Sunday, April 29, 2007

Home again, such as it is.

Well, we flew home yesterday, then I drove the rest of the way from Chicagoland. Got to my place about 10 p.m. local time. Needless to say, I was very glad to see my bed!
Got up this morning and went to church. Told the rest of the folk who aren't online about my impending move. Everyone has been really supportive, and I'm glad to have friends who can share my happiness.
So now the fun begins; figuring out what to keep, what to leave, what to give away and what to just throw out. I'm going to be driving out, and my Bravada will tow a trailer, so that'll determine how much I can take with me to start with. That, coupled with being in an efficiency apartment for the first couple of months in Santa Fe, will make me streamline my material goods in a major way!
In addition, there's all the fun of dealing with changing addresses (I've had my main email address for 17 years!!), finding a bank or credit union, getting all my medical needs taken care of while I'm on this insurance, and all the other details of a move.
Guess I'd better get started!!

Friday, April 27, 2007

New blog, New Mexico, New life!

Where to start? How about a little about me....
I'm Harriet, and if you're paying attention to the title of this blog, you've already figured that out. As for the "hat", well, one of my nicknames is "Hairy Hat", so I guess that's reason enough. I do wear many hats, and do many things. I'm a musician, a bookworm, a technopagan, all sorts of things.
Under my hats, you'll naturally find my head. It's a very interesting place inside here. My mind is full of interesting bits of knowledge, some useful, some just entertaining, some downright strange. Keep reading my blogs and you'll understand what I mean after a while.
Oh, you want some concrete info, too? Well, I can share some of that, I suppose.
I was born and raised in a small town in Michigan, and for the last 17 years, I've been living in Indiana. Pretty much a midwesterner all my life. This will be changing soon, more on that later.
I work as a band instrument repair technician, and have another part-time job, plus I have volunteered at WSND radio at Notre Dame since 1990. My radio show is called Celtic Traditions, and I'm really into the Celtic music scene.

So, what about New Mexico?
I've been on vacation in NM since 4/17, and go back to IN tomorrow. Wonderful place, had a great time. Came out here primarily to visit my best friend's family, and stayed a week with her parents up in the mountains by Chama. Beautiful country up there.

And the new life?
I've been planning this trip to NM since last fall, and no, it's not just because of Sandy's absolutely cute brothers (twins, even). I've been increasingly dissatisfied with my life in South Bend, though things have been going well. This trip was going to be my chance to step out of the rut and really look at my life and where I want to be. Plus, I've been feeling pulled out to NM for some reason.
Just before coming out here, I watched "The Secret" on DVD. It affected me so much that I got a copy! And I've really been trying to work with the ideas in it. Frankly, I'd been doing some of the right things without knowing it, and with what I've been learning, it's really gotten wild.
This past Monday, I got online (and with a slow dialup, this can be a hoot) and just before I logged off, I decided to look at the ads on the NAPBIRT site one more time. That big acronym is the National Association of Professional Band Instrument Repair Technicians. They have job ads as one of their services. There, big as life, and brand new....was an ad for a tech job in SANTA FE!!!!! I damn near had a coronary right then and there! When I calmed down enough to copy the ad info off, I hit the store's website to get their hours. Dang, they don't open till 10? It's only 8:15! Bounce, think, bounce, think, pace, pace....finally, it's a bit after 10, and I call the number in the ad. Talked to the one owner and set up an appointment. We're going down to Albuquerque on Wednesday, how about that afternoon? Great!
Wow. Even if I don't get this, it's good practice for interviewing. So, dust off the resume (with help from Papa Ron...most of it helpful ;-) ). Wednesday morning, down we go. Ended up spending about 3 1/2 hours talking to both owners (husband & wife) at both store locations. It went very well, and it looks good. On to ABQ, a whole 'nother adventure - hotels all booked for the big pow-wow....
Thursday was our day to spend with the twins. Well, one of them for breakfast and sightseeing, then both of them with us for dinner. Called in to the music store, and I'm to drive up to SF on Friday morning to meet them for breakfast and uninterrupted talk. No prob.
Friday...oh, yeah, that was just *this morning*, I drove up to SF and we had our meeting. A few details and practical things to discuss, and I GOT THE JOB!!! Holy crap! I'm moving to Santa Fe in June! I guess the gods *do* want me out here, and the universe *does* love speed!

I'm still in a bit of a state of shock. So, if you want to stick around and see where this adventure takes me, I'll try to keep this blog up to date. I will backtrack a bit and give more details from my vacation, too. Gotta learn how to add photos to this thing, too.
That's all for now...but it's a lot!

Thursday, April 19, 2007

First post - watch for more!

Watch this space!!
There's a lot under this hat of mine, especially since I wear many hats both literally and figuratively.
Best of all, there's an incredible mind in here, and you get to share part of it!