Just gotta get past the holidays....

And Les's procedures.....and then we can focus on the move.

Les is trying a pain management procedure again, this Wednesday and the following Wednesday, that involves the doc taking a lidocaine-soaked, long-handled q-tip and sliding it up his nose until it hits brain/it touches a particular nerve that may be responsible for his rebound migraines. Yeah, you needed to know that.

Until then, the migraines have been knocking him on his ass for 3 or 4 days out of the week lately, instead of just 2, so it's hard to get on his case about not looking for work. Besides, we're close enough where he probably oughta just be looking for prospects in Columbia.

It's completely idiotic and lazy of us that we never filed his SS disability paperwork. We still can, of course, and will...in the meantime, the damn holidays are going to be tight again, regardless of whatever bonus I can glean from the company. Of course, ideally, about half that bonus oughta be saved for the move, especially since cashing in my stock options when the time comes may turn out to tender a much lower number than desired.....that seems like an impossible idea, and it really shouldn't; it's all a matter of financial responsibility and organization. Anybody know where I can get some of that?

I've been checking out south Columbia, which offers an apparently easy interstate drive to Les's school. Don't know about the crime rate, but the houses look affordable.

In spite of our tenuous situation, I'm talking with Les about starting to try for kids now, because my body's been playing tricks on me in the fertility department and it has me spooked. I go see my doc at the end of the month for advice; I know I'm still too heavy, so I want her to put the fear of high-risk pregnancy into me.

Could be worse

Jacksonville really isn't bad, as cities go. It's big, so it's always going to have that sprawl feel, and the crime rate is a little high for my liking, and I don't know that I'd like to enroll my future kids in any public school in this town, but there's a comfort level attached to any place when you've lived there for going-on 10 years. I could follow my nose basically anywhere in this city and find my way home (well, there's probably some nooks and crannies on the westside that are still foreign to me), and I've found my niche with an amazing group of friends. It is going to be hard to leave.

But cooler weather does beckon, and to ensure that we're not making a decision in haste, I made a list this week of all the 2- and 4-year schools in SC and the programs they offer that Les is interested in. I'm pressing him to make a decision about his future, whether or not he wants to stay with nursing or go into something environmental, because wherever we land, I want him back in school by next fall at the latest. I hope to be pregnant by that time too, so it'll require some serious organization. Columbia is the plum decision, as it's a major city by SC standards, it's centrally located, close enough to visit his folks, far enough away to have our own lives (well, hopefully - Jade lives there now and is getting nagged constantly about not visiting enough); but if there's a better city/town out there for us, I want to make sure it doesn't pass us by because we're too focused on one place. I'm probably going to be stuck working a bit this weekend, but in my spare time, I'll be fleshing out that search, to ensure we're making an informed decision.