Final Reflections on January 2014

As most of you know, the beginning of January was a complete whirlwind for me. There was a lot of packing, cleaning, selling off surplus furniture, taking unwanted stuff to Goodwill, and seeing friends for a final fare-thee-well, all the things that make moving both so difficult and so stressful. It’s not easy to keep one’s sense of humor through it all, but I try to stay upbeat.

All too soon, our time in Dallas was up. We took off early on the morning of January 8 to drive across the country. Despite the fact that I had only the dog for company (the husband and I drove in separate cars), I really enjoyed the trip. With the notable exception of the portion of Texas between Amarillo and the New Mexico state line, the scenery was beautiful. I especially enjoyed the mountains outside of Albuquerque, which we hit at sunset that night, and the ones outside of Flagstaff, which we saw the sun rise with the following morning.

My first taste of LA-area freeway traffic was nerve-wracking but I took a friend’s advice to “just drive like a crazy person” and I did fine. Finding the apartment we’d snagged sight-unseen from Dallas was easy. Luckily, the place turned out to be great but, as I’d told my husband, it could have had an active meth lab in the living room and I probably still would’ve signed the lease at that point.

In the wake of all the stress, I felt exhausted until this past weekend. I’ve been keeping my pledge to ease into Santa Monica. I haven’t done a whole lot that’s exciting and I’m okay with that. I’ve been exploring the immediate area slowly, getting to know my new town bit by bit. There’s plenty of time to branch out into the surrounding area. Mostly I’ve been doing a lot of walking, sitting out in the sun, and reading. I’ve been doing a little writing as well. I try to get out of the house for at least a few hours every single day.

On the job front, I’m being really careful to only apply for things that truly sound interesting to me. I’ve put out two resumes so far. Today I heard back that I’ve made it through the first phase of the application process at one of those, a job with the city. I’m feeling pretty stoked about that. And as for friends, it’s honestly not something I’m all that concerned about right now (for once in my life; it’s kind of a relief).

That's my life these days. I'm footloose and fancy-free, so to speak, figuring things out and feeling pretty good about it in the process (I was kind of nutty the first week we were here but I've calmed down). No deep thoughts for me. If you're stopping by to read, why don't you tell me how the first month of the year went for you?