Follow Your Bliss

Over the past several weeks, I have been interviewing with two separate companies for the position of General Counsel. One company is in Minneapolis, Minnesota and the other is in Houston. I still have kids, family and friends in Minneapolis and John was game for "moving back" if necessary, but I must admit the film footage of the winter snowfall (and the Dome collapsing) seriously had me worried. Could I live like that again - shivering in the car on the way to work, snow tires, ice scrapers.......Hmmm....... In many ways, I think the decision was made for me because the company in Houston moved quicker in the process. I was offered (and accepted) that job and ended the interview process with the company in Minnesota. The weather has been over 80 degrees and sunny here every day since I made the decision, so I am guessing that is a good sign.

Now, Houston is three hours from where John and I currently hang our hats (notice how Texan I have become over the past 4 years?). John will continue to work at Embree in Georgetown and remain Austin-based. We love this house and plan to retire here (6 months here in the winter and 6 months at the cabin in Wisconsin in the summer.) However, a 3 hour commute (each way) is just too long and since the new company is pitching in relocation dollars, we have been exploring all options - real estate, renting, corporate apartments, etc. Today, we made the decision that (for now) I will live in an RV park in Houston during the week and commute home on week-ends.

I think I may be more excited about living in the RV than I am about the new job - it feels like a life-sized dollhouse. Seriously, once Joe and Donna got into the RV world a few years ago and we started actually looking at some of these, I had no idea how nice they were inside - and roomy! We found this RV in Houston and will have it moved over to my new spot with a view in about 2 weeks. In the meantime, I will stay in a hotel for my first week or two of work. Eventually, we will probably get a condo or townhouse in Houston (at which point we can park this RV in Jarrell which adds more sleeping space for when large groups of friends or family come visit - hint hint). I will have a pull-out couch in the RV and we have the guest bedroom (with pool and hottub) in Jarrell - so visitors can now fly into Houston (and drive back to Jarrell on Friday with me) or fly directly into Austin or San Antonio (and/or fly back out of Houston) in order to come visit Ranch Stange.