OMG...More DMV Hell

The DMV has a special place in my stomach right now (it's turning). Our quest to get poor little Dani her driver's permit continues. Dani & I finally got her "verification of enrollment" form on the first day of school (we waited all summer for this), and we drove to Marble Falls, TX to the little friendly DMV office there. Not a quick trip, took 45 minutes. But after our delightful (NOT!) experience at the East Austin DMV, I thought this would be better. Well, darlin', the DMV is nothing if not consistent. This time, the woman told us we need 14 hours of behind-the-wheel training. Yep, don't know where she pulled that number from because I know that it's 7 hours based on our last DMV trip and the official web site. But I digress. She then fixated on the report card showing Dani completed Driver's Ed at school with a grade of A. "We need to know exactly how many classroom hours this was." I point out to her it's 2.5 credit hours (1/2 semester). Nope, not good enough. We must have an official letter from North Hunterdon High School. Each time we visit, it's something new and they are obviously making this up as they go along. Makes me wonder what's really going on -- are they just trying to keep us awful Jersey people off their precious Texas roads?

So here's hoping my nightly laps in the pool can cure this massive headache I've got after this experience. And the glass of wine too. I am already mentally composing my letter to the editor of the Statesman. As if moving across country wasn't traumatic enough, now my plans for dealing with work/transporting kids are basically all changed. OK, I'll stop whining now.

New Online Friends

You can meet real people online. A woman that just moved her family here from Michigan has been corresponding with me since February 2010. We met on the Austin forum of http://www.city-data.com/, which is a great resource for people facing a move to a new city. Cecilia moved here this summer with her husband and 3 daughters (all close to Dani's age). They were actually planning a move to the Lakeway community (where we live), but they ended up in Steiner Ranch. It's close but a different school district.




As you can see, the girls really hit it off and enjoyed an afternoon in the pool. It was interesting to hear Cecilia's perspectives on Austin. Since it's not truly a new city to me, quirks like the way streets are arranged (& how the names change so often) don't really bug me. The fact that I-35 is unusable (except as a parking lot) is just something I accepted a long time ago. These things bug her. I also didn't hear a lot of gushing about the "weird" Austin, most-cool city thing from her. And that's in spite of the fact that she's already enjoyed the easy availability of live local music. Maybe all that really doesn't matter to newcomers that aren't in their 20's.

It's funny how things turn out differently than you planned. We are truly enjoying the pool, much more than expected. We have my family over every other Sunday and basically have a big party. It's a nice draw to invite kids over to meet Dani and Nile. And I am finding I can actually get some exercise out of it and use it to relax in the evening. We looked at a lot of houses that didn't have pools & it wasn't high on our list. Now I would list it as a "must have". I figured I would not be able to tolerate working at a hospital that wasn't in South Austin, but I've found the commute up to 32nd street not bad at all. Saturday was especially sweet, only 25 minutes. And this is corny, but I love driving through downtown between the high rises and then skirting along the edge of UT. I love being back in the city.

The kids start school tomorrow, so soon everything will change drastically. I have most of the week off so that I can help ease the transition. The painters come on Tuesday to paint much of the interior of our house. I start orientation for my second job the next week. Ken's been invited to play a big poker game in Houston one weekend in September. Dani & I are planning a Thanksgiving trip to NYC to visit Holly. I was concerned Nile would never replace his beloved Clinton TaeKwonDo studio, but in some ways I think he found an even-better school (smaller, more of a family).

Life is good and I'm living in Austin, where I always wanted to come back to. It's great.

Employment

I am now employed in the fine state state of Texas. In fact, I have two jobs, which is the way I like it. Both are per diem, so I only work when they need me & I want to. One is at a private psychiatric hospital that is actually two floors within a larger acute-care hospital. I completed my orientation week there yesterday. I was quite worried about the commute - I actually drive through downtown - but it was not bad, and that was for arriving at 8:30. It took me 35 minutes from our house in Bee Cave, and (again), it's a pleasant scenic drive along Bee Cave road. And I actually like driving through downtown -- a part of me loves being back in a city. Should be less than 30 minutes when I am arriving at 6:45 am for regular work. Look, I even have a badge.

