Arizona. CD's company has a hub there. Arizona. A town somewhere between hot and damnhot.

Even though it is a longshot on paper, I know better.

It's karma.

See, I believe that everyone has special kinds of karma.

Bad karma - like my friend whose car has been hit over a dozen times.

And good karma.

My mother, for example, has parking karma. If you have her in the car, you can count on a parking space opening up right in front. Seriously.

A friend of mine has cheap ticket karma. He once went to Paris for a weekend in late summer for $150 roundtrip.

Me? I have job karma. Except for one notable year-long period in my life, I have always been able to find work.

When we first moved into this house, and CD was showing signs of the darkness that later decended, I said to him one morning that maybe I should think about a part-time job.

That afternoon, our new neighbor came out as we were in the yard and offered me (practically a stranger) a part-time job at his company.

CD looked at me and rolled his eyes.

CD does not have job karma. He's brilliant and reliable and talented. Once he is hired, he is the kind of guy that gets lots of promotions and employee of the month or whatever.

When we were pregnant, the law firm he worked at held a big surprise baby shower - for him. He was disgustingly beloved there.

Yep, once hired CD is king of the road.

But getting a new job? ugh.

So it is a very reasonable fear I have that in his quest to make enough money to support this family - we will end up in Arizona. Because these people already know CD. They want to keep him and promote him.

Realizing this the other morning, I began to panic. I started thinking up ways to avoid learning to love cacti.

"Look," I said. "I'll go back to work. Mega will take me back. Then we'll move to Minnesota. A reasonable house, in a good school district. Near a lake and a park. And then you'll look for a new job and once you have one, I'll quit again. How does that sound?"

And his expression turned relieved, and he smiled.

And I breathed and smiled back.

And that lasted for about, honestly, 10 minutes.

Then he looked at me and away. "We can't," he said, finally. "We have to go forward, not back."

"But I don't like Arizona," I argued.

"Maybe I will find something new here."

He put his arm around me, and I rested my face against his chest.

And even though I was a little upset? I was also a little proud. Maybe a lot.

It's taking a long time for us to find our feet, but that moment was a measure of progress. Maybe a small one, but in the right direction.

Posted by: Elizabeth at 12:47 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
Post contains 502 words, total size 3 kb.

Just an update, before I head over to that ugly pile of suitcases and unpack...

We're back from an impromptu trip to Minnesota. Saturday afternoon and CD, Bear and I were talking about how we wanted to do something with the 3-day weekend.

We put together our decision last fall to investgate the Twin Cities as a possible move-to place and our talk over Christmas that this should be the winter we got Bear on ski's for the first time. A little presto-magic-Hilton and shazam!, we were on the road.

No laptops, no internet, and only a couple of our cell phones. It was just us three hanging out and having some much-needed family time.

We went skiing on a local hill (As expected, Bear was outstanding. Already better than most Icelanders. Did I say that out loud? Whoops. Heh.) and swimming in the hotel's pool. We wandered neighborhoods, we ate in local restaurants, and tried to get a feel for the Twin Cities.

Lovely. Really.

Not that we're moving there. Although CD's put in resumes, there hasn't been a job offer in his salary range (even after adjusting for the Chicago-to-Minnesota deflation).

The only prospect right now in the 'It Can Support the Family' categorty is from his current job, which is thinking of offering him a promotion which would be (wait for it....) tied to a relocation to a desert town (EGADS).

I'm talking a hot, more hot, sandy, no-green kind of town.

Where, upon arrival, I would melt.

Yes, of course, his people are my people and if the job takes us to a place where you need to shake out your shoes for scorpions, well ... all righty. It's a new day. It's a new paradigm. So I would (gladly?) pack up the sunscreen and Bear's collection of 10 millions toys and follow the work.

But until then, frolic we did in the land of 10,000 lakes and a heckofalotta snow. With crossed fingers that we could end up someplace like that rather than someplace like the Mojave.

Posted by: Elizabeth at 03:28 PM | Comments (17) | Add Comment
Post contains 356 words, total size 2 kb.

1 Welcome home! Sounds like a wonderful trip. I could use 10,000 lakes and a heckofalotta snow right now, myself. I hope you don't move to the desert. But, life does bring unexpected twists and turns.

Posted by: laura at February 22, 2006 04:01 PM (FzMzF)

2 Sounds like a great weekend. You've been overdue for some relaxed family time for quite a while now. Is that desert town a middle-of-the-desert town, or an edge-of-the-desert town? I figure I might be OK in the desert if I could get to mountains/ forest/ water in a few hours.

Posted by: Kimberly at February 22, 2006 04:19 PM (CXd4V)

3 Change is good. Praying for the right answer for you.

Posted by: Melissa at February 22, 2006 05:09 PM (RcXdn)

4 I went to college in St. Paul, and the Twin Cities are wonderful. And I think you'd love it there. But I've also followed my husband's job to a place I never imagined myself living permanently, and it's working. It's all an adventure.

