It's Happening!

Our first Christmas we made "gingerbread" houses (and they sit atop our fridge today).

Towards the end of last year, one of D's former coworkers asks if he's interested in hearing about a possible position working on his team for an upcoming project. D says sure, why not, he likes working with this guy, he's very capable, trustworthy, and nice, and it doesn't hurt to hear him out. I sit in on the call talking about the possible opportunity and what it's like working and living in the area. It sounds promising. We both want to learn more. Next meeting is with someone even higher up the ladder giving more information, answering questions, and seeing if D is interested in setting up an interview. Yes it sounds interesting, might as well try and see what happens. We've been out here five years and plan to reevaluate our career plans anyway. Maybe this is what we need?

We enjoyed lemonade from this tree for a few years when my parents visited baby bro's apartment.

A pelican flew into me at the tide pools that day.

Sea grass at Cabrillo Beach tide pools.

Lion's mane nudibranch at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium.

The first interview is one-on-one with the same person D already spoke with. It goes well and he says they'll set up the second interview with a larger group. While waiting, an HR rep gets in touch asking how D is feeling, seeing if he has any questions about the process, and very general things like that. D learns he has to create a written sample to submit before the second interview. Of course while all this is going on D is still fully employed and overly busy with his own projects at work. On top of that he's a reviewer for a bunch of submissions. The same week he has to do the writing prompt is the week he has to read all the submissions, type up comments, and rate them by the color-coding system deciding which submissions advance to the next round for consideration. After working on these submissions he completes his writing sample and waits a few more days for the big interview.

Butterfly at Solstice Canyon

Frogs at Solstice Canyon

Tumbleweed at Cheeseboro Canyon for Valentine's Day.

Of course we're not idle during all this waiting. For two months now we've been intermittently discussing our future. We talk about what moving might mean in terms of how we get everything and everyone from here to there, as well as everything we'd leave behind. How will moving the lizards and plants go? How do we apartment hunt during a pandemic when our apartment/home office/lab isn't in any shape for a pet sitter, plus we're not vaccinated? How will the climate differ and what does that mean for us and for our lizard babies. We didn't get to visit Joshua Tree NP since the pandemic prevented us making those plans last year. We love Magic Mountain, Fright Fest, Halloween Horror Nights, we didn't get to see Knott's Berry Farm at Halloween. We also still want to see what Disneyland Trick-or-Treating is like. I'll miss my boat friends and getting to sail. We wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving at Sequoia NP again and missed out due to the virus. We'd be leaving driving distance of San Diego, Death Valley, and Las Vegas. We won't have Hollywood and its endless entertainment options around the corner. There's no In-N-Out. We'd have to find a new vet and a new pet sitter. We might need a huge supply of light therapy lamps to prevent SAD.

Drinking giraffe at LA Zoo.

Hummingbird nest at LA Zoo.

Jaguar at LA Zoo.

On the other hand we won't have scorching summers. We won't have two springs where we can't open windows because the bougainvillea bushes outside are trying to kill me. We might see snow. There are new beaches with tide pools to explore not too far away. There might be a tall ship to volunteer with. We'll experience seasons and precipitation. Yes there are still wildfires, also earthquakes, and added volcanoes, but we can check the hazard maps and try to live in a safe zone. Housing is less expensive; we might be able to own a home and have a little patch of yard to call our own. There are so many opportunities for hiking. We'll be closer to Glacier NP, Yellowstone NP, the redwoods, Crater Lake, Canada. There is that museum we'd love to see again. Lots of great food to explore. The public transportation seems pretty good. Traffic in general should be better. We could really use a fresh start.

Death Valley

D got to meet the real BB-8 at work.

Bug Fair at the Natural History Museum for my birthday.

We love the LA area and all it offers, and D has amazing coworkers and gets to work on really neat projects at a place whose name carries a little awe with it. This other company generally has a pretty negative reputation despite its massive success and popularity. D's former coworker sings its praises, though, and we trust him to be honest to us. His work-life balance improved since moving. The company and particularly this group of people are a good bunch to work with. He loves kayaking in his free time. D could really use a better work-life balance. All those interesting projects and all the extra unrelated tasks take up so much mental bandwidth that by the end of the day/week there's no energy left to paint his minis. We start talking numbers and come up with an idea of what the offer needs to be in order for it to be worth the trouble of leaving his current job and moving our lives a thousand miles north.

Magic Mountain with my family.

Super excited about Space Shuttle Endeavor!

San Diego Zoo with my little brother's family and our cousins.

Disneyland with our Besties!

The morning of his big interview I ask him, "Are you wearing that shirt for the interview?" and we get him sorted out with a nice gray button down to replace his black t-shirt. I head to bed after pulling an all-nighter, and let him sit down to six hours of interviews. I wake up and get in the shower between two afternoon interviews and overhear a little of the HR conversation as I start my day. He's unsure how it all went, thinks the morning was weaker than the afternoon. We'll hear back sometime early next week hopefully.

