So my husband and I moved to Madison WI after a brief 9 month stint teaching English in France. The thing that really excited me about WI was not the cheese, nor the Packers, (sorry WI friends) but the fact that I was finally going to be able to get a cat. I spent nine catless months in France, and I couldn't even get the satisfaction of finding random cats while taking long walks because most people selfishly kept their cats indoors. The few cats I did see outside were feral and I couldn't get near them. To make matters worse I'd spent the year before I moved to France living with my parents (catless again..really the only bad thing about living with them) in order to save $$$ for France. Actually, the time I got kicked out after being witchy for two months straight sucked too! No worries, that's in the past...I'm more mature now:) Sorry...tangent! All told, I'd spent two sad catless years!
Needless to say I was ready for my cat. My husband...who was just my bf at the time was terrible too. He made me wait...and wait....and wait....until I thought I wouldn't be able to stand it anymore. It was 3 weeks of torture...I know it truly wasn't that long....but in my defense it felt long! Really, what kind of bf says that I should wait "until we're settled in."
I began my search on Craigslist...I'm a fan of free stuff and helping people find loving homes for their pets. It was there I discovered a lovely somewhat large orange male tabby cat. I say he is only fairly large because at 14 pounds he is a slightly overweight cat. When comparing him to the 28 pound Luv it is like comparing that young lady who starred in Push(Gabby S...) with Kirstie Alley pre-Dancing with the Stars...Kirstie was still big. Anyhooo, so he's kind of large. His name was Reggie, but I'd invested far too much time planning out kitty names, so I decided that it had to go.
I intended to name him Mr Meowgi (pls don't steal that name for your cat..I came up with it first), however he was not the original intendee for the name and bf/hubby and I couldn't give him the name that was meant for another cat. I spent hours poring over the internet, hoping to find the perfect name, much like most sane people do with baby names. I found awesome Roman and Greek names and almost went with kittysaurus, but after a long facebook session with my friend Elly from England, the orange cat once called Reggie was renamed Ellicus.
ELLICUS - This is one of those names you should never subject any child to. I am often asked to repeat and explain his name and vets struggle to pronounce it. It's not that hard really, but cuz no one has heard of it they get a bit confused at times!
Ellicus is the love of my life...after my hubby of course, but he is the quirkiest, cutest, loudest, and most dysfunctional cat I've ever met! However, that is a topic for another day........
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Fuzzy Monster
When researching a move to a new place, there are two small words that are more important than any others, "roach infestation." Just kidding...they are "cat friendly." There are no two words that can make or break a moving decision as easily as these. I've had a cat for as long as I can remember.
GEORGIE
The first one Georgie (originally called George until we found out she was missing required parts), came home from work one day with my mom. I can't remember how old I was, but I could never forget that it was the same day that I found my first four leaf clover. As a result, I've spent many hours searching for other four leaf clovers because it doesn't get much better than 4 leaf clover = kitten. What a disappointment the few others have been! Nonetheless, I still catch myself searching for one if I happen to come across a bunch of them.
CUDDLES
Unfortunately Georgie was hit by a car and buried in an unmarked kitty grave. That led to my second kitty: Cuddles. His personality should be pretty well summed up by his name, however it should be noted that he was named by a 4th grade girl. Cuddles was everything but cuddly in the first 5 years of his kitty life. He used to hide on the stairs and whenever any of the kids walked by the stairwell he'd pounce on our ankles and bite & scratch us. Needless to say he wasn't very popular around the house. My brothers used to joke that he was angry about his name, that he felt emasculated. They probably didn't use that smart of a word, but the intention was there. Cuddles was my catpanion for many years but had to stay behind with the parents when I went to college. After graduation I intended to take Cuddles with me to my new place, but my parents argued that he'd react poorly to the change in scenery and lack of greenspace. They imagined he would mope around and be depressed that he was no longer an outdoor cat!
Poor Cuddles! I remember getting my own place and a new cat and feeling like I had cheated on him. According to my mom Cuddles died of a broken heart while laying on the floor in his favorite sunbeam. Thankfully, I do not believe myself to be the cause of his broken heart, rather the early death of his favorite playmate: my mom's cat Sasha.
