Today, as in Saturday the 12th, was our going away party at Craig and Becky’s. I got us catered food from Rubio’s, good fish tacos. We drank a lot, watched the USC vs. OSU game, played Partini (think Cranium but with an alcoholic drink theme, no actual alcohol consumption), watched Wipeout, which I think Maria very adequately described as an audience participation show, had cake, and that was that as well. We took a couple of photos, swapped personal email addresses, exchanged girl and man hugs, and were on our way yet again.

I really don’t think it’s hit yet. I think it will, and soon, and I might freak out a bit, but it’ll be a good kind of freak out. We’re exceptionally glad we did not wait for my father to return to China with us because it looks like he’ll be going back a full week after we had originally wanted to. Our priorities the first bit or so in China will be to find a way to watch the USC games, get an apartment, find a way to workout consistently, find a Chinese school, and get jobs. I don’t expect it’ll be too difficult. But if we had stayed and waited, I think I might have gone stir crazy. Much better this way; I can focus on being…focused.

Saw Niki today for brunch at Urth Cafe. Sorry you got a parking ticket… She seemed well and happy, so I’m happy for her. At this point the best I can hope for for any of the good friends I’m leaving behind is due diligence on my part to keep and stay in touch. It’ll be important.

Ah and most importantly, Maria successfully sold her car today!

Tomorrow will be a fairly lazy day, thankfully. Not much on the agenda, though there’s some digital shuffling that we’ll want to do, some football to watch, and maybe getting together with Kelly and Sarah.

*Thank you.* Now…

I am mildly lactose intolerant. However, last night at the grocery store I felt the need to buy a gallon of milk. Today I not only had milk on cereal for breakfast, I was also struck by a desire to *drink* some of it this afternoon. This is all very strange. I was probably 10 when I last drank a glass of milk straight (i.e., unadulterated with Kahlua and Bailey’s or Ovaltine or anything else). It’s already upsetting my stomach. It was, however, very satisfying. Maybe my body was in dire need of calcium? Am I subconsciously aware that milk may not be readily available in China? Is it some unfathomable response to doing GMAT math problem sets?

In any event, I hope I will not regret the milk indulgence. There is reason for concern, as drinking milk is supposedly not a good idea before a run (clearly, I have never tested this bit of common knowledge, as I don’t drink milk…), and I haven’t gotten my run in yet today. Yesterday, I had a very enjoyable jaunt and even explored a bit of a neighboring town I hadn’t been to on foot before. This was not necessarily expected, as the air quality has been poor, the weather has been hot, and the need to adapt to a new environment have limited my distances and besmirched my times over the last six weeks. I have had few really enjoyable outdoor runs since July and I hope I have not destroyed an opportunity. We’ll find out soon enough, as it’s about half an hour before my schedule indicates its preference that I lace up.

In other news, I have worked through most of my GMAT book, which contains some truly puzzling misprints. I also flipped its pages in vain to find the answer key to a problem set I did, finally turning to Teh All-Noing Internets for the answers. I discovered that a veritable PDF volume, understatedly labeled “errata” and posted online, contains a re-issuance of the entire math practice chapter of my GMAT book. Nice of them to tell me, of course; still, I suppose I got some extra practice by reasoning why they could not possibly mean what they said in the practice book. (“You can use all the help you can get! Ingrate!! Cretin!!!”)

Oh, my stomach does not feel good. Not good at all.

Maria had a tough day trying to get her car sold today. More disheartening I guess actually, but I think the dealer is trying to con her out of the actual value of the car. She’s got a couple of people interested in third party sales, and at least a bottom line figure from one of the dealers, granted lower than both of us anticipated and lower than KBB suggested, so we shall see. Not much time left to get it done though, though, as pointed out, we could always just leave it at my father’s place.

And she needs to call the dentist tomorrow! This is my reminder to you Maria though you won’t actually read it I don’t think ;)

We bought our one way tickets to China on Sunday. Yes, one way. I had a short discussion about it at work today with a co-worker, and there’s something psychologically freeing about purchasing a one way anything; a one way train, bus, airplane, etc. ticket. It’s like, “getting out of dodge,” heading out on an adventure. A much firmer break from this particular era of my, our, lives, into the next. That’s what it’s always been, and always was, but to have actual “one way” tickets makes it that much almost physically meaningful.

