One week

Only one week to go until it's my last day of work and the adventure begins. It feels like the week is going by at the speed of a flock of mall-walkers.

Eye on the prize!

This past weekend was my last weekend living in New York city. A couple of friends were up from Baltimore so I spent most of my time with them. Friday I got out of work at 1:00 and proceeded to drink until 3:00 in the morning. Saturday I woke up and was reminded why I gave up drinking all those times. Sack of bricks, meet my stomach. But because it was my last weekend here, I soldiered through it and went out again that night. We were all home and exhausted by 1:00, lamenting about how old we'd gotten. Appreciate the carefree drinking of your youth, kids. It's temporary.


Sunday I met my friend Cara's newborn baby Rogan. I love newborns; they're just so tiny and innocent (and don't talk back). By the time I left her place I was overflowing with the desire to to settle down and start a farm of babies. Luckily, a marathon of 16 and pregnant was on which quickly counteracted any maternal urges I was experiencing. 27 hours of labor?! How do you not give the kid dirty looks for the rest of it's life?

All in all, it was a great weekend. I saw old friends, I realized (again) why alcohol is the devil, I held new life in my arms, and I realized the importance of refilling my birth control. And 10 lbs later, my mind is clear and I'm back on the prohibition wagon. Now I'm counting down each second of each day until freedom. By no means do I think that everything will be perfect once we're there. I'll miss my friends, and the accessibility of everything in the city. But fresh air, clear blue skies and a house of our own sounds pretty damn appealing right now. And after last year there was no way I was enduring another northeast winter. No. friggin. way.

The plan is that I'll move out this weekend, stay in philly until the weekend of the 16th, trek down to Baltimore to stay with friends for a week then fly to Greenville on the 21st and hang out until Chris gets there on September 2nd. Of course, like everything else in my life, that is subject to change daily. I didn't want to stay in Philly with Chris for all of August because a) China town smells awful, b) he lives with 5 strangers and c) he doesn't have cable. So yes, my entire travel plans are basically built around wanting to sit on a couch and watch television for hours (without smelling hot fish). But I can't wait for us to finally be playing house together. I think our laid-back personalities (and seperate bathrooms) will make it a relatively painless transition. And conveniently, there is a shed out back for when he misbehaves.

Slow down, life is waiting

This NY Times article does an excellent job summing up how I've been feeling about life lately

Excerpt:
We need to reduce the speed limits of our lives. We need to savor the trip. Leave the cellphone at home every once in awhile. Try kissing more and tweeting less. And stop talking so much.

Listen.

Other people have something to say, too. And when they don’t, that glorious silence that you hear will have more to say to you than you ever imagined. That is when you will begin to hear your song. That’s when your best thoughts take hold, and you become really you.

Signs from the Universe

The day I decided to quit my job and move down south I received this Note from the Universe.

You are the right person, this is the right time, you've paid your dues, you're thinking the right thoughts, you're doing the right things, and this very moment, you are exactly where you're supposed to be... poised for the happiest time of your life.

Dang, Zina!

The Universe

Talk about signs...

Early Retirement

I like to say that this move down south is my early retirement from Corporate America. Of course, I'll eventually have to get a new job. But for now I'm going to live off my savings and focus on doing things that I wasn't able to do with the distractions of working. So I've made an in-progress list of things I want to do during my "retirement".

Retirement list:

• Learn Spanish
• Go white water rafting
• Volunteer at an animal shelter
• Volunteer at a hospice
  
• Foster an animal
• Build a house with Habitat for Humanity
• Do a cleanse
• Apply to school (write essays, request transcripts, take GRE etc.)
• Buy a bike (and use it)
• Turn our house into a home
• Submit jokes to late night shows
• Read 20 books
• Donate to Goodwill
• Find the gays - befriend them
• Throw a dinner party
• Grow a garden
• Learn to cook (better)
• Write a business plan (top secret project)
• Give up bottled water
• Lose 10 lbs
• Take a road trip to New Orleans
• Get South Carolina driver's license
  

New York I love you, but you're bringing me down

It's time to dust off the ole' blog. A lot has happened in the last few months.