EMMA
I had some awesome cats in my 20's, before I got the two that I have now. Emma, was my first kitten out of college. She was so sweet, but she had this bad habit of dragging items and leaving them in her water bowl. Mostly jewelry, occasionally toys, and at one point..a tampon! And of course the tampon was the night that a guy I was dating had stopped by my place with me before dinner. OOPS!
LUV
Then there was Luv. I catsat him for a friend who had too many pets. He was the best cat ever..well almost. He was big, fat, orange, and fat. I would not be exaggerating if I was to place his weight at 28 lbs. He used to have weird habits like OCD licking of my arm, and trying to sleep on my head at night. While I realize that some crazy cat people may find his habits endearing, I must say that it was hard enough to move in the morning with 28 pounds of fat cat sprawled out over my legs, and was nearly deadly to have him on my head.
I had to get rid of Luv and I hated it. He got to a point where he became so fat that he was unable to lick his own butt! We tried diet and exercise indoors, but neither was working. He earned a new nickname, Dingleberry, as you can probably visualize why, and it became difficult because he had always slept on the bed. The problem was that I didn't want a cat with poop hanging from his butt fur climbing on my bed and trying to sleep on my face...or legs or arms. I began to feel really sad because I knew that Luv was probably feeling rejected because I kicked him off my bed every night, so I did what every self respecting cat owner would do (I KNOW, I ALREADY TRIED THE DIET), I took him to the groomer to have his butt shaved. However, that was just a temporary fix. A woman that I worked with lived on a farm and had a little girl that wanted an affectionate and fat cat. We decided that it might be perfect for Luv. If he could live where he was free to roam outside, he might just get some good exercise. Reluctantly, but with pushes from my ex and barn owning friend, I gave up Luv.
The last update I had on him was typical. He is still as fat and affectionate as ever, because he is afraid of grass. Yup, the whole idea of outdoors = freedom to exercise, didn't quite workout as planned.
AFRO - or APHRODITE
The cutest and most affectionate cat ever. Not quirky or funny...just absolutely lovable. I had to give her up in order to teach abroad in France. At times I question my sanity cuz I gave up the sweetest cat in the world. I found her a home with a sweet retired woman, who had recently lost her cat of 23 years. Her poor husband and son! They came over to pick up the cat and were greeted with a sobbing mess.
MR KITTY
He's small and white, 5 yrs old, and weighs under 1 pound. He travels frequently and loves hiking. Usually I bungee tie him to my backpack or camelbak. PLEASE, don't scream animal cruelty...he's just a stuffed animal. He is the consolation kitty that my husband gave to me Christmas 2006 when I was depressed that I had given up the awesomest (I'm choosing for that to be a word...so deal) cat in the entire world. Mr kitty is an easy travel companion and loves dancing during long car rides. He's been to NY, France, WI, DC, Yellowstone, The Olympic Peninsula, and now resides in Falls Church, VA. If he's good he'll probably travel with me to London and Italy in October
That brings me to the fuzzy monsters that have been in my life for the past 3 years: Ellicus and Minette. But this is a long post and they are a story for another writing session!
GEORGIE
The first one Georgie (originally called George until we found out she was missing required parts), came home from work one day with my mom. I can't remember how old I was, but I could never forget that it was the same day that I found my first four leaf clover. As a result, I've spent many hours searching for other four leaf clovers because it doesn't get much better than 4 leaf clover = kitten. What a disappointment the few others have been! Nonetheless, I still catch myself searching for one if I happen to come across a bunch of them.
CUDDLES
Unfortunately Georgie was hit by a car and buried in an unmarked kitty grave. That led to my second kitty: Cuddles. His personality should be pretty well summed up by his name, however it should be noted that he was named by a 4th grade girl. Cuddles was everything but cuddly in the first 5 years of his kitty life. He used to hide on the stairs and whenever any of the kids walked by the stairwell he'd pounce on our ankles and bite & scratch us. Needless to say he wasn't very popular around the house. My brothers used to joke that he was angry about his name, that he felt emasculated. They probably didn't use that smart of a word, but the intention was there. Cuddles was my catpanion for many years but had to stay behind with the parents when I went to college. After graduation I intended to take Cuddles with me to my new place, but my parents argued that he'd react poorly to the change in scenery and lack of greenspace. They imagined he would mope around and be depressed that he was no longer an outdoor cat!
