Desperate Housewife

The negotiations for the job continue.  Drew gave his counter-offer and now his company is reviewing it to see how close they can come.  However, remember ACME is a cut-throat company and will use whatever tactics they can to save dollars.  The punk HR lady here in Dallas even called him when she got wind of his counter and was all "I sure would hate for them to take the offer off the table.  I mean, since you're soooo unhappy here and all.  Don't you just want to leave already?  I mean, don't you just hate it here so much that you'll take whatever they give you just to get out?"  NAW, bitch! 

See, I can be ghetto and unprofessional where Drew can't.  I just can't believe that they would try to BULLY him like that.  When he called and told me that, I was all "Where she at?  What's her name?  What dat bitch look like?"  Once he talked me down and I became rational again, I was able to objectively discuss with him the ramifications of the current offer and how it could affect us and our future well-being.  See, I can be proper too.

The group in San Jose is very encouraging and they want him on the team so they are actively doing what they can to make this offer as appealing as possible.  It needs to make financial sense for us to take it and they're really trying to meet him more than halfway, so at least there's that.

As for how all this affects me and MY life (which is what it's REALLY all about), this means that we will have to be in San Jose by May, June at the absolute latest.  He will have to go out there almost immediately and will begin traveling much more than in the past.  I'm not thrilled about that, as I'm not keen on spending that much time with the dog by myself (I KNEW this shit would happen - the wife/mother ALWAYS ends up taking care of the dog, no matter WHO in the house says they'll do it.)

It will also be my responsibility to facilitate the move, coordinating with the moving company, dealing with realtors and basically holding down the fort while Drew gets acclimated to his new job. 

If they can make the numbers work, we will have three months left in Dallas!  In that time, we will travel to California to look for a place to live, put the house on the market, hopefully sell it without taking too much of a loss, go back to Kansas in April for our reception, again in May for my best friend's wedding reception, and I will look for a job in the San Jose/San Francisco area.

But the biggest thing about this transition is that for the first time EVER I can't work.  I've had a job since I was sixteen, and I've pretty much always held multiple jobs, whether that was flight attendant/model, student/waitress, yoga instructor/working for a yoga clothing company/running a yoga studio.  I've never not worked.  However, if we're only going to be in Dallas for three more months, it doesn't make sense to try and find a 'real' job.  Thus, I've become the Desperate Housewife - minus the pool boy.  Or lawn boy.  Or any other boy really - even the dog is a girl.

This is such a novel experience and believe me, I'm soaking it up.  I figure this will probably be the last time in my life that I'll have this opportunity, and I want to look back on it fondly.  Already I'm relishing not having to wake up to an alarm clock and the dog is getting older so she sleeps later too.  It's a beautiful thing.  I read, I clean, I cook, all at an unhurried pace with no real deadline.  Since we don't have a home computer I go to the library at my school. It gets me out of the house, because while I've got all this free time, I do NOT have free money.  I have to limit my activities to those that require the least amount of money, hence LOTS of reading and surfing the web at the library.  While I'm okay with it in the interim, a home computer is on top of the to-buy list when all the dust settles.

In the coming months, I plan to research stuff that I can do around Dallas for the cheap, spend time with my friends and get ready to move.  I also have a mirror that I've had for a thousand years that NOW maybe I'll get to re-do! 

I don't think that I could indefinitely do the housewife-thing and it's really a moot point because there's no way in HELL that Drew would go for me not working if we don't have kids.  However, three months isn't so bad and it will go by quickly.

So here's my question - If you found yourself in my position what would you do with yourself?  Without spending a lot of money?  Do you have any ideas or suggestions for me?  Something I should do before re-entering the real world and never EVER getting this kind of opportunity again?