Day 1: 181 days to L.A.

Give or take.  So, 2016.  A dual-residency year.  The first half in Seattle, the second half in L.A.

I've accepted a full-time position with a company in L.A. and one of the terms was relocation - as a contractor, it was fine to work from home, but as a full-time employee, they want me to share in the culture and collaboration that can only be gained from being physically present.  So, back to L.A. we go.   I was able to negotiate a delayed return in order to let the children finish out the school year, but that time is going to go very quickly.  By the time six months have completed, we will need to sell our house (after some pre-sale work no doubt), find a buy a house, get everything packed up, find new providers for our children, and get ourselves to California.  To make it more challenging, my mother-in-law is coming with us, so we need to find a place for her as well and I'm going to take another run at some weight loss.  Oh, and 5-6 trips to L.A. to work from the office for a few days at a time.  I'll also be disolving my Washington State Small Business and continuing my contract work as simply an independent contractor.

It'll be an action-packed six months, but we're excited.

Day 1: Starting slow - we were up late for New Year's so it's been a slow start to the day.  Our son went to bed early and then got up early.  Bleary eyed, we put on a movie and sat around slightly in a daze (my wife retreating to the kitchen to stream the Rose Bowl parade re-broadcast on KTLA's website.)   Immediate actions for today: Cleaning, decluttering, more Christmas packing.  Continuing to watch Zillow, Trulia, Redfin and Realtor for new listings. I'm spot-botting some stains in the living room.  We'll replace the carpet, but until then, it needs some love.  Light colored carpets and a child who intentionally spills stuff are not a great combination.  Also, sticking to a calorie plan.  I've used Lose-It successfully in the past to lose a lot of weight, but then birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas come along and I chuck it all out the window because I love sweets.