Back in the world

A lot has changed (again) since my last blog post. Now I can say with certainty that I am a North Carolina resident and a Duke employee. For a while, it wasn't looking like either would be definite.

We arrived in town after a long week in the car, driving from Portland to Durham. My skin had pretty much blown up -- whether from getting cross-contaminated with gluten from something (looking at you french fries) or sleeping on scratchy hotel sheets washed in industrial-strength detergent. Most likely a combination of both. Deciding to eat chicken ended up being the smartest (and really probably only) decision I could have made. I literally lived on salads with grilled chicken from McDonalds and Wendys -- often twice per day. This will likely be TMI, but it's my blog, so I'll say what I like. How the hell do people on the Atkin's diet go to the bathroom? I was eating virtually all protein, eggs, chicken, with some iceberg lettuce and random fruit mixed in when I could find it. Granted, my sensitive digestive track requires more care than most, but by the end, going to the bathroom or showering could reduce me to tears from pain. It's going to be a LONG time before I want to attempt any kind of long road trip again.

When we arrived in Durham, things rapidly headed downhill -- our house we were so excited about was not ready to move in, it was disgusting, with an overgrown lawn, and tons of trash the previous tenants had left. The landlord was less than responsive. We had to stay in more hotels, virtually homeless. Working-class homeless as I called it. We would stay as long as we could until check out, then live in our car for the day, trying to keep Myrapup out of the heat, trying to find a new place to live, trying to take care of paying for all the deposits for utilities, all while not really sure where everything was located. It was stressful for all of us.

When it looked like we would have to make a hard decision (go stay with my parents, have Tim drive up to Mass while Myra and I stayed in an extended stay place, etc), when we really needed to find a place to live where we could get in immediately, we found a new home. And the tide turned again. The house is perfect for all of us. Really quiet (for Tim). Huge yard for Myra. Clean and well-maintained (for me). We have great landlords. We were able to move into the house a day after looking at it. It's furnished, which helps, because it is a lot bigger than what we had before. The stuff we don't want/need, we are putting in a storage shed, but for the most part, it complements our stuff well.

I found out from Campbell that it is a no -- for now. They really like me and want to talk to me if another position opens up, they said it's just not the best fit for this particular consulting group, and honestly, I had got that feeling from the consultant who heads up that group. So I am a Duke girl now. I might keep job searching, who knows. But at least I have a job, and our life can settle and we can find a new normal now. Trust me, just sitting here, blogging, with my boy and my pup in the next room, knowing we don't have to be anywhere, is a most welcome slice of heaven right now.