Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Lesson #1 - Transition

So since watching a movie last night, I am somewhat inspired to begin a new chronicle of sorts about my journey of transition. Sounds like such a deep thing, but really all that is in my life right now is transition. But on the deeper side, it seems that all your life is transition anyway. So I guess I am writing about life. And I am starting it with my life transition from Seattle to Portland which probably began about five months ago…

Basically, to set it up my boyfriend somehow convinced me to move to Oregon where he is from so he could go to school in Portland. Since I happen to be crazy about him, I agreed. It’s been a less than easy road.

List of challenges so far:
  1. Decided that quitting my perfectly good job in Seattle in the toughest economy since the year I was born was a good idea.
  2. Even with our insanely detailed cleaning job, my previous landlord withheld all of our deposit of $2500. (Who even does that sort of damage? Not four single women!)
  3. Slept in a room with no windows for a month while all my stuff sat out in a trailer in front of the house I was staying at. The mailman wrote me threatening letters claiming I was blocking the mailbox. He probably needed the exercise. Oh and there were cats, which I have come to realize I am allergic to.
  4. Family was slightly hesitant at first to be supportive. Although, it has shaped up and I am very thankful for their encouragement and support.
  5. Lack of much response from the multitude of jobs I applied to. And the few interviews I had provided absolutely no bites. Talk about blow to your self-esteem. Repeatedly.
  6. Changed the phone number I had for over 10 years to a new local number to hopefully boost response from the jobs I applied to. It was a sad day. And I don’t think it helped.
  7. Had several companies say they really liked me, they just either weren’t hiring right now or only hiring internally. Ouch.
  8. Whole Foods and Nordstrom flat out denied me. Still wondering why.
  9. Finally moved into a place but with a roommate I didn’t know. It was on the stressful side getting actually physically moved in. And is on the slow path of actually getting to know each other.
  10. Don’t really have any friends here in my new city. Now don’t get me wrong, who doesn’t like tons of quality time with their boyfriend? All I am saying some new faces in the mix might fill the community sized hole in my heart.
  11. Wish it was easier to find a church. How are you supposed to find a church in a new city, especially in one that doesn’t really like church? Yelp and Google Search have been, unfortunately, no help.
  12. My car reached 100,000 miles, got broken into, and the battery completely died. Oh and I keep forgetting to replace the burnt out light bulb in the back.
  13. Had to venture to the doctor with no health insurance. I was sure it was cancer, my doctor was sure it was heartburn. He was right. Thank you Prilosec.
  14. The kitchen ceiling in my new apartment began leaking this brownish orange liquid. There now are 3 large holes in our kitchen that my landlord seems to be dragging her feet to fix. It’s been over a month. Oh and our refrigerator doesn’t close all the way. Yea for lukewarm milk!
  15. And last but not least, I hate my credit card. Mostly the debt that has been accrued on it since I started this little transition. I just love that hanging over my head.

Like I said, it has not been the most pleasant journey. Although the sun has been shining a lot this summer and I can walk to the mall. And the fact that I think Portland might just be a cool town. Well, once it accepts me and gives me a sweet job and some friends. Until then I hope I don’t have to add too many more items to the list above.

2 comments:

  1. 3.) I lived in that same room with no windows until I was 15. It was wonderful to me, but I'm sure not so wonderful when none of the things in the room were your items. I'm sure you had an awesome roommate sleeping in the room next door, and I'm also sure that despite the allergies, the cats were probably pretty awesome to be around... ;)

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  2. I'm sorry you had to suffer through 15 years of living in a room with no windows. And unfortunately you are wrong about the cats, they were not awesome. However, the roommate next door wasn't bad. :)

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