That time we named all the CalTech turtles.

Our first fence lizard!

Checking out La Brea on a hot day.

Through all the meetings and discussions D realizes that while he was interviewing for one position, they were possibly considering him for an even higher one (or a lower one if he performed poorly enough, but not bad enough to lose the offer completely). If he gets the higher position he won't have to be concerned with trying to get a promotion, which sounds like a complicated process at this place. We're both anxious as the days pass. Not hearing before the week ends is probably a good thing. On Monday they tell us they've made a decision and want to discuss it with him over a meeting, but Tuesday is the day-long meeting about the reviewed submissions, so we have to wait for Wednesday.

Northern mockingbird who serenaded us at all hours for our first few years, sitting in a bottlebrush bush behind the evil bougainvillea.

Popping packaging bubbles.

We hatched some monarchs.

They offered him the highest position!!!! I sat on the floor in the hallway as the HR rep talks D through the offer, there's a little negotiating in our favor, but not much because we're both so surprised and pleased with him getting the position offer he wanted. I'm furiously tapping out the numbers as he explains how the compensation works and send it to D so we can compare with the official offer numbers later. I'm in tears of disbelief because while we hoped, we didn't truly expect this, and since it was the best possible scenario we'd already agreed we aren't turning it down. When he gets off the call we hug it out, both giddy and in shock. We message my parents to confirm that we're moving to Seattle! They're happy and excited for us. Mom is excited to explore a new corner of the country.

Manty the First

Fighting drones for GISHWHES.

Rocky joined our family!

It's so hard to wait, but we can't announce to everyone without the official offer in writing. And D still needs to let his work know that he'll be leaving them. It's such a mix of feelings as we're excited by getting to live somewhere new, but also still in disbelief, and sad to be leaving so much that we love behind, but happy for the chance at a fresh start, but sad to be leaving good people and interesting projects behind, and stressed about moving, but eager to see where the next few years will take us! Such a huge decision will change our life and there's always that little voice that warns what if you're making a mistake? The good thing is, even if this move ends up being the wrong decision for us, after 4 or so years we can move on to our next mistake! And honestly having this upcoming experience on his resume should only help D if he does need to job hunt. Ideally this new job will be exactly what we need and will serve us until retirement.

My favorite haunted zone of Fright Fest.

Altar of Eeeevil

Back for Halloween Horror Nights 2016.

We end up waiting another six days for the formal offer to come through due to technical issues on their end. But now we officially have the offer, we've informed D's work about it, we've talked and agree that despite all the scary parts, this move is the right decision. We were going to be discussing and hunting for other options by the end of this year anyway, so this is just the perfect gift at the perfect time and we're super lucky for it!

Legoland aquarium

Sailing on Exy Johnson in a San Diego gun battle against the California.

Little One joined our family!

Our first sail training day!

Last night my mind was buzzing with the details. How do we make sure the lizards are ok to move? Can we bring the plants with us? If so, does it have to be in our car (they won't all fit) or can movers bring them? Today I got on the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) website. I read a lot but can't find my specific answers. Do the lizards need health certificates? Which plants can come with us, and do they need certificates? I found two phone numbers and left two voice messages on answering machines. They both called back. The lizards need health certificates. I call my vet and they say that's only if we're flying, since we'll be driving we don't need certificates. Cats or dogs might be different, but not reptiles since they don't get rabies shots. The plants need to be inspected and given a phytosanitary certificate, but I need to contact my local Dept of Ag to see how they do it. I call and get sent to another who gives my  name and number to the local inspector. He calls back and says that any outdoor plants need to be inspected, not indoor ones. I should set up the inspection the week before we leave and he'll need a list of the plants to be inspected. Hopefully it takes less than an hour to inspect my patio plants, and hopefully a moving company will be willing to take them in their truck so we don't have to squeeze my giant jade plant into the back seat. It won't fit on the floor behind our seats this time!

Enjoying our second sail.

Angel's Gate

2nd sail training day!

The next few moves include officially accepting the offer, contacting possible moving companies to find out if any of them will transport certified plants and getting estimates, order more big tubs to pack, and start packing unused kitchen supplies in the boxes still stacked in the living room corner since we unpacked them five and a half years ago. We have until June/July to be in Seattle so we're going to move steadily to make our work manageable. D needs to finish letting everyone at work know that he's leaving and begin transitioning out, handing over tasks and equipment, finishing what he can, and saying good-bye to a lot of great people. He'll be working from home at his new job until we get moved. Hopefully we can get vaccinated before we move so we'll have some protection as we come into contact with much more of the outside world than we've seen in over a year.

Work party!

Holiday in the Park at Magic Mountain

End of 2016 in Arcadia, CA