Posted by: Ruth at February 22, 2006 05:31 PM (ZkZtT)

5 I'll definitely keep my fingers crossed that the best solution makes itself clear. If the middle-of-the-desert town is Vegas by some weird chance though, it's not a bad place to live (surprisingly) - I have family there. And while yeah, it's blisteringly hot...there are mountains nearby to hike and frolic on (and they're cooler, even in August), and there's always Tahoe for skiing! Sounds like the weekend was fun!

Posted by: beth at February 23, 2006 01:35 AM (BuBkx)

6 Wow--if you loved "the Cities" (as people who live in other parts of the state call it) during one of the colder weekends of this winter, then you'd really like it during the warmer months. I grew up in MN, and while I love it there, I just can't handle the winters. I hope you find some green ($$) somewhere else so you don't have to move to a no-green town.

Posted by: Sharkey at February 23, 2006 02:52 AM (Fss3Z)

7 I'm glad you three had a fun time together. As for living in a hot dry sandy place? Yeah. That's me! The summers here are like winter in places where it snows. You stay inside with the AC running. Then when it's fall and winter with "brrrr..." cold going on? We're out here in t-shirts. Like today? It's sunny with a few wispy clouds and a high of 70 degrees. BEE-U-TEE-FULL!

Posted by: Grace at February 23, 2006 03:51 AM (L058b)

8 What a good way to spend the weekend! Sounds like fun. The desert?! Nasty! My SIL lives in the Mohave Valley, and is NOT happy. Of course, she comes from the Yukon, where summer is a long weekend in July. The lack of snow really depresses her. I hope you find a place with an amazing job, and the best weather.

Posted by: Tammy at February 23, 2006 05:31 AM (M++hX)

9 Where'd you eat? Where'd you go? I can't believe you didn't TELL me! Actually - I can believe it - since who the heck am I anyway. Suz (Minnesotan - remember!)

Posted by: suz at February 23, 2006 07:23 AM (GhfSh)

10 I'm glad you had a good time hanging out here - wish I had known you were here as I would've had all sorts of good ideas of things for you to do..... And now, not knowing what exactly the career path that either cd or you are interested in I will tell you that the feelers for a particular company have been out looking for good people to work in the MN area having to do with land and housing and development and project management and if you want to know who they are let me know.

Posted by: cursingmama at February 23, 2006 07:35 AM (PoQfr)

11 Ok, folks, The Mojave desert isn't THAT bad. Sheesh. You'd think it was the end of the world. Elizabeth, dear, email me, and I can give you the skinny on several of the desert communities of lovely Southern California. Sounds like a fun weekend

Posted by: caltechgirl at February 23, 2006 08:23 AM (/vgMZ)

12 Okay, I just came back from the Mojave where we are clearing out my in laws house (they are deceased). Wheeere in the Mojave? Please let us know because we can give you the lowdown.

Posted by: Robin at February 23, 2006 11:20 AM (4iJ3P)

13 wOOHOO, now that's a whole lotta cold, unhuh. You betcha them mosquito's are also quite sometink up there in Minnesota. Fulla lots of scandanavians tho' what with the Norwegian batchelor farmers, CD will feel right at home. Bear will not like the industrial strength sunscreen in the sandy desert climate. Off for another marquerita before dinner. Making my fortune in Baltimore this week at the Baltimore Fine Crafts show. love, kisses and hugs to you, CD and the Bear

Posted by: Auntie Marfa at February 23, 2006 11:37 AM (MnxdY)

14 Desert town. EEEEEEEE! I am a trees and hills and green, green grass girl myself, so I totally get ya. I'm glad you had a nice mini-vacation. You deserved it.

Posted by: lucinda at February 23, 2006 11:45 AM (OPvIN)

15 Hmmm. I lived in Duluth, north of the TC, for 32 years. Now I live in the South, where it's hot but green. There are a lot of days in Northern MN I would have rather shaken scorpions out of my shoes. I don't miss scraping ice off cars or sliding backwards down a steep icy hill with my son in the backseat. Everyplace has its ups and downs.

Posted by: B. at February 24, 2006 12:04 PM (St3p8)

16 Oh, good for you for getting away. Sounds wonderful. (I'd want the twin cities' weather over desert too -- I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.)

Posted by: Kris at February 24, 2006 01:29 PM (FJyHG)

17 Moved back to the "Cities" 12 years ago from the DC area and never regretted it for a moment. Got a cabin on a suburban lake and replaced it with our dream house 3 years ago... Can't beat swimming in your own back yard or skiing on the frozen water in winter. All the while, hubby can commute to Minneapolis and I can work from a home office in my PJs. Got kids out on downhill skis at age 3 and the local ski hill & snowboard park will entertain them until it's worth taking them to Colorado. 1st grade PE includes snowshoeing! What's not to love? It's a little bit of paradise, and with global warming, winters are getting easier and easier (hopefully a TEMPORARY silver lining as I don't mean to make light of a serious issue). There's just something about living in a state bordering a single lake whose water could cover North and South America with 12" of fresh clear water... I can do East Coast, I can do as far south as North Carolina, I can do Northwest, but I CANNOT do desert. I'd melt too. Good luck! -k.

Posted by: popcornKelly at February 28, 2006 04:35 PM (c9xN6)

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