Posting has been erratic here for several weeks because my brain has been occupied with big decisions. Like whether to apply for another job, accept another job and move to another city.
In short, the answers were yes, yes and yes.
The husband and I will be moving to Atlanta in short order.
I want to say it was a difficult decision, but it really wasn’t. Huntsville is a nice enough place, but I’m getting antsy.
I haven’t been sure about my career path for the past five years. I’ve wanted to be in the newspaper business since I was a teenager. I never quite recovered from leaving the industry, and the transition to technical writing has never felt quite right to me.
People say your job doesn’t define you. I would reply that no, it certainly does not, but you sure do spend a heck of a lot of time doing it, so you may as well try to enjoy it.
Thus, I’ve accepted an Atlanta job that I think will be an excellent fit for me — the company has already hired several former newspaper folks with great success. I’ll be doing lots of reading, analysis and writing, pretty much all the graduate school activities that I’ve been missing ever since graduation last December.
Atlanta itself? Pretty cool. Lots to do, lots to see. It contains a very busy airport that I’ve never been keen on flying through (in truth, I haven’t been very keen on layovers for several years), but that I’m more than willing to fly out of and into. Two-hour direct flights to New York City abound, and I could spend every vacation day I ever earn in Manhattan if I had the chance. Which I might.
I’ve been packing and getting rid of stuff for the past week. We’re hoping to live in Atlanta, not outside in the commute-stricken burbs, and the tradeoff for this is space. This is going to be the first move in which I really analyze what means enough to me to take. Stuff doesn’t just go in boxes because I own it; stuff goes in boxes because I want it, love it and/or will definitely use it.
I’m excited and nervous, a combination that probably indicates this is going to be awesome. It’ll offer plenty of blogging material, at the very least.
Entirely Adequate 
I’ve always longed for an excuse to downsize to REALLY be able to analyze what is important to me. I set some pretty strict storage limits on us in this house, so that helps, but it will be such a study of self to really see what you keep and what you give away.
Best of luck to you on this new journey!
Thank you! I’ve found that I’ve been dragging around a lot of stuff simply because I’ve always had it. Ownership inertia.
I’m certainly glad to have been able to get to know you, slight as it was. Your friendship has been appreciated, and I wish you and your husband a fantastic journey.
I’ve enjoyed getting to know you, too. I wish we could have all spent more time together.
Good luck, thankfully the internet will keep you connected with folks in the small town you will be leaving 🙂
Sounds like a good opportunity. So glad we met and have continued to network over the years. Hope we can continue to stay in touch and I’ll certainly keep up with you here on your blog.
I enjoyed getting to know you in school and afterwards. And moving certainly does give me plenty to blog about.