May 20: The Beginnings

And so the process of moving back to Texas begins.  My goodness...there are so many decisions to make.  Where to live, how to move, what to keep, what to sell, and the list goes on. 

 

October 24: iSL Move

One of the things I was charged with when I started this interim position in iSL was to reevaluate the utilization of space.  For me, I looked at each office and the functionality of it currently and its potential.   This week we started the moves.  There was be lots of shuffling on Tuesday and today Thursday.  Almost every office but one student space was impacted.  It's a lot to explain, but one of the biggest changes was that my large (300 sq ft) office was converted to a conference room and the conference room (150 sq ft) that acted more as a storage space was converted into my office.  I'll post before and after pictures, but for now, this is what Thursday consisted of.  Here are the moving staff moving the conference table upstairs, and Greg putting my desk back together (after I moved it around ummmm, few times...it's hard to decide a permeant location for a desk). 

Weeks of Whirlwinds

It's crazy to think that two weeks ago tomorrow (Friday) my sister flew into Austin to begin the adventure to Georgia.

I went down to Austin a little before her plane was to arrive in order to meet up with Trey (former colleague) and Dave (former supervisor). It was great to visit with them and I can't wait to fly into Austin for my Waco visit and (hopefully) get to see them.

There isn't a trip planned yet, but probably sometime this semester.

Anyway...after visiting with the two of them and finding out my sister wasn't going to get in until later than expected, I headed to my favorite coffee shop. A few hours later, we were headed back to Waco.

Saturday we hung around the house during the day and went tortilla tossing that evening; yes it's true, I had not yet been tortilla tossing (final thing to check off the list)

I had mixed feelings about tortilla tossing. 1. it's a tradition, so you must do it. 2. it's a waste of food. 3. the ducks will at least benefit. 4. it's a tradition, right?!

Anyway, my feelings of my own wastefulness (and our bag of 10) were soon out-shadowed by a group of 10 young women. They each came out with a bag of 50 (one or two each). This was the display from their tortilla tossing experience, and by the time I snapped this, there were already an equal number in the water on the other side of the bridge.

Sunday we went to church, then met up with Sarah for some cafe cappuccino action. Sarah had already met my sister when Sarah and I made a trip down to Portland after NASPA last year :)

My sister is a tea snob. She LOVES tea, and well...they gave her a gallon of it at cafe cap! None of us had seen it come in this fashion before.

Sunday afternoon we went to the pool. It was a wonderfully relaxing time! My sister hadn't seen the sun in ages (as she's from the pacific northwest).

Sunday night we met up with Megan for some dinner and dessert. We went to a few places looking for starbucks ice cream...no luck. But we did find some fantastic alternatives.

Monday, we packed the uhaul with the help of some peeps (Thank you Tim, David, and Megan; we couldn't have done it without you!). Then off to the airport to pick up my dad.

Side note: I have been so blessed during this move. Many people have helped in some way or fashion. For example, I had TWO people offer me their cars to tow the uhaul. Since one car already had a tow-hitch, it was the winner of the trip to GA. Thank you Shelton! That alone saved me about $800. Again, amazing. God provides in big and small ways!

Monday night we had dinner at my favorite Mexican food place, altos de jalisco and coffee at CG. This was a wonderful time for my family to interact a few of my friends...and for me to say goodbyes.

Thus far everything seems to be going as planned.

But what's a move without some drama, right?!

Well, Monday night, we go to hitch everything back up and notice that the running lights on the uhaul aren't working. Great. So I call the uhaul emergency number and they send someone out. It was actually pretty quick, however, at almost 10pm when you have to be on the road by 4am, nothing is ever 'that quick'. At a little after midnight, the uhaul mechanic had gone through a few cigarettes, a trip to Wal-Mart for a tool, had redone the wiring, and finally had the running lights working.

We were off to take naps (as you can't truly constitute a few hours of sleep as anything more) for the 3am wake up. We were up at 3ish and packing the final items by 3:45. At 4:30am, we were pulling out of the parking lot.

But again, things can't be that easy. As I drove out of the lot, there was a sound.

Oh it was a bad sound. Like metal on metal.

Thinking it was the uhaul again, I began to mentally curse the uhaul shop that rented me this POJ (piece of junk). As we pulled into the gas station, my dad decided to run alongside the uhaul and listen for the noise.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be the uhaul but rather the vehicle. Knowing that Shelton had recently replaced his front breaks, and not knowing what was wrong, we headed to his house to see if we could figure out what was wrong.

