California Resident

When the wife and I were just dating, sometimes I would ride my bike 10 miles to her condo from work.  Every time I did that, I felt like a superhero.  I experienced that same feeling after driving across the country.

We took the northern route, staying overnight in Lincoln, Grand Junction, and Vegas.  The leg from Nebraska to Colorado taught be about the gears that come with the car that I have never thought to use before and were skipped over in driver's ed because it was only for people who live in the mountains.  I should have thought to educate myself before I left.  But clearly, we lived through it.

I know lots of people have taken ridiculously long drives in a much shorter time than three days.  But because the 5 1/2 hour drive to Des Moines used to be torture for me, this was an amazing feat.  By the time we got to Vegas, the wife couldn't stomach the thought of another day in the car and jumped on the first plane home.

I dropped her off at 5am and crossed the finish line sometime around 9am.  My first stop in town was  checking out an apartment.  By noon, I leased apartment in North Hollywood.  I spent my first night on my friend's couch. On the second night, yesterday, I spent the night on my air mattress in my apartment with no electricity.  It was cozy.  That kind of thing that would've been torture in Chicago.

The last two days have been a flurry of emails, phone calls and credit cards being cancelled because of my "suspicious activity" in California.  Next week is when the fun begins.  Stay tuned...

Day 1

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.  Technically, that doesn't really make it any different than any other day, but today is the first day of the rest of my new life.  Most people who know me, know that LA was always on my brain.  Whenever the opportunity would arise for me to visit, I'd be itching to move.  But there's nothing like reality than when it's staring you in the face.

Yesterday was my last day at work.  The obvious question was, "What are you going to do in California?"  As of today, I have no idea.  I know that I am getting in my car to camp out on my friend Robert's couch for a week.  I don't know where I'm going to live.  I don't know where I'm going to work. I don't know what is going to happen.

But I do know a moving truck will be bringing my stuff to California in two weeks.  I expect to have a place to live by then.  This fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants logic seems to scare the heck out of people who don't know me.  Some people feel the need to reiterate the fact that the wife and I will be fine, as if they need to hear it to feel better themselves.  The vast majority of my friends and family know this needs to be done, and know that it will turn out great.

Last night, my cousin described our last night in Chicago as reminiscent of the last episode of Gimme A Break.  As a TV junkie, I thoroughly appreciated the reference and the honor of my life being described as a popular 80s sitcom.  Now we're moving' on up to the west coast.  Though today is the first day of the rest of my new life, I don't feel fear, excitement, or nervous.  As someone who gets nervous around the idea of leaving for work in the morning (I always forget something important), this calm demeanor is new for me. 

Stay tuned for updates...         

It's Here!

My adventures in Los Angeles will begin on April 21.  If you've been following the blog, you know that the fiancee and I always planned to roll out right after the wedding.  There was a hitch in our plan because our wedding was being considered for the show "Four Weddings" on TLC.  If we had been selected for the show, I would have needed to stay in Chicago longer.

Based on the tone of this blog, I'm sure you can imagine that we weren't chosen.  I got the news 6 days before the wedding that it wasn't going to work out.  So during wedding crunch time, we had to figure out whether it was feasible, logical and and reasonable for us to move forward with our original plan.  In between final wedding plans, we have decided to leave by May 1st.

I have staked out a place on a couch in Los Angeles and will solidify a place for us to live.  The next couple of weeks will be packed with packing, farewells, and prayers.  Stay tuned for info about jobs for me and the wife, working hard to pay the rent, and my life breaking into the industry.