Poor Cuddles! I remember getting my own place and a new cat and feeling like I had cheated on him. According to my mom Cuddles died of a broken heart while laying on the floor in his favorite sunbeam. Thankfully, I do not believe myself to be the cause of his broken heart, rather the early death of his favorite playmate: my mom's cat Sasha.
EMMA
I had some awesome cats in my 20's, before I got the two that I have now. Emma, was my first kitten out of college. She was so sweet, but she had this bad habit of dragging items and leaving them in her water bowl. Mostly jewelry, occasionally toys, and at one point..a tampon! And of course the tampon was the night that a guy I was dating had stopped by my place with me before dinner. OOPS!
LUV
Then there was Luv. I catsat him for a friend who had too many pets. He was the best cat ever..well almost. He was big, fat, orange, and fat. I would not be exaggerating if I was to place his weight at 28 lbs. He used to have weird habits like OCD licking of my arm, and trying to sleep on my head at night. While I realize that some crazy cat people may find his habits endearing, I must say that it was hard enough to move in the morning with 28 pounds of fat cat sprawled out over my legs, and was nearly deadly to have him on my head.
I had to get rid of Luv and I hated it. He got to a point where he became so fat that he was unable to lick his own butt! We tried diet and exercise indoors, but neither was working. He earned a new nickname, Dingleberry, as you can probably visualize why, and it became difficult because he had always slept on the bed. The problem was that I didn't want a cat with poop hanging from his butt fur climbing on my bed and trying to sleep on my face...or legs or arms. I began to feel really sad because I knew that Luv was probably feeling rejected because I kicked him off my bed every night, so I did what every self respecting cat owner would do (I KNOW, I ALREADY TRIED THE DIET), I took him to the groomer to have his butt shaved. However, that was just a temporary fix. A woman that I worked with lived on a farm and had a little girl that wanted an affectionate and fat cat. We decided that it might be perfect for Luv. If he could live where he was free to roam outside, he might just get some good exercise. Reluctantly, but with pushes from my ex and barn owning friend, I gave up Luv.
The last update I had on him was typical. He is still as fat and affectionate as ever, because he is afraid of grass. Yup, the whole idea of outdoors = freedom to exercise, didn't quite workout as planned.
AFRO - or APHRODITE
The cutest and most affectionate cat ever. Not quirky or funny...just absolutely lovable. I had to give her up in order to teach abroad in France. At times I question my sanity cuz I gave up the sweetest cat in the world. I found her a home with a sweet retired woman, who had recently lost her cat of 23 years. Her poor husband and son! They came over to pick up the cat and were greeted with a sobbing mess.
MR KITTY
He's small and white, 5 yrs old, and weighs under 1 pound. He travels frequently and loves hiking. Usually I bungee tie him to my backpack or camelbak. PLEASE, don't scream animal cruelty...he's just a stuffed animal. He is the consolation kitty that my husband gave to me Christmas 2006 when I was depressed that I had given up the awesomest (I'm choosing for that to be a word...so deal) cat in the entire world. Mr kitty is an easy travel companion and loves dancing during long car rides. He's been to NY, France, WI, DC, Yellowstone, The Olympic Peninsula, and now resides in Falls Church, VA. If he's good he'll probably travel with me to London and Italy in October
That brings me to the fuzzy monsters that have been in my life for the past 3 years: Ellicus and Minette. But this is a long post and they are a story for another writing session!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
I'm a rule follower....
One of the freedoms of blogging is that anything goes. So what's my problem then? I have all these topics that I want to write about, but I'm under this self imposed rule that I have to write about events as they occurred along my self created time line. When I decided to commence upon my blogging journey I did so with the intention of encouraging myself to write more. However, throughout the last two weeks I've consistently avoided writing because I didn't feel like finishing a blog I started, or I wanted to write about a random topic..but didn't want to disrupt the flow or theme of the blog. Therefore, I've made the decision that I'm going to write what I want, when I want, in the order that I want, while still trying to stick somewhat to the theme of my travel adventures and my new life in DC. I'm throwing my self-inflicted rules to the wind and will see where this adventure takes me! ENJOY!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
MENTAL MASTURBATION - not as weird as it sounds!!
