Root Systems

Thanks for the enthusiastic support, folks! YOU GUYS ROCK.

I took last night off, and generally puttered around the house not doing much of anything. Tonight, after running errands I'll hunker down and read for a bit, in preparation for some of the comments I am anticipating from chapter one. I don't even feel anxious about it. Hell, even if he says I have to start all over, I am in such a better place to do that. More on that later.

I am going to try and do my weekly grocery shopping tonight, instead of on Sunday, as is my usual schedule. I am going to try this out to free up a considerable chunk of time from my weekend. I hope I have the willpower to use this time to work on The Thesis and not just sleep in. *sheepish grin*

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Yes, I am sick of The Thesis, but my new-found vigor in working on it has more to do with the things I am anticipating on the other side of a finished thesis and graduate degree. A. graduates in May, and he and I are starting to look at the next chapter in our lives. We are thinking of moving. I want to move without A Stupid Dark Thesis-Cloud following us, you know?

(Nope, still not getting married. Hee.)

I am keeping this quiet on the work front, but most of my family knows we are thinking of pulling up roots.

This is the first time I've moved with someone. It is really exciting, but also complicated. (DUH.) Both of us have to find decent jobs, especially because no matter where we move our cost of living is going to increase. We are not in similar fields, so finding a location that will have interesting career options for both of us is a bit challenging. Where I live is more important than the work I do, but I still need a job I feel good about and that challenges me. Right now, A. is anxious to get a job that he has been preparing for for so, so long and for him location is second on his list of priorities. This could get interesting.

So. We negotiate and we daydream and we make lists. We are in agreement of what we need and what we want. I am so, so thankful for that, and so grateful to be sharing my life with someone who shares so many of my values.

We have a list of five towns we are considering, with three more as Maybe Might Consider If Everything Comes Together Just So. For the most part, we've agreed to stay in the Rocky Mountain West: Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, and maybe, MAYBE, Utah and Idaho. (I am still campaigning for Oregon and Vermont to be on the list.) I am happy with that, happy that the mountains and rivers and streams that I love so dearly will always be close to me. Though, it also means my friends on the East Coast will still be far away and that is very hard for me.

I like where we live now, but A. has been here nearly 10 years and is very, very anxious to move on. The wind is driving us both crazy. Most of our friends have moved, as this little community is very transitory in nature. The job market here has always been terrible. But, as I mentioned earlier, no matter where we move our cost of living is going to increase, so we need to proceed carefully and deliberately. Here, we have 10 acres of land, and we are both very, very reluctant to give that up.

So, that is one of the things on my mind lately. But step one is getting the damn thesis out of the way. I am off to spend my lunch break in the library looking up urban planning articles specific to greenbelts. GOOD TIMES.

Happy Thursday to you!