Off to camp
Posted on August 16, 2008
Filed Under Kids, Life, Relocating | 1 Comment
Considering how infrequently I’ve been blogging lately, I feel a little silly posting a “going on vacation” blog.
We’re in a hotel now, completely moved out of our condo. Everything that’s not with us is in a nearby storage facility. This afternoon, we board a flight for Atlanta, GA. This is a vacation planned and paid for months ago, long before we even considered the possibility of moving. We’re going to relax around Atlanta for a few days, then we’re heading to Camp Yofi in Clayton, GA.
Camp Yofi is a 5 day family camp for Jewish families with a child with Autism. There are activities for the whole family of course, but they also have separate tracks for siblings and parents. It’s a wonderful way for us to have a “normal” experience while at the same time acknowledging that we, as a family with a child with special needs, have more difficulty doing just that.
We get back on Monday, August 25th. Then we’re driving from the airport in Philadelphia to my Mom’s house in New York. We’ll stay there overnight, then Eric and I head back to New Jersey early Tuesday morning to close on both the sale of the condo and the purchase of our new home. The girls will stay with my Mom until Labor Day weekend. I’ll take Wednesday and Thursday to get organized (furniture and appliance deliveries, register the girls for school, clean up) and then our stuff is coming back from storage on August 29. Emily starts school on September 3, and Laini starts on September 8. Whew! Gonna be a crazy week.
Obviously, I’m taking my computer with me. First because I don’t have a home to leave it in, and second because I’m very nervous about being away the week before closings. If anything needs to be done, I can do it as long as I have my MacBook Pro. I’m going to try really hard not to even glance at my work-related email for the week. I set vacation auto-responders on both accounts (C3 & WWD) and I disabled them from pushing to the iPhone. I can’t remember the last time, if ever, I made a serious attempt to disconnect from work. I just won’t think about the avalanche that will await me when I return until I return.
Finally, I received some good news the other day. After reviewing Laini’s records and having all the necessary conversations, the Child Study Team at the school district we’re moving to agrees that the private special needs school Laini attended last year on our dime is the appropriate placement for her. That means that they not only support the placement and will work with us on her IEP, but they will pick up the bill and provide a bus for her. This is such a relief on so many levels. Financially, of course. But also emotionally, knowing that in the end, I think we made the right choices.
Dats what I’m talking about
Posted on October 17, 2005
Filed Under Relocating | 2 Comments
One of the things I was most looking forward to when we downsized from Connecticut to New Jersey was the savings I expected to see in our utility bills. Our phone wasn’t going to change (was [Vonage](http://www.vonage.com) before, it’s Vonage now). [Comcast](http://www.comcast.com) is slightly cheaper than [Optimum Online](http://www.optonline.com) by a few dollars (and we’re taking advantage of a new customer special which is saving us about $50 per month for the first 6 months).
I was hoping for the biggest difference in our energy costs. In Connecticut, our [CL&P](http://www.cl-p.com) (electric) bill averaged around $175 per month. It got as low as around $140 in the Fall/Spring, and as high as $300 in the summer. That’s not bad when you consider that we had a 4200 sq. ft. home with two zone heating/air conditioning. On top of that, we paid $242 per month for heating oil.
Our first full month here, our [PSEG](http://www.pseg.com) bill (July) was a little over $400. I was disappointed that it was so high. Our new place is single zone, half the size. My mom reminded me that it was gas & electric, so no additional fuel bill. And it was a brutally hot month. So overall we were still saving money. August bill was $250. Getting better. In September, we had the air conditioning off more than it was on.
I just got the September bill. $53.94. **$53.94!!** I had to look twice at the name and address on the front to make sure it wasn’t a mistake. We went from nearly $400 in energy costs *in a slow month* to $53.94. Wow.
Remind me about this entry if I ever complain about the lack of space here, okay?
