I can't believe it, but it has already been about a month since I rolled into town with a suitcase, cats and a dream. Wait, that was probably Walt Disney. I definitely had a suitcase and cats though.
It's remarkable how easy this move has felt. In comparing to our 2009 move to Seattle, this has been a piece of cake. I remember being totally stressed out constantly back then, feeling totally out of place with nothing familiar. It stayed that way until Simon was born a few months later, and at that point, I was just too tired to realize I was stressed. I suppose not being a new parent and having at least some familiarity with the area has a lot to do with the ease here.
But all of the circumstances make it easier. I'm not poor this time, finding a place to live was easy (even building a new house), and my Cleveland house sold in 48 hours. There just isn't a lot to really worry about here.
Settling into the new job has been relatively easy, too. That probably deserves its own post. It's the first job I've had since before Microsoft that feels "career stage appropriate." I feel like I'm being challenged, I'm learning stuff and it also appeals to my strengths. The products I'm working with have pretty fascinating problems, too. It's the combination of any business with an amusement park, zoo and aquarium. Being contract instead of full-time comes with some frustrations (lack of benefits or any-time access to the parks), but hopefully I'll convert at the end of the contract period.
We definitely haven't branched out a ton socially yet, but as you would expect, we haven't exactly had a ton of time to come up for air and actively seek out new opportunities. We basically see my BFF once a week. Although I did have lunch last week with coworkers, and the week before that had lunch with a friend who works for the "competition." The social thing will come around.
There's definitely no shortage of things to do. It's staggering. When the place you live attracts millions of people every year, there has to be a lot of stuff to do. We got Disney passes right away, and while expensive, we've really enjoyed using those. That's not really a new precedent, given the frequency that we used to visit Cedar Point, but it's really odd still visiting Walt Disney World parks for a few hours at a time, when the mood strikes. Last week we went to Epcot just to catch some live music, ice cream and fireworks. That's not a bad way to spend a weekday evening. You can do something vacation-like every day, but still sleep in your own bed.
So overall, things are going pretty well. There will be a little anxiety over the next six months around the house, banking more money for the down payment and what not, but I don't really anticipate any huge issues. We are digging it here.
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