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The job hunting is picking up, and I'm realizing some things.

1. I can't let only a job dictate where we live.
2. I can't let only my desires dictate where we live.

I was branching out a bit, out of fear mainly, because I'm getting zero nibbles from my job apps thus far in the Charlotte area, so I expanded the search to include the whole state. But I'm realizing some things quickly about the RTP area that make it unfeasible, never mind that Leslie doesn't want to move anywhere near there, bless his heart. I totally get his desire to live elsewhere; he went to school there, lived there for years, and the memories aren't all good. It's why I'm looking everywhere but Gastonia as well, as I have no desire to revisit a year that I've spent significant time blocking.

So I'm looking at Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, and I realized some things pretty quickly...

1. It's more expensive (Les has said this before, but until you see it in black and white, it doesn't sink in).
2. Houses in our price range originally had wheels or cinder blocks for foundations.

I wholeheartedly admit to being a class snob. I don't ever want to live in a prefab house. Hell, the way I walk alone would make it unfeasible; I'd be shaking the damn thing just going room to room! I know they're built better than that, but it's just not something I ever see us in.

I'm only looking at rental homes initially, because it's just easier. I haven't a clue if we're financially "in the market," so there's no point of trying until we're settled up there. As a result though, I also don't want to be sinking thousands into something every month for rent, regardless of how much I end up making. So by keeping our range below $900, it gives a clear view of what's available and feasible.

So looking at the maps of the area and the rental website, another something became clear...there's NOTHING outside the cities in the RTP area. While I have no problem moving to the backwoods, having to rely on cities that we don't actually want to live near just wouldn't work either. And if we're living, for example, halfway between Greensboro and Raleigh, but it's easier to get to Raleigh and Raleigh has more "stuff", where do you think we're going to be going for provisions? So I'm relaxing and narrowing my scope once again.

And yet I'm expanding it as well, in the area of types of jobs I'm looking for. I can tell that certain fields, like the entry level financial advisor stuff at Edward Jones, aren't going to look at me twice when my resume's next to an MBA, but administrative assistant roles are right up my alley and I've been in the workforce long enough to show reliability.

Crap, bad news from home, more later...