March 14,2011

It's been more than 2 months since my last post, but for good reason. My last post was actually written on January 2, 2011 in Simi Valley, CA. This one is being written in Austin, TX. Why Austin? Well..

On January 3, I went in to work and was told that they were shutting down the Simi Valley office. I was one of the lucky few who was offered an opportunity to keep my job. My job, however, was moving to Austin, TX.

Wow.

OK, here were the problems:

• We just bought a house in November 2009 - When we bought our house, we got the $8,000 federal tax credit (which we applied to some great new windows). Unfortunately, if you sell the house within 3 years, you have to pay it back. Damn. We also did quite a few other upgrades (as I've posted here). Selling a house that quickly after buying it almost guarantees that you'll lose money.
• Mrs. splorp!'s family is all in California (mine is in Ohio, so we'd actually be closer to them) and she's never lived outside of California.
• We don't know anyone in Texas (excepting a great aunt in Ft. Worth and the few co-workers who were coming with us).
• Mrs. splorp! would have to quit her job and find a new one (while she wasn't incredibly fond of it, it would mean we'd have to carry a mortgage AND apartment rent with my income and her unemployment).
• We have a dog who will have to be caged during the day since we have to move into an apartment.

Sooo... 2 and a half months later... The house is in escrow. Should all go well, it should close by the end of this week/beginning of next.

Mrs. splorp!'s parents (and aunt) helped us pack and then her parents helped us drive out. I drove a 26' U-Haul (those things are friggin' huge) and Dave trailed me in his Tahoe. Mrs. splorp! and her mom drove the Fit. My car was transported out along with several other co-workers, so we didn't have to worry about that.

Mrs. splorp! got a new job - they even kick in towards her insurance (it's through my job). She really likes it and it matches her skill set very well. She also starts accruing 4 weeks of vacation starting day 1! Serious w00tage!

Our apartment is almost as big as our house (unfortunately, it's right next to train tracks). A co-worker has GENEROUSLY offerred her backyard during the day for Dart. Mrs. splorp! drops him off in the morning and I pick him up in the evening. Today was the first day we did it. When I got there in the afternoon, he was thrilled to see me. Much happier than he's been caged up all day.

I hope to add more details in the next week or so.

Below is Harley Quinn, our Green-Cheeked Conure.
We got him in June 2005.


Harley Quinn in November 2005

Below is D'Artagnan (Dart for short), our Chihuahua mix. He was Mrs. splorp!'s Valentine's Day gift in 2010. He was about 8 months old when we got him and weighed in at a massive 7 pounds of tail-wagging fury.

To the left, you’ll see Drusilla,
the Vampire Parakeet, named after
a character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
because she bit like a vampire.
She passed away on 12/20/04.