Spring has come, April is right around the corner, and 6 weeks have passed since my last post.

It’s been a bit of a whirlwind. So let me catch you up.

Right before the shutdown, I accepted a new job with a new agency. Well, that added to the shutdown stress (which I wrote about here). My new agency wasn’t impacted by the shutdown, but my then-agency was. So I was attempting to do all the preliminary new hire tasks with no old agency HR person to talk to.

Then the shutdown ended 2 weeks before I was scheduled to start my new job. So luckily, I was able to do all the exit tasks at my old agency and say farewell to my colleagues.

If that wasn’t enough stress, the new job required a cross-country move. From one Washington (DC) to the other (state). I had wanted the change, but hadn’t planned on all the other stress on top of a move.

Ah, c’est la vie.

I love driving cross-country. But I don’t recommend doing it in the middle of winter. I definitely had some white-knuckle driving days.

Despite some not ideal weather, we had a good trip and made decent time. We left DC on Wednesday and arrived in the greater Seattle area on Sunday. Our adventure included a stop in St. Louis to go to Puzzle Warehouse and a stop by Multnomah Falls (Oregon).

Of course, I could only bring with me what could fit in the car—work clothes, pets & their supplies, and a few essential personal items. So no George (the computer).

After arriving on February 17, I had to turn around and start the new job that Tuesday (Monday was a holiday). Starting a new job with a new boss is always a bit stressful. On top of that, we were living in a hotel (temporary quarters) until I could find an apartment.

After being here a week and a half, I had to fly back to DC the following Sunday on a quick 36-hour roundtrip to do my household good portion of the move. Unfortunately, the timing hadn’t worked out for me to do the move before I had to report at my new job.

We moved into our new apartment on the first of March, but had no furniture, save for a cot that my co-worker generously loaned me and then 2 chairs I bought at Goodwill.

Then that next Monday, March 4, I flew back to DC for new (to the agency) attorney orientation, which lasted a week. And while a good trip, I was exhausted. Switching that many times zones in a two week period can really take it out of you.

Finally, last weekend, the household goods caught up with us. And it’s taken me a good week to get everything (mostly) unpacked and set up.

So that’s what’s been happening the last 40 days since my last post. But now we’re (mostly) settled and George is back up and running. And I working on getting back on track and settled into some routines, including blogging!

So look for a new Civics 101 post tomorrow!