Apartment/job hunting

Last night I did another solo hilly ride. It was great fun. I saw a few other cyclists (ahem: male) doing the same hills I was, so I felt better about my efforts. At the last LONG hill, I, for the first time, felt like I was going to puke--you know, that, "I have to burp, but it doesn't feel like a pocket of air coming up" feeling. But I didn't. ;)

I got a message from a staffing agency about a job available in downtown Austin. He's going to request my salary be about 50% above where I'm at now, but I don't think that'll make up for the gas and time lost in commuting to work. I love Austin, but I've come to realize I value my time more than anything, and a job will have to pay a LOT to make up for that. I worry about my damn dog too much during the day. I guess I just know how much it sucks to have to "hold it" until you can find a suitable "bathroom" (in doggy terms--grass). More than 4 hours, and I think I would explode.

I'm going to look at an apartment this Saturday, and there's a good chance I'll sign. It's a really nice place, halfway between work and Michael's, with a garden tub (can I get an "oooooh" from the ladies), nice kitchen, all new (a few years old), and more than a month and a half free. And I just got my first month's rent check. ;)

$$$

Keep your fingers crossed that I'll like it! :)

Coming to Omaha

Well, the dogs got into a fight. Actually, two, although the first was much worse because it happened in the backyard when nobody was around and it was allowed to escalate because of that. Harley got a couple of bite marks on his head, although he was actually chasing after Jaiden when we got outside. Everybody's fine now, but there is a small puncture wound on Harley's head that we'll have to keep an eye on. I think Molly just gets bored and starts fights between the two other dogs for her own amusement. ;) Actually, I think poor Jaiden is just overwhelmed and is striking out. Unfortunately, I can't really do anything (other than keep an eye on him pretty much at all times) until I get my own place.

The job is meh. I've been so busy though that I haven't been able to search for anything else. It's a pretty low-stress job, so that's a nice change from my last job. But that also makes it pretty boring.

I'm coming to Omaha June 6-8. I don't know if I'll be able to go out with friends, because I'll be in Grand Island with my family all day Saturday into Sunday, but we'll see.

Michael and I went for a short, but HILLY (to my standards) ride yesterday and then went out to his parents' house for a birthday/pool party. It was a lot of fun. Although, I held Michael's niece (about a month old) and of course, his mom and oldest sister picked up on it immediately, grinning like they just found out I was pregnant or something. EEK! I'm not much of an "oooh, babies" person, so I'm actually surprised I even offered to hold her. Michael threw me in the pool. His mom and I couldn't even push his ass in. Actually, I think I got thrown in AGAIN after trying to push him in. Sigh. So I figured I'd just do some laps while I was in there, lol. If the apartment I move into has a pool that isn't crowded, I might just do some laps there every now and then... I enjoyed it last night!

Apartment hunting

We went to Cheesecake Factory Saturday night and sat next to some obnoxious couple talking about... well, everything. The girl was probably 21 (we figured my age at first, but every time she opened her mouth, the age kept dwindling), and the guy was probably 50. We thought at one point that this might have been a first date from match.com, but I'm not so sure. She was talking about how every bar she goes to, she just goes to get her free drink and then leaves to go on to the next. And she wasn't really that good looking. Slutty, yes. Cute, no. So as they were eating their appetizers, she said, "I'm a Taurus. You know what we like? We like to eat." (HUH?!) He proceeds to say, "I'm a Scorpion. You know what we like?" I mouthed "sex" to Michael at the same instant that the nasty date guy said it. Um, ew. Michael saw that one coming too. She mentioned something about her boobs, too. There were several times where I just looked at Michael with my mouth wide open, in total shock at what this girl was saying. It was ridiculous.