SO this post took way too long to compose but I feel like it is there for informational purposes and I'm sick of working on this one so I'm posting it and moving on....SO THERE
When I found out I was most likely moving from Wisconsin, I began a broad job search. It was hard to do anything specific as the husband was just beginning his job search. He was searching for a position in a consulting firm. This provided me with some minor clues such as...
1. I'd most likely be moving to a big city.
2. It would cost lots of money.
3. We could end up in a number of different states and the whole 'prepare ahead of time' idea was prolly not going to work out the way I planned.
Here's the main problem...MENTAL MASTURBATION...it is a skill that the husband and I are very talented at. Make sure you notice that the word masturbation is preceded by the word mental so that you are not thinking anything gross...
We both like to spend a lot of time thinking about the future but I think I'm worse. Unfortunately that causes me to waste a lot of time in my head planning the outcomes of all the events I see happening in my life, even if they don't happen.
Examples...
1. I spent the 3 months before moving to France planning all the things I'd do there
2. Once arriving in France I spent time planning all the vacations I was going to take (did most tho)
3. Spent last three months in France talking about what we'd do when we got back to the US and deciding where to move to
4. Spent 1st year in Madison planning our wedding and the second full year planning our honeymoon
Okay, I think I've illustrated that I have a hard time enjoying the moment I'm in. I can't even begin to calculate how much time I've lost, and I'm not even going to try as then I'd just be wasting more time! The good news is that I'm AWARE of my issue.
So the original point I was going to make in this post was that I needed to find a job. I obviously digressed a little bit! I knew that I'd drive myself crazy if I didn't lay off the MM. My head was telling me to find a job, housing, a book club, and a good sushi restaurant all before even knowing where we were moving!
I found myself wanting to conduct an apartment search in DC, Philadelphia, Memphis, New York, and San Francisco on a daily basis and had to fight the urge! I would occasionally make deals with myself that I could spend 20 minutes looking...but no longer. I finally realized that the apartment search was futile and began looking into career opportunities.
I needed to focus on my next career move. I'd been a teacher for 10 years and that was tightly tied in with my identity. I knew that it would be difficult to get a teaching job in the middle of a school year so I began looking outside the box for other jobs that I'd like. I wasted a lot of time on USA jobs looking for government positions because I wanted an "important job" with a cool title. Finally, after wasting oodles of time, I realized that my priorities were completely warped and that what I really needed to find was a job that I'd love, which definitely didn't involve sitting behind a desk each day. That ended my search with USA Jobs.
I had unrealistic dreams of being hired by one of the museums in DC to design and implement programs and exhibits or of finding a job at the Library of Congress. Naturally I didn't apply for these positions because I had no training for them. Even if I put "perseverance" down on my resume as my greatest skill, I'm still not going to get offered a job I have no experience doing, no matter how hard I say I will work.
After much thought and searching I found a training course to be a Washington DC tour guide. I was instantly excited about this new possibility and immediately called for an interview. Hence my new name Mrs Tour Guide Lady!
When I found out I was most likely moving from Wisconsin, I began a broad job search. It was hard to do anything specific as the husband was just beginning his job search. He was searching for a position in a consulting firm. This provided me with some minor clues such as...
1. I'd most likely be moving to a big city.
2. It would cost lots of money.
3. We could end up in a number of different states and the whole 'prepare ahead of time' idea was prolly not going to work out the way I planned.
Here's the main problem...MENTAL MASTURBATION...it is a skill that the husband and I are very talented at. Make sure you notice that the word masturbation is preceded by the word mental so that you are not thinking anything gross...
We both like to spend a lot of time thinking about the future but I think I'm worse. Unfortunately that causes me to waste a lot of time in my head planning the outcomes of all the events I see happening in my life, even if they don't happen.
Examples...
1. I spent the 3 months before moving to France planning all the things I'd do there
2. Once arriving in France I spent time planning all the vacations I was going to take (did most tho)
3. Spent last three months in France talking about what we'd do when we got back to the US and deciding where to move to
4. Spent 1st year in Madison planning our wedding and the second full year planning our honeymoon
Okay, I think I've illustrated that I have a hard time enjoying the moment I'm in. I can't even begin to calculate how much time I've lost, and I'm not even going to try as then I'd just be wasting more time! The good news is that I'm AWARE of my issue.
