18th to spend a few days in Austin with a former coworker and some college friends and a day trip to San Antonio to visit Brooke Army Medical Center, the Alamo, The Riverwalk and an old boss. I then head to San Francisco for 4 days with Aunt and Uncle out there. This works out well as my other aunt and uncle on that side will also be in San Fran so I will get to see them. My Grandparents live in the Bay area as well and while I'm much less excited to see them (because it will spur the when am I going to get married to a nice Jewish boy conversation) it will be nice to do my familial duty and stay in the will. My Aunt's are fun and I really enjoy their company so it'll be nice. After San Fran, I head to Portland to visit with more old coworkers, friends from college and friends from graduate school. I'm still nailing down a place to stay there but I'm really excited to explore Portland. I finally land at a good college friend's house on October 28th and will crash with her until Nov 21st looking for a job and getting the lay of the land in the Pacific Northwest. At that point I'll fly back to DC for thanksgiving and hopefully have a job by then.

I still need to book a rental car for my day trip to San Antonio, my rental car for the time I'm out in Washington and a train ticket from Portland to Tacoma. And figure out how to get from the train station in Tacoma to wherever I rent a car. I also need to update my GPS, figure out what the hell I'm packing for a 6 week trip and start hard core applying to jobs in Washington.  I also have to do stuff like one last dental cleaning, making sure I have enough medication for a 6 weeks away from home, study for my LMSW exam which is a week from tomorrow (insert panic!), and do the goodbye happy hour type thing with the few friends I have around here.

And I would be lying if I wasn't nervous about making this move. But I know I have a safety net and once this all starts I know it will be amazing!

Now who has not to be missed places in Portland, Austin and San Fran?!

Nothing is ever simple

Now I recognize that the following rant is one of those things that really is a "first world" problem or really not even a problem but rather a good problem to have like having too much money or too much fun or too many friends. Not a bad thing in and of itself but has the potential to be frustrating. Though I don't know how too much money is ever frustrating. ANWAYS...

Last week after I mentioned that I was going to hit the road come Oct 6th. That date might have been a bit premature. When I sat down with my parents (with whom I currently live...and have for the last 2 years during school) to talk about this project switch coasts or switch washington's as the case may be. They brought me back down to reality. Namely the pulled out a calculator. We determined that it is significantly cheaper to fly to the couple of main places I want to visit (Austin, Denver/Boulder and Portland) and then rent a car in WA for a few weeks then it would be to drive my car cross country on an epic road trip.

Being home for Thanksgiving is very important to me (more so then Christmas or any other time). So I came up with a plan that I would spend about 10 days traveling by air and eventually landing at my friend K's place in Steliacoom by Nov 1. And then spend basically Nov 1-21 hunting for jobs out there, making sure I actually like out west and that I haven't just spent 2 years putting WA up on a pedestal and then find out its actually horrid and the people are just as bad as the East Coast DC. I'd rent a car for the 3 weeks I'd be out there and hopefully find a job that could start somewhat after Thanksgiving. If I do find a job and I do like it then I rent a pod, pack up my car and drive it cross country at that point. But at least I won't have to dejectedly drive back for Thanksgiving if things don't work out.

Now, that all being said, I decided all this on Wednesday and went to bed for the first time in MONTHS feeling pretty zen and less at loose ends then I have in awhile. So surprise to me, when the phone rings at work on Thursday and its "Giant Reputable Veterans Organization"calling me wondering if I could set up an interview for a manager position of one of their programs for combat stress. [A time out to say that I have been applying for umpteen jobs with this organization and never heard a peep from them. I had applied to this particular position 6 weeks prior to being called.] Why yes I would like this interview Miss HR rep.

So I had the interview for that job on Friday and made it to the second round which will be conducted this Friday by Skype.  (Skype interviews are strange!) The job will either be in NYC or San Diego most likely. I have a clear preference for San Diego as the job seems awesome on paper (task, salary, benefits etc) but I will turn it down if its located in NYC because I know that I will be miserable there. San Diego has a lot of the things I really like about the West Coast

I will admit that there is a part of me that won't be disappointed if I am not offered this job because I am very excited about my plan to move to Washington and begin a new life there. This makes me feel bad though because in this economy I can't afford to keep turning down jobs (6 thus far) and need to accept an offer soon rather than later so that I can begin being a real adult and getting on this journey. But I have recognized over the last few months that happiness is my number one goal right now and that my location is a big part of that.

Like I said, I'm likely just whining for whining sake. And I am going to continue to rock interviews up until plane tickets are booked. But really is nothing ever simple?

Overcoming Inertia

"So many fail because they don't get started - they don't go. They don't overcome inertia. They don't begin.” ~ W. Clement Stone

I saw this quote on Twitter (i think) the other day as I was pondering the state of my life and really felt like it was a sign from God or something about my stagnation. As of today it has been 8 weeks since I interviewed for my dream job with the US Army. They're starting this year an Internship for unlicensed social workers and counselors to get the hours needed for supervision as well as the coursework and supervision needed for a substance abuse certification. Its an amazing opportunity and one that I am so grateful to even have been interviewed for as I know that its incredibly competitive. We've been told (through a Facebook page set up by the recruiters) that they will be selecting up to 40 people for 17 different duty locations. However, despite being told it would be a 1-2 week process at my interview (on July 19th) It has now been 8 weeks. With no progress and no sign of progress. One update on the facebook page said that the target start date was October. But then again the target start date in the recruitment email was July and clearly its September and that has not happened.