We still need to purchase our health insurance, but that doesn’t seem to require too much hurry. And even with the best laid plans, I’ll be just a little bit short in my quest to be completely debt free. Not bad considering. I think I’ll re-consolidate the remainder and just leave it be. At least it’s no longer credit card debt. Feels like a good load off my shoulders, a good way to move to China.

We’ve also finished a bit of preliminary packing. We bought two big check-in style suitcases and managed to pack them full of Maria stuff. At our current estimate, there will be at least three more equally sized suitcases needed before we have all the Maria stuff packed. I will need one myself, making for a total of six check-ins, which we can’t actually do and so will take up my father on his offer to bring some luggage over for us when he returns to China on the 25th. We’ll also both have our laptops and carry-ons of course. I’m trying to wrap my mind around what to do with my desktop computer though. Granted, I’d like one in China, and if I don’t bring the one I have, I’ll have to purchase another. But it’s so a pain in the ass to try to bring over. My current thinking is that I might take it completely apart into its respective bits, pack said bits up well, and put it in my carry-on and purchase a new case in China; the case is the largest part…This will disappoint Craig a bit though as he’s been eying it from the moment our plans to leave the country leaked.

Ah and part of why I’m just a little bit short of successfully paying off ALL of my debt is that, and I didn’t know this, but my work’s payroll is actually on time, unlike all other companies I’ve worked for who operated a week late. I had been expecting my last paycheck, plus a week, but I guess that week’s gone and spent already. Minor wrinkle I’m sure.

I’ve been playing around with the concept of “legacy” in my head a bit lately, the most tangible form of which relates to work. I want to leave something behind, something meaningful. More than a stack of junk stuffed in the corner of my father’s garage, more than boxes of books at my mother’s, more than a chunk of programming code. I want it to actually all be meaningful, beneficial.

At this moment, I’d like to invite YOU ALL to come and visit :D

More widely, there’s more Sean-and-Maria time than during any previous point in our relationship.� He is still working right now, but I derived great enjoyment from giving three weeks’ notice, transitioning matters to unsuspecting younger colleagues, and leaving my job as a Suit in a (freezing) Office.� Result:� I get to ride public transit and spend my days at the library and the gym until Sean gets home, and then I get to spend time with him without even checking my lately-defunct Treo for work email.� Not a situation that can last forever, but– man does it feel like a win.� Like a really long, low-pressure vacation, with a mix of productivity thrown in.� (Most days I get a decent amount done, but no one’s demanding it too urgently.� Nice.)� I think another result of us having more time together is that he doesn’t feel pressured to spend every minute in which we’re both available with me in an active sense.� He is enjoying exercising his geekiness, in particular with respect to this blog.� Right now, he is sleeping next to me; when I woke up, I switched sides of the bed and he handed me Blankie while I got my computer.� He takes good care of his Maria.

Also since I’m no longer a suit, I get to wear running shoes about on my daily business.� This sets me up for that little run-across-the-street that feels good and turns into a jog of non-trivial length.� I’m considering bringing Sal with me everywhere so that in case of a spontaneous run she can record the event in appropriate detail for my records.� Her records are incomplete anyway, since I still do a good bit of my jogging at the gym, but I like having maps and stats of my runs outside.� Especially in exotic locations, like this charming little city in which I’m currently squatting.

Sal

I also realize my WordPress install’s gotten a little bit, messy. Some of the plugins I tried using left database tables even after I deleted them :-\

And, most importantly, only about two weeks left! And only four days of work left! And uh, man my father wants me to delay leaving for China until the 25th because that’s when he’s going. I really want to just, ignore that, and go whenever I want.

Keep a look out for photo albums, under the photos sidebar.

We successfully got our Visas, good for 60 days at a time, 4 times a year, so effectively we can stay there for 8 months even if we really mess up our longer term Visas; we’ll just have to leave and come back in to the country every two months. Supposedly it’s good enough to even just go to Hong Kong and back. Or I’m thinking we can use this as an excuse to take a vacation every two months. Although, ideally still, we should have year long Visas that can be renewed without leaving the country. It’s just hard not thinking about vacation! Even though I’m desperately POOR! But my credit’s doing real good now that I’ve gotten most of my debts paid off.

