The List

While looking at apartment postings on Monday, I had a sudden feeling of panic. There is so much to do before we leave! Mike and I have sporadic conversations - well, it is more like one long continuous conversation that is punctuated by anecdotes from other areas of our lives - about what all needs to be done over the next two months. There are the obvious things: schedule a mover, pack up our stuff, drive across the country. Then, there are the not so obvious things: change our address on all our bills and mail, open a new bank account that has branches in LA, make sure insurance covers me as a driver in Mike's car, order the packing boxes, clean out the desk so it can be sold... It is almost overwhelming. So in the midst of my mild panic attack, I made a list of everything I could think of that needs to be done. It is still overwhelming, but at least I get the satisfaction of crossing things off as they are completed.
You can see our list and our progress. And if we've missed anything big, let us know!

Cleaning out my desk

Even though I still have three weeks of work left, my replacement starts on Monday. The plan is for him to take over my desk along with my computer. That means, that by the end of business today, I needed to have cleaned out my desk and cleaned up my computer. Gone were about three reams of files that I was keeping for no particular reason and hundreds of files that were no longer useful but had not yet been deleted.

While I certainly enjoyed cleaning everything up, it was kind of a surreal experience. It was almost as if I was preparing for death. All the work that was important to me had to find a new home. I probably sent around 10-15 emails to people in my office saying "here's file X, you'll need this to continue our work on project Y." In addition, I probably filled up about a quarter of a 4GB flash drive with files that I want to keep - some because I am proud of my work, others because they will look good on my resume.

For the three weeks, I no longer have a desk. Instead, I will be working from my laptop, which is perched atop a table in the corner of my replacement's office.

Last trip

I have 15 days of work left! Tomorrow I head out to Jackson, MS for my last work-related client visit. I've had the good fortune in my first job to be able to do quite a bit of travelling. Australia twice, Denmark, London. Zurich, Domincan Republic, San Jaun. Seattle, Boston, Chicago, San Fran, Detroit. And then there are places like Fayetteville, AK, Akron, OH, Lexington, KY, and Jackson, MS. But really, work-related travel just doesn't do it for me. There is always the stress of traveling - am I going to make my meeting? Am I going to ever make it home after hours of delays? Am I even going to the right city? (funny story here-yes, I did actually go to the wrong city once. Not a good day.) And of course, you never travel for a good reason - there is always a problem that you are going to fix. So I'm really looking forward to going on a trip that doesn't require eating airport food, waiting in lines, or wearing suits. As I contemplate our upcoming journey, I think I am most excited about the freedom it represents. No schedule except the one we make, no meetings except the folks we see on the way, and no one is going to make me put my seat or tray table in the upright and locked position.

The Beginning

Tonight we begin to chronicle our adventure moving to Los Angeles. We have 19 working days left, about 2 months until we leave DC and about 3500 miles to go. We'll each be posting throughout this journey and we hope you enjoy reading about our adventure as much as we enjoy living it.

-Mike and Meg