Moving West.

Well, my 25 year eastward march is over. I am returning to the city of my birth. There are still a lot of things to take care of. Basically everything. But the hard part – making the decision – is done. After several months of anxiety and misery and indecision and second guessing myself, BB and I have made the decision to head to Seattle. I accepted my new position. We looked at a bunch of housing options and are making another trip to look at more.

We still don’t know about BB’s next job. She’s more sanguine than I am, though, and so she’s ok with making the jump. And my new job is more than enough to support a family long term. Not that we expect it to have to. She’s brilliant and industrious and will have little difficulty finding a career in Seattle that suits her, I’m confident.

As for my job, I was terrified that I had asked for far too much money. And I did ask for more than I got, by about 10%. But my new institution is covering the cost of the move, and that more than makes up for it. I was shocked that they essentially met my ridiculous ask, and seemed both pleased and relieved when I simply accepted their offer rather than countering and quibbling.

I just told them: I have no interest in haggling over a couple of thousand dollars a year. All it does is set up an adversarial relationship and start things off on a negative foot. I just wanted to move forward and get to work.

Our timeline is to put my house on the market next week. Then to visit Seattle to search out a new place to live. Then to schedule my move. The move is being paid for and managed by MWCMC’s contractors directly, which is a HUGELY wonderful thing. We don’t have to think or worry. Just tell them, “go”, and watch the move happen. And I’ll tell you, readers, that makes me feel important.

So that’s the news. Life is good. I am being broadly recognized for my talents and skills in a wonderful but daunting way. And I’m ready to move forward in life again.