move? stay? a little? a lot? host, guest

In case I haven't made it clear over and over: I LOVE NEW ORLEANS. I love the South. I love it here.

So, just to confuse and confound, I'll announce a very preliminary very iffy idea that has arisen: transferring to a Pacific Northwest state university. Where, it so happens, my Selma girl resides. And she ain't gettin any younger (she'll be 13 soon).

Ever since Kamaria told me she's thinking about transferring, there's been a little nudge of it. Maybe I'm just co-dependent - if she goes, then I go.

But of course not - it's much more than that. I just emailed Tami teasing if she's the pregnant one, then why am I the nesting one?

Because I am. Because plans are that I'll be a mother in the not-too-distant future. And as much as I love, love, love New Orleans - I don't see it as good for kids. Not right now, post-Katrina, and not with my economic situation. But on the other side of the continent, there are good public schools (and for me it's more about politics than money), and parks with ground that isn't toxic, and houses with yards. It's less interesting and musical and colorful there, but chances of being shot are significantly less.

I am SO over the west coast, and I would never consider moving back there if not for this.

But - Lara said she'd be my nanny if I moved back. :)

I don't know. So preliminary. I'll wait until I feel better before doing anything. It's not THAT much cheaper (though living costs are significantly less), and I think it's a fair less amount of prestige. Far fewer connections to high-fallutin major city firms that pay the big bank.

But didn't I just say that's not what I want, a big firm life? That I want to take time to smell the flowers and scope out the birds? The Pacific Northwest is good for that. If you can ever see though that damn rain and the glare off all the white people.

Oh. Damn. I just looked at that school's employment statistics - and the median starting salary out of school is LESS than I made as a teacher - and I'd still be carrying like $100,000 in debt. Damn. The HIGHEST salary in the same town is $52,000, which is less than I made teaching. I'd be so screwed. In contrast, where I currently am, starting salary is $83,000 average for entire class, $96,356 for private firms.

Hm. Stay where I am in a place I love, not deal with the hassle of applications and transferring, and probably make about twice the money? My writing instructor suggested I consider working at a big firm for just two years - enough to make a wad of cash and pay off bills, and then walk away (that's what she did). Of course that sounds like a damn long time to not have a life, but maybe it's what I need to do (if I can get hired, of course).

So, Mobile was fun. It was a little disorienting to be in a city that was actually functioning. We stuck to suburbia, where Kim lives. But I see now that there are ton of birding and estuary-oriented type of activities there. It was beautiful there - especially when I drove right on past Mobile, past Spanish Fort (looking around too much to notice exit signs). Next time, we'll drive to Florida and chillax on the beach - I wasn't up for that. Heck, I wasn't up for much of anything (I still feel really sick), so we watched Jet Li's Fearless. It was just fun to see Kim and catch up. It's only 144 miles from here, and it's a straight direct route - not too many bad bridges. Wish I had more spare time to spend over there. Sabine used to joke that her house was Eva's country house and Eva's apartment was Sabine's beach house. Kim and Norwood both really impressed upon me that I'm welcome any time - hope they know what they're getting into by being hospitable! But it really did feel like a "get away." And Kim's big plans of next time spending a weekend on the beach - that would be quite a vacation, even if just a weekend.

I wonder ... if I could find a job in Mobile this summer. There's no law school there. I wonder if I could stay in Kim's spare bedroom for a couple months. Hm. Maybe I'll look into that. Her place is sweet - three times the size of mine for significantly less money. I wouldn't want to impose on her, but we could have lots of fun girl time if I was living there.

Norwood set up her apartment, decorating it all very nicely. The best - she has this huge bed and he set it up so with the flip of the switch you have Barry-Whiteesque type of music and red light emanating up and around it. TOO FUNNY. I said I'm sending Dayton to him for romance lessons. And construction lessons - I stopped by his house today (yeah, I said I'm sick, so I SHOULD be staying in bed but I can't be bothered) and it's looking great. It's been really interesting to see it develop since we met - wish I'd been able to help him along the way.

Ugh. I just got email from Sabine's boy - he's so annoying sometimes. I hold my tongue because I don't think he's malicious or untrustworthy - I just find him vexing. I really wish SHE were coming alone. I don't always not like my friends' partners - I like Kim and Norwood, Tami and Ahmed. Even people I knew first - I like Stephen for Amy, Sadie for Lara, and I liked Sylvia for Michele (long over, I know, but I still liked her). I think usually I like most of my friends' people. I just don't really like him. And no matter how polite I am, he can sense it and it makes him even more annoying. He's just not funny and he tries too hard. So, I"ll end up feeling guilty because I won't be able to spend much time with them (I'm even further behind now - my head and eyes hurt far too much to get any work done) and won't want to (if he is true to form). Well, it will be a nice romantic getaway for them, and I'm a third wheel anyway.