Chris and I had been dreaming about moving to California for almost a year. But I don't think either of us realized just how huge of an undertaking it would be. How do we get out there? What do we do about transportation once we're there? Where do we live? What do we do for work? How do we choose where to live if we don't know where we're working? What if we don't find work? Etc. etc. It seemed like there were more questions than answers. There was no clarity in sight. I felt like no progress was being made. Like I would be trapped in the northeast jumping from one mind-numbing corporate gig to another for the rest of my life. I didn't want to move up the corporate ladder, I just wanted to jump off it.

I felt like the LCD Soundsystem song:

New York, I love you

But you're bringing me down

Like a rat in a cage

Pulling minimum wage

New York, I love you

But you're bringing me down

On top of that, there was the whole issue with insurance. It was a waiting game. When would they approve the dental procedure? My lease was up Aug 1st, and I needed to know what to do. Sublet an apartment for a month in hopes that it would be approved? But what if it turned out it wasn't approved...then I'd be stuck here another month. And so my life continued to be consumed by questions. I knew I had to either make a real exit plan or just resign myself to the corporate life for another 4 years (or more).

But option 2 wasn't an option at all. I'm not the type who can pretend. If I'm not happy at a job, I can't convince myself to just suck it up. And it's not fair to my employer to have an employee who just doesn't care about the work they're doing.

To be clear, I am grateful to have a job. I know there are millions of people who are unemployed and desperate for work. But I don't believe that just because there is a recession you should stay at a job that makes you unhappy. Especially if you have the means to get out. Because I made a good salary at my job, I was able to save money each month. Eventually that money added up to the point where I felt comfortable giving up stable income, at least for a few months. My mother always told me to save, save, save. And that advice has never been more true than the last year.

At first I thought I'd just stick around for another month. I saw a few apartments and found one that I really liked. But something stopped me from jumping on it right away. Finally I decided I'd take the apartment and contacted the guy. It was already taken. At first I was sad.The apartment had been perfect. Then I started to realize that maybe, just maybe, this was a sign. A sign that I wasn't meant to just "stick it out." Maybe it was time to just GO.


So Chris and I talked, and talked and talked and by the end of the conversation we had a plan. A plan that had eluded us for so many months. We realized that we had an opportunity to get the escape that we wanted, it just happened to be in a different state than we'd planned. After 3 decades spent in the northeast, my mom packed up and moved to South Carolina a couple years ago. Then, a year ago, she bought a second home to rent out. Luckily the tenant she was considering fell through. So that is where we will live, for now at least. It's a 3 bedroom house with a huge backyard where we can stretch out and play house. The rent is low so we can afford to live off our savings. The town has a bustling downtown so we don't have to give up our social lives. And the economy is good down there so hopefully we can find jobs (eventually). And there is no crazy landlord, security deposit, upstairs neighbors, or obnoxious roommates to deal with. Even if we don't stay there long, it is the break that we need.

And suddenly things are going rapid speed. I quit my job on Monday. My physical results came back and they were perfect. My dental procedure will happen on the 28th (the insurance company finally approved it). I move out of New York on the 30th and will crash on a friends' couch for the last 2 days of work. I timed my last day of work so that I will have insurance for all of August, in case there are any dental issues. Chris will quit his job in mid August and as of September 1st he'll be ready to go. We're not sure yet if I'll fly down ahead of him and get stuff ready or if I'll live in Philly for the month and drive down with him. All we know is we're going. It feels amazing to finally have an exit plan. Coworkers and friends have been very supportive and happy for me. This just feels right. New York, I love you, but I'm ready to move on.

Quitters always win

I'm quitting my job in a week. I just thought you should know.

Details to follow.