Yesterday I had what, for me, comes as close to a "bad day" as it gets. Just feeling a little overwhelmed with so much to do, with a million little decisions that aren't really so important, but added together made me feel like I was on the verge of accidentally parking in front of a fire hydrant or something. Deep breath, keep packing, move on.
And packing indeed. I'm now worried that we are packing so well that the pod is going to be too heavy. So the duality of my nature is having an epic battle, with one half of me wanting to save as much as possible just in case (or just because we can), and the other side wanting to toss everything that is not required to sustain life. If someone could film the fight going on in my brain it would make one heck of a pirates vs ninjas movie. Again, I am fully aware of the futility of trying to know which dresser would be most useful or if the decorative pillow will be useful in a different apartment. Knowing me I'm gonna want to decorate everything Mayan when we get back anyhow, so maybe that answers that question. :)
We've decided to go ahead and pack the TV, three weeks before we actually move. In theory, I'm a snob that hates TV and would feel great about being one of those show-offs who brag about not owning a television. In practice, I am a reality TV junkie, and love Survivor and Amazing Race and So You Think You Can Dance and Food Challenge, not to mention Glee. It is going to be hard to give them up, especially in the middle of a season, though I suppose we can watch them all online. I had given up TV for several years in the early 90s when I was doing so much theatre, which worked out great. Maybe it is time to try it again. Except for Glee, no lofty philosophy is making me miss that piece of heaven.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
David can pack like Einstein can do math
We've got the pod coming on Wednesday, which we will fill and then send on to Vegas, where we will move it into storage until we get back. After a lot of debate, we decided to only get one pod instead of two (which was recommended for our 1200 square foot townhouse), sell the extra furniture and just buy new stuff once we get moved into another place. Yesterday we decided to get a head start on the packing, taped out the area of the pod on the floor and did a practice run. And thanks to David's savant-level packing ability, we realized are going to be able to bring a lot more of the furniture than we thought. The great thing about adding a dresser (or four) is that all that drawer space is great for packing dishes and things too, so two birds with one stone.
We put our first plant out on the sidewalk today, which someone snagged less than ten minutes later. We are going to lose a lot of great plants, and it is good to know they will be going to a good home. (Forget pets, my plants are my babies!) Gonna be tougher when we get to the expensive plants, our gigantor bird of paradise and the ficus tree.
We put our first plant out on the sidewalk today, which someone snagged less than ten minutes later. We are going to lose a lot of great plants, and it is good to know they will be going to a good home. (Forget pets, my plants are my babies!) Gonna be tougher when we get to the expensive plants, our gigantor bird of paradise and the ficus tree.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Rain, rain, go away
Preparations continue. Tuesday I walked 2 1/2 miles to some office to get a permit for the moving company to park a storage cube on the street for us to move the essentials to Vegas. We are going to get rid of most of our furniture, but there are always boxes of yearbooks to save. Unfortunately they have to do some visual inspection of the street to make sure there isn't a bus stop or something in front of our house (there isn't), so I have to go back again to get the actual permit. Due to the holiday yesterday, it may or may not be ready this afternoon. However, it is raining cats and dogs out there, and another 5 mile round trip walk in the rain does not sound very appealing. (I don't drive in the city, parking is awful.) I guess I'll have to take the metro part way. I'm weird like that, the metro doesn't make a straight line to where I'm going, I have to go all the way into the city, transfer to a new train and then head back out again, which isn't hard but just annoys me to have to, map wise, go so far out of the way just to circle back. In the end I'd rather just walk, which I guess is partly what makes me constitutionally inclined to be a backpacker. Thank you New York for bringing that out in me!
Tuesday night our friend Morgan who was in "La Boheme" with us called, he has been living in Switzerland but was in DC for an audition. He had just a little time to spare before his train back to NY, so we walked another 4 1/2 miles to see him and give him a brief run around the Capitol Building. (I never get tired of seeing people see it for the first time, it is always such a thrill.) We had a great time catching up, we are so lucky to know such awesome people that are scattered across the world, and maybe we don't get to see them very often, but when we do we have such a great time. Ditto to the time we got to spend with Jun, my best friend from high school who stayed with us for a few days this weekend. We have great friends!
