The end...

After my 10 days in France, I spent 6 nights in London, visiting friends, and saying goodbye again. Then back to Philadelphia, just in time for my niece's 1st Communion. After seeing the family, I headed up to NYC to start the job hunt. It lasted for about a month, I popped in and out of New York, for meetings and interviews, but wanted to take advantage of the rest of my time off to see friends and family.



It went like this:

5 nights in Pennsylvania at my brother Martin's

4 nights in NYC at my friend Liz's apartment

4 nights in Virginia at my friend Abby's new house

2 nights back at Liz's in NY

5 nights at my sister's in Chicago

2 nights at Liz's again in NY

5 nights with my parents down the Jersey shore

a day trip to Jersey City for an interview and NYC to visit the apartment that was almost mine

5 nights at my brother Rick's in NJ

7 nights back at Liz's in NY (she was away the whole time, so isn't hating me yet)

And finally in my new apartment on June 8th!



Some people think I can't sit still. I blame it more on being homeless for a month. And of course also wanting to see my family that each live in a different state. But...at the end of my crazy month, I have a job and an apartment.



The job - I met with over 30 people, some formal interviews, some informal - almost all from people I knew from one of my many jobs in the company over the past 8 years. I ended up with 5 job offers, and lots of dramatic decision making. Nothing in my life is drama free. But I picked a job and they picked me and I started this past week. And as my dad likes to point out the positive news that I'm not fired yet!



And my apartment - it was the 4th place I saw on my first day of looking. The agent had 2 other people downstairs waiting to see it, so I quickly said I would take it and what did I need to do to get it. I sort-of lied and said I had a job. And money. And then spent the next 24 hours running around trying to get paperwork together to show that I am a professional, and capable of paying rent, when in reality I hadn't worked in 6 months and my bank accounts showed a steadily decreasing balance. But, in the end, it worked, and I got the apartment. Well I was told I had it and that I could move in June 1st. But then was told I couldn't move in June 1st, but that it was still 99% mine. June 8th I got the keys, still 99% that it would be mine, and yesterday (the 13th), finally had my lease approved and know I can stay. Again, nothing like a little drama. If that 1% chance happened and I had to move, it would have been a lot harder with the bed, furniture, tv, and all the other stuff I bought in the few days I was in the apartment.



But, its mine now, and I love it. A studio apartment near Union Square. I love the location and the apartment is very cute, small, but cute. I've pretty much bought out Bed, Bath, & Beyond and now it seems like home. I was lucky to have Kate visiting NY the evening I got the keys, so we made the first trip to BB&B for the most important items - wine glasses, corkscrew, and cleaning supplies and had our favorite dinner of hummus, crackers, and wine in my new place!



My 9 boxes arrive from London on Thursday, which I'm very excited about - I haven't seen this stuff since the end of September, and am very anxious for new clothes!



So, this is it. My 6 month sabbatical is over. I'm officially back - job, apartment, and starting to build a life in New York City again. Its crazy when I think of all I've done and everywhere I've been, but am happy now to be be back in real life.

All in all - 115 days away, 55 beds, 10 countries, 10 different currencies (Fiji Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Australian Dollar, Hong Kong Dollar, Vietnamese Dong, Japanese Yen, Chinese Yuan, Euro, British Pound, US Dollar), every combination of planes, trains, buses, trams, and boats to get around, 7 new airlines, all sorts of new foods, lots of friends, and an all around amazing experience.