I went on a solo hill repeat ride Sunday. I did three hill repeats on what I consider to be a tough hill. It's long (I don't know, maybe half a mile?) and steep. I probably could have/should have done four repeats, but figured the shaking legs and arms were telling me to go home. On the last repeat, I noticed a guy in front of me, and I was actually gaining on him. And no, I wasn't trying to--I was already going for all I was worth. I haven't ridden since, though. :(

So I spoke with Michael's friend that's going to hook me up with an apartment. I can get into a pretty nice one-bedroom for my price range, with Jaiden (of course)... sounds like a lot of them have garden tubs... ahhhh... so relaxing. I actually looked at one yesterday, and it was really nice. They have wireless internet by the pool, which is kinda neat.

I saw some of the pics Noel (sister-in-law) posted on MySpace of her graduation party, and it made me really miss my family again. I guess they're all going to Grand Island to start dividing up my grandparents' stuff. I'm going to try to get a flight up there, but I don't think I'll be able to make it happen.

I spoke with my boss about my concerns about the job. I had told him it wasn't cool that they expected us to take our laptops home every night so we can work. Come on, dammit, I have a life, and I'm not paid enough to justify that. I was up front with him and let him know I'm keeping my options open. The last bonus they had was quite a bit apparently, but I don't really know if the job is a good fit for me.

33 Miles

Okay, that's really not much, but I'm getting my fitness back pretty quickly. I had a REALLY good ride today! :D We went on an organized ride, but ended up riding alone for most of it anyway. I didn't think I'd be able to do the 45-mile ride, so we just did the 33-mile ride. I still felt pretty good at the end, so I probably could have done 45 miles, but oh well. My average speed was much better today, although I did draft off Michael a lot. ;) We took some roads neither of us had ever been on, and there was some really pretty scenery. Some of the roads were a little bone-jarring. We saw a lot of horses and ankle-biters. And pigs. And dogs kept outside in front yards with goats. Country people can be so weird.

So if I count last Saturday (which I don't, as that's 8 days ;) ), I'd have 115 or so miles for the week. Yay... starting to get back into it again! :) I'd like to go for a ride tomorrow, but Michael's taking a day off from like 10 days in a row of riding or something, so I'll be riding solo.

My tenant (weird) is moving in today, so that's cool. I'll have a little extra income coming in! Michael's going to hook me up with a friend of his who's an apartment hunter. I'm kinda looking forward to living alone-I've literally never lived alone before, so it'll be different. :) I'll have the mean kitty-chasing Jaiden for company though. Speaking of, that's going pretty well. We've been keeping the dogs and cats un-separated the past few days, and all is well so far. I just have to keep an eye on Jaiden. He tends to stick his nose somewhere without realize there could be a cat in that corner (they're both black and hard to see), so he's had his head ripped off a couple times. Poor dog... he seems to be adjusting well though. :D

I'm starting to get really antsy to ride horses again... I think as soon as I find an apartment, I'm going to look at barns. Some of them look really nice, and I've heard a lot of good things about a lot of trainers around here.

I fell down the stairs!

I went on a solo hill ride on Thursday night, but only did one hill "repeat", as there was bad weather coming in and I could see the nasty-looking clouds during my ride. We got some pretty major storms. I had let Harley and Jaiden outside for a few minutes, and looked out and it was raining on them, lol. I let them in just in time--it started POURING!

So, on the day I have an interview, I decide to fall down the steps going into work, and a coworker saw it. If it had been a big flight of stairs, I'd probably be in the hospital, because there was NO stopping my momentum. My purse hit the ground and spilled some stuff out of it, and my lunch sack went flying. It was perfect. Seriously, only me. I think I'll end up with bruised knees and shins. And then I spilled my energy drink powder all over my laptop, and nearly spilled the entire drink on the table. At that point, I was just hoping my pants didn't fall down during the interview or something.

So, anyway, the interview went well, but I think if they offer it to me, I'll probably decline. The only benefits they have are health benefits--no 401(k), which is what I'm really looking for. Plus, no vacation time until I've been there for a year. I think the problem is where I've been looking for jobs--craigslist. A lot of the really small companies advertise on Craigslist, and they can't afford to offer a lot of benefits. I think from now on, I'm just going to focus on Monster, Dice, Careerbuilder, etc. I won't find as many jobs, but I think for the most part, the companies advertising there will be able to offer more.