So the original point I was going to make in this post was that I needed to find a job. I obviously digressed a little bit! I knew that I'd drive myself crazy if I didn't lay off the MM. My head was telling me to find a job, housing, a book club, and a good sushi restaurant all before even knowing where we were moving!
I found myself wanting to conduct an apartment search in DC, Philadelphia, Memphis, New York, and San Francisco on a daily basis and had to fight the urge! I would occasionally make deals with myself that I could spend 20 minutes looking...but no longer. I finally realized that the apartment search was futile and began looking into career opportunities.
I needed to focus on my next career move. I'd been a teacher for 10 years and that was tightly tied in with my identity. I knew that it would be difficult to get a teaching job in the middle of a school year so I began looking outside the box for other jobs that I'd like. I wasted a lot of time on USA jobs looking for government positions because I wanted an "important job" with a cool title. Finally, after wasting oodles of time, I realized that my priorities were completely warped and that what I really needed to find was a job that I'd love, which definitely didn't involve sitting behind a desk each day. That ended my search with USA Jobs.
I had unrealistic dreams of being hired by one of the museums in DC to design and implement programs and exhibits or of finding a job at the Library of Congress. Naturally I didn't apply for these positions because I had no training for them. Even if I put "perseverance" down on my resume as my greatest skill, I'm still not going to get offered a job I have no experience doing, no matter how hard I say I will work.
After much thought and searching I found a training course to be a Washington DC tour guide. I was instantly excited about this new possibility and immediately called for an interview. Hence my new name Mrs Tour Guide Lady!
Friday, July 8, 2011
TO BE OR NOT TO BE...
One of the difficulties of moving to a new area is finding a new job. The big decision when relocating was what will I do for the next 6 months and in the future. Most likely I wouldn't find a half year teaching position so I needed to get creative. I also needed to decide where to apply for the 2011-2012 school year.
I've taught history for ten years, and I loved it (although there were some moments). All of my jobs have been at rural schools and I've loved the freedoms I've had as a teacher in that environment. Where else can you re-enact trench warfare in your classroom, stab kids with jello filled buboes on their necks, and conduct a Chinese new year parade throughout the hallway? I've been spoiled and I worry about having to conform to suburban school standards. Although I'm not sure what 'suburban school standards' are, I have a feeling that they aren't as fun:( I realize that I'm limiting my options as a teacher by cutting out suburban schools, so I'm willing to investigate. Boy would I love a nice rural school district. But that's the problem, there are no rural school districts within a one hour radius of where I live. It's a total bummer. That leaves me with 3 options that I can see.
Option 1: a private school. Sounds like a great idea and it is probably full of uber motivated students, but I'm not the only person in the DC metro area who thinks that a private school is the way to go. Lots of competition and I don't even know how to apply to most of these schools. Many are Montessori and want special training and I don't even know what it is. Private schools involve a lot of work that I'm willing to consider in the future, but I'm still investigating my options.
Option 2: Teach in the District of Columbia. Ehhh, wrong answer, not happening. I spent my first year out of college subbing in an inner city school district in Rochester, NY. BTW, my role there was as the in-school suspension lady. It was a nightmare, they held it in the cafeteria and I often had 30 students. Yeah, the 30 students who were kicked out of class for being uncontrollable were all sent to me in a large wide open space and I was supposed to control them. Fortunately, I was young and mildly cool at the time. My redemption was the fact that I liked hip hop and if the students would sing lyrics I could name the song and artist. That definitely saved my butt b/c it moved me up a few levels on the cool meter. We spent most of our time in a group circle talking about three things
A. schoolwork
B. life at home
C. future goals and dreams
Now I know students aren't supposed to talk during in-school suspension, but you try keeping them quiet in a room full of 30 people. So, if students were willing to participate in a group conversation that I directed, then they could talk.
However, I couldn't work in that environment again. There was very little support for teachers and students, most of the students didn't want to be there, I was called the little cracker with the walkie talkie (I was 21), and it was so emotionally draining when listening to the students share about the situations they faced outside of school and in their homes. Oh, and I failed to mention one student whose name was ______ Love who told me he wished I was dead and should be careful. I guess he said that to all adults, so I didn't particularly p*ss him off more than any other adult in the school. Lastly, I've gotten to old. I just don't think that I can channel my inner Michelle Pfeiffer a la Dangerous Minds. I lack the ex-marine status and don't know karate.