I see good signs that I will like this job. The employees seem capable and friendly and the patient population is more interesting to me -- these are people with acute psychiatric needs and with insurance. I am hopeful that with many of them, I will feel like I'm actually making a difference in their lives -- helping them through a crisis and getting them back on their feet. Hagedorn was a different situation, one that I grew to appreciate, but very few patients did I ever feel like I was making a difference in their outcome.

I also signed all the papers yesterday for my other job - it's as a woundcare nurse at a wound clinic in south Austin. This is very cool, can you believe I was able to find jobs in my two specialty areas? And dayshift? Woo hoo! This employer is part of a large system, there are 6 hospitals in the metro area with a total of 1088 beds. It's big. I also see signs that it's a good place to work. I start that orientation on the 30th of August.

The kids went to their "round ups" at school, got their schedules and books. Dani met two girls that just moved here and I am hopeful friendships will develop. Nile is fitting right in at Tae Kwon Do. The school bus stops only a block away at 8:00. Ken has a good apartment in Houston during the week and finds his new job interesting. He says it's much less stress than Clinton, so hey - that's really all I care about. It's all good. Summer is winding down, one week left for playtime. But the nice hot weather & the enjoyment of the pool continues. I'm getting in the habit of getting in there every evening. It is so relaxing and pleasant, especially if I spent the day working indoors. I have figured out that I can swim laps if I do the breast stroke and that's not too annoying. Trying to do freestyle is just too much turning, too fast. Here's another pool pic -- can't take enough of these I guess. I can't believe we even looked at houses without pools. What was I thinking?

TX to Philly

I went to Philly last week for my annual pilgrimage to my workout goddess's shrine in Glassboro, New Jersey. That's Cathe Friedrich's gym and filming studio. This was my fourth trip and I enjoyed it just as much as the first time in 2005. I'm getting so I know the routine so well, I don't even bother to bring the agenda with me. I took a total of 6 classes from Friday evening to Sunday morning. That's me with Cathe in the pic. Yes, she really sat at our table to eat. Not your typical idol.

On Saturday, Cathe did her one minute of fame with us, where small groups got to workout on the set with Cathe and take pictures for a minute. My cool camera even does video, so I got a video of it and it's posted on Facebook. For a minute, I could pretend I was one of Cathe's cast working on a video with her. And yes, the lights are really hot. I am amazed that they all aren't dripping with sweat on the videos. Must really have the hair and makeup shellacked on.

I love to go to these Road Trips because it really gives me a shot of inspiration and enthusiasm to get up at dark-thirty every morning I'm working and sweat for an hour and a half. It can be lonely to workout at home and it's also weird. I spend that time with Cathe every day & start to feel like I know her -- she releases a new set of workouts about once a year & I've been collecting them since 1999, so if anyone knows her little jokes and how she thinks, it's her loyal fans like me. But when you meet her in person, you realize how one-sided the relationship is, although she is very warm and real. No diva.

And New Jersey/Philly was lovely. The weather really cooperated and was so much cooler than it has been in Austin. Not that I saw much of it starting Friday night, but the days before were nice.

I got to see Jackie and Christy and many of my 3 West pals, which was nice. I worked out at my old gym in Clinton and took a terrific Zumba class - better than the Zumba here in Austin, in fact. I miss New Jersey, especially now that the temps here are over 100 degrees every day (& I really feel it)!

The bad luck of this house continues though....when I returned home I discovered that my Mom had backed into the neighbor's mailbox with her car while she was babysitting my kids during my trip. She leveled it, and it was one of those big brick things. Oh well, it's fixed now. I just have to laugh.