Moving Out

Jenny is now in Chicago as of yesterday afternoon, renting a room from the daughter of some family friends. Just a couple of suitcases, her laptop and a few books & files, no furniture needed (so it's all still in her old room and in the basement.)

She got an orientation to the neighborhood, the passcode for the alarm system, extra opener for the garage, etc. Then she and Deb went to the nearest commercial strip to find stores where Jenny could apply for part-time work next week. There's a place in Oak Park where there's a Border's, Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl's, etc., and it's not a complicated drive. Hopefully she'll find something that's days, so she doesn't have to drive around the tough neighborhood she lives in at night. That's my big concern...

Not too many separation tears, apparently - it's gotten better for her every time. I think she may be looking forward to exploring the city and doing her job searches out from under the parents' watchful eye and sometimes nagging concern. :) This may actually enliven her some, especially as she meets the circle of friends of the girl she's renting from. Tonight two guys are stopping by to help with a little landscaping work, one of whom has connections to the art institute where Jenny's applied for work already. The networking continues...

Speaking of networking, I got a call from my recruiter yesterday. She worked a couple of contacts for me that I had suggested to her, and turned up a possibility about an hour West of here. There's a company there, with a professional colleague I know fairly well, that happens to have an officer-level financial planning job open, and this person also knew of another senior position they haven't yet posted that he thought I would be well suited for. He'll be back in his office Monday and will talk to his boss about it. This might mean a move to a community about 30 minutes away, so the drive to work could be manageable, but it would still be possible to stay in contact with friends and loved ones here. Nice idea! But, we'll see how it works out in reality. Still waiting for a date to go to DesMoines for interviews - it's pushing later towards 9/1... I am so glad I have until October. I'm going to need it.