I moved to Oregon about five months ago. I was offered a job with a wonderful small, private non-profit, liberal university and leapt at the chance to get away from the dust bowl of Ellensburg, Washington and begin anew in Oregon. It was June and I drove a Uhaul while my ex husband drove my car for me. We each had a cat with us. I had Sophie, my semi-feral, long-haired, sassy Maine Coon kitten, and Grey had Lucy the geriatric,potato-shaped, crotchety old lady cat. I had moving men do the unloading into a small but well appointed apartment, said goodbye to my ex, and got everything unpacked within a week. The sun was out in my new town and it stayed out for four months straight. I began my new position in earnest and enjoyed my favorite and best summer for as long as I can remember.
Of course, I've begun in medias res. I'm pretty sure you don't need to know every damn detail of my life because frankly, I like a certain level of privacy and I don't think my past is more interesting than what's going on right now.
For example, I woke up November 9th, 2016 to a changed world with the election of that angry cheeto to our highest office in the land. It was certainly strange and to be honest, I'm pretty sure that fucker cheated somehow. Nonetheless, he's the president and I had my vote and now I get to complain for 3 more years, which I fully plan to do. Hopefully he won't leave us with too much of a scorched earth.
Life in Oregon is really peaceful. I fit in well with my co-workers and they trust me to make good decisions. I work a lot but I also set my own hours and work with highly competent people who feel passionate about what they do. And we help people. The culture is different here. There's a state income tax and it's about equal to the federal income tax so that's a little expensive. But you never pump your own gas. And there's no sales tax on anything either. If you go to the convenience store and buy a soda for 99 cents, it's just 99 cents. That's taken a little getting used to in a good way.
This summer I got to travel a bit too. My niece graduated from college and I've been saving for a couple of years to take her on a trip. We went to London and Paris for two weeks and had a great time. We ate and drank and learned and went to museums and went shopping and sometimes just stayed home and slept. It was kind of glorious. Way glorious. I'll never forget that trip and I hope my niece won't either.
My little semi-feral kitten, Sophie, isn't so feral anymore. She was only about 3 pounds when I got her and quite sickly. Lucy used to beat up on her. Now she's almost 9 pounds and is fluffy and sassy and makes it a point to terrorize the old lady cat several times a day. But she still likes to curl up on my chest and sleep. We're besties. Lucy, my potato, is pretty happy as well. There's a thin and pervasive layer of cat hair all over the apartment regardless of the amount of brushing I do and the amount of obsessive vacuuming I perform. Oh well. I'm happy enough.
And I'm dating someone. His name is Al and I don't know that I've ever known anyone like him. He's sort of a mixture of GI Joe and John Wayne. And he's funny and smart and we have epic disagreements about possibly every political issue in the world. Sometimes loud disagreements. But they are intellectual disagreements. It's the value systems that we share that are really important and he makes me laugh. And he's good for me too. And he cooks so I don't have to stand over a sink just eating a single-ingredient meal most days of the week. I mean, hypothetically of course. He's easy on the eyes too.
My health is good so far. The dust and smoke levels, which are my absolute nemeses, are far less than in Washington. I do seem to get tired a little more easily these days and I drive a lot for meetings. And sometimes I have job stress but it's not the deep stress from my previous positions. It's good stress, the kind that pushes you towards your goals.
In that spirit, I have decided to blog once again. Writing keeps me centered and helps me order the chaos in my brain. It's my opportunity to take all of the wild papers and books strewn about inside of my head and gently place them on shelves so that they may be easily accessed and not fly about all pell-mell.
Welcome to my Oregon life.
Of course, I've begun in medias res. I'm pretty sure you don't need to know every damn detail of my life because frankly, I like a certain level of privacy and I don't think my past is more interesting than what's going on right now.
For example, I woke up November 9th, 2016 to a changed world with the election of that angry cheeto to our highest office in the land. It was certainly strange and to be honest, I'm pretty sure that fucker cheated somehow. Nonetheless, he's the president and I had my vote and now I get to complain for 3 more years, which I fully plan to do. Hopefully he won't leave us with too much of a scorched earth.
Life in Oregon is really peaceful. I fit in well with my co-workers and they trust me to make good decisions. I work a lot but I also set my own hours and work with highly competent people who feel passionate about what they do. And we help people. The culture is different here. There's a state income tax and it's about equal to the federal income tax so that's a little expensive. But you never pump your own gas. And there's no sales tax on anything either. If you go to the convenience store and buy a soda for 99 cents, it's just 99 cents. That's taken a little getting used to in a good way.
This summer I got to travel a bit too. My niece graduated from college and I've been saving for a couple of years to take her on a trip. We went to London and Paris for two weeks and had a great time. We ate and drank and learned and went to museums and went shopping and sometimes just stayed home and slept. It was kind of glorious. Way glorious. I'll never forget that trip and I hope my niece won't either.
My little semi-feral kitten, Sophie, isn't so feral anymore. She was only about 3 pounds when I got her and quite sickly. Lucy used to beat up on her. Now she's almost 9 pounds and is fluffy and sassy and makes it a point to terrorize the old lady cat several times a day. But she still likes to curl up on my chest and sleep. We're besties. Lucy, my potato, is pretty happy as well. There's a thin and pervasive layer of cat hair all over the apartment regardless of the amount of brushing I do and the amount of obsessive vacuuming I perform. Oh well. I'm happy enough.
And I'm dating someone. His name is Al and I don't know that I've ever known anyone like him. He's sort of a mixture of GI Joe and John Wayne. And he's funny and smart and we have epic disagreements about possibly every political issue in the world. Sometimes loud disagreements. But they are intellectual disagreements. It's the value systems that we share that are really important and he makes me laugh. And he's good for me too. And he cooks so I don't have to stand over a sink just eating a single-ingredient meal most days of the week. I mean, hypothetically of course. He's easy on the eyes too.
My health is good so far. The dust and smoke levels, which are my absolute nemeses, are far less than in Washington. I do seem to get tired a little more easily these days and I drive a lot for meetings. And sometimes I have job stress but it's not the deep stress from my previous positions. It's good stress, the kind that pushes you towards your goals.
In that spirit, I have decided to blog once again. Writing keeps me centered and helps me order the chaos in my brain. It's my opportunity to take all of the wild papers and books strewn about inside of my head and gently place them on shelves so that they may be easily accessed and not fly about all pell-mell.
Welcome to my Oregon life.
Enjoy sinking in to Oregon!
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