Worries and more worries

Well. I'm feeling a good bit better, but not 100% yet. This seems to be one of those 24-hour type viruses or something... I'm glad today is my day off so that I can take it a little easy. Alice is at the vet's to have the lump investigated. Have I mentioned the lump yet? (scrolls to check) I guess not. On Friday Don found this big lump on her neck, just below the jaw on the left side. I don't know what it is-- cyst, tumor, something. We couldn't get an appt for Saturday so today she's having a comprehensive physical, all of her shots, and a lump-checking-out. They made me leave her there instead of staying with her, something I've never done before. I hope she's ok because in 5 years she's never been to the vet all by herself... she looked happy going in, though.

Don's phone-interview went really well and they're flying him to Virginia this weekend to interview in person. This is getting serious, they wouldn't spend $1100 transporting his butt over there if they weren't reasonably certain of offering him the job. They said on the phone that his ability to do the job is beyond dispute and the only thing they're worried about is relocating-- whether he'll be happy in such a small town after Dallas, the fact that he's (essentially) married, etc. Also, that he won't stick to the job for as long as they'd like but treat it as yet another stepping stone, which is a very valid concern on their part. Anyone looking at Don's resume could see the pattern of advancement every 2-3 years; they asked him to commit to at least three years if he gets the position, which makes me happy as well-- I don't want to get settled in Virginia only to hop up and leave again. Three years is better than two, and could easily lead to 4 or 5.

The hardest next step will be telling Mom and Dad that we may (probably!) be moving out of state again. This is going to be a little painful and I'm not looking foward to it, especially given the rate that things are happening. I've arranged to have dinner over there tonight, which is unusual. They probably think that we're preggers or something like that.

Things I'm worried about the most.

1. Telling my parents, their reaction, etc.
2. Breaking our lease, especially considering that it's cosigned by the above. Can't do anything that will mess with their credit scores, but there's no way I can pay the rent through February when we're paying in Virginia, too. As soon as I know for certain, I'll have to sit down with the leasing office folks and work something out.
3. Transferring at work. There are only 5 or so branches in C-ville, compared to dozens and dozens in the Metroplex area. To even get a job I might have to cut to part-time and get a second job which would suck. And I really want to stay with the bank-- I'll have been there 2 years in November and don't want to have any more 2-year stints on my resume. Just once I'd like to stay at one company long enough to reap the benefits, instead of starting over as a new employee somewhere.
4. The vacations for this autumn that we have already lined up. We're flying from Dallas to Boston in October-- are we going to have to fly or drive back here to get that flight? I can't change the tickets. In December we're going with my family to Big Bend State Park in west Texas-- is it going to be hard to work that around a new branch at the bank and Don's new job? To drive from Virginia back to Dallas and then from Dallas out West will be more exhausting than restful. But to fly will cost too much I think.
5. Not knowing anybody and becoming a total recluse that cries every day. You know, like the *last* time we left the state.