First of all...

I recant my posting about The Egyptologist. If you can make it through the sort-of boring and drudgy first 100 pages, it actually turns into an exhilerating read. Confusion sets in, and you really become invested in your own sleuthiness -- can you figure out what exactly is happening here? It's cool -- and the epistelary writing is necessary, you find out at the end. Neato book. Good vacation read. I can't wait until Buckwalter finishes it, because I'm ready to talk with someone about it!

So, on another note, the trip to the Mojave was a success. Buckwalter and I have tenatively secured an apartment with a lovely pool and a cute little rounded door! I'm a sucker for rounded doors... We also visited my school and met my principal -- all very lovely.

The thing that was most amazing for me was the realization that this is real. Buckwalter has always wanted to live somewhere other than Minnesota -- from my understanding, he's always wanted to live ANYWHERE but Minnesota. But when he joined forces with me, we both ended up making some compromises on our own visions for our individual lives -- I guess that's sort of the way marriages have to go. And living here was one thing I have always been grateful to him for -- I never wanted to move before.
But this year and the year before that, I realized that the life I want to live can't happen in this state. It's been kind of tough to finally see that, but it's definitely the truth. I want a nice house, but the career I've chosen for myself is one that won't see big income for a long time. I want a good, secure job, and I'm not going to wait 5 years to make sure I get the job I want -- and that's definitely not going to happen in this state. I don't know -- so many things that I just expected to happen to me ended up being much more difficult than I had thought they would be -- and still more difficult than I think they need to be.
The Mojave is like my own little oasis. I loved the dry air. The hot sun felt great. It reminded me of a great short story by D. H. Lawrence, called "Sun" which everyone should read. The people were honest, nice, and friendly, without the snobbiness and facade of "Minnesota Nice," which more and more I believe only exists in some small towns in Minnesota and has completely vanished from an suburban, urban, or exurban areas of the metro.
In conclusion (now I've turned on my 5 paragraph essay skills), I am so ready to move. Now that we've been there, I feel like we should be moved right now. Sadly, there's a long trip in our future, with a kitty who probably isn't going to like being in a car for two days straight. And at the end of that awaits a move-in process, which we're going to want to finish before noon.
But after having seen all that I saw last week, I'm now certain that at the end of that move-in process awaits the success of a good decision, the healing heat of the desert sun, and a constant mountain view. Hooray!