It's kinda scary thinking about Whateley and my future in Austin. We're looking to buy a house (as soon as we get off our duffs and go visit some banks for pre-approvals), and from what I've read, once you buy a house, you better plan on living in it for at least 5 years before selling to make sure you don't lose any money when you sell (it's 7 years in a falling market, like we've got now). So pretty much, we're signing up for the long haul as soon as we buy a house. It's kinda weird, cuz that means that if we ever want to go back to California, it'll have to be at least 7 years from when we buy a house. That's a long time from now.

We were working on Whateley's parents on getting them to retire out here. After all, their only grandkids will be here. But it's not as easy to work on them when we don't see them face-to-face. And we're both not very good phone people. Part of the problem, of course, is that our schedules just don't allow for us to be active when other people are. Which is just an excuse... but it's a better one than we're just lame people. :)

I remember a lot of people told us it was good to live out of state for awhile, and we can come back later. But having moved across three states, it's not an easy endeavor, and one we're not likely to take on again lightly. It cost us a lot of money and effort to move. Oh boy, you have no idea (unless, of course, you've done it yourself).

And it's different from moving away for college cuz you leave a lot of stuff behind at your parents' house and take only what you need. But we took everything we might ever want, including the stuff we don't need but don't want to throw out, like my old yearbooks and my stuffed animals. And that just added to the headache since that just added to our stuff. And we definitely promised ourselves that we'd never do it again if we don't ever have to.

So having said all that, now that living in Texas is a reality for us, and will be for awhile, it's kinda scary cuz we have to make friends, we have to plant roots, and we have to make a life for us. A co-worker got arrested the other day, and his roommates are scrounging to figure out how to make his bail. He's a Texas-transplant also, and he knows no one else here also, and his family is back in California. Heaven forbid Whateley or I should ever get arrested, but I'm not sure who else we can count on here to be there for us.

It's just scary pulling up and settling somewhere else so far away. Whateley and I are lucky in that we have each other. I don't know how the other people did it who came here by themselves, especially if they don't know anyone here. We're also making friends with co-workers, though it's getting difficult since our schedules are getting shifted around. Hopefully it'll stay still long enough for us to get a few more months in of stability. At least long enough to get some good gaming sessions in. Whateley's been dying to run a game for so long. If our old roommates from California ever make it out here, he'll be in heaven cuz our old roommate was a huge driving force behind gaming sessions back there.

Anyway, I'm in a contemplative mood. I'll end with this bit of news: it looks like we've become friends with another couple at work, and they'll willing to let us crash their Thanksgiving (assuming we're not working that day). Cool. :)