6:34 p.m. - 2004-05-09
sunny days are here again
Two weeks, hm?
It seems I�ve fallen off the diary-keeping bandwagon temporarily. Of course, I think we all know that it�s easier to write when things are shitty and you need a place to vent � and my, there�s been a lot of venting in this space over the year + it�s been around.
Things have been pretty good, all things considered. You know, it honestly feels odd to be able to respond to "How are you" with a "Pretty good" - and mean it.
I got a call about two weeks ago to let us know that our apartment back near our old offices had been rented � just in time for a May 1st move-in. This means that, as of May 1st, we had *not* three leases � *not* two leases � but ONE single, solitary lease. [The Pittsburgh lease finally expired on Apr. 30th.] This was fantastic news. Of course, our rent in Yuppie University Town here is now over twice as much as our Pittsburgh rent was a year ago. But it�s a hell of a lot cheaper than paying for three apartments, so our perspective is a little skewed now ;)
After that, we�re basically all squared away with moving expenses and the like, and we can now move on to concentrating on the future. My horoscope this month said that my career would take off like a rocket, and on Thursday I received an indication that they�re quite happy with my performance at work in the form of an excessively large bonus [compared to what everyone else in the company was told to expect.] It also appears, judging from the discussions I�ve had with my boss, that a promotion during the merit reviews this month within the realm of possibility even though I�ve only been FT since December.
All this on Thursday and Friday came coupled with the excellent news that SimSequel decided to offer Mayhew their other Assistant Producer internship. Now our little power foursome from undergrad shall be reunited in fairer weather! Of course, this means we�ll have to find a place for Mayhew and LakLak to live this summer, since we can�t really put them both up here, but we�ll figure something out. We got their backs, yo. And then a fabulous summer of board game geekiness and No Doubt concerts awaits!
Ira is also headed back to the West Coast, probably in the same city as us. He accepted a job with another videogame company that is reportedly working on a videogame for a ReallyAwesomeSuperHero franchise. Sweet. Did I mention we�d be geeking out this summer? Although Ira is coming out here permanently, so the geekery is not confined to the summer.
Meanwhile, Hunter and I have decided that we are going to use our post-project vacation time and try to go to Japan in the fall for two weeks or so. Very exciting. We�ll be fish out of water, but we are both very interested in going [POKEMON CENTER!!!]. I�m currently trying to find a decent travel agency and nail down dates. (I should really also get around to getting a passport and such�)
The family is still behaving. Kyle�s avoiding picking a career path so the college search isn�t exactly going well. The fact of the matter is that he wants to go to the same school I did. [And I wouldn�t discourage him, either.] Unfortunately, despite his straight A�s in school, his extracurriculars are nonexistent and his SATs to date are not hitting where he probably needs them to hit. Doug is waiting to hear back from C*N*N Boston about a potential fall internship, and I really, really, really hope he gets it, because he�s been working his ass off and I really think this is the next step for him.
The saddest thing to happen lately was the departure of Larn and Obi from the West Coast � but they�ll be happier in Pittsburgh, and we�re both happy for them. They never really liked California, and Larn was miserable at I*B*M. We�ll try to visit them as often as we can [at least once a year]. And I feel lucky that we were able to reconnect with them out here and reclaim that old friendship a bit. I hope we can continue that.
So that�s life at present. Finally I feel financially self-sufficient [being DINKs helps greatly out here] and I feel like I have power over the path my life is taking. Hunter and I are still, still together after all of this. We�re surrounded by dear friends. I love my job and the people I work with. We�ve been able to help some friends get internships and jobs recently. And things continue to look up. We�re very lucky.
All the best, and I hope I�ll start writing more here again soon.
