![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Thus far, by some strange miracle, I am ahead of schedule on my moving preparations. As noted yesterday, my new address is completely nailed down. I have the numbers for all of the utilities to call in Orlando, and will start making those calls the first week of July. At the same time I will be contacting all of my current utilities and giving them my notice to cancel service and the address to send closing bills to. Reservations are made for the entire drive, and this morning I purchased Riff's plane ticket to come home at the end of the adventure.
On the packing front, I am making good progress. My dining room area is beginning to accumulate packed boxes, some furnature that is going, other furnature that is being given away, and some items that will be donated to charity. The linen closet (which had actually been filled with models) has been completely emptied, the hall closet is half emptied, and Ben's room is 80% emptied out. Thus far it looks like I am easily on pace with my goal to be able to fit the belongings I am taking into three linear feet on the truck. That's 3 x 8' x 9', or 216 cubic feet. I find myself playing mental games of Tetris, imagining how things will stack and interlock. All of my long range planning seems to be paying off.
As for Sara, I am pleased to report that she has been making some very good tactical decisions of late. Her employment focus has shifted to getting a job teaching in the Orange county school district. The state of Florida recognizes certifications from other states, so getting hired is not a problem. The first step is to submit her resume and other information online, which she has already done. Once the school district approves her as being qualified to hire (which should only take a few days) she will be free to apply for teaching positions anywhere in the district. The pay is slightly less that the Seattle school district, but higher than what she is making at the Disney store. She would still like to get a job working in the park, preferably as a part-timer on the weekends, so that she can continue to get the cast member discount. She also has two different people working with her to see if she can get a full time job in the park, but that has become a secondary option at this point. To her credit she actually talked to me at length the other day to find out how I felt about her teaching vs. working in the park full time, and what kind of schedule with Ben I would be comfortable with. She is notably not assuming that if I am working from home that means I am available to care for Ben 24 hours a day. I appreciate that, and I told her as much.
Meanwhile, my love life sucks. Of course it sucks in a completely different way than it has for the past several years. Oh, I have a girlfriend, and I love her madly, but I almost never get to see her and even when I do we are both pulling back in a subconscious effort to minimize the pain of our impending separation. I haven't written much about Kris here, mostly because I know she reads my journal and I haven't wanted to say anything that could be taken as some kind of passive-aggressive dig at her. Suffice to say I love her, she fits my life in a way that nobody else ever has, but implacable truth remains that I am moving to Florida in less than six weeks and she is not. Even if she did move with me, I am practical enough to know that it would be a recipe for disaster. Dealing with all of the changes involved with the move, plus getting Ben settled into a new school, plus figuring out how to make working from home full time work.... it's just going to take me a while to work through all of that. I hope that once I am settled in she will come out to visit. Of course I have a fantasy that she will come out and love it there, but that's pretty much a fantasy. We'll see what happens. One thing I have learned in life is the power of patience (which is pretty much what has kept Ben alive all these years). It took me a few years of getting to know her to finally be comfortable enough to get involved romantically, and perhaps it will take a few more years to work out where this romance is really going. Could be nowhere, or it could be an amazing journey that makes a 3,000 mile move look piddly. time will tell.
On the packing front, I am making good progress. My dining room area is beginning to accumulate packed boxes, some furnature that is going, other furnature that is being given away, and some items that will be donated to charity. The linen closet (which had actually been filled with models) has been completely emptied, the hall closet is half emptied, and Ben's room is 80% emptied out. Thus far it looks like I am easily on pace with my goal to be able to fit the belongings I am taking into three linear feet on the truck. That's 3 x 8' x 9', or 216 cubic feet. I find myself playing mental games of Tetris, imagining how things will stack and interlock. All of my long range planning seems to be paying off.
As for Sara, I am pleased to report that she has been making some very good tactical decisions of late. Her employment focus has shifted to getting a job teaching in the Orange county school district. The state of Florida recognizes certifications from other states, so getting hired is not a problem. The first step is to submit her resume and other information online, which she has already done. Once the school district approves her as being qualified to hire (which should only take a few days) she will be free to apply for teaching positions anywhere in the district. The pay is slightly less that the Seattle school district, but higher than what she is making at the Disney store. She would still like to get a job working in the park, preferably as a part-timer on the weekends, so that she can continue to get the cast member discount. She also has two different people working with her to see if she can get a full time job in the park, but that has become a secondary option at this point. To her credit she actually talked to me at length the other day to find out how I felt about her teaching vs. working in the park full time, and what kind of schedule with Ben I would be comfortable with. She is notably not assuming that if I am working from home that means I am available to care for Ben 24 hours a day. I appreciate that, and I told her as much.
Meanwhile, my love life sucks. Of course it sucks in a completely different way than it has for the past several years. Oh, I have a girlfriend, and I love her madly, but I almost never get to see her and even when I do we are both pulling back in a subconscious effort to minimize the pain of our impending separation. I haven't written much about Kris here, mostly because I know she reads my journal and I haven't wanted to say anything that could be taken as some kind of passive-aggressive dig at her. Suffice to say I love her, she fits my life in a way that nobody else ever has, but implacable truth remains that I am moving to Florida in less than six weeks and she is not. Even if she did move with me, I am practical enough to know that it would be a recipe for disaster. Dealing with all of the changes involved with the move, plus getting Ben settled into a new school, plus figuring out how to make working from home full time work.... it's just going to take me a while to work through all of that. I hope that once I am settled in she will come out to visit. Of course I have a fantasy that she will come out and love it there, but that's pretty much a fantasy. We'll see what happens. One thing I have learned in life is the power of patience (which is pretty much what has kept Ben alive all these years). It took me a few years of getting to know her to finally be comfortable enough to get involved romantically, and perhaps it will take a few more years to work out where this romance is really going. Could be nowhere, or it could be an amazing journey that makes a 3,000 mile move look piddly. time will tell.
