We plan well, yes?

Dan and I are going on a cruise (!) in two weeks. Dan starts orientation at UCLA in 3+ weeks, and graduate school the week after that. At some point, Dan (and I!) has to move to the region around UCLA. That would require actually having an apartment. Which we don't. Oops.


Graduate students get paid to go to school, do research, and TA; grad school is basically a prolonged training period. So, Dan has a built-in job with his schooling. Me? Not so much. Dan's income alone will not allow him to cover the monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in LA. I have very little real, valuable training that would enable me to land a good job with decent pay. And I have no real idea where to find work, since I don't know where we will be living and I likely won't have a car, at least for awhile.




So, let's revisit:
- Moving in under a month. No apartment yet.
- Need to pay rent for said mystery apartment. No job yet.


Yeah, we plan these things reeeaaaal well.

(no subject)

I don't think I could love Dan more.

I was fairly anxious to bring up my lack of vet school ambition and upset with myself for failing in this endeavor, too. I thought he would be annoyed or exasperated with my inability to make a decision and stick it out. But no.

He listened to my concerns and fears. He listened while I ranted about what is wrong with the veterinary profession and how I wished it was different. He listened while I listed all the things I didn't want to do.

And you know what? He understood completely. He said he didn't want me to "stick it out" and do something that other people think is ~*awesome*~ only to end up being miserable. He just quietly stated, "I was thinking recently that vet school wasn't for you." It was entirely non-condescending, just a simple statement of fact that he thought I wouldn't actually be happy as a veterinarian. He's concerned about some of the same things that I worry about. He wants me to be able to be me, not just my job. He knows I want to travel and have fun, and he wants that for me.

So we brainstormed together. I need a job when I move to LA. I'll be applying to neurobiology research labs as well as retail places and Starbucks. I'm going to try to set myself up as a neurobiology tutor, or maybe even try tutoring organic chemistry. And, since it appears that I have some talent for creating costumes, I'm going to attempt to make costumes on the side for some extra cash. Hopefully I'll wind up with a steady job that allows me to tutor as needed and still costume. That way I'll have three sources of income and hopefully have plenty extra after paying rent and utilities to be able to stockpile savings or do fun things every once in a while.

Dan even said that I don't need to worry about finding a job with a fantastic income. As a professor involved in research, he should be more than able to support the two of us, so he wants me to find something that I will genuinely enjoy. Until then, I just for sure need to be able to pay half the rent on our home, which is looking like it will be somewhere in the $500 to $750 range -- each! That's $1000 to $1500 a month, for a studio apartment! (Compare that to sister Kelly's $375 for a single bedroom apartment in Iowa, or her $500 for a three-bedroom house. I am clearly in the wrong state for cheap housing.) Welcome to beautiful, sunny, expensive California! Granted, I could get a one bedroom apartment for around $800 a month, but that's in Compton. As in, walk out of your house and get shot, Compton. Yeah, let's not do that.

Anyway, point is, Dan is beyond amazing. He's fantastic, and caring, and so completely wonderful, and I love him more than anything.