The interview was one of the stranger ones that I have done. None of the questions were about my qualifications, my resume, my experiences or even social work task based like some of my other interviews. They were all opinion based and in fact there were only 4 questions. The questions were things like how did i feel about working in a military environment, what i thought would be different in military practice then civilian practice, what I thought was the most dangerous drug etc. It was hard to tell how I didn't because I didn't know what they were looking for. If they thought the most dangerous drug is meth and I said alcohol did that knock me out? Who knows! My old boss figures that they know that we're new social workers and they can teach us the substance abuse certification things but they can't teach us to be smart or good thinkers or intuitive so they're looking for more of those things then actual skill based interviewing.

Anyway, in the process of waiting for word on this position I have felt like my life is on hold. My volunteer opportunity which has been the focus of much of my spare time for the last 4 years came to an end as the military hospitals in the DC area transition due to BRAC. I have felt a bit at a loss. This army job could take me to Washington, Georgia, Texas, South Carolina, or keep me here right in DC. I have hesitated to date, make new friends, join clubs etc because I know that at any moment I could be yanked away and loose time or money. In other words I haven't been able to overcome inertia.

But I'm sick of waiting. I am giving the Army until the end of the month to notify me. That will be 10 weeks from interviewing. I know that federal hiring is slow. But 10 weeks is (more) enough. If I don't hear from them by the end of the month I am going to take off on a cross country road trip ending at my friends in Steliacoom, WA where I will continue my job hunt from somewhere new. I haven't been happy in DC for a long time and I don't see that changing. A change of scenery where I can be close to friends from college, my good friend Soldier Boy who just PCS'd there and a different job market seems like a better opportunity then staying here.

I have had 2 interviews for a good job here in DC that would provide the experience I need to get my license however to make this job worthwhile (if offered) I would need to stay for 4.5 years (2 years to get my supervision, 2 years to repay them for paying for the supervision and the 6 month probationary period). The idea of staying in DC for 4.5 more years makes me feel like vomiting. This is when I knew I needed to over come inertia and make my move.

No more putting it off. No more waiting. No more wishing. No more waiting for inertia. Time to push up over the hill. October 6th I hit the road.

Now who has road trip tips?

Finding a little Bliss?

So I promised an entry on this potential job.

A little background, when I was beginning this job hunt I pretty much had 4 places I didn't particularly want to live:
 1. Ft Drum, NY-Its fucking freezing. I read The Day After He left for Iraq  a few years ago and she describes snow over her head and that he just sticks and stays around forever. I LOVE snow don't get me wrong. But I want it to go away between storms.
2. Ft. Bliss, TX--Its fucking hot. And next to mexico, the most Dangerous city in Mexico in fact.
3. Ft. Sill, OK--There are tornadoes. I am TERRIFIED of tornadoes.
4. Ft. Polk, LA--the US Army bought the land for this post during Vietnam because it most mimics the climate. Enough Said.

There were a couple of runners up for places I'd least like to live Ft. Riley (ex boyfriend currently stationed there and some poor memories associated with that relationship/town) and Ft. Rucker (I'm just not that into flying contraptions). But in general these were the top 4 places I'd hate to live for 2 plus years.

And of course because Murphy loves to find even not military spouses. The potential Job opportunity is at Ft. Bliss.

Awesome. My number 2 no go location.

Though to give it a fair shake, the ever wonderful Texan, The Army's Doctor's Wife said it best on twitter when she said although she and her Doctor Hubby, C were picking residency locations it was last. That it was a misunderstood city. I have been looking at Ft. Bliss's facebook pages and twitter accounts and posted to the US Military livejournal community asking about it and it sounds like while its nobody's top choice its not as horrible as all the pity looks make it seem.

I also had a nervous breakdown about the fact that its 1900 miles away from my current home.  And I would know absolutely nobody there. But after articulating these fears to the best friend and having a little cry about it it. I woke up the next morning knowing I could handle it. And if not she has graciously agreed to let me come live with her and her army hubby wherever they end up. Ha! It also helped that on my trip up to where I went to college I talked to my adviser and mentors and they told me I would be an idiot to turn down a job opportunity because it is far away. Its a great opportunity to grow and stretch as a person. They actually got me to a point where I think I could be excited about moving there.

That being said...the woman has not interviewed me yet. She has promised to interview me last week and the week before and here we are 3 weeks after her first "when are you available to talk" email with no interview. So I am waiting on that.  (and if we're being honest, its driving me nuts!)

In the mean time, I have one more person to meet with to get a sanity check form signed and then I can apply to sit for the licensing exam. I already bought some electronic flash cards that I need to put together this weekend so I can start laying out at the pool and studying them. Hey a girl's got to work on her tan and her brain at the same time!

I will be sure to keep ya'll updated as best I can! Keep your fingers crossed I get interviewed sooner rather than later.