Group Ride

I went on my first group ride last night, and had a blast. I was able to keep up for a few miles, but lost the group after that. Michael hung back with me so that I would know where I was going. We rode around 18 miles. My speed sensor quit working for some reason... I forgot to look at that last night after the ride. On the plus, I've been getting my excitement back to ride! I was thinking about going on a solo hill ride tonight so Michael will have to stay home and watch the kids, hehe. But the weather looks crappy. :( Sigh... always something.

We went to Antonio's afterwards. I probably should have gone straight home, but I wanted to socialize. I've been feeling really guilty/stressed lately because everytime I leave the house, Jaiden has to go in his kennel (we can't keep him out of his kennel inside because of the cats, and we can't keep him with Harley and Molly because they could get into a fight). I know he's "just a dog" but he's also my responsibility, and I know I sure as hell can't go 12+ hours (or hell, even FOUR!) without using the restroom, nor would I want to be cooped up in a cage so small that I can't even stretch out. So I haven't been riding much. If I decide to go out after work (either a group ride, happy hour, etc.), I always go home over lunch to let Jaiden out, but living 15 miles away from work, I can't make a habit out of that. My social life is suffering because of it though. Like tonight, some coworkers are going out after work, but I can't go because I can't justify going home over lunch again. Anyway, this is why I need to live close to work... but oh well. I'm still pretty damn happy to be here. :)

I haven't found much in the way of jobs, but I haven't had the time to look lately. Maybe tonight if I can't go on my ride. I've got to find something...

I got some random call at 2AM last night from a Nebraska phone number I didn't recognize--any of you peeps call me last night? Scared the crap out of me. We did have a big thunderstorm last night, too! :D

Setting Fingers on Fire

We skipped the birthday celebration on Saturday night (I feel bad, but I was tiiiired) and went to Iguana Grill on the lake to watch the sunset. It's a gorgeous view, and I'm hoping we can go out to the lake a lot this summer. The margaritas were goooooood. We went to a karaoke bar afterwards that had maybe 10 people in the place. Michael got bored and tried doing some trick with a match (I know you can see where this is going...). He set his thumb on fire. How someone does that is beyond me, but leave it to Michael. :lol: We both kinda stared at it for a few seconds and he flicked out the flame, and THEN figured out that it kinda hurt, haha.

We went on another bike ride yesterday, about 28 miles. It was much better, but also 20 degrees cooler. And pretty windy, too. My average speed just sucks right now, so hopefully that'll come back soon. It was a good ride, though.

We went to Mike's parents' house last night for Mother's Day. It was a ton of fun--I really like his family. And his mom totally proved my point about "Waterburger". Michael told her to "say the name of a restaurant that begins with a w" and I said "and ends with 'burger'". She totally said Waterburger, lol.

So my house is being rented out!! Yaaaaay!!! :D I'm also looking for a new job. The one that I have is okay, but I just don't want to stick around for two more months to find out that I only bonus $20 a month. I haven't been given an actual figure, but I don't think it will make up for the lower salary I'm making. Oh well. If/when I find a new job, I'll start looking for an apartment near where I work. Wish me luck. :)

First Ride

Michael and I went on a bike ride today. I just looked at the current temperature (got back about a half hour ago)--95 degrees/"feels like 102". I got really hot, and I think sunburned. Again. :roll: I put on sunscreen, but I guess it wasn't enough. We'll see.