So at almost 5am, we were knocking on his door.

After a few trips around the block with the uhaul, it was certain it was the back passenger side and that something was rubbing. They (my dad and Shelton) unhitched the uhaul and raised the vehicle to look at the back breaks. After comparing both sides they realized that whoever did the breaks last (prior to Shelton owning the car) had not replaced the bolt that held the caliber in place, thus when I stepped on the breaks (with all the extra tow weight) the caliber would get thrown forward and rub against the inside rim.

Wow.

Easy fix, right? Just go get another bolt.

So we hung around until 7:30 when auto places opened. Had some breakfast, and waited more. At 7:25, they headed off to get the bolt. At 8, they were back, but unfortunately, with the wrong bolt. So they were off, again. At 9:30, I called my dad to see what was taking so long. Apparently, neither auto place had the right bolt, they tried an auto pull place with no luck, the chevy dealership could get the part in 4 days, so headed back to the auto place to get the most similar size bolt. Nervous.

But it worked, and at 10:30am, we were on the road and headed for Georgia. Only a six hour (ish) delay.

Tuesday we drove to Moody, AL and arrived in Georgia on Wednesday around lunch. WOOHOO!

All in all, once we were on the road, we had no hiccups. And besides, what's a good moving story without some drama. Ha.

More updates to come!

Extra Expenses

Moving is expensive. There are direct moving costs, Uhaul trailer, gas, hotel, etc. There are also indirect moving expenses like new cleaning products that you got rid of to make space, or a behind the toilet space saver because your new bathroom is going to be 2x2. Undoubtably there are also the fees for school, which is understandable. However, there are also hidden fees and expenses that one doesn't budget into their plan.

Now, I have been blessed. I have only had to purchase 2 boxes, wardrobe boxes to use in my transitional home. Otherwise, I would have been completely supplied with all the boxes I needed (I've accumulated them over the years).

So what are these unexpected fees, you might ask?!

Well.

Oil Change

Tire Rotation

Other car related concerns

Dentist Appointment**

Dr. Visit***

Parking Permit

And other miniscule costs that add up

**Today I went to the dentist. Afraid I may have a cavity in my front lower tooth, I scheduled an appointment before I headed out to Georgia (and lost my dental insurance). So today, she did a cleaning (yay) and even deep cleaned with a waterpik. This of course...not in the budget. AND...after 29.8 years of a clean bill of health, I mean, teeth, she found...cavities. I was in shock. AND, none of the cavities were in the place I thought. :/ She tried to comfort me by saying these are small cavities, the kind little kids get, they aren't really a big deal. No comfort.

On top of that, in talking with a friend who also has thyroid issues, she says her doctor told her to talk a calcium supplement because 1. people with thyroid problems don't metabolize calicum as well and 2. your thyroid can decrease your amount of saliva resulting in less ability to fight cavities...grrr...dentist agreed.

And, to make matters worse, the dentist can't get me in before I leave. So, I'm stuck. My options are...

1. Try and find another dentist here (in the next two weeks) that will fill the cavities

2. Cobra for a couple months so I can get them filled in GA

3. The University has a dental office on campus, after calling them, I found out student insurance doesn't cover basics. However, they said they would work with me to make it as affordable as possible (ie: small cavity may be able to be cleaned & sealed, which is cheaper).

4. Pay out the wazoo for dental care. Boo.

None of these options are great. Anyone have any other suggestions that I haven't thought of?

***Tomorrow I'll be heading to my general practitioner to get immunized. Fun. After thinking I was in the clear, I took a closer look and realized that I need a TB test (for sure) and maybe a tetanus (10 years is up in Aug 2011).

Additionally, if you were born in 1980 or later (great...just make the cut) you have to have a chicken pox vaccine. WHAT?! Well, fortunately, I've had the chicken pox...right, so no vaccine. Not totally...instead, I get to go in for a titer, where they test to see if I've had chicken pox. In some cases, if the chicken pox weren't severe enough, you have to get the vaccine. Crazy.

So all this to say, my indirect expenses for moving & starting school have increased. Not to mention the stress of trying to get all these things done in the next week and a half is adding unwanted stress.

Deep breaths.

Yes, sometimes I talk to myself :)

Office Hours

It's hard to hold normal office hours when your office looks like
this. I can't take much more of the chaos. I don't know about you, but
I'm one that if my home (and preferably also my office) are organized
and clean, I can take on the world. But right now, I'm fighting the
disaster...and it's winning.

