9 weeks

No, I am not pregnant. I am just insane. I decided to move to Los Angeles about 3 weeks ago. Just like that.


Well, not just like that. I went there on vacation at the end of May. And I had enough people ask if I was going to come back that it was rather strange. About 2 days after I got back I was notified that my apartment, a condo going through foreclosure for the year and a half that I have lived there, was going to public auction on June 26. 
After talking to several people I was told that I most likely had until the end of the summer before I had to move. I started looking on craigslist at places to just get an idea of what was out there. It was depressing. I don't like moving (who does?) and I just didn't want to be anywhere in the city. I have wanted to move out of Chicago for years. I don't tolerate winter well. I like sunshine and 80+ degree weather. I thought "I could just move to California!" but then dismissed that because that's insane! That would be 2.5 months away. I would have to save up more money than I most likely could manage in that time. There were too many things to do. I should wait so I could save up more money. but then I would have to move twice and possibly deal with breaking a lease. I presented the idea to my friend Beth and told her I was considering just saying "fuck it" and moving in September anyway. She said I should do it. So here I am. I have spent the last 3 weeks researching moving to LA, reconnecting with the few people I know there, gradually telling the few people I know who will be supportive and hoarding money like a squirrel hoards peanuts before the winter. I have been aloof and tired and going insane going through all of my stuff. It is like having a 4th job. I have "planned" to move before but it never really felt like this. It has been rather easy to say good by to a lot of my things. To decide what is important and what isn't. To feel comfortable walking into the unknown with just the bare essentials. It makes me feel like this is the right decision as insane and risky as it is. 




Things I have to do in the next month:
Get my drivers license
Save as much money as possible
Tell the people who will support me while working up to telling the people who will be unsupportive/have adverse reactions
Figure out what I can sell/give away/trash because my ENTIRE life now needs to fit in the shape of a car trunk
Make connections with people I know in LA, network through people I know who know people in LA

Figure out my health insurance situation
Find out if I can work for HSDC when they are in residency at UC Irvine at the end of Augustt


Things I have to do in the next 2 months:
Buy a car
Figure out car registration/insurance
Sell/give away/trash all the things
Figure out where I am staying, couch surfing anyone?
Figure out if I can make a road trip to visit family on the way
Deal with the naysayers
Save as much money as possible