Preparations & Anticipation

Today I received the official phone call offering me my new job at GSD&M and the information regarding my first day on August 6^th. As sad as I am about waiting even longer to be with Patrick and to visit my family and friends, I was still pretty excited after hanging up the phone. I guess I just want to clarify that since this is public and I don’t want anything from my last entry twisted in the wrong way and getting back to the company. If that is the case, then listen here, you leak: I will be a very enthusiastic, hard worker, and you don’t have any reason to doubt having hired me! :)

That all being said, as I prepared to stay in Austin for a little longer (which involved a $200 bill at HEB to restock my groceries- cringe), Patrick and his family spent all today finishing packing for their 10-12 hour haul to Missouri tomorrow. Unfortunately, the sofa and the guest bed are going to be left behind due to limited cargo space, but that leaves us with a great excuse to buy a futon when we get down there!

I’ll be spending tomorrow at my public relations internship, but Sally (Patrick’s sister who I’m living with) and I are going to be meeting them in Springfield on Thursday. (Which means we will be missing out on all the fun of unloading everything from the cars and the trailer.) I absolutely can’t wait!!! I think 12 weeks of not seeing each other has been quite long enough! Our visit will only be for a couple of days, but I’ll take what I can get, and I already know it’ll be fabulous.

Last day in Jenison

After a rousing weekend of good bye parties and stuffing myself at Olive Garden with the lovely Cassandra and Tyler, it's time to go. Today is my last day living in Jenison with my hetero lifemate, Brad :( . Tomorrow, Dad is coming up with the trailer to help cart all of my stuff down to Okemos and then that'll be it! I guess I should start packing...

Bittersweet Symphony

Well, I hate to sound so negative in my first entry, but I just got a temporary job at a nationally recognized, full service advertising firm. Darn.

I know I should be jumping up and down for joy, and I guess part of me is; otherwise, what point would there be in taking it? This job will get me noticed when my name is hidden among many others in a pile of resumes on a Springfield desk, and it’ll provide about $2,500-$3,000 to take with me to Missouri after a summer of no income.

Believe me, I am thrilled about both of those things. But after 3 months of not seeing my boyfriend, my family, or my friends (or my cat, dog, and the new pet frog in our backyard pond, for that matter), I am just reluctant to tack on another 2 months, especially when those 2 months are ones that I’m leaving Patrick alone in the apartment in a brand new city where he knows nobody. That would have been a fun and exciting situation if I were there too, but alas…

Maybe it sounds like I’m being dramatic- and maybe I am. After all, we’ll live and we’ll be a little richer and I’ll be a little more experienced. But:

1) I was surprised that I challenged myself to simply take the plunge for the first 3 months since I hadn’t ever been away from home for more than 2 weeks. They went faster than I expected, but I was excited that I only had 2 weeks remaining! How am I going to handle what turned into a 5 month absence?

2) When I first came to Austin, I was really depressed being away from everybody, and I hate knowing that I’ll be doing that to Patrick. That's especially difficult.

I know that at the end of these next 2 months, I’ll be happy I did it, but I guess for now, it's time to buck up and take it all, both the good and the bad.

Final realization...

Atalie may have come to this realization three months ago, but I'm a little slow. I just turned in my keys to the labs in the Geology Department and walked off the campus for the final time as a student. I had to sign up for a class to get on the payroll this summer so this is it. I just realized, as I was setting up my email address for Missouri, that I no longer have any privileges as a student or student employee. I'm really finished at Grand Valley State University and I'll be a visiting "Alum" from now on. A great place that has been my home for the last five years is no longer. Strange.

That's all I thought about it.
Missouri here I come!

Only a week...

It's only a week until the Uhaul departs from Wombleland at 0500hr. Crazy. Atalie might not show up until October, but we're really excited to get moved in regardless. Anyway- this is just a blog to record what's going on in our lives as we start afresh in a new place.