Option 3: Teach at a local community college. Already put some effort in here. I applied for two history positions. However, I have no experience teaching college and really don't want to. They also will take a candidate with a PhD over a candidate with solely a Masters..go figure. I recently received an email (I applied in January) stating that the positions have been filled. I stopped holding my breath in March, but I'm really glad they thought to send out rejection emails in June as if I hadn't already drawn a similar conclusion.
I'm glad that I have a few options, although none really appeal to me right now. Fortunately, I've found a job (seasonal) that I love and I'm pretty good at it. And even though my students can call me by my first name I am most commonly addressed Miss Tour Guide lady.But that is a story for another posting.
TO BE OR NOT TO BE....a teacher. My identity was intertwined with teaching for so many years. Only time will tell. The husband and I are going to start a family soon so maybe my next full time job title will be Mommy.
I've taught history for ten years, and I loved it (although there were some moments). All of my jobs have been at rural schools and I've loved the freedoms I've had as a teacher in that environment. Where else can you re-enact trench warfare in your classroom, stab kids with jello filled buboes on their necks, and conduct a Chinese new year parade throughout the hallway? I've been spoiled and I worry about having to conform to suburban school standards. Although I'm not sure what 'suburban school standards' are, I have a feeling that they aren't as fun:( I realize that I'm limiting my options as a teacher by cutting out suburban schools, so I'm willing to investigate. Boy would I love a nice rural school district. But that's the problem, there are no rural school districts within a one hour radius of where I live. It's a total bummer. That leaves me with 3 options that I can see.
Option 1: a private school. Sounds like a great idea and it is probably full of uber motivated students, but I'm not the only person in the DC metro area who thinks that a private school is the way to go. Lots of competition and I don't even know how to apply to most of these schools. Many are Montessori and want special training and I don't even know what it is. Private schools involve a lot of work that I'm willing to consider in the future, but I'm still investigating my options.
Option 2: Teach in the District of Columbia. Ehhh, wrong answer, not happening. I spent my first year out of college subbing in an inner city school district in Rochester, NY. BTW, my role there was as the in-school suspension lady. It was a nightmare, they held it in the cafeteria and I often had 30 students. Yeah, the 30 students who were kicked out of class for being uncontrollable were all sent to me in a large wide open space and I was supposed to control them. Fortunately, I was young and mildly cool at the time. My redemption was the fact that I liked hip hop and if the students would sing lyrics I could name the song and artist. That definitely saved my butt b/c it moved me up a few levels on the cool meter. We spent most of our time in a group circle talking about three things
A. schoolwork
B. life at home
C. future goals and dreams
Now I know students aren't supposed to talk during in-school suspension, but you try keeping them quiet in a room full of 30 people. So, if students were willing to participate in a group conversation that I directed, then they could talk.
However, I couldn't work in that environment again. There was very little support for teachers and students, most of the students didn't want to be there, I was called the little cracker with the walkie talkie (I was 21), and it was so emotionally draining when listening to the students share about the situations they faced outside of school and in their homes. Oh, and I failed to mention one student whose name was ______ Love who told me he wished I was dead and should be careful. I guess he said that to all adults, so I didn't particularly p*ss him off more than any other adult in the school. Lastly, I've gotten to old. I just don't think that I can channel my inner Michelle Pfeiffer a la Dangerous Minds. I lack the ex-marine status and don't know karate.
Option 3: Teach at a local community college. Already put some effort in here. I applied for two history positions. However, I have no experience teaching college and really don't want to. They also will take a candidate with a PhD over a candidate with solely a Masters..go figure. I recently received an email (I applied in January) stating that the positions have been filled. I stopped holding my breath in March, but I'm really glad they thought to send out rejection emails in June as if I hadn't already drawn a similar conclusion.
I'm glad that I have a few options, although none really appeal to me right now. Fortunately, I've found a job (seasonal) that I love and I'm pretty good at it. And even though my students can call me by my first name I am most commonly addressed Miss Tour Guide lady.But that is a story for another posting.
TO BE OR NOT TO BE....a teacher. My identity was intertwined with teaching for so many years. Only time will tell. The husband and I are going to start a family soon so maybe my next full time job title will be Mommy.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Adaptation!?