Praise!

Moving across the country (or world) can be a stressful ordeal. There is usually a laundry list of things to do prior to moving. Here are some of the things on my list, in no particular order.

Get boxes

Sort through everything I own!

Pack

Move (to another apt on campus)

Look for roommate

Find apartment

Choose which large items go to Athens with me

Have a garage sale (this Saturday!)

Plan move

Rent moving trailer

...and another laundry list of things to get ready for school. Anyway, I had been looking for a roommate for awhile with little success. I had even become started looking online for a roommate. Yes, it's probably a bit like online dating only MORE commitment. If you agree to 'be with them' you're committed to a lease...for a year. There were plenty of 19 year old females who wanted to be my roommate and even a 46 year old male. He didn't make the cut, he's a smoker.

After lots of thought and prayers I decided to look into on-campus housing, at least for my first year. The prices were decent enough but come with the perks of proximity to campus, cable (although I don't want much TV), internet, water, garbage, etc. Although it doesn't include electricity, they own their own meters and so electric is a reduced rate.

However, after calling UGA they seemed to think all their apartments had already come available and been spoken for. They simply told me to watch, wait, and stalk the site for openings. As luck would have it, an apartment became available later that day...but alas, when I went to claim it, the site said no records found.

So I did what any sane individual would do, I kept refreshing the page over and over again in hopes that my fate would change. It didn't.

The next morning, I called UGA at 7:07 my time. After stating my plight, the man on the other end said that the system only refreshes itself so often and someone must have snuck in and nabbed it before I did. Okay, well, he didn't say it quite like that but close.

After going about my morning and talking with a colleague about it, we devised a plan. I was going to ask my family to stalk the site as well as have some of my students keep an eye out.

Unfortunately, my plan did not get implemented.

An hour and half after having the conversation with my colleague I was online and securing my spot in UGA campus housing. Thank you Lord! It was the price I was looking for, has carpet, and is on the first floor.

Again, thank the Lord! What a blessing to have this item off my checklist.

I will be moving into my new home on July 14th.

Packing (stage I)

Well, it's begun. In July I will transition to Georgia to begin my PhD (stage III (ish)). But for now I begin stage I, packing to move to my temporary Baylor apartment. On May 16th I will be moving I to a temp spot until I leave in July. This is necessary in order to start construction for the new faculty in residence apartment and other renovations. So why am I starting to pak already, you might be asking?! Here is a run down of events leading up to the end of the school year.

May 11th: end of year celebration that my committee has programmed
May 12th: building closes at 6pm for student not graduating
May 13th-16th: perform end of year closedown responsibilities
May 16th: move with assistance from Baylor movers hopefully :) and
make sure all closedown items are done!
May 17th: leave for Cabo!

And no I'm no joking about Cabo. :) it's going to be great. However,
there are so many things o do in closing down a building AND
additional things to do because of the construction that I'd like to
have all my personal packing done by May 10th.

Anyway...here's a picture from the beginnings of stage I.

it's official!

I'm moving...not far that is...I have decided to change halls for next year.  So, what does that mean...it means I'm packing boxes, my house is a disaster, and life is crazy.  However, I am excited about this move.  Granted, it isn't what I thought I'd be doing right now...yes, I thought I'd be moving, but not across campus.  So why the move?  Well, this building will be co-ed, which will be different than the last three year (with 500 freshman women) and it will be a mix of freshman and upperclassmen.  In addition, I will be able to work with a living learning community.  This is a community that lives together and takes classes together, two of which I will be teaching.  Yes, that's right, I will get to teach a class in the fall AND one in the spring!  WOOHOO!  Additionally, this living learning community is in leadership, which is what I want to be doing in the long run anyway...so that is very exciting.  ALSO, I know it may not seem like a big deal, but I will be working by myself.  No assistant hall director.  Now I have loved both Ssereta and Charity, but I am very excited to be running things by msyelf...but a little nervous at the same time.  :)  But only a little!

So...anyway, I just thought in the middle of my packing I'd stop and write a little note.  I will post pictures of my next place once I get in...which I'm not sure when that will be yet.  I actually don't have a move date yet either, but they like to give you a moments notice and since the current director will be leaving on Saturday, I am hopeful that I'll get in next week sometime...crossing my fingers! :)