So Many Changes!

So I quit my job last Friday because I accepted a new one at McCann. I can never seem to just tackle one major life change at a time. I get married, I get a new job. I buy a new house and move, I get a new job. I'm really excited about my new job. The people seem really great and excited to be there. An increase in pay is always welcome, particularly when you have a new mortgage and renovation expenses looming in the distance. Decrease in frustration with current job- priceless. I do feel like I'm leaving my teammates in a lurch, but they need to fix the problems and it doesn't seem like they are going to do that any time soon, so the company will just keep losing people.

This past weekend, we went shopping a bought a big dining room table that seats 10. It's massive. We weren't planning on buying a new table, but Renovation Hardware had a really good sale, so we bought it. Kind of a big impulse purchase, I know. We also ended up going to the annual Alameda Peanut Butter Jam. It's a local music festival that had a women's Japanese Taiko Drum troupe, so we invited Show and the Schneiders to join along. We made it for the end of the performance and then Maika and Kaori demonstrated their skills on the Taiko. What was kind of funny is that none of the drummers were Japanese- they were all caucasian. It was still an enjoyable afternoon outside in Alameda hanging out with friends.

Since moving, I am noticing a few things that are different living in Alameda vs. SF. Living in SF, I used to see maybe 4 or 5 kids a day. Living in Alameda, I see dozens of kids everyday. Using public transportation in SF, you never knew when the bus was going to come. I have used the transbay bus 7 times now and it was only late once- 6 minutes. Every other time, it's been like clockwork. Also, I am writing this post as I am on the bus. How cool is that? Internet on a bus? For $3.50 per ride, I can get free internet vs. going to a internet cafe for $10 a day. Living in Alameda, I feel like I have more time after work. Living in SF, I felt like I had no time after work. Now, you might ask, if you have so much more time, then how come you aren't blogging more? Well, I guess that is because we have been doing a lot more stuff for the house. We refinished the hardwood floors, we got a new refrigerator, got internet, got cable, etc. All the things that come with moving. I expect that I'll have a little more time once we settle in a little more. Please ask me if I miss living in SF, but I don't really feel like I have left. I still go in almost everyday for work. I can stay in SF after work if I want to hang out. The bus home can be a little more cumbersome. We went home after dinner on Friday with Michelle and Mike at 9:30 instead of hanging out which is what I think we would have done in the old days. I'm going to bed earlier because I get tired from all the moving stuff and so I am also waking up a little earlier. I guess that's what happens when you move to suburbia.

We have met a few of our neighbors and they all seem to be SO nice. They have come over to introduce themselves and while we knew about Christmas being a big holiday. We were told that Halloween is also big. Apparently, since the street is known for being safe/nice, they bus kids in- so they told us that they ran out of 24 lbs. of candy last year. That's a lot of candy. We still have candy leftover from last year because only 3 kids showed up at our door in SF. They also told us that we have a reputation to live up to- the previous owner used to decorate the house like a haunted house with a spider coming out of the tree! So we have Jamie heading up our planning committee and Show as creative director- should be fun!

Home Sweet Home

So it's been a while since my last posting. As you can probably imagine, we were busy packing. It's been crazy busy. So I had an interview on Friday. I have not been looking for a job, but I have been pretty unhappy at work lately. It's been really frustrating because there is a lot of inefficiency and I have had to work a lot of long hours and weekends lately. Anyway, Nikki invited me to dinner with a few of her old work friends and I met this woman who told me that her client was Microsoft. I told her that I used to work with Microsoft and so she asked me what I did and asked me if I had consulting experience (which I did.) She said that she was looking for 2 people to hire and that she thought that my experiences might be what they were looking for. She sent me a job description and asked me to come meet with a few people in her office.

It was a really great meeting. I liked everyone that I met and the SVP that I met with is friends with 2 of my old coworkers from KSA. What a crazy small world. He seemed really smart and I had a great time talking with him. I spoke with 4 people and none of them had been with the company for more than 9 months. They all sounded really excited to be there.

So, we also moved this weekend. We are officially Alameda residents. The move was so painful. I'll have to tell you about it another time because we're still reeling from all the chaos. We were just lucky to have some good friends helping us. We are currently sleeping on the kitchen floor on our futon while we refinish the hardwood floors. Let the renovations begin!









We also have a little video that Edwin shot the night before our move. Enjoy!