I can tangent like no one, eh? My point being that I ended up walking almost ten miles that day, and while my legs and body had no problem, my feet were a little sore at the end of the day. Gotta start building up my callouses again to prepare for hiking up all those Mayan temples. So rain, please stop so I can start walking again every day.
Tuesday night our friend Morgan who was in "La Boheme" with us called, he has been living in Switzerland but was in DC for an audition. He had just a little time to spare before his train back to NY, so we walked another 4 1/2 miles to see him and give him a brief run around the Capitol Building. (I never get tired of seeing people see it for the first time, it is always such a thrill.) We had a great time catching up, we are so lucky to know such awesome people that are scattered across the world, and maybe we don't get to see them very often, but when we do we have such a great time. Ditto to the time we got to spend with Jun, my best friend from high school who stayed with us for a few days this weekend. We have great friends!
I can tangent like no one, eh? My point being that I ended up walking almost ten miles that day, and while my legs and body had no problem, my feet were a little sore at the end of the day. Gotta start building up my callouses again to prepare for hiking up all those Mayan temples. So rain, please stop so I can start walking again every day.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Travel health
Our preparations continue. Next up we need to find a place to get a Thyphoid immunization. I had one for my Asia trip, and I was hoping it would still be good but after looking it up it turns out it is only good for about two years. Luckily we've both had our hepatitis shots for work, because those ones are expensive. The last decision concerns the malaria prophylaxis medications. When I went to Asia I decided not to take anything, partly because I'd heard about all the side effects, and partly because I was there for so long the risk/benefit/expense didn't seem worth it. I'm lucky that mosquitos don't particularly like me for some reason, which also helps. We haven't decided for sure yet, but I think we are going to forego any meds this time as well. Which just means we have to be extra careful to not get bit, so we'll be bringing along the DEET and wearing long pants and shirts at night.
Otherwise there isn't too much else to worry about health-wise. We'll probably go to the dentist for a last check-up just to be safe, and I'm going to order some extra contacts to take with me. There are several companies that do travel health insurance, that will fly you back to the US if anything particularly bad happens to you, and we will definitely take out a policy, they actually aren't that expensive. (Which tells you that most people never make any claims, because traveling is as safe as anything else!)
Otherwise there isn't too much else to worry about health-wise. We'll probably go to the dentist for a last check-up just to be safe, and I'm going to order some extra contacts to take with me. There are several companies that do travel health insurance, that will fly you back to the US if anything particularly bad happens to you, and we will definitely take out a policy, they actually aren't that expensive. (Which tells you that most people never make any claims, because traveling is as safe as anything else!)
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Packing
One thing I learned trying to sell yourself as an actor, is that it is all about spin. So while I could just say I leave things until the last minute because I'm a lazy procrastinator, instead I'm gonna go with something about the glory of spontaneity, or of the importance of living life in the moment. I suppose the reality is somewhere in between. But our plans continue to shift ever so slightly, a few days here, a few days there. As actors we could never plan ahead for anything, and even though it should be easier now, we've just never developed those skills.
By lucky accident, our procrastination saved us almost $150 though. For the move we decide to go with one of those pods you pack up, and then the moving company moves it for you, and somehow our last-minute reservation ended up being cheaper than the quote we got a few weeks ago. Thank you angels! We've been going back and forth trying to decide how much stuff we want to save. I've been at war with STUFF ever since my first back-packing trip, which has been a very rewarding change for this former pack-rat. Once you live out of a pack for a year, you realize how little you really need to get by, and how all the excess crap we collect just drains your energy. However, we did buy a bunch of furniture here, and weren't sure whether it was better to move it, store it and use it again, or just sell it all on craigslist and buy new (or used) again when we finally get to California.
Math to the rescue again! We think we will be able to keep our leather couch (by turning it on end in the pod, I hope it survives shipping like that), and possibly a dresser. Not even counting any money we might make selling the rest, we'll save about $1400 by dumping it now, which to me seems enough to buy new stuff once we settle again. Plus just that much less hassle and worry, and I'm always a big fan of reducing hassle and worry.
