Greener Pastures

As it turns out, I did find a new job. I’m at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, Missouri. Technically, the company is located in Missouri but we now live in Kansas. On this side of the road, it’s Kansas. The other? You get the idea.

Anyway, we’re slowly adjusting to this new environment. We chose to lease a place for 2 years instead of buy. Hmm, Matt’s not motivated to buy* a house lately? Go figure!

Realistically we only had 4 days to find a place, and this was the best of the lot. It’s certainly a nice house and neighborhood, but we’re just not able to determine if this is the final destination.

The job is good and nuts at the same time. Tons of massive corporate change plus a bad economy makes for alot of freaked out people making interesting decisions.

Melissa and the kids are trying their best to assimilate and meet as many neighbors as possible. It’s not easy but luckily they are all quite cute, which I’m certain helps in their efforts. 😉

When I explain what I’m doing in Kansas, I say imagine if a big tsunami rose up out of the Great Lakes and just washed us to Kansas. That’s what it feels like. We had to sell our house in a short sale. We said goodbye to the investment we put into it, all of our friends and family, and fled the flood.

We feel eternally grateful for Hallmark lining up at the right time like it did. It really was an amazing feat and we will never forget it.

Luckily I’m in a great position to bring my expertise to bear in ways that I didn’t imagine prior to accepting the offer. Many things are in the works and I can honestly say that I can see some really impressive developments coming from Hallmark.

I’m excited, inspired, and most of all, tired.

I wish my Detroit comrades only the best and consistently say great things about the auto industry when asked. We truly didn’t bring this cataclysmic change upon ourselves and the outside world needs to understand that. They like to think the domestics just weren’t selling well, therefore they are having hard financial times. The national media has done an amazing job casting this as a sales issue rather than a complicated financial industry chain effect.

Other than work, I’m listening to the audiobook of Craig Ferguson’s “American On Purpose” and it’s great stuff. I’m hoping to set up a band here, but I know that’s really just crazy talk. I can’t even imagine the logistics of such an effort with everything else I have going on.