Random Vegas Thoughts

I'm here:

For the week. (That's the New York, New York in Las Vegas, for anyone who might be confused) I arrived this morning to work on the company's new Employee Handbook, and other issues. This may sound like a silly reason to plan a trip, but it's actually a bigger job than it sounds. Also, we jumped at the chance to have a scouting out trip, before our big move date.

Brian will be joining me on Thursday night, and we'll spend half of friday (I do have to work, after all) and all of saturday looking for an apartment. We've decided (almost) to go with a two bedroom, to save the extra $200/month for a 3rd room that would only come in handy 3-4 times a year. We are checking out some condo rentals, but we'll also take a look at some of the full-service apartment complexes they have out here. They are a little more expensive ($50), but come with a pool, gym, dog run type things, a playground (I like swings), and a full maintenance team. I think it will be worth the extra money, but I want to keep my options open.

The weather is gorgeous. It was 84 degrees today, but it felt nothing like the Chicago equivalent of 84 degrees, aka hot and muggy. It's supposed to be this way for the rest of the week, which means this little city should make a good impression on Brian.

The Chicago condo has not yet had any interested visitors. The realtor has not yet scheduled the professional photographer to come in. Maybe once that happens, it will get a few more bites. We did repaint the bathroom though, at the realtor's request. I guess it has more mass appeal than the purple that it was before.

Yesterday was labor day. This was the first time that we were over at Brian's family's house since we told them the big moving news. Everyone was very supportive, and seem to be excited about the prospective visits. Brian's nephew is getting cuter every time we see them. He turns one year old next month. He played in a box for most of the afternoon:

Anyway, we had a great time, and were happy to learn that everyone is already planning their visits to our soon-to-be home. But, I will miss this place:

OCT 15!!!!

CRAP! October 15th is the date!

Job Offer!

Brian was officially offered a position at Big Blue Bank in Nevada this morning! Evidently, Big Blue is expanding quite a bit out West, and they are extremely eager to have him start. Of course Brian is extremely professional and genuinely enjoys his new job, so I had no doubt that he would make a good impression. Brian has told them that a doable start date is November 1st, but we could come as early as October 15th, if they were in a bind. I hope hope hope they don't take the October 15 option, because that would be significantly earlier than I would like, but that's life!

I am going to be in Vegas from September 7 until the 13th for work, and we just bought a second ticket for Brian to join me during the weekend. We will make an appointment with an apartment finding company to find ourselves a complex to live in, so it should be a pretty hectic weekend. I'm excited for him to see the area, and he might even be able to get in a meeting with his new boss.

I guess it's time to get started on the moving!! I'm going to stop by target during lunch today and buy some plastic containers, so we can start filling them with the unbelievable amounts of junk we have in the apartment. Perhaps garbage bags are a better idea.

Yes, mom, I already called the realtor. Don't freak out. She is coming by either this weekend, or early next week to view the apartment. Oh, and the new washer/dryer was installed yesterday. It is beautiful, and extremely quiet. It should be a nice selling point.

Chicago Air and Water Show

This past weekend was the billionth annual Chicago Air and Water Show. According to Brian, who knows about these things, the CAWS is good, not great. Two years ago, we decided to skip out on the crowds of North avenue beach, where you can see the water show, and stick closer to our neighborhood and watch the water shower from the Belmont section of the lakefront. You still see all of the air show, so that's good enough for us.

This year, we thought it would be fun to invite some of the Caccamos down. Iryna has never been down to the lakefront, so it was a nice way to show her what her new city has to offer. Also, she really likes Tyler:

Tyler was not a big fan of the sonic booms some of the airplanes were making (probably not the most thought out portion of inviting the 8 month baby, but what can you do). Other than those few booms, he was, as usual, in excellent spirits.

Chloe and Swarley were happy to be out of the house for an afternoon. They were exhausted for the rest of the day. We only had to take them on a pee break before dinner!

It was a gorgeous day in Chicago, a nice change from most of the summer's weather, which has been hot, sticky and humid. I've found that after spending a week in the dry Nevada climate, despite the high temperatures, I much prefer it to the gross stickiness of Illinois. But, this week has been a nice change. It's been in the low 80s, with very little humidity. I can't wait for Chicago's fall, and I will make sure that Brian and I take advantage of (possibly) our last Chicago fall, the best season Illinois has to offer.

In parting, I leave you with an adorable picture of Brian and his nephew.

Transfer Update

I haven't posted anything in a while about the transfer to Las Vegas. That's because, there hasn't been any progress to report. Nothing has happened on my end. We are still working on reorganizing the company on this side. I am not yet done figuring out what to do with all of our employee's immigration statuses, so I am trying not to get ahead of myself. Until I've figured out how to make their transition from one company to new company smooth, I shouldn't start thinking about my own, far less complicated transition.

In other family news, Faby is visiting Chicago for about two weeks. Neither of us are entirely clear on why he is spending two weeks here, rather than spending the two weeks before classes begin back in San Francisco, but either way, he is here. Since he's only been here for four days, it's still fun. Just kidding. It's a little strange having him back here, acting exactly like he always has, when so much as changed for Brian and me. (You know, being married, both working full time, having a structured schedule). It is fun to have him though. I wonder when he will ever grow up.

I (finally) went to the wedding photographer's office to figure out our wedding album. It took us a really long time to pick out all of the photos to go into the album. We kept on putting it off. But, we (mainly me, with Brian's agreement, let's be honest) decided to pick out all the photos to "tell the story" of how the day went, instead of picking out all of the portraits, etc. Any picture that looked a little more candid that posed will go into the album. I picked out a few extras to go into the frames we received as wedding gifts. I'm not usually a big fan of the 8x10 portrait, but since we received 2 beautiful 8x10 frames, I picked out my two favorite photos of Brian and I. I guess that should be the last "wedding-related" item on my to-do list! Apparently the online ordering of the wedding photos is now closed, but not to worry... we will be getting a CD of all of the photos. We can print some out for anyone who missed out!

Hi!

Hello!

Big Blue Bank Transfer: Update

Brian did talk with his boss for a second time and she responded much better than she did the first time. Obviously, nothing is official yet. Neither he nor I have a definite job offer.

We do feel much better about his ability to move before the end of his year with Big Blue. I am infinitely less stressed about the idea of having to support our family on one salary.