We are also getting rid of all our CDs and LPs and lots of books. I'm fine keeping photos (we have a lot of those) and stuff like yearbooks, but lots of stuff is just taking up space. We've been reducing our CD collection for a few years now, and finally have it down to about 600 (from a high of 1400). We are going to donate most of it to a theatre company here in DC, which we feel pretty good about. I suppose we could sell it somewhere, which if we were uber-thrifty would be nice. But time is limited, and I just don't have the energy to go down that road. I'm all about saving money and being cheap, but sometimes it just feels good to make a donation that you know will be appreciated.
Question: should I save things just because they are autographed? I have a CD for "Three Wished For Jamie" (if you've heard of it, then you are a nerd!) that is autographed by Charlotte Rae. I love me some Mrs. Garrett, but I can't decide how long I need to carry this around with me. Ditto "Rags" and Marcia Lewis. Even worse is an LP of "Little Mary Sunshine" autographed by Elmarie Wendell, whom I worked with years ago in a production of "Gigi". She is a neat lady, but packing a single LP isn't easy! What would you do?
By lucky accident, our procrastination saved us almost $150 though. For the move we decide to go with one of those pods you pack up, and then the moving company moves it for you, and somehow our last-minute reservation ended up being cheaper than the quote we got a few weeks ago. Thank you angels! We've been going back and forth trying to decide how much stuff we want to save. I've been at war with STUFF ever since my first back-packing trip, which has been a very rewarding change for this former pack-rat. Once you live out of a pack for a year, you realize how little you really need to get by, and how all the excess crap we collect just drains your energy. However, we did buy a bunch of furniture here, and weren't sure whether it was better to move it, store it and use it again, or just sell it all on craigslist and buy new (or used) again when we finally get to California.
Math to the rescue again! We think we will be able to keep our leather couch (by turning it on end in the pod, I hope it survives shipping like that), and possibly a dresser. Not even counting any money we might make selling the rest, we'll save about $1400 by dumping it now, which to me seems enough to buy new stuff once we settle again. Plus just that much less hassle and worry, and I'm always a big fan of reducing hassle and worry.
We are also getting rid of all our CDs and LPs and lots of books. I'm fine keeping photos (we have a lot of those) and stuff like yearbooks, but lots of stuff is just taking up space. We've been reducing our CD collection for a few years now, and finally have it down to about 600 (from a high of 1400). We are going to donate most of it to a theatre company here in DC, which we feel pretty good about. I suppose we could sell it somewhere, which if we were uber-thrifty would be nice. But time is limited, and I just don't have the energy to go down that road. I'm all about saving money and being cheap, but sometimes it just feels good to make a donation that you know will be appreciated.
Question: should I save things just because they are autographed? I have a CD for "Three Wished For Jamie" (if you've heard of it, then you are a nerd!) that is autographed by Charlotte Rae. I love me some Mrs. Garrett, but I can't decide how long I need to carry this around with me. Ditto "Rags" and Marcia Lewis. Even worse is an LP of "Little Mary Sunshine" autographed by Elmarie Wendell, whom I worked with years ago in a production of "Gigi". She is a neat lady, but packing a single LP isn't easy! What would you do?
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Guide books
This kind of a trip is exactly the kind of thing that is going to keep my typing like mad on this blog, so come back every so often if you're interested in how things progress. We have a lot of planning to do of course, from packing lists to itineraries to figuring out what stuff to keep and where to keep it while we are gone and how we are going to do our taxes from Honduras and so on. (Since I am a money nerd, I just spent an hour calculating the difference between storing our stuff in DC compared to storing it in Vegas or just selling all the furniture on Craigslist, and still haven't made a decision.) And heck, this is me and David we are talking about here, so it is always possible that one of the jobs I applied for already is going to call and make an offer I can't refuse which could completely change our plans around again. But hey, it is all part of the ride with us. We might change our minds a lot, but we tend to go full steam ahead with whichever plan we're working on at the time. Sucking the marrow and all that.
Anyway, on Sunday when we made the decision, we got on Amazon and ordered the Lonely Planet Guide to the Yucatan, and The Rough Guide's Central America On A Budget. (We had a huge sack of coins, and at the Coinstar machine if you get your money back as a gift certificate, you don't have to pay the 9% fee. So hello $160 Amazon gift card, which since change is virtually useless by itself was practically free!) To my surprise they just arrived, so Amazon is on my happy list for promptness. Fun reading in store!