People frequently ask me how I'm adjusting to life in DC. Normally, I enthusiastically respond that I love life here, and rattle off a few of the inconveniences such as traffic, cost of living and TRAFFIC.
TRAFFIC - :( I only drive between the hours of 10am and 3pm and I'll drive after 7:30 pm if I'm not going too far from home. That's it, there are very few exceptions to that rule! Something I've noticed is when asking people for directions they do not tell me that my destination is 2 miles north, they tell me that it is 10 minutes north. I learned this concept when trying to go to the shopping mall for the first time. The mall is 4 miles from my condo, yet it takes 25 minutes to get there most days and even longer on a bad day. The obscene amount of stoplights coupled with the extreme volume of traffic is compounded by the fact that the speed limit is only 25 mph in many parts of Falls Church. It is a nightmare! Oh, and forget about letting anyone in on a busy street. One can wait hours (well it feels like hours) to turn out of a parking lot. The mindset is every driver for themselves!
Before I talk about cost of living I should probably clarify that I live in Falls Church, VA. It is 2.2 sq miles with a population of 11,200. It boasts one of the top school districts in the United States and is actually 7 miles outside of DC. However, I am part of the DC metro area and close enough that I reap the benefits of congested DC traffic.
COST OF LIVING - Exorbitantly high! BTW the e-word means ridiculous. This includes groceries, gasoline, parking, milk, housing and all things entertainment.
EX #1- Groceries. You know there is something wrong in the world when I do most of my grocery shopping at Whole Foods, dubbed whole paycheck by my good friend Sarah, and I look relieved when my grocery bill is just over $50. BTW the $50 only covers bananas, apples, salad and Kevin's odd energy chunks. Supertarget has turned out to be pretty reasonable as well, but the selection there is mediocre at best. Plus, they have a lot of what I call distractor items that scream "BUY ME, BUY ME, BUY ME!" My favorites are random expensive household furnishings that I don't need but I talk myself into accepting that I can't live without them.
EX #2 - Housing. My two bedroom condo costs 2x as much as my 2 bedroom apartment in cost in Madison, WI. The place in Madison was a bit bigger and had a balcony which made for happy kitties. Furthermore, we could have 2 parking spots and we weren't threatened with towing if a friend's car was there after midnight. Even better is that people in WI actually plowed the parking lot and didn't form big piles of snow 6 feet and higher) behind cleared out parked cars.
Husband and I decided to check out some real estate in our area. Most houses are way out of our price range. A few weeks ago we found a place in an awesome area that we were sure we could afford. The downside was that it was a bit small. The house was 864 sq ft, way too small for us. It was a 1 bdrm 1 bath on a plot of land totaling .44 acres. It was surrounded by beautiful enormous houses. I guessed that the house would cost less than $350,000. I just about gagged when Kevin stated that it cost $695,000. At this point we've stopped looking for homes and will continue to enjoy our condo and the perks of our location!!
So...adaptation...as good as can be expected so far!
TRAFFIC - :( I only drive between the hours of 10am and 3pm and I'll drive after 7:30 pm if I'm not going too far from home. That's it, there are very few exceptions to that rule! Something I've noticed is when asking people for directions they do not tell me that my destination is 2 miles north, they tell me that it is 10 minutes north. I learned this concept when trying to go to the shopping mall for the first time. The mall is 4 miles from my condo, yet it takes 25 minutes to get there most days and even longer on a bad day. The obscene amount of stoplights coupled with the extreme volume of traffic is compounded by the fact that the speed limit is only 25 mph in many parts of Falls Church. It is a nightmare! Oh, and forget about letting anyone in on a busy street. One can wait hours (well it feels like hours) to turn out of a parking lot. The mindset is every driver for themselves!
Before I talk about cost of living I should probably clarify that I live in Falls Church, VA. It is 2.2 sq miles with a population of 11,200. It boasts one of the top school districts in the United States and is actually 7 miles outside of DC. However, I am part of the DC metro area and close enough that I reap the benefits of congested DC traffic.
COST OF LIVING - Exorbitantly high! BTW the e-word means ridiculous. This includes groceries, gasoline, parking, milk, housing and all things entertainment.
