Where in the World are the King and Queen of Typos?

It has been a quick and a long six months since my last post. The reality of death made it so apparent that we needed to be closer to family and spend what time we have remaining with our parents. The final shocking straw was that when we returned to NM, no one had sent flowers or a card, no one called with condolences, no one brought food or stopped by the house. We realized that we had spent a huge number of years in a state (10 for me, 20 for the King) where we hadn't developed any in-depth friendships.

So, we made a couple of seemingly scarey decisions. We were going to pack up and move back to the land of our birth and we took the King's pension money and paid off all credit card debt. I applied for a flurry of jobs, but one was specifically written for me. It was the Director of the Counseling and Advising Center for a College of Engineering at a major Texas college. I applied and promptly forgot with the other activities that were going on. The dean for this position called and conducted a phone interview in the middle of February that went very well. I felt good about the job, my potential boss and the scope of the job. The dean asked me to "drop by" during Spring Break when I was planning on being in Texas anyway. It all sounded very promising.

So promising that I made a leap of faith (or stupidity depending on your viewpoint). I wrote a letter of resignation for my current job, sealed it in an envelope and explained the situation to my current boss. He was quite understanding and agreed to open the letter only in the event that I called him and told him I had an offer.

I spent most of Spring Break with Mom, cleaning out closets and helping move furniture. The last weekend I spent in DFW and decided to apartment hunt. Found a wonderful townhome the first day. I explained our situation and told the manager that I would call her when I heard a formal job offer. She agreed to work with us and our special circumstances, so I signed the lease and wrote a check. I interviewed the following Monday. When the dean said "drop by for a visit," I didn't know it meant a 9 hour interview. Everything went really well and I felt good about it.

I got my first, yes, first speeding ticket in the panhandle of Texas. Can I just say that troopers out there apparently do not have enough to do. The trooper asked me where I was going so fast and I responded, "it appears I had a meeting scheduled with you." I was trying to find the humor in the situation, he thought I was being snarky. My foot has since become much lighter on the gas pedal.

Two days after I returned to Albuquerque, I got the job offer. And what an offer it was with a substantial raise and a move to exempt status. The next day they called to offer $2,000 more since I wouldn't be eligible for an annual raise in July due to my start date. I told them I could start on April 6, which was in less than two weeks!

The King packed my car shoulder high from front to back. There was only enough room for me and the Princess Trina of Typo. I moved to Texas with a blow-up bed, two lawn chairs, the X-box 360 and the barest minimum of household goods. The King would stay in NM, pack the house and drive to Texas at the end of April. He was able to move up his deadline and arrived in three weeks instead of four.

It is now the end of June and I think we finally are beginning to come out from under the shock and awe that is life. We're getting a new routine, we think we may be able to survive with only one paycheck and we are out of debt for the first time in our adult lives and we found out who our true friends are. This will be our annus horribilis, to borrow a phrase from Queen Elizabeth of England, and it can only improve from here.