You could just shoot me. That'd be simpler...

Moving is HARD. This is quite possibly the most stressful thing I have ever done.

Spent the second weekend in a row apartment-hunting in DC with my parents. We did actually manage to find something, but not before completely exceeding our quota of U-turns (DC apparently causes our GPS to have schizophrenic episodes) and giving me a headache that lasted 36 hours.

But! I did find a place, in Arlington - it's on S. Glebe Rd. right near the Army Navy Country Club, if anyone's familiar with landmarks - and it's very nice. Don't even ask what my rent is, but the apartment was recently renovated and so the kitchen's got pretty granite countertops and cherry cabinets. My mother is jealous that I'll now have a nicer kitchen than she does. :)

My last day of work here is July 2nd, and I'm moving out July 3rd. I have not started packing yet, although I did just get rid of an entire suitcase full of clothes I don't want. (And we're talking the huge, 3-weeks-in-Europe suitcase.) Just looking at it all makes me feel exhausted.

We have a minor snafu with the kitty, in that I never actually told the leasing office that I have one, and they have to come in for the walk-through inspection before I leave. So I'll need to find a place to stash Chelsea for a day - hopefully Christi will be around.

Chelsea seems to be getting slightly freaked out by all the stuff going on - when I left last weekend with the huge suitcase, I thought she was going to run after me. But she seems to enjoy jumping in the empty boxes and pulling the labels off them.

*collapses*

Wake me up when it's moving day.

And don't call me Shirley

Holy cow, this lady is deep-fried crazy!

I'm so proud

Pennsylvania gets a mention in this article about the appalling behavior of state legislatures. Awww.

Insane weekend

The good news: I was offered a new job in DC.
The bad news: I start in a month, which means I have to find an apartment and move in less time than that, all the while still working at my old job, and figuring out what the hell I'm going to do about the 7 months left on my current apartment lease.

This, it seems, will entail trips to DC pretty much every weekend from now until I move. Got up at 5:30 yesterday morning so I could drive down and meet my parents for our first weekend of apartment hunting. My mother would love for me to get a condo, so I can build up some equity rather than throwing away money on rent, but so far, we've only found one place I could afford (in Alexandria), and I wasn't crazy about it. I don't want to buy the first place I see, just because it's a great price. As my mother says, if you buy something on sale, and then you don't like it, you didn't really get a bargain.

So I'm also looking at renting an apartment - which is also absurdly expensive. Once we ruled out all the places that either were out of my price range, or in bad neighborhoods, or so much of a dump my mother wouldn't let me live there, there aren't that many choices, but still, I think it's going to be a hard decision. Having visited and ruled out Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Hyattsville, and Temple Hills (all in Maryland), I've got it narrowed down to probably Arlington or Alexandria, leaning toward Alexandria, because that seems to be more affordable.

I'm looking for a one-bedroom, although we did look at a few studio/efficiency apartments this weekend. The studio would definitely be cheaper, but I worry about a.) not having a private bedroom area when I have guests, especially guests who sleep over, b.) less space for the kitty, and c.) not enough room for all my furniture. I'm in a one-bedroom now, and it's fully furnished, so all that stuff will have to go somewhere. (I suppose it could go in my parents' basement, but the main problem seems to be the bedroom furniture, and I don't know where I'd store all my clothes if I can't fit my dresser in the apartment...)

There's a fair amount of sticker shock going from where I live now, which is one of the most expensive apartments in my (admittedly small) city, to finding out that, on the same salary, I qualify for low-income housing in the DC metro area. Talk about your cost of living differences.

Anyway, since we didn't find anything that was absolutely perfect, we will probably be going back and looking at more places next weekend. It's a damn good thing I like spreadsheets, because trying to keep track of all this is making my head spin.

It's entirely possible that this may become "Laura's apartment hunting journal" for the next few weeks, for which I apologize in advance.

WHEE!!!

I got a job!!!

*waits for panic to set in*

Zack Attack!

If you missed it, Mark-Paul Gosselaar appeared on the Jimmy Fallon show - as Zack Morris! Best. Interview. Ever.

I loved Saved By the Bell when I was a kid, and OMG I nearly died when he said, "Well, I was raised in Indiana, but I moved out west with my two friends and my high school principal."

In other news, the full cast and vague description of season 8 of 24.

Pop culturey things

First, there's a Monsters Inc. sequel in the works. Megan, clear your calendar for 2013, you're my Pixar-movie watching buddy.

BSG's Katee Sackhoff will be on the next season of 24. My fangirl head might explode.

And Kal Penn still hasn't started his job at the White House. You know, if he doesn't want it, I'm sure I could find someone to take it (like me).

Don't want to jinx anything...

...but I picked up a DC apartment guide after my interview today. Should know something next week.

Yay!

Second interview on Friday! Wooo!

Another milestone

I've now applied for 80 different jobs. Megan, how does that compare to your job search? I'll be expecting a party when I hit 100 (mostly to cheer me up).

I had an interview last week (my first one since February), but haven't heard anything back yet.

Random stuff

I'm having difficulty accepting this - Freddie Prinze Jr. on 24? Does. Not. Compute.

Unrelated, see what we're doing in education these days.