EX #1- Groceries. You know there is something wrong in the world when I do most of my grocery shopping at Whole Foods, dubbed whole paycheck by my good friend Sarah, and I look relieved when my grocery bill is just over $50. BTW the $50 only covers bananas, apples, salad and Kevin's odd energy chunks. Supertarget has turned out to be pretty reasonable as well, but the selection there is mediocre at best. Plus, they have a lot of what I call distractor items that scream "BUY ME, BUY ME, BUY ME!" My favorites are random expensive household furnishings that I don't need but I talk myself into accepting that I can't live without them.
EX #2 - Housing. My two bedroom condo costs 2x as much as my 2 bedroom apartment in cost in Madison, WI. The place in Madison was a bit bigger and had a balcony which made for happy kitties. Furthermore, we could have 2 parking spots and we weren't threatened with towing if a friend's car was there after midnight. Even better is that people in WI actually plowed the parking lot and didn't form big piles of snow 6 feet and higher) behind cleared out parked cars.
Husband and I decided to check out some real estate in our area. Most houses are way out of our price range. A few weeks ago we found a place in an awesome area that we were sure we could afford. The downside was that it was a bit small. The house was 864 sq ft, way too small for us. It was a 1 bdrm 1 bath on a plot of land totaling .44 acres. It was surrounded by beautiful enormous houses. I guessed that the house would cost less than $350,000. I just about gagged when Kevin stated that it cost $695,000. At this point we've stopped looking for homes and will continue to enjoy our condo and the perks of our location!!
So...adaptation...as good as can be expected so far!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
DC is the winner
I moved to D.C. at the end of December after swearing for 32 years that I'd never live in a big city. However, when my husband chose his field of work he informed me that most of the job opportunities were located in major cities. I put on my happy and supportive face while secretly panicking at the thought of living in a city. After the initial shock of needing to relocate and some extensive research, I was overjoyed at the opportunity to move to my nation's capital city for a number of reasons...
1. I am a history buff
2. During my 8th grade field trip I spent most of my photo opportunities on my crush at the time (it was a waste, we never even dated) and I wanted the opportunity to get real photos
3.I had the illusion that I could find a really important job
4. I thought my brother could get me into the Pentagon (what a disappointment that was)
5. I thought that I could get used to the traffic (still a work in progress)
6. I have family on the east coast (if this list was in any particular order then this would have to be near the top)
7. D.C was more appealing than our other options
Examples:
A. San Francisco: My husband was pushing for California but I effectively argued that the cost of living was too high. However, it appears that I may have been wrong. According to the following website http://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/comparison/san-francisco/washington-d-c
DC is actually 13% more expensive than San Francisco. Thankfully my husband didn't do his research and I had back up arguments. The first was I feared that California was a hotbed for natural disasters. I based my argument on the fact that as a child I was told that California may break off the US and sink into the Pacific. While I could probably find some support for this statement on the internet, most likely I could find more theories against my natural disaster argument.& My next argument was that we shouldn't move to the state with the highest debt. I know my arguments are weak, especially since I refused to move to the state with the highest debt, yet was willing to head to DC, no debt there right?! My strongest argument went something like this "<i>I don't want to live in California because my family lives on the east coast and I'd be miserable. I'm willing to move almost anywhere else so suck it up and cross California off the list. As I was saying that, I most likely crossed my arms and put my determined face on. I won...no California
B. Memphis: Originally I was kinda excited about the prospect of Memphis. There was affordable housing, less than 5 inches of snow each year, and Tennessee seemed like a cool place. That was before I read all the statistics about the crime rate. Thankfully the firm in D.C. offered my husband a job before the firm in Memphis because I was already running statistics in my mind about the possibility of me living there for 10 years without being a victim of theft.
So at Thanksgiving time my husband and I packed up everything in our two bedroom apartment and he moved to DC while I tied up loose ends at my job. He left me with very little. I had a queen size air mattress which I couldn't seem to blow up. This was embarrassing to admit to my husband, and I eventually realized I wasn't pulling the plug out far enough. Sadly this insight didn't come until I'd spent two nights holding the air pump to the mattress for over an hour desperately hoping that I was inflating it just a little. He also left me with a patio set so that I had something to eat meals on. He took all the creature comforts and even took my cats.& Poor things they had to be tranq'd for the long car ride. That is a funny story but for another day...
The day before Christmas, with very few items left in our old apartment, I packed up my little new Corolla and headed for my new life in DC!
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