Wow, I see it’s been three months since I’ve updated my blog. Well, they have been eventful months: a Fourth of July weekend in Rocky Mountain National Park. A two-week vacation to the Southeastern U.S., where I got to catch up with good friends and my sister and brother-in-law. And in mid-August, a sudden job offer (thanks, Beth, for the lead!) that required returning to Georgia within two days and then doing a cross-country move over Labor Day weekend. But. I am once again teaching at a university, and so far I love my students and the department and the campus. I mean, there’s a dinosaur museum, a nature preserve, AND a wildlife center; what’s not to love?

I owe many, many people e-mails, and I will send them as soon as I a) get internet in my apartment, and b) catch up on everything (by which I mean grading, class prep, and freelance work). 

Because this is my life, this transition has not been without kerfuffles. Yesterday I managed to lose my car keys on campus, meaning I was parked overnight without a permit (thanks to another kerfuffle with the parking services department) and accrued $70 worth of tickets, and it took AAA 15 HOURS to figure out that their nearest locksmith is 45 minutes away and apparently couldn’t or wouldn’t make the drive. (You know it’s bad when the customer service rep on the phone says, “I’m sorry, I know this is totally ridiculous.”) They could tow me out of the college parking lot and back to my apartment complex, IF I signed a damage waiver, but that was about it. I called 411 and got the number of a local locksmith who immediately set out for campus and got everything all sorted within about 20 minutes, for $10 more than AAA’s service charge would have been. And now I have a parking permit and car keys, and I just have to appeal the tickets. 

BUT we all, even the lizard and salamander (watching whom has become the cats’ favorite pastime), survived the trip from Colorado. I’m getting settled into my lovely apartment, and my friends Kate and Gordon are rock stars for driving up from Savannah to help unload the moving van in like 95-degree heat with 95% humidity, and my neighbors are very nice so far. (My first interaction with the Seattle-area neighbors was, “IS THAT YOUR MOVING VAN PARKED IN MY SON’S SPOT? GET IT OUT NOW, OR WE WILL CALL THE OFFICE AND HAVE IT TOWED!” My first interaction with a neighbor here was, “Do you need me to move my truck so you can get the moving van closer to your door? I know the guy who’s parked next to me, and I can run over and ask him to move his vehicle, too–I’m sure he won’t mind.” Of course, if my dog barks all day, she might stop being so nice, but at least she promised to tell me before she calls the office and complains.)

So even with a heat index above 100 during my first week here, I’m very, very glad to be back in the Southeast.