This countdown may actually be a little in accurate now, and there may not be anything I can do about it. My father would like us to travel back to China with him. He gets to the states on the 15th, and he’s “thinking” of returning “most likely” on the 23rd. Completely uncertain though! Apparently, and I don’t think I’ve ever had to do this before, I wonder if it’s a new policy, but we’ll need to be registered with the local police station when we get there, and it’ll be easier with my father, which I don’t doubt. I just don’t want to delay our departure anymore than I have to. By that point I won’t have a job anymore so it’s not like I can work some more and make some more money. We’d have finished our last US vacation as well. We’ll basically be completely ready but sitting on our hands still. Not a very pleasant proposition I don’t think.

Our “farewell” party will also be next weekend, sometime. It was originally supposed to be this weekend, but I guess that didn’t pan out. Hopefully, it’ll be at my boss’ home, with some work friends, and the few friends I’ve left in LA. Maria’s going to be seeing some of her last friends next week, and I think tomorrow we’re heading down to Orange County to see one of them. It almost doesn’t feel real.

I’ll need to see my mother, at some point, before I leave. I’m thinking next week, during the week may be appropriate. It’s all wrapping up really, and I don’t have much exciting to say at the moment. Maria and I’s conversations are continually and exceptionally wonderful slash insightful. I can’t really wait until we get to China and we have a whole new slew of stuff to talk about.

I like the idea that this will serve as a record of what Sean and I accomplish, especially in China.� Right now, though, the accomplishments are pretty boring.� I got visas.� I completed my continuing legal education requirements.� I took my 401k rollover paperwork to the post office, again.� I did a GMAT practice quiz at the Arcadia public library and politely asked some makeup-wearing pre-teens to keep it down.� (I wasn’t sure why the 8 other people sitting closer didn’t take it upon themselves to do this, but when I left I saw that most of them were wearing earplugs and apparently watching videos on their laptops.� These did not appear to be particularly educational videos, either.)

I also like the idea that the blog will be a kind of online diary: recording my thoughts, serving as a vehicle for me to practice writing, helping me work through ideas and plans.� This possible goal is in part harpooned by the fact that an online diary is not private, and particularly by the fact that Sean will read it.� Is there any more obvious subject for a woman to treat in her diary than her gentleman friend? Of course, some issues are fair game: e.g. my thoughts on the immediately relevant question of what health insurance plan Sean and I should secure before leaving the country.� I may well treat the readership to this a bit later. 8)

The most appealing goal to me, though, is as a form of one-to-many communication (…or showing off?).� To the extent anyone cares what we’re up to in China, I can inform the masses without unnecessary duplication, merely by posting my amazing photos and describing my amazing experiences here.� Yeah, not so amazing to call Toyota dealerships to set up appointments to get quotes on what they’ll give me for my Corolla.� (Maybe I can get my picture taken with the winning dealer and post it here!!)

I admit that I’m already enjoying the benefit of additional Sean-insights.� (What did he write?� What on earth was he talking about?� Was that for real???)� Will he and I learn significantly more about each other from the blog?� (A slightly horrifying suggestion, actually–he tells YOU things he doesn’t tell ME.)� Eh.� I’ll take what I can get.

In the meantime, I acknowledge that the blog, like everything else right now, is allowed to be transitional.� Not that I mind being unemployed one little bit, but I can imagine improvements on the situation otherwise.

I must say I’m surprised. I really do enjoy this theme that was created already, and it’s been quite easy to customize and tweak and whatnot, but I had at least expected the code to validate on it’s own, out of the box. All of the css classes/IDs are in Italian also, which is a total pain in the ass. Still, I feel good. I’ve implemented some new features, made some minor, probably not noticeable streamlining changes in the backend php. Coming along nicely if I must say so myself.

We have also just passed the three week mark. Only eight business days left of work also, one of which includes the luncheon. Maria got our Visa applications in to the Chinese Consulate today. She’s picking them up on Thursday. Everything is progressing.

I don’t think this post will be long. The details have mostly been squared away. I got new glasses today, which should prove an interesting change. Tomorrow Maria’s getting our Visas along with my step mother, and she’ll make an inquiry phone call to a travel agent about one way tickets to China and to the health insurance agent to settle our international health care plans. I’m actually beginning to think that maybe we won’t need US insurance per se anymore; there seems to at least be the possibility that while in China we’ll be able to get decently good Chinese insurance for much cheaper. But this will suffice for now.

It’s close. So very close. And I’m giddy, and a little sad. And nostalgic. I think I’ve been dreaming about California, even though it’s very, very hot. Maria’s going to schedule some final social events, meet ups with the last of her friends whom she’s yet to say good bye to. I have some similar things to do as well. And before you know it, we’ll be gone.

