Entries tagged with travel: wanderlust

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: window cube

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Yay.

We have officially reached the hair loss portion of the post-WLS process. Yay. I try not to stress too much because I do have a fair amount of hair even though the individual hairs are on the thin side. Sadly, I am ceasing the pinking and purpling until I feel confident that the bleaching process won't make the rest of my hair fall out. If I can't live without unnatural color streaks in my hair, Ulta carries various non-permanent potions which do not require bleaching before application.

The weather threatens to be absolutely gorgeous this weekend. Had I a crystal ball, I'm sure it would foretell of a bike ride or two. Maybe even three. And now that Hubbyfink's cleared for almost all physical activity, I can drag him along for a "short" ride.

Speaking of the Hubbyfink, we'd planned on zipping out to Colorado Springs this past March but surgery schedules got in the way. Why the zipping to CS? Well, back in September I got a bee in my proverbial bonnet about moving somewhere that wasn't so dang hot and humid as the DC area and CS looked fantastic on paper. The change-averse Hubbyfink warmed up to the idea a day later and was ready to move RIGHT THEN. We cooled our jets, though, and calmed down enough to realize that we really should scope out a place before picking up stakes and heading west. (Of course, I hadn't considered the possibility of something like the horrifying wildfire currently destroying the surrounding area... all those unfortunate people... it makes me want to cry.) So, we're flying out for a visit over Labor Day weekend and will see if it is just as good in real life.

Other locations on our short list of Places to Live After Fleeing DC include the Florida panhandle (preferably right on the coast); New Orleans (which, obviously, is even MORE hot and humid than DC but I've become sensitive to cold after this past miserable winter; Hubbyfink is not on board with this idea); Asheville, NC (again, himself is not quite on board); Austin (his entry; as appealing and vibrant as Austin is, I simply can't with Texas); and Columbus, OH (yes, really: my work team is there, the city is beautiful, and it gets four distinct seasons; Hubbyfink doesn't want to live in Ohio). We've got some negotiating to do.

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The story begins

Actually, it began nearly two weeks ago. I've lived in northern Virginia for over sixteen years and wanderlust is pulling at me. I've also HAD IT with the heat and humidity of this area. As much as I'd love to go home again, I don't want to deal with the heat and humidity of the south either. It pains me to think about moving north, mostly because of the lack of light during the winter months. My solution: mountains!

I started perusing real estate selections in the Asheville, NC on a Friday afternoon. When I got home, I shared my crazy idea with Scott. He brought up the issue of employment. I could, conceivably, telecommute and it's something that I've talked with Bossman about. Scott would have to look for something new...

He then countered with "What about Colorado Springs?" I perked up and replied, "We have an office building there!" We discovered that you'd have a hard time not spotting one of his employer's offices in Colorado Springs as well. I spent the rest of the evening poring over real estate listings and was VERY happy with what I found.

Saturday morning, the phone rang just as I was getting into the shower. Scott hollered up, "There's a realtor FROM COLORADO for you!" He took a message and, teasingly, told me "We need to talk..." I explained that I had to provide my contact information to register for the most informative real estate site. He was just busting my chops and chalked it up to my usual obsessive nature.

By Sunday afternoon, I was obsessing pretty hard. Scott had said that he liked the idea, but he would need convincing to move because he is extremely change averse. However, he began obsessing almost as much as me by that evening. We began discussing the move in earnest: how we'd get our stuff moved out there, getting the townhouse ready to go on the market, family visits and whatnot. We decided to take an exploratory trip in the spring of 2013 to make sure that CS was just as good in practice as it is in theory. If we loved it, we'll get our physical and financial houses in order and move in 2014.

On Monday, I asked Bossman about my moving to another office and he said that there's already a precedent in place: a gent from the Ashburn campus moved to the CS campus a few years ago due to illness and family issues. Over the course of last week, Scott researched the city, reading articles and watching videos about the city and surrounding area. As of last Saturday, he was ready to move RIGHT NOW. We've got to finish the house upgrades, though, and check out the city before we do anything too rash. We've got to keep our heads, which for me is pretty hard.

Current Mood: mellow
Current Location: window cube

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The sniffle and cough shuffle

I appear to have succumbed to the New Year plague which is going around. I suspect the VP with whom I nearly collided while cornering a cube passed his cold to me. He was out Wednesday and, I suspect, yesterday. I can't confirm yesterday since I spent Thursday passing in and out of consciousness on the Red Sofa of AWESOMENESS. Today I am back in the cube farm playing the role of Typhoid Mary and stuffing tissues up my left nostril.

I am the epitome of class.

And of course today is the most gorgeous and warm day of this week. I really, really, really wanted to bike commute, but in my heart of hearts I knew that would put too much of a strain on my compromised system. Hopefully I'll feel well enough to take advantage of the beautifully warm weather tomorrow. I'm also hopeful that I can bike down to Vienna for the BikeMeDC Winter Cycling seminar meet-up on Sunday. It looks like the previously-forecast rain will hold off until evening or completely pass to the south. Either is fine with me.

In a weird collision of fate, both my youngest brother and I mentioned immigrating to Melbourne (Australia, not Florida) to our mother last night. My plan is much more of a pipe dream -- if one can call studying the Australian immigration, customs, animal quarantine [only 30 days for healthy animals and not six months], and real estate web sites pipey -- than my brother's. Johnny has dual citizenship going for him and he doesn't have nearly the amount of stakes to pull up that Hubbyfink and I do. He's trying to figure out what to do after he graduates next(?) year and I've got a case of the wanderlusts again. On the upside for the 'fink and myself: both of our employers have offices located in Melbourne. In fact, one of the engineers with whom I regularly work is there...

Current Mood: indescribable
Current Location: window cube

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travel: wanderlust

Wanderlust

It's pulling at me again. I've lived in northern Virginia longer than I lived in Heth, Arkansas, and I'm a year shy of equaling the entire amount of time I lived in Arkansas. I don't know where I want to go... "The west" keeps calling me. Perhaps the 'fink and I should explore.