Cashed out my 401k thurs. Timing seems good what with Ukraine and interest rates rising soon but the stock market defies logic so now I'm probably going to miss out on super sick gains but whatever. I feel really good about being out. The money will make the transition so much easier, as who knows how long it will be until uncle sam compensates us for moving costs. Yes sirree, we get to pony up for the forced move first, and then eventually, eventually, repaid and given the promised bonus. Without the 401k it would be challenging, maybe not possible, to get ourselves set up as we'd like. We have a new car reserved for us when it gets on the lot, an AWD hybrid little suv thing. You can get around in a 2wd car in alaska, but it means you probably can't make certain trips or visit certain friends in the winter (5 months of the year). You're limited to the roads that get a lot of traffic to pack down the snow, and god forbid you get stuck somewhere because you underestimated road conditions. 'Cause it's real easy to end up in the ditch even in an AWD car. I slid in the ditch twice in my subaru. (Once in Jan in Fairbanks I had to drive a 2wd rental because my subaru was being repaired after I rearended someone (my only accident) - I ended up stuck in the KFC parking lot because the rental couldn't make it up the little inclined hill back to the main road. And that was in town, on pavement, with gravel.) And one of the finest pleasures of winter in alaska is going to chena hot springs and you need an AWD/4WD vehicle for that. Like, it's just very nice having the freedom to go more or less wherever you want in whatever conditions. So we want to get this little hybrid suv and we're a bit googly-eyed at the sticker cost, but it's exactly the car we want/need. Spouse has never had a brand new car. A good chunk of the 401k will go toward the down payment. Basically, cashing out the 401k means we don't have to worry about what we can and can't commit to financially right away. So I think the timing is excellent. Thank you, former employer, you were the only business I worked for that really treated its employees well.

I fucked up my hair last night. I went to clean up a stray hair on my freshly buzzed side without realizing I'd taken the guard off the clipper. So I had to re-buzz everything super short, no guard, and it's a bit more severe than I like. Spouse never fucks up my hair.

Grey project is all wrapped up. I'm about to take the leftovers to bury them in the park. What an excellent project. 5 stars, easy. Honestly, just phase 1 & 2 were very rewarding and I learned so much. It would be awesome to do a legal version with kids. Terribly pleased with the whole experience. Such a shame I can't talk about it with others, because I would totally recommend it, just from a pure learning standpoint. I had no idea it would be so fascinating.

I took that wooden silverware box I got at the thrift store and I've converted it into a jewelry box and it's turned out really well. I added decorative metal corners that cover up some of the dings and scrapes, I repaired a small chunk of wood that had gotten torn off, I added inner compartment walls, and I added some leather straps that latch to keep the lid and drawer closed when it's being moved. I made a display area for my plugs with some foam weatherstripping covered in silvercloth. I took a couple of little cardboard jewelry boxes that came as freebies and spray painted them and covered them in handmade paper and added a magnetized backing to secure them to the lid. There's a compartment just for my tarot decks. I'm very pleased.

Later this afternoon I go pick up spouse and hopefully give him his graduation present. Early tomorrow morning we head to the airport with the kitties and pray to god they let us fly them out. Temps are not ideal, I am worried they will be assholes over a few degrees and force us to take the kitties as carryon when we fly out at the end of the month (cramming them in a teeny tiny carrier under the seat for fucking 12 hours of flight time - horrible!!!). I'll be in alaska for a few days scouting stuff out, and when I get back, spouse has his graduation thing and he's all done with Uncle Sam's wizard bootcamp. Then we get busy prepping for the movers, sorting out what we're okay not accessing for 3 months, and what stays with us.

Then the movers come and we have another week for cleaning the apartment, selling the car, doing any last minute things. And then we peace the everyloving fuck out of the land of crab.