Getting Ahead of Myself

Yesterday, as I sat in Dave's office, waiting for the eldest and most stubborn geriatric cat who suddenly needs someone right there with her, touching her while she eats, I took a look at possible moving routes. Yes, I know we won't be going anywhere until late July/early August. I know this. But wasn't doing anything else while sitting there with the demanding, pushy oldladypants while she dined, so I decided to look into just exactly what traveling will take.

According to Googlemaps, we can do it in one day and not quite four hours. I'm guessing that means if we were to get in the car and not get out for anything until we reached Chicago. Um, no.

Also interesting is the three or four miles of difference depending on whether we go through Montana, North Dakota and Wisconsin on the way or Wyoming and South Dakota instead. Seriously. Only about three miles. But the northern route may be prettier. Montana is certainly nicer than Wyoming. I don't know about North Dakota, but I suspect Wisconsin is prettier than South Dakota.

Anyway, I think we can do it in three days, staying overnight in Billings and Minneapolis. That's nine hours of driving on Day One, twelve hours on Day Two, and not quite seven hours on Day Three, which seems like the day we'll most want to have time for other things. Like unpacking the car/moving van and getting the Girls comfortable in their new digs. And maybe just flopping onto the floor and gasping a bit while vowing to never, ever drive anywhere for more than twenty minutes with cats in the car ever, ever again.

Now I can look into pet-friendly hotel options in those two cities. (And maybe also Chicago? It's entirely possible that we won't want to move in until the next day, but we'll see.)

As I said in the title to this post, I'm getting ahead of myself. In my defense, however, I'm happy to know that I have one potential moving issue at least partly figured out. Though I still don't know HOW we're going to manage getting everybody there in one piece.

Talk Like Shakespeare Day

April 24 is Shakespeare's birthday. Mayor Daley has declared it Talk Like Shakespeare Day.

This is so the right city for me to live in.


(Thanks to Heather for the head's up.)

The Job

Last week was insane. This week looks to be perhaps slightly less so, and the school year is winding down. Which is why I'm now looking to brush up the resume, the CV, the teaching philosophy and the cover letter skills. Also to get the references in order. Because it's time to start that hunt.

I'm looking at some adjunct teaching opportunities in the community college system and also a couple of other education-related leads. But I'm unfamiliar enough with the city that I don't know what school is where, and also what OTHER schools are in Chicago that I would want to check the job listings for. So I'd love to hear any suggestions about that.

Marking Time

I don't really have anything much to say about the move right now. Aside from the fact that I need to start working on resumes and CVs and cover letters and pestering the people I know about job possibilites. (People like the CEO's and academics I know. Surely someone needs a secretary or adjunct faculty.) So mostly, this post--and the next few that follow it--is my way of making sure Chicagosity stays active in our heads until I have real things to post about.

Where I seem to be now is in that No Man's Land between knowing and doing. And because my schedule is the way it is right now, it's mostly just about the knowing. (Like after you've heard you've been accepted into the university of your dreams, but you still have to graduate from high school before you can get started in college.) Some doing can happen, but until the weather changes and seems serious about it, I'm not boxing up my winter gear. And until my schedule calms down a bit, I'm not even thinking about packing up my office (either office--home or school). Which means probably another two or three weeks of marking time and treading water move-wise before I can actually start making things happen in a more concrete way.

Rent

So now I know. I'll be moving to Chicago sometime in mid-late July. This means I need to find a place to live. A place on the North side. A place that's safe. That preferably has wood floors. And allows pets. Because three cats will be coming with me. The wood floors thing is a want, not a need, but the rest is fairly non-negotiable.

I'll be visiting the city in June to find a living space (and maybe a job), but if anybody has any suggestions based on location, neighborhoods that are better than others, good landlords or living spaces, I'm up for pretty much anything.

I can't even begin to express how happy I am to finally know something for sure.