New Home Investigation

So, we go see an apartment this evening that, if everything works out, will be ours by late December or early January.  The previous tenant of fifteen years has just moved out, and the landlord and property manager are collaborating with us to gut the whole place, and potentially make a few changes to meet our needs — like a door on the kitchen because cats.

The place is on the far western border of the Cedar Park neighborhood, just north of Kingsessing and just south of Walnut Hill.  The house is between four and ten blocks away from at least three different friends (and hopefully many more potential friends).   We’d be close to two of my favorite cafes on the western side of the river,  within walking distance of a pretty impressive co-op, and we’d be served by Bennett Composting and Philly Foodworks CSA, if we so chose.  A quick walk and an even quicker hop on the green line trolley would bring us to our favorite local game shop, owned by a dear friend.  There’s a hidden gem of a bar immediately above an Ethiopian restaurant we adore within a mile of us, and all of Baltimore Ave will be our oyster.  We’ll also be a twenty minute train ride to the museums, and slightly more than that to see most of our friends on the other side of the river — a vast improvement on the current 60+ minute commute to and from the city.

Just as importantly, we’ll have a library and home office.  We’ll have a nice long, wide hallway for the boys to careen down ecstatically.  They’ll have more room to play, and so shall we.  Tom’s excellent dining room (and more often, gaming) table could come out of the attic.  We will have more functional vertical space.  We will have the space to make things.

My job prospects are pretty promising, and there’s a strong possibility my office will be located somewhere between “across the hall from the bedroom” and a 15-20 minute train ride away, or some combination in between.

So, here’s hoping tonight goes well!

 

A Moment to Collect Myself

The last three weeks have been insane and stressful with a real tough case of mixed bag.  It’s early Monday morning, and I’m hoping to collect my thoughts and embark upon another stressful week coming from a place of gratitude and excellence.

Things for which I am grateful:

My training is coming along nicely.  A few things developed outside of my control and so my certification date is likely the end of this month, but that is okay!  It will give me more time to study, make pretty flash cards with crayola markers, and play with use-cases before I take the exam.

I’m in touch with two recruiters already, and one of them seems especially lovely.

A path exists such that once I’m a certified administrator, I can move on to be certified in implementation, then development.  I like paths, and my capacity to pursue them independently.  I also like milestones on my journey!

A weekend day at Celia’s happened this Saturday, and was a lovely reset for my brain.  Looking forward to spending time with her and her family over Thanksgiving.

Tom is a wonderful, patient, and understanding man.  He also calls me out when I’m letting things get to me without calling my stress responses unreasonable.

I have great friends.

I have a date with a hot bath, cup of tea, nice pens and some training materials tonight when I get home from work.

We go to see what will likely be our new home, tomorrow after work.  In less than 8 weeks, we’ll be moving to West Philadelphia.  This is me breathing through the “eight weeks” part.  I’m so glad we own sensible furniture.  By volume, the majority of our possessions are books, and those box up and move pretty easily.

Holiday bonus time is approaching rapidly, and will be warmly and enthusiastically welcomed.

Things inevitably trend towards being okay.

So.  There’s all that.  Hey there, Monday.  Let’s dance.