Update on Pam!

Hey, Everyone!

I thought it was about time to send out an update to let you know what is going on with me. As some may know, my house was completely flooded by hurricane Frances back in September, so I decided to head for higher land! This coming Tuesday I am moving to Charlotte, North Carolina. Charlotte is about two hours away from MY mountains and waterfalls, and is a quickly growing city. It is the second largest banking hub after NYC. From what I have heard, most of the people there are transplants rather than natives. So you get the benefits of Southern hospitality without as much bo-hickiness as you might otherwise expect. Here is a review about Charlotte I found on-line:

“On our local news a few nights ago they were talking about a study recently completed for the city of Charlotte. The findings were that Charlotte was very attractive to people of your age. (I think the age category was 25-35 year olds) There are a lot of jobs available. (in fact the study mentioned that there may be a worker shortage in the near future) The downtown area is booming with new restaurants and clubs. There are several nice museums downtown and in surrounding areas. There are also more and more cultural events and shows. We now have major league Football and Basketball, along with minor league hockey, baseball, and soccer teams. The surrounding areas and counties offer many different types of suburban living, there's something for everyone! There are two very large lakes near Charlotte for all types of water sports. We are in a great location to enjoy short drives to both the ocean and the mountains. The nearest beach is 3 hours away, and the NC mountains can be reached in 2 hours!”

Wanna come?

I will be attending UNC Charlotte in the fall to get a PhD in Information Technology; it is going to be a great opportunity. I will get paid for teaching a class each semester, and they also plan to waive out-of-state and in-state tuition for me. Since I have a master’s degree from UF, they agreed to waive at least 21 credit hours of course work, so a program that would take 4 years should only take about 3. After getting a PhD, I plan to teach at the college level. I think it would be a good fit for my long term goals of service and having the time to be a good mom (no, I am not pregnant – don’t worry, you haven’t missed anything there!). However, I will probably have to move out of Charlotte since the unwritten rule is that they usually don’t hire you to teach at the school from which you graduated.

I sold my first house on January 31 (Thank God!), and I close on my new house April 15. The cost of living is a lot lower in Charlotte than Tampa so you get a lot more for your money. My new house was built in 1997 and is 2 stories with a 2 car garage, wood floors, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, a wood burning fire place, updated kitchen, a pond view, and is only 6.7 miles from campus.

I am currently looking for a 3-5 month IT contract job between now and when school starts. Prospects look good as Charlotte seems to have a lot more IT jobs than Tampa. It also helps that I have been working in the financial industry for the last two years, and the major employers in the area are Bank of America, Wachovia, and other major financial services companies that are headquartered in Charlotte. I have already done quite a few phone interviews. My plan when I get up there is to start doing face-to-face interviews and also to start making new friends.

That being said, I am going to miss all my friends in Tampa Bay. I had a going away party last night, and more than 20 of my friends were great enough to show up to see me off. We had a night on the town (don’t worry mom, I wasn’t drinking!), and it was a lot of fun. The invite to come visit is still open to everyone!

I bought my own domain name – www.pamspam.com. I know, I know, it is kinda cheesy. It is the same website I have always had with some new additions. So far, I have added some letters of recommendation, new pictures under friends and family, new photo albums, a link to my newly created blog, and the latest contact information. Check it out!

After April 15, my new address will be:

3912 Canterbrook Dr
Charlotte, NC 28269

Other than that, Ra and Scuro are doing just fine. They are happy and fat as ever! I am sure they are looking forward to the 9 hour drive to Charlotte. Sorry if you haven’t heard from me in a while as things have been pretty hectic. Let me know how you are doing and keep in touch!

Love,
Pam