Matrix

Since my husband and I are both planning to be in graduate school next
fall, I am doing a lot of research on schools that are in or near the
cities where he may end up.

In other words, Chicago and D.C.

He loves Chicago. But the program there that he's interested in may
not have a government endorsement by the time he enrolls. So that
program is still a little iffy. But if we end up in Chicago, we can
live close to both our schools, minimize living expenses, and possibly
even get by without a car. All good things. But, as I said, his
program there is iffy.

The program he's looking at in the D.C. area isn't actually in D.C.
It's in Baltimore. Has the nice endorsement, but would complicate our
living and traveling situation.

I am trying not to let geography weigh me down too much; it's a similar
mental exercise as not freaking out about the excessive loans we'll
have after we both graduate. Still, I'm a planner, and it's tough to
plan when I have, really, no idea what city we'll be moving to—and
likely won't until sometime late next spring.

Meanwhile, I have crafted a plan to stockpile as much vacation time as
I possibly can—using mostly sick leave if I need a day off—so that I
can separate from my current job and get paid for my unused time. If I
watch my vacations carefully, I can use up to two weeks of time in the
next year (12 months) and still leave with a full month's pay.