Happy Time!

(I hope you read that in the voice of 'Peggy' from the Capitol One commercials)

So much is going on right now, it's insane.  There was a storm last weekend and we lost cable and internet, so I have really been itching to write a blog and couldn't.  So be prepared, a LONG BLOG is ahead.  Jeff's thesis defense is in less than three weeks and we are moving the week after that - eek!  I have been frantically making lists and here are all of the things I've done in the past week:

-changed over our car/renter's/life insurance to Seattle
-opened a gas/electric account in Seattle
-paid our first month's rent in Seattle (these first three things were all required by July 13th to move in)
-had an in-home estimate with Allied Movers, cried a lot over how much they were ripping us off, then contacted three more movers and finally decided to just pack 'cubes' from ABF ourselves
-decided to drive our car cross-country rather than fly (saves us over $2k)
-picked up moving boxes and packing materials
-packed 9 boxes so far
-canceled our cable service (waiting to cancel internet) and dropped off our cable box
-submitted a paper and my protein structure for publication (see, I still do work!)
-submitted a patent for my research
-applied to graduate in December
-submitted a change of address form to USPS
-filed the last 2 years' worth of bills and such, and went through the filing and got rid of anything >7 years old
-donated a ton of books and DVDs to the library
-went through all of our stuff and got rid of a HUGE amount of crap; Jeff still needs to go through his clothes, but I have seriously gotten rid of the equivalent of 10 boxes worth of papers/books

Whew.  I also got a bunch of good news! 

Graduating
Since I have to be registered for the fall semester, I will have health insurance through my school (for free!) until the end of December.  Even better, all of the doctors I'm considering in Seattle are covered.  AND I will continue to be eligible for deferment of my student loans.  Also, there's a chance that I will be getting paid through October, because it would be cheaper for my boss to pay me than to to pay for my tuition, because I'm ineligible for tuition remission if I'm not on payroll.  Who knows what he will choose, but it will be thousands of dollars cheaper to pay me, so fingers crossed!  It's not like I make a ton of money, but it's definitely better than not getting a paycheck.  I'm still waiting back to hear from the graduate school, but I may wind up not being able to graduate until the following semester, which sucks for my boss but keeps me on health insurance and loan deferment for another 5-6 months, which would be pretty freaking sweet.  I am so close to finishing my thesis, too, which is great.  In order to satisfy terms of enrollment, I would be working on review papers and consulting with my lab members during the fall semester, something I can easily do while working another job (if I get one).

Job
On the job front, I'm still seriously being considered for my dream job, but I have to wait until we're in Seattle to have an interview.  The person in charge of hiring, Michelle, seems REALLY interested in hiring me so I am feeling pretty good about it.  I haven't really heard anything from the other guy (Barry) who was considering me, but I was surprised to have an e-mail in my inbox yesterday about a new position, so we will be talking this week and maybe that will be a good option too.  I think something is going to work out fairly quickly (thanks to Jeff's future boss, Toshi, for sending out my CV!) and in the meantime, it's awesome that I don't have to worry about insurance. 

Kitty
After three years of trying to find a home for our cat due to my allergies, we decided to take her to a shelter.  It was a really hard decision, and we couldn't get an opening at a no-kill shelter, but we finally got a spot at the MD ASPCA - they have a >80% success rate re-homing cats.  We took her to the vet yesterday and apparently she's in excellent physical condition (woot! this after getting chewed out by the receptionist for not taking her to the vet in 5 years....), and we were all set to take her to the ASPCA next Sunday.  BUT, Jeff's mom has been trying to find a home for her, posting pictures on Facebook, and one of her friends joined in the search and now her neighbor's sister is taking her!  That's right, my husband's mom's friend's neighbor's sister is adopting our cat.  We've tried Facebook in the past, along with asking every.single.person we know and putting up fliers, but I guess we're just not friends with as many cat ladies :)  This is a HUGE relief.  I was reluctant to cancel the ASPCA appointment because so many people have promised to take Kitty in the past and then backed out, but Jeff's mom promised that if this person flakes, she will take Kitty and keep her until she can find her a home.  Win-win!  We still have to work out the details, but I'm pretty sure that Jeff's mom will just drive her back with them after they visit to see his defense on the 27th.

Not-So-Great News: Jeff's Job
On to some bad news.  Jeff's boss just told the other graduate student in his lab that he is unable to pay him anymore.  Jeff is really worried, based on some things that have been said and stuff that has happened in the past, that his boss is going to have the same chat with him tomorrow.  I'm not sure when the paycheck would stop, but it would mean going 2-5 weeks without pay before Jeff's new job starts, at a time when we really, really need the cash flow.  Paying for moving, rent on two apartments, new stuff when we get there - it's going to add up.  I am pretty irate about the whole thing, especially considering Jeff was supposed to graduate a year ago and the only reason he is still here (and, um, paying a buttload of extra rent because he stretched it so far that we need a month-to-month lease) is because of his boss.  I hope he's wrong, but I think he's probably right, and I told him that he should fight it if he can.  I'm trying not to get too worked up about it because it hasn't happened yet, but I'm mentally preparing myself.  We will be okay, we have savings and were planning on covering a gap in my employment, but it would definitely suck and I would prefer to dip into savings as little as possible.

Overall: Sigh of Relief
I feel like, aside from Jeff's crappy work situation, things are finally falling into place (and we can deal with that if it happens), and my stress level is finally back to normal levels.  I was really freaking out about the move, and disappointed that we have to pack our own stuff, but it's not as difficult as I thought it would be, and people are going to help us load the cubes.  I feel strangely comforted seeing all these packed boxes in our dining room and living room, because it feels like progress.  I know that we may need to get rid of some furniture due to space in the cubes, but I checked out IKEA and the prices are pretty reasonable to replace pretty much everything.  The only furniture that HAS to make it would be our bed and the TV - everything else is replaceable and we got it either cheap or free.  The exception is our couch, but it's starting to fall apart so we needed a new one anyway.  My mom offered to give us a bunch of her furniture, which is just sitting in a storage unit since she moved in with her husband, which will also be super helpful. 

Ooookay.  I think we are finally up-to-date now.  Jeff is fishing this morning and I'm planning to pack some more boxes now!