Friends & Family,

I’m not really sure where to begin this particular status report, as I sit in my local In-n-Out Burger watching the rain come down outside. First, I want to apologize to those whom I haven’t been able to send a more personal communication with, and that you’re getting this info in another “joe status” email. Sorry about that. There are 13-school days left in the school year and the weekend following the last school day I will be driving with my brother Matt as co-pilot to my new apartment in Orlando, Florida. I’m thinking that I’m going to have to get used to watching the rain fall, at least a bit more than I have before. And I’m really going to miss In-n-Out.

For those whom I might have not shared the reason for the move…. last Fall one of my Pepperdine co-conspirators, Holly, took a job as program director at a private university called Full Sail in Orlando, Florida, and she kept telling me that I would love it there. Around the holidays I began to consider the possibilities and asked Holly for more details. Full Sail University is a media-centric school and Holly was tasked to create a team for their M.A. degree program in Education and Media. The phrase “Match made in Heaven,” came to mind when we talked further about the position. I was also beginning to catch hints that there were probably going to be negative program changes at my school due to budgeting problems and that maybe this would be a good time to jump to the next level. On the personal side, Juls and I had settled into a good friendship but it looked unlikely that things would go beyond that for the foreseeable future and in fact when I told Juls what I was thinking of doing she was incredibly supportive and positive with my plans. So in February I went out to Florida to check the school out and made the decision to accept the job offer before I flew back. Thus, for the past three months my job has been to keep things normal and working with my students while planning a cross-country move that requires I “close shop” the day after my students leave. It’s been quite the adventure.

When I went out to visit Full Sail I also got to spend time with my other Pepperdine co-conspirator, Greg, who used to live in Orlando and was most helpful as I attempted to scope out apartments from across the continent. Talking with the folks and siblings I was most anxious about finding a place, mostly sight unseen. I mean, we talked quite a bit about “how” I was going to move, but until I found a place to move “to,” I found it difficult to really get things going. Thankfully, Greg had researched things and Holly was familiar with the area so the decision on which place itself wasn’t that hard. Now, how to do the move.

The folks and brother Matt had recommended storing most of my stuff, getting a furnished place and then trekking across country to really check things out before making the big plunge. And while I do have the benefit of having a guaranteed job with Long Beach Unified School District should I decide that I can’t hang with Florida or Full Sail, I know that the best way for me to make the best commitment to making a real life for myself in this new place is to go there with everything that I am and give it everything that I have. All of which means moving all of my junk. Also, I was thinking that after making the cross-country drive this first time I really wasn’t going to want to make the drive again, just to move my junk. So we were going to U-Haul it with my little Scion in tow. But then I found this container-company that gave me a bid to move my stuff at about the same price as U-Haul plus the expense of fuel. That was a no brainer. Hardest part is going to be that we’ll have to load the containers in less than three-days… er, well, because I’ll still be working that really translates to two evenings and a day.

So, the details… containers arrive on Thursday, June 12th. Load ’em up and find time to celebrate June/July birthdays and me going away, Saturday evening, June 14th. Go back with brother Matt to his place in Mission Viejo for the night and then head out after breakfast, Sunday June 15th with a first stop in Prescott Valley, AZ. I have one last tweak job to do on Mom’s computer and Matt has some stereo work to do. The next day we hit the 10 heading East. So far we plan on stopping in New Orleans, but no real details. I want to get to Orlando by Thursday, June 19th. Matt will be flying back to the OC on Sunday, June 22nd. I start work at Full Sail the following day on Monday, June 23rd. Basically my job will be to create the course from the 23rd until I begin teaching in September, so it’s not like I’ll be doing the typical one-day prep before teaching job.

I’ll be keeping the same email address(es) and mobile phone number and will be posting on my blog at https://joebustillos.com under the “modern life” section, and will post pictures on my flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/joebustillos/

So, that’s the status… so far,
Much love and thankfulness,
jbb

Music: Lifetimes from the album “Wildflower” by Sheryl Crow