Another Update
 
I'm not sure how much I'll update this summer. (I know that's a shocker; I barely update as it is.) I have a decent reason, however. I don't have an Internet connection on my laptop. Nate is using the router for his work and home computers. We could rig it up so that I could have a connection, but I don't really want it. I'm getting a lot done this summer and I know it's because I don't have the siren song of the Internet calling out to me. I can waste hours on that damn thing, still, after years of working online.
 
So what am I doing? I don't want to go into too much detail because the last time I kept track of my writing progress on the site, I didn't write for two or three months. Life got very crazy, it's true, but I'm a superstitious person by nature. I'm getting a lot done, let's just leave it at that. Much more than I had dared to hope.
 
In other news, I applied for two jobs today. Jobs I'm actually interested in. I also got turned down for unemployment. Some states offer unemployment benefits if you leave your job because of your spouse's relocation, but not all of them. So far, it doesn't appear that Illinois is one of those states. The denial letter said something along the lines of the employer not having any control over my spouse's relocation. Well, duh. Neither did I, which is why I had to quit. I suppose I could have exerted my wifely will over my husband's decision, but the job seemed like a good deal, so here we are. I'm appealing the decision, but if I don't get any benefits, well, I don't get them. I'm still having a good summer.
 
I suppose I can afford to be a little blasé about not having any money or a job because luckily, my husband has both. And we have the good fortune of living in a great house for a few months rent free (all we have to pay are utilities), courtesy of Nate's very generous Aunt Jay. So I'm still in the applying-for-jobs-I-would-like-to-have phase. We are not yet in the must-eat-must-have-paycheck round of job searching.
 
Speaking of the house, you should check out Nate's site. He has a pretty nifty gallery of our new digs.

Big D

We have been in Dallas for two weeks. So far, so good. We are staying in Nate's aunt's house for three months while we scope out the city and figure out where we want to live. The house is big and comfortable. Plenty of room for all of us. My office is in the front bedroom and Nate has the middle room for his office/cave. Nate's working from home now so that's a big adjusment.

Dallas is an easy city to live in. Not too crowded, not too much traffic except during rush hours. It is also a big adjustment. Our neighborhood is very quiet. Our neighbor across the street has something like five cars in his driveway and in front of his house. I've seen one car move regularly. Our lives are so quiet now that when I saw two cars gone, I had to tell Nate. The mail man is a major event. In Nate's office, he watches two lizards run across his windows.

But things are going very well. Just a slower pace. We're both getting a lot of work done and seeing our families more, which was one of the main reasons to move back to Texas. We've been eating a lot of Mexican food and Bar-B-Que, two other reasons to come back. Also, can you say queso? I love that stuff. All we could get in Chicago was queso fundido, which is good but not quite the same. Ahhh, queso. And margaritas. I'm glad to be back.

P.S. Those tenants did work out. No worries, except for that whole not having a job thing. Not too worried about it though. Not yet.