What’s left are truly the logistics: Visas, plane tickets, insurance policies. Packing’s an obvious one, but I think it’ll all fit. And the unexpected benefit of moving to a place that so many of my family members oft travel between is that should there be anything we need, anything we’ve left, it can be brought over.

We are planning a short vacation though, up to Carmel probably. Sometime during the week when it won’t be crowded; we’ll go to the aquarium. I am also quite convinced that work will implode without me, but that’s between you, me, and the bed post.

We have nearly exhausted the available supplies of travel books related to China and/or Beijing in the local bookstores. I think I’ve mentioned this before but it may be time to seek out online resources, at least online bookstores, though in all fairness it may be a little late for that as well. There are only 3 weeks, 2 days left before we go. I hope Maria can handle the consulate on her own…

She’ll be watching my sister next week, for a few hours during the day. We think it’s a plot by my mother to steal some of her time away alone. I more personally think it’s a ploy for her to see me as well because she knows I’m the kind of person who’ll want to drive Maria; get the girl, get the son. I think I’m wising up to her wily ways, but I’m not entirely sure if there’s anyway around them.

I’m hoping that the imminent implosion of my work will cause them to beg me to work for them remotely. Otherwise, I’m actually worried about getting a job in China. I have to be careful not to fall into the category of “Local Worker” lest I settle for a “Local Wage.” I’m actually feeling kind of useless as far as my skill sets go. And I can’t remember how many people have called us crazy to leave our jobs in this down economy. Maybe we’ll win the lottery and the point will be moot.

We bought one piece of luggage today, and I’m betting we can get one of the three boxes of “Maria clothes that she wants in China but doesn’t need in LA” to fit. I guess these are exciting times I live in. I’m hoping for massive success beyond compare.

And not that anyone would’ve noticed yet, but I’ve transitioned the blog out of Blogger and into my own private domain with a WordPress install. As well as Blogger had been treating me, as a blogging software I actually found it lacking in certain key areas, primarily “post privacy.” Did you know that in Blogger everything’s either published and public, or not at all? Hardly reasonable, especially after discussing our online presence further with Maria, there are just some things that we don’t want all or some people to see. So I stayed up last night much too late getting this up and running. I was also much too tired to code my own layout, and you know, it’s been a while since I’ve poked around the underbelly of WordPress, but they’ve got some pretty nifty new features, so the point is I didn’t want to go through the hassle of dealing with a brand new layout so I just too someone else’s and customized it.

But it’s a much more full featured blogging software; I hope Maria doesn’t have any problems using it. Same as before with the Blogger location, I will be tweaking and updating things as we go; I think a “Contact Form” might be appropriate, or a “Contact Us” page.

There’s not too much to say right now. Tomorrow will be the first day that Maria is out of work and not otherwise occupied with family. I worry that she’ll be bored, or that she’ll run out of things to do. I’m dropping her off at the subway stop near my father’s house, and from there she’s going to go to the Downtown LA YMCA to get a workout, then spend the rest of her day studying for the GMAT, looking over her “Learn Mandarin” book, and other logistical slash administrative stuff. I actually envy her; I’m really quite done and over with work.

And I just noticed that this WordPress isn’t configured properly as far as Timezone goes.

We hashed through a pretty decent financial plan as well, whose details I will tactfully leave out. We also have a pretty decent exit strategy for this country, and though I am impatient, we’re going to stick with it. I’m a little worried about China though, especially after speaking with my father earlier today. He claims he’s just “excited,” but I think he’s worried. He’s not sure if we’ll be able to find jobs in China, and I think he grossly overestimates the benefits of the internet in procuring said jobs. He’s managed to shake my own confidence in our abilities, something he’s fairly good at doing. I suppose that might be considered a positive in some ways; at least he’s giving me, and us, pause, making sure we’ve actually got it all figured out.

I still think the best thing to do is to sort it out once we get there. Our resources will be greater, our feelers better able to reach further and deeper into the under mire of this new world into which we are embarking. I want to stick to our original plan. I’m just so impatient to just leave already! Maria and I did manage to find some websites online, based out of China (by the way, Chinese website are just horrible! It’s like, nothing you’ve ever seen before I assure you), that have some promise in some of the posts they have. It’s got me motivated enough to have updated my resume properly. Ah, and you know, I think this is a good place for a link, something I’ve been promising to do: Have you ever seen such, crowding?