Anyway, on Sunday when we made the decision, we got on Amazon and ordered the Lonely Planet Guide to the Yucatan, and The Rough Guide's Central America On A Budget. (We had a huge sack of coins, and at the Coinstar machine if you get your money back as a gift certificate, you don't have to pay the 9% fee. So hello $160 Amazon gift card, which since change is virtually useless by itself was practically free!) To my surprise they just arrived, so Amazon is on my happy list for promptness. Fun reading in store!
The Announcement
So you know how David and I live a rather unconventional life? Like how we move across the country every few years? We've certainly made no secret of our goal to one day live in Hawaii and Australia. And, while we have loved, nay, LOVED our time here in Washington DC, after 2 1/2 years we've decided it is time to move on, to get back to some warmer climates and, ideally, to be closer to the nieces and nephews that are growing up way too fast without us. So we put in our notice at work and started looking for work back on the West Coast.
Then a funny thing happened. Well, first a not funny thing happened, actually, two not funny things happened, but then a very funny and wonderful thing happened. (Holy crap I am a Steve Martin nerd, I bet 99% of you have never even heard of that movie, but I can't resist an opportunity to make David giggle. NOTE: if you want to make David giggle, quote "Mixed Nuts". It works every time.) My job search was progressing much slower than anticipated, but optimists that we are we decided to go with it. Which of course required a Facebook status update: "So we are moving. Like to California. Or maybe Vegas. Or possibly Phoenix. If all else fails, learning spanish in Guatemala sounds nice." For you literary types, that's called foreshadowing.
I've been telling people at work, and the super rad nurse recruiter who brought me here to Georgetown personally got me on the phone with another recruiter from LA, who, though quite friendly and supportive, said point blank, "Do not move here without a job lined up. It is that bad right now." Normally I don't listen to advice like that, because I have angels who watch over me that do things like find me sweet apartments and get me great jobs and all sorts of meddling things to make my life enviously awesome. Yesterday I was talking to one of my bosses who revealed just how well she knows me. Claire had been talking to my other boss, who was hoping that because of the bad job market I might change my mind and stay here longer. Claire just smiled and said "I don't think so, if nothing else he will just do something crazy."
Crazy depends on your point of view, but David and I have decided to take our own partly subconscious advice and do something we've actually been throwing around for the last ten years since I got home from my backpacking trip to Asia. We're gonna take six months (or so) and go backpacking through Central America. Boo-yah!
Then a funny thing happened. Well, first a not funny thing happened, actually, two not funny things happened, but then a very funny and wonderful thing happened. (Holy crap I am a Steve Martin nerd, I bet 99% of you have never even heard of that movie, but I can't resist an opportunity to make David giggle. NOTE: if you want to make David giggle, quote "Mixed Nuts". It works every time.) My job search was progressing much slower than anticipated, but optimists that we are we decided to go with it. Which of course required a Facebook status update: "So we are moving. Like to California. Or maybe Vegas. Or possibly Phoenix. If all else fails, learning spanish in Guatemala sounds nice." For you literary types, that's called foreshadowing.
I've been telling people at work, and the super rad nurse recruiter who brought me here to Georgetown personally got me on the phone with another recruiter from LA, who, though quite friendly and supportive, said point blank, "Do not move here without a job lined up. It is that bad right now." Normally I don't listen to advice like that, because I have angels who watch over me that do things like find me sweet apartments and get me great jobs and all sorts of meddling things to make my life enviously awesome. Yesterday I was talking to one of my bosses who revealed just how well she knows me. Claire had been talking to my other boss, who was hoping that because of the bad job market I might change my mind and stay here longer. Claire just smiled and said "I don't think so, if nothing else he will just do something crazy."
Crazy depends on your point of view, but David and I have decided to take our own partly subconscious advice and do something we've actually been throwing around for the last ten years since I got home from my backpacking trip to Asia. We're gonna take six months (or so) and go backpacking through Central America. Boo-yah!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Another way to tell a story
I love that there will always be people ready to find a new way to tell a story.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Un-Broke: The Cribs Edition
I don't know if this is going to be good or not, but I'm definitely going to be watching. Isn't that right Professor Puggleface? Friday, May 29th at 9p ET on ABC
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
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