The good news: James has accepted a job offer in another state! We have been living on his reduced salary for over a year - 80% since spring - so going back to a full salary plus a raise will be lovely. He will be the General Manager for a freight forwarder and we will get to move away from Georgia...
The not-so-good news: The job is NOT back in the Triangle (North Carolina), which we would have loved. We wish we had never left Raleigh back in 2005, but the fates right now do not have us moving back.
Good news to us: The job is in Syracuse, NY. We are looking forward to living again in a small city with a strong university presence, and it is a lovely area of NY. Yes, I know that they get A LOT of snow each year, it will be very cold in the winter and it will be a major, major adjustment.
More not-so-good news: While the hiring company is paying to move us, they will not buy the house. James starts his new job on 1 September and will live in a small apartment, but Aidan and I will stay here until the house sells. Let's hope it doesn't take too long to sell the house; the idea of living apart is not appealing, but we don't think that leaving a house empty to sell is a wise idea.
James resigned yesterday and, surprisingly, his current employer handled it professionally (it was a concern, believe me). Our lives are going to be absolutely nuts for some time, but we are thrilled that James has such a good opportunity in a lousy job market and that, in the long run, we will be out of Georgia. Georgia is not a bad place, it is just not a good place for us.
So...anybody want to buy our house?
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
A day in the ATL
Today we drove into the city from Hooter County and enjoyed some uniquely Atlanta experiences.
We started the day at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, which has been our favorite place to visit in the city. We haven't been there in quite some time and wow, have they made changes in our absence...and, in our opinion, not necessarily changes to the good. There is a fancy schmancy new parking deck, Visitors Center and entrance plaza, and fancy schmancy new prices. It was a bit of a shock to have to pay to park when we have always parked for free.
But we still enjoyed the frog sculptures, the beautiful plants and the artwork that is, well, artfully placed throughout the grounds.
It was time for lunch, so we drove over to The Varsity, for our monthly allotment of greasy food. The food was okay, but the atmosphere and people watching were out of this world. If you ever visit Atlanta, you really ought to get yourself on over there - it is unique and a unique experience.
We then drove west on Ponce de Leon Avenue to the Virginia Highland neighborhood - a very, very cool area. Our first destination was Knitch, a lovely yarn store that was everything I thought it would be and more. Aidan was thrilled to help one of the marvelous sales people wind a ball of yarn using a swift. My knitting friends will be shocked to hear that I bought no yarn (gasp); it is still difficult to buy yarn when I do not have a specific project in mind. But I did buy a Knit, Drink, Tink t-shirt and petted lots and lots of luscious yarns.
Next stop was Highland Woodworking, where James happily browsed tools, tools and more tools. I really can't tell you anything more than that, although he did make some kind of purchase (not nearly as cute as my t-shirt).
Our last stop was Centennial Olympic Park, a 21 acre park that was built for the 1996 Olympic games. James and Aidan enjoyed the Olympic rings fountain, and then we rambled through the park, enjoying the downtown views and, again, the awesome people watching.
And a good time was had by all!
Enjoy a few more photos of the Atlanta Botanical Garden:
We started the day at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, which has been our favorite place to visit in the city. We haven't been there in quite some time and wow, have they made changes in our absence...and, in our opinion, not necessarily changes to the good. There is a fancy schmancy new parking deck, Visitors Center and entrance plaza, and fancy schmancy new prices. It was a bit of a shock to have to pay to park when we have always parked for free.
But we still enjoyed the frog sculptures, the beautiful plants and the artwork that is, well, artfully placed throughout the grounds.
It was time for lunch, so we drove over to The Varsity, for our monthly allotment of greasy food. The food was okay, but the atmosphere and people watching were out of this world. If you ever visit Atlanta, you really ought to get yourself on over there - it is unique and a unique experience.
We then drove west on Ponce de Leon Avenue to the Virginia Highland neighborhood - a very, very cool area. Our first destination was Knitch, a lovely yarn store that was everything I thought it would be and more. Aidan was thrilled to help one of the marvelous sales people wind a ball of yarn using a swift. My knitting friends will be shocked to hear that I bought no yarn (gasp); it is still difficult to buy yarn when I do not have a specific project in mind. But I did buy a Knit, Drink, Tink t-shirt and petted lots and lots of luscious yarns.
Next stop was Highland Woodworking, where James happily browsed tools, tools and more tools. I really can't tell you anything more than that, although he did make some kind of purchase (not nearly as cute as my t-shirt).
Our last stop was Centennial Olympic Park, a 21 acre park that was built for the 1996 Olympic games. James and Aidan enjoyed the Olympic rings fountain, and then we rambled through the park, enjoying the downtown views and, again, the awesome people watching.
And a good time was had by all!
Enjoy a few more photos of the Atlanta Botanical Garden:
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