So the house thing is done. There were a few very tense moments: there is nothing quite like being informed that the lender screwed up and you need an additional $6,000 literally as you are packing up the truck 48 hours before closing—fortunately that got worked out with no harm done. There were a few very cool moments: watching the dogs gambol in their brand new back yard; putting all of the dishes away, including the ones you've had in a plastic tub for 6 months, and still having space left over; lying in your new bedroom and falling asleep for the very first time, and realizing that as new and as strange as this place is still, it nonetheless feels like home. Yeah, we're happy about the house. Didn't want to come back to St. Louis.

As expected, once I updated my resume with our Austin address, I've started getting a little more interest. I'm hoping things will really take off in the next week or two, so that after Jen and I return from England we can both go to Austin at the same time. I'm looking forward to some new challenges.

I'm pretty worn out after this weekend, though. I'd say I'm looking forward to sleeping more tonight, but it's hard to really look forward to sleeping in a sleeping bag on top of a concrete floor barely softened by some thin carpet. ;)

Jenny has returned to town. Her haircut is very cute, though I confess I'm curious to see it post-hair dryer and curling iron. ;) Happy to have Jen in town again… Over the years I've gotten used to having my best friend around all the time. Jenny's a much better kisser than my cell phone. :)

On the other hand, Jenny being back means that June is over, and where the heck did that month go? Fortunately the house thing is going smoothly… homeowner's insurance (check!), appraisal (check!), moving truck (check!), hotel room (check!), and only 9 more days to go until we sign The Big Bad Paperwork.

Becoming a homeowner is a very strange thing… today I caught myself thinking that the lawn will go untended for about a month between closing and coming back from England, and should I hire someone to cut the grass once or twice while we're gone…? This is not something I would have thought to catch myself thinking, you know?

Job hunting continues to be a little slow. Still hoping the change of address will help; I'm currently getting a couple of calls a week from recruiters, most of whom are in the St. Louis area (and obviously missed the bit on my resume where it says we're moving to Austin…). If I were getting those calls from people in Austin instead I might well have a job. :( Most surreal recruitment call I've received: being recruited for a job in Alabama… working for Boeing. Um, yeah. If I wanted to work for Boeing, I'd use the internal job posting system, you know? And last I checked Alabama was not within commuting distance of Austin. Ah well.