Hey Y'all

Just trying that out...it's definitely a better contraction of 'you all' than the local "yu'ns" or "yi'ns". I'm not exactly sure where to put the apostrophe there, because spell-check counts "ya'll" as a word, but not the other two.

Anyways, no we haven't moved yet.  But we have some real and tangible details (well almost tangible). Last time I posted, I mentioned that we finally knew when we were moving, but not how or where. We now know for a fact that while the move will be paid for, we have to move ourselves.  Apparently the moving company that Hubby's new job uses laughed at him when he asked for a quote.  Something about not being able to arrange the logistics that quickly.  Welcome to our world.  Assholes. Geez, you'd think that they'd understand that I'm an internet celebrity and that they should do it for free in exchange for free publicity.  Regardless of their inconsiderate nature, we at least know now how.

I have been talking to a really nice realtor in the Atlanta area who sounds exactly like Paula Deen.  I was kinda disappointed when I saw her picture after we first talked and she looks nothing like her, but I can't really hold that against her.  We have narrowed our choices to a dozen or so places that look promising, but are just waiting to be able to see them before making a decision.  That's right.  Fitz and Hubby are going on a vacation! First one in five years.  Of course by vacation, I mean that we're going to a new city and being showed a ton of apartments in only a couple of days, but still! Usually when we get away, we visit parents, which is a vacation for no one.  And? We get a chauffeur! Well to see the places at least.

So Tuesday evening, we are driving to Baltimore and are staying with some friends....I am SOOOOOOO excited, because I haven't seen K or M for two years.  True, they're both lawyers, but I don't hold it against them.  Then, at the ass-crack of dawn, we're flying down to Atlanta (by way of Fort Lauderdale, Florida...what the fuck??), and spending the next 48 hours in the "Capital of the South", which Atlanta never was, but whatever.

Anyways, by the time we get back to the 'North' on Friday, we should have finally have the where.  Then we are finally set to actually pack up and move.  Now if you'll excuse me, I have to start prepping for tomorrow's excursion.  Both animals are going to the vet for check-ups and then I'm driving around for an hour or so to see how the cat does in the car.  Hopefully, all involved will survive.

Unpacking

Yes, you read the title right.  So does this mean that I am now living it up in the ATL? Nope.  You'll notice how long it's been since my last post when I confirmed that we were moving and moving quickly.  16 days.  Until Tuesday, we didn't even know things like Hubby's salary and benefits because the contract hadn't officially come.

If you'll remember two weeks ago, I said that we should have the official contract by the end of the week.  Well we didn't.  And no one could tells us why it hadn't come, but it'd be there by the end of the next week.  Rinse and repeat.  Turns out, like all good bureaucracies, there is only one person who is allowed to send out the contracts.  And that person? On vacation.

Anyways, Tuesday we got the contract.  Or rather Hubby's advisor got his.  Which is a start and allowed us to confirm what we already knew and commit fully to the move.  Only we didn't know exactly when the move would happen, or how we would get there, or where we would live.  You know, all the essential things you need to know for the move.

Today we confirmed when.  We'll be moving the second week of July.  Yes.  In a little under four weeks.  Nothings packed, no notices have been given, etc.  We know that the move will be paid for, but don't know if we'll be doing it ourselves, or if Hubby's new employers will move us.  Either way, it's time to clean house.

If you remember back a year ago, we went on a spree reducing our books, dvds, and video games.  Well, the dvds and games were sold on ebay, so there gone.  The books were sitting on the floor in what we call 'the other room'.  Meaning it's NEVER had a use.  Sure, it stores our router and printer, and the closet is overflowing with a ton of electronics, cables, and boxes that I don't even want to think about right now.  Also, by sitting? I mean spread out so that you could easily see every single book.

Notice I  used the past tense there? I finally boxed them up.  Today. Yes, today.  This weekend, they'll go to the local library, where they will be recycled, because no one will want to buy or even borrow them.  But at that point? Not my problem.  Also, the clothes that I mentioned had been sitting in a basket for two years? they were still there until today.  Along with a (I shit you not) ALMOST TWO CLOSETS' WORTH OF CLOTHES.  See, we knew that the move was coming so we did try to whittle down our clothes and get rid of things we didn't wear anymore.  We actually emptied one closet completely, and condensed down to 1 1/2 closets with virtually everything we own hung.  We also emptied out two drawers in our three dressers.  Considering I never got the keen fashion sense that was supposed to arrive in the mail when I got my 'Gay Card', there is NO REASON FOR ME TO OWN THIS MANY CLOTHES.

Anyways, I packed up all the clothes in trash bags to take to Goodwill this weekend.  TWELVE FRICKIN' TRASH BAGS. Are you kidding me? And yes, I went through it again, just to make sure.

When we first moved from to our current place, 4 years ago, we kept all the boxes.  Just in case we moved again, and would need to find boxes in a hurry.  Most of these are boxes that were shipped to the retail store I used to work at. Very beat up. But we kept them, because moving is expensive and I'm fine using crap boxes.  Although now we're either being moved, or being reimbursed. So I might as well get good boxes.  I also bought a grill when we moved here. And kept the box (full of trash) in the basement.  I was going to deal with it later.  Which was today.  Actually, I took an entire car's worth of boxes to the recycling drop off and got rid of them.

I feel very accomplished with my actions today.  I even contacted the landlady to terminate our lease.  Of course as of right now, that means that we're homeless at the end of July.

We now know when we will move, have a very good idea of how we will move, but still don't know where we will move to.  Considering that with our current time frame, they will not pay for us to house-hunt (not that Hubby can afford to take any days off of work before the move), we will probably be renting a house sight-unseen.  Fortunately, my parents are friends with a realtor in the DC region who is putting me in contact with some people in the Atlanta area.  And he knows the time frame we are looking at.  If possible, we might dip into savings for me to fly down and look at the top places we are considering.

And in case you were wondering, both animals are freaking the crap out.  They don't know what's happening.  Calvin at first thought it was fun, but he's now avoiding me, despite being offered treats.  Zoe just looks like she's about to die from misery.  And there's still a little under four weeks.

It's going to be an adventure.