First off, I did not get the children's librarian job at the public library in Washington, and informing my supervisor at the middle school that I was even considering applying for it basically sealed my doom with *that* job. Whoops. So here I am, a few weeks into the new year, without work and without classes to attend. And now, I have practically no belongings or home comforts to speak of!
I had asked the middle school to let me know by January 15th if they needed me, but then around the 10th I got a good talking-to from my sensible Roomie (that would be Diana Carroll, for those playing the home game) who convinced me that it was better to just make my decision regardless of the school - it was a done deal, and if they were ever going to call me up, it probably already would have happened. Why are our friends always right?? I gave notice to my landlord, set to work packing, and decided on February 13th as my move-out date. When I moved here originally, I sent everything through the mail, which was a pain in the ass, and the stuff arrived really erratically over a period of about two weeks. I was prepared to do the same thing heading back, but then I thought about getting a quote from PODS - their model is that they drop off a shipping container, you fill it at your "leisure" (which is a laugh in itself), and then they pick it up and deliver it to your destination. All well and good, except they quoted me over $4,000 and their fixed shipping schedule was wretched. Then a gal who lives in my building recommended a Hawai'i based company that loads up the truck themselves and ships everything together on a much more flexible schedule. Their quote was $1700, which is reasonable and doesn't involve me having to load everything into my car or into a shipping container all by myself. Works for me!
The movers came yesterday and took away 30+ boxes, Finn and Niamh's kitty condo, and various other accoutrements. Since the apartment came furnished, I'm not sitting on the floor typing this, but it is a bit spartan - no art on the walls, for example. And I signed a lease to rent a beautiful house in a tiny little town called Indianola, which is in the northern part of the Kitsap Peninsula. Eamon and I will finally have a home together again!!
I'm going to try to make the most of these next few weeks that I have in Hawai'i. Certainly the weather is doing everything it can to make me regret leaving for the wintry Northwest, but if living away from Eamon for 2+ years has shown me anything, it's that home is truly where the heart is. I've made wonderful friends, I have some awesome memories and experiences to take away, not to mention a degree! But this is definitely the right thing to do, and I think I've known that in my gut for a while, even when I was considering staying a little longer for the middle school job. Not because I don't think Eamon and I can handle being apart, since we've obviously held up in the face of some pretty tough circumstances, but because I'd rather be with him :-)
The job search continues, but it will get easier to apply for jobs once I'm there and I can just show up in person to interview or ask about openings. All that's left to do now is enjoy the sunshine, say my goodbyes to everyone, sell my car, and send off some last-minute irreplaceable and fragile belongings that I didn't trust to the moving company, like my grandmother's Singer sewing machine.
This may be my last post to the blog in its current incarnation. Perhaps I'll change the name to "A Bear on a Peninsula" once I've moved ;-)
Aloha Hawai'i, and a hui hou!
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