We only rode for about 25 miles, but I haven't ridden in this kind of heat since probably last August, maybe September, so I was pretty exhausted. I got goosebumps anytime the wind picked up, I had a headache, and I just felt plain out of sorts. It wasn't heat stroke or anything, but it sucked. Oh well... it'll take a little bit for me to get acclimated to the heat again. It was a little windy, but not too bad. I'm a weenie. ;)

I'm planning on going out with a few co-workers tonight (I guess they're celebrating a birthday) with Michael. I think we're just going to go out with them for dinner or drinks just to make a showing. After that, we're going to Iguana-something-or-other to drink margaritas and watch the sunset on Lake Travis (aw)! I've been yakking in Michael's ear nonstop about Lake Travis the last 24 hours, so I think he took the hint, hehe. Here are some pictures!

We went out to happy hour at Antonio's, a Mexican restaurant, last night. I had just come from the post office (UGH) and nearly got t-boned on my way into Antonio's parking lot, so I was a bit edgy and crabby and not very talkative. Hopefully tonight is better. I'll make Michael drive or something. ;)

Job Blahs... ish

The whole liking the job is a toss-up at this point. It's just not what I thought I was signing up for... technically, I guess I didn't really know 100% what the job entailed. I don't think it's the job itself, but more the environment and the possible lack of bonus I'll be receiving. I was under the impression the bonuses I'd be making would more than make up for the lower salary I'm making, but it sounds more and more like that won't be the case. I'll give it a couple of months though. If it looks like I won't be making much, I'm going to start looking elsewhere. Hell, my skill set would fit with a ton of jobs around here so I don't think it would be an issue to find a job.

So, the bird thing. I'm really liking the different sounds I've been hearing, and I'm not even a bird person. I heard a bird that I'd never heard before... kind of exotic sounding. I glanced at the people I was with to see if they looked around (trying to see if they thought it was as odd as I did :oops: ) and they didn't seem to think anything of it. Heh... I'm weird.

I was invited to a party on Saturday night, but I think I'm going to skip it. I'm not real sure if I "mesh" with the girls that invited me for one, and for another, I'm trying to pinch my pennies where possible. ;) Michael's friends invited us for happy hour tomorrow night, so I'm looking forward to that. :D

Day 2

I had a 40 minute commute into work this morning. :roll: Michael and I can carpool, but he normally commutes by bike. I would do the same but I just don't wanna (yet). I've been talking with some of the people I work with, and it sounds like they go out for happy hour sometimes, so that'll be nice. I just worry about leaving Jaiden in his kennel for so long. I can't go home for lunch to let him out... I'm going to have to get a place somewhat close to work or something. I do have a few second cousins that live in Austin, and I just got their contact info, so I'll probably be going out with them soon.

I didn't have trouble staying awake today. They took us out to lunch, which was nice. A girl I work with has a guy friend with the last name Manlove. First name? Richard. So yeah, he could actually go by Dick Manlove. His parents really must have hated the fact that he was born. I guess he goes by Dale or something like that though.

In case you didn't read Michael's comment on my last post, the "turtle doves" are actually mourning doves. I'm accustomed to hearing the turtle doves in Omaha, and I love the sound. It means spring/summer is coming. :D The ones here have the same kind of sound, but different pattern.

Mmk, that's it for now.

First Day at Work

Well, it started off with me unable to find my hairdryer (which leaves me with frizzy hair... which would be cute... if I were 12) and almost getting into an accident on the way there. But other than that, it was a pretty uneventful day. Except for the fact that I felt like I just couldn't stay awake! I mean I was seriously struggling to look people in the eye without getting droopy-eyed. I'm hoping the job really isn't THAT boring and that I'm still just tired from the move. I'm not too excited about the job yet, but I really didn't do much today. Although, the building I'm working in is just so cool. They have their own workout and shower facilities and a couple of cafes. I guess the place they were at before was not quite as nice. Actually, they were working in a garage (like four months ago!). Call me a snob, but I'm thinking that wouldn't really do it for me. There seem to be a lot of startup companies in Austin.

So I'm feeling much less sad about leaving. I think just getting out of the house and leading a "normal" life helped me to realize I'm back in the real world, just in a different city. ;) This is going to sound so weird,
but I swear the birds are louder here. I heard a turtle dove (I think) yesterday, and I really thought it was in the house. And I swear I hear birds all over the place when I'm driving and I keep thinking they're in my car. I really don't know what that's all about.