Tags: New Jersey, PSEG, Cost of Living
Our first real New Jersey weekend
Posted on July 4, 2005
Filed Under Relocating | Leave a Comment
Just spent some time chatting over the fence with our new neighbor. Nice lady. No kids but I can tell we’ll get along just fine.
Tomorrow morning, [Eric](http://www.9to5andotherwise.com) leaves at the crack of dawn for his flight to Illinois to begin training for his new job. The girls and I are going to get manicures. The move killed my hands. It’s either wait 2 weeks to do it while they’re in camp or make it a girls-only event while Daddy is out of town. Thursday, I register Emily for school. Laini’s registration is next week.
There are 5 or 6 boxes that we haven’t unpacked yet. Yesterday we went back to [Raymour & Flanagan](http://www.raymourflanagan.com) and purchased an end table and curio for the living room, and a small curio for Eric’s side of the master bedroom. That should store the contents of those last few boxes. I started putting things up on the walls so you know we’re almost done. [Here's one curio that we bought](http://raymourandflanagan.com/catalog/details.asp?ID=472). [Here's the end table](http://raymourandflanagan.com/catalog/details.asp?ID=1670). We already had [this](http://raymourandflanagan.com/catalog/details.asp?ID=1671) coffee table so these pieces will go well with it in our living room.
Saturday we enjoyed celebating the Fourth of July here in West Windsor, NJ. Around 4 pm we took the 2 mile drive to the Mercer County Park where they had a little community fair. Food, games, booths. We were able to sign up for our newspaper delivery *and* we registered to vote at Jon Corizone’s campaign booth (he’s running for New Jersey Governor). I need to get up on New Jersey politics. At 7:30 pm the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra put on a wonderful performance full of Hollywood showtunes. We brought a blanket and sat on the grass and enjoyed the music. The performance ended at about 9:15 pm with fireworks. One of the best displays I’ve seen in a long time.
The only glitch was getting home. Remember I said we were about 2 miles away? Well, the fireworks ended at about 9:45 pm. The girls used the bathroom and we made it to our car by 10 pm. Eric started the engine and moved the car about 20 feet behind other cars looking to leave the park and we sat, and sat. We ended up getting home at 11:30 pm! From 2 miles away! If we knew our way around yes, it would have been better to walk. We’ll remember that for next year.
Today we slept in a bit (or at least I tried) and then spent the afternoon at the condo pool. I’ve never lived somewhere that had a pool within walking distance. We all had a great time, even though the water was a bit too cold for my liking. Came home and had showers. Eric put up a barbeque for dinner on our back porch, which is where I ended up in conversation with our next door neighbor. The whole place has a Mayberry-like feel to it. Our neighbor told me that there is little to no crime here.
Still don’t miss the house, not sure I ever will.
Licensed to drive
Posted on June 27, 2005
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in New Jersey. Yet one more piece of Stamford left behind.
Let’s see…all it took was about an hour of my time, $34, my birth certificate, my marriage license, an ATM card, the deed to our home, my old Connecticut license and a copy of an old tax return (for the social security number). And they said getting a New Jersey license would be complicated! Ha! Seriously, it was great to see that big blank spot next to “restrictions”. I’ve had the “corrective lenses” restriction on my license since I was 16. Now I have surgically corrected perfect version. No written test like we had to take when we transferred our licenses from New York to Connecticut in 1996.
Next step is to get the insurance on Eric’s car transferred over so he can register his car. Once his car is inspected and registered and he has New Jersey tags he can get on the 20 month waiting list for a parking spot at the train station. Glad the dealer will take of my car registration/inspection when it arrives in August.
My new view
Posted on June 27, 2005
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In Stamford, the view out my office window was the street. Nice to see who’s coming and going, not very picturesque. Now my office window overlooks a large wooded area. A very small patch of grass (that I don’t have to maintain, thank you condo living) and then nothing but trees. This morning I looked out and watched a family of bunnies playing together. Then a few minutes later a deer meandered by. Nice.
