As the end-of-the-year approaches, it really feels like events are rushing at breakneck speed in our life. This can be a good thing, but can sometimes feel a little overwhelming. Just this past week and anticipating next week are great examples...
Personal/Friend/Fun Stuff -
Friday (yes, Friday the 13th...) was my old friend John's 42nd birthday. This year has marked a significant turn in our friendship and I feel we are really, truly entering a new phase of sorts. If nothing else, I feel that we have begun to understand and respect each other more than we have in the past, which is very good. He and Brie (his wife) have been extremely supportive and helpful with regards to our entire move prep as well as helping with some of the "heavy lifting" we did this past weekend.
Anyway, I decided it would be a cool thing to take John to lunch for his birthday on Friday. I was actually in Pleasanton for an interview (more on that later) and Tracy was not that much farther, so I was able to combine the two things into one day. We went to one of John and Brie's fave sushi places, Bluefin Sushi, and spent a couple of hours talking and shoving as much sushi down our gullets as we possibly could. The next evening, Amy and I joined John and Brie - as well as another couple - for dinner at Kyoto Palace in San Jose. We promptly took over the table and pulled another couple sitting at the table into our party, which was fun. We then traipsed (traipsed? What the Hell is THAT?) over to Rock Bottom to enjoy a beer or two before calling it a night.
A VERY special thanks has to go to our good friends Ashely and Jason for coming to our place - after a last minute request - to hang out at the house with Little D. He was already asleep when they arrived, but it was soooooooo nice knowing he was in good hands so we could actually get a night out.
The Move: Phase One - COMPLETE
We have scheduled our move to Tracy into two distinct phases. The first involved us renting a truck on our own, loading it up with everything we could handle on our own without too much heavy lifting - although there never seams to be a lack of that at any point - and transport to Tracy. The second phase will involve an actual moving company coming in with their own truck and handling all of the heavy items.
Sunday - while still a wee bit recovering from several large Sapporo's and sakes - we were up by 6am/7am (thanks to a certain small someone...), got our truck, and started loading it up with all of the boxes we had been preparing for the past month. We were joined shortly by Scott and Renee (who is ready for little Logan to get himself out of her tummy!) and then John and Brie. All of the help really made the time go back quickly and before we knew it, the truck was loaded. An hour or so later, we were at the new house, unloading. The cool thing? Our immediate neighbors came over to introduce themselves and also offered to help unload! As we were unloading, another neighbor from across the street came over to introduce himself as well. I found this to be very cool and a very good sign that we have made the right choice, moving into a great, family-oriented neighborhood. The first neighbors even helped us get John and Brie's old refrigerator (which matches the other kitchen appliances perfectly) into the house and set-up. I think our revised gameplan for the time before the second phase will include some final pack-up and another trip on our own this coming Saturday, using the Titan and the RAV, to take some smaller items to simply get them out of the way.
I think my only complaint about Tracy so far is that we have yet to find a place that offers to make my meat/steak/hamburger rare...and actually deliver it rare. Listen, people: Rare is NOT just a lighter shade of brown; rare means bloody. rare means almost purple still to me. Basically, it should almost still be moving. Flip it over a couple of times and throw it on my plate. Don't impose your rules or personal taste on me, just give me my red meat the way I want it. Or there may be problems. Especially if beer is involved...
New Job?
Well...maybe. As I noted above, I was in Pleasanton this past Friday for an interview. The company is actually located there, which would be awesome because that is much closer to our new place than San Jose/Milpitas. I am actually enjoying my current new job, but I know that, for the moment at least, it is a temporary gig. This new position I interviewed for would be a regular full-time position. Too soon to really comment on in any great detail, but I am hopeful because I feel the interview went very well. Should know this week if I made the cut for the top two they are considering (I made the cut into the top seven to come in for an on-site, so we'll see...). Will let y'all know when I know anything new.
That is really pretty much it for the time being. This is Sloan's last week at her current high school, so I am preparing myself for some emotion. Amy will be taking something of a leave-of-absence from her current position to help focus her search on daycare and other things while we get settled, and I will have to jump into the deep end of commuting from Tracy to San Jose the Monday after Thanksgiving (unless I get into this new position in Pleasanton, of course...). All of that, continued move prep, daily responsibilities, both of us working again...sometimes I feel a little short of breath!
All of that said, I do have to give huge shout-outs to Scott & Renee, John & Brie, Jason & Ashley, and say a general "thank-you" to everyone associated with our Facebook accounts, etc., for all of their well wishes and support. It is awesome to know that we have people in our lives who think nothing about going out of their way to help out, even if it is simply expressing support. Each instance of that means a lot to us. So thanks!
S
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