We've decided for the time being to keep the dogs separated from the cats. Zero is really kind of freaked out by Jaiden. I think he's still fine around Harley and Molly (Michael's other dog), but he kind of looks around for Jaiden, like he's trying to avoid him. I feel pretty bad. Sigh... damn dog. There's gotta be a way to socialize a dog to cats just like you can socialize a dog to... a dog. Eh, that sounded better in my head.

I was walking around HEB (local grocery store... I guess like Hy-Vee?), trying to find stuff and I ridiculously wondered if it was obvious that I was out of town. Lol, I keep doing that. The only time it's obvious is when I'm driving. Because of my plates, not my driving skillz.

I just made a makeshift 7-layer dip for Michael and I. He's on a bike ride (I skipped), so I haven't had a chance to test it out. Keep your fingers crossed. It has refried beans. :twisted:

One last thing. There's this fast food restaurant called Whataburger. As in, "What a burger". But the Texans around here pronounce it "Waterburger" (or sometimes "Watt[think light bulb]-a-burger"). That's so weird to me. Because they don't say "Watt do you need?" They say "What do you need?" And they don't say, "Water dim wit." they say, "What a dim wit." But for some reason Whataburger is different. But for some reason Whataburger is different. Totally boggles the mind.

First Day in Austin

Well, here I am. Freaking exhausted. It took us about 15 hours to drive here... we finally got in around 2:30 this morning. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed, but we had to introduce the dogs to each other. The dogs seem to get along great, but Michael also has two cats. At first, Jaiden was kind of afraid of them (Michael's bigger cat Zero let Jaiden know he wouldn't be screwed with), but I think Jaiden and Harley, one of Michael's dogs, ganged up on Zero and attacked him. I heard snarling, turned around and saw Jaiden and Harley corner Zero. I yelled and Zero took off into a corner that the dogs couldn't get to. I've never seen Zero run from anything. He didn't get hurt or anything, but he was scared. Michael said he'd never seen Zero like that. :( I feel guilty... I've tried to establish dominance over Jaiden, but I'm no dog trainer. I'm thinking about getting one just so we can figure out how to control this whole pack mentality these dogs have going on.

We just got done unloading the truck. My stuff has filled up an entire spare bedroom. I'm trying not to make myself too comfortable--if I do, it'll just make it harder to leave when I find an apartment. Speaking of that, I guess the property management company I'm using to rent out my house said he's been getting a ton of calls about it (YAY!), so hopefully it'll be rented out soon and I can move out of here. It's too much too soon to be living with Michael, and he understands and agrees.

I completely underestimated how sad I would be to leave. If I could just pack up my family and ship them to Austin, it would be so much better. ;) It's odd things that set me off, too... like going grocery shopping or having to reset the radio channels in my car. I guess by not resetting the channels, it makes it somehow less permanent. Or the other night, I was laying in my bed at home and I heard a car driving down the street and realized I would never hear the same sounds again--and it made me cry. Yeah, just weird things like that. Anyway, talking to my parents actually seems to make me cry more than anything. I mean, I've been gone a little over 24 hours and I miss my family already! How crazy is that? I'm sure this will pass, but it's hard knowing that I'll never be able to just go out with my sister and brother-in-law on a whim or drive over to my parents' house "just to say hi". I mean, yeah, I realized all this before I left, but I didn't realize how much it would affect me once I was gone.

Oh well... I'll have to get over it. :) One of Michael's friends gave me a bottle of wine and a card saying she looked forward to spending time with me. That was really nice. I start work tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be able to make some friends there. Plus, the dressage community down here is huge! They get all kinds of big name trainers in for clinics and everything. I just have to figure out which barn I want to ride at! :)

Oh, and I just looked in a mirror... oy.