Beautiful Day for a Picnic

Amy and Carrie and I spent the day together - meeting first at a cafe in downtown Augusta for Coffee, then we drove out to the New Savannah Lock and Dam (not actually IN Savannah) for a picnic lunch on a dock. Then we all came back to our house and Scott and I handed out candy on the front porch to all the neighborhood kids.

Buster was in a skunk costume and Stinkerbell was (briefly) dressed as a pumpkin. Those pics will come tomorrow... but here's some from today.

On The Hunt

I had an adventurous day yesterday.

A friend since high-school lives about 40 minutes away in Aiken, SC and we've been hanging out a bit. It's good for both of us to have a friend out here where we know so few people.

Yesterday we went to the Augusta Mall where I collected eight job applications. As I was gathering one from Williams Sonoma the manager took my name and number and called me right away to schedule an interview next Wednesday at 2pm.

I got a blister on my finger filling out the rest of them last night.

After our job hunt, we went "downtown" Augusta and took pictures.

Traveling Zoo

Thirteen hours according to Google maps is really more like 16 or 17 in a Honda pulling a 4x6 U-Haul trailer.

We departed Key West at about 7pm on Saturday (a week ago) and made a few stops... one for gas, another stop on Big Pine at Rob's Island Grill for the best gardenburger in the Keys.

We made it to our approximate halfway point - a Clarion motel in Titusville, Florida at about 4am Sunday morning. It took us about a half hour to get all the critters and their stuff in the room and then we went to bed. We put the big baby gate up across the bathroom/sink/closet area and put Stinkerbell's house under the sink, with the cat litter box in the bathroom itself.

We managed to get all the animals fed and once we went to bed everyone pretty much quieted down and went to sleep.

Scott got up around 1pm and I got up around 1:30pm and we loaded up and headed north. We stopped for gas and food somewhere near Jacksonville I think...

I had everyone but Scott in the Honda with me, the cats' litter box in the trunk with the back seats down and Buster in the passenger seat. The cats and Stinkerbell got to run free.

Chou likes to ride in the floorspace up front and since there was a bunch of stuff and bedding in the passenger side floorspace, he chose mine. Fortunately he stayed out from under the pedals and didn't mind if I shoved him back with my feet when he encroached on my space.

Minx was a little bit everywhere, mostly starting to yell about five or six hours into both days. At that point I put on my ipod and was able to tune her out.

Maui split his time snuggling with Buster and sitting in the cat bed in the back seat.

Stinkerbell was either asleep in the front seat with Buster and Maui or in her bed (sometimes underneath it). She managed not to bite anyone, which is usually her modus operandi when in close proximity to the other animals. The picture on the left shows Buster, Stinker, Maui (right above Stinker's tail) and Chou (on the right - in my armpit) all in the front seat which lasted about ten minutes. Then I kicked the cats and skunk out so Buster wasn't so cramped.


Won-Ton initially was on the dash, with two of the feet of his travel tank on a "non-slip" pad that is meant for cell phones and such. After two incidences of the tank flying off the dash and dumping water everywhere (the second time requiring me to pull over, call Scott and have him bring a bottle of Evian to refill the container) I took the handle off the container and rigged it with a bungee cord to hang from my rear-view mirror. Sounds silly, but he was safe for the rest of the trip (when Buster wasn't trying to drink him).

The drive on Sunday was a lot easier. We had both had at least eight hours of sleep and were a lot less anxious about what time we were going to arrive.

Fortunately the realtor that helped us find and lease the house only lives about fifteen minutes from the new place and was willing to meet us when we arrived at about 10:15pm to let us in. He knew we weren't going to have water or power until Monday, but he was able to turn our water on at the curb and his wife sent a bunch of her candles over so we could see enough to get our mattress and the animals in the house.

Monday morning the power came on around 10am and the water heater made quick work of heating up enough water for about a five minute shower. Once presentable we drove to the bottom of our subdivision and had lunch at a Mexican restaurant in the strip mall there. We found a Food Lion and bought a few necessities before heading back to the house for a walk-through with the realtor.

Tuesday Scott managed to get a Georgia driver's license and we took a trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond, followed by dinner at Macaroni Grill.

Wednesday Scott went to work for the first time at his new job and Comcast came to hook up our DVR and internet. After he came home we went to Lowes and then Red Robin for dinner. (We don't have wireless yet and the ethernet cable isn't working for my computer, so I have to pirate Scott's when he's not using it.)

Thursday my friend Carrie (from high school) came over from Aiken, SC and we spent the day together, having breakfast (around 1pm) at IHOP and then a quick trip to Home Depot. I looked for herbs and vegetables to grow at the house but I'm guessing it's past season for them this far north because there was NOTHING edible in the nursery there. I bought three Hostas instead.

Friday I slept in and then did some unpacking and organizing and moving furniture around. Once Scott got home we went to Publix and did the REAL grocery shopping.

Today we had Apple turnovers for breakfast (something my family did every Saturday morning for awhile when I was young) and then spent the day alternately unpacking and watching TV and feeding animals and ourselves. I made a batch of Potato Cheese Soup with a few fat-lowering modifications. It's not quite the same since I am mysteriously out of Paprika and I used 1% milk instead of half and half, but it was still good and filling.

Just Peachy

We're here in Georgia and getting settled in.

The house is beautiful.

I've taken lots of pictures - most of our two-day trip up from Key West, but they are on my computer which for some reason is not connecting to the internet.

So in the meantime I will just say that I'm planning some great posts and have some fun pictures to go with them.

Most importantly: We're safe! Everyone loves the house, the dog and cats (including the "fourth") are having fun exploring and hiding behind boxes.

The movers brought our stuff yesterday morning at 8am and we've been unpacking ever since. I've got most of the kitchen put away and we're working on the bedrooms and living areas.

Comcast came today to hook up our digital cable and wireless internet. The cable works. The internet only works via an ethernet cable to Scott's computer. We tried plugging it into mine and that doesn't even work.

I'm going to attempt to solve the problem tomorrow when my brain cells are fresh.

Getting Out of Dodge Key West

The packer/movers left with all our stuff yesterday around 4pm. We started cleaning the house and organizing the remainder of our things and then got tired and hungry.

We decided to spend a couple of hours downtown as a last hurrah for our friends that wanted to say goodbye, with the added bonus of getting out of the house for a little while.

We ate dinner at The Rum Barrel and about 15 of our friends came and/or stopped by to see us and say goodbye.

We got home around 10:30pm and went to bed. Or tried to anyway.

The movers packed the fan we usually have running at night for white noise and without it every sound in our empty concrete house was doubly magnified. Stinkerbell was up and wreaking havoc every way she knows how: climbing onto our mattress, sliding off, getting into stuff that's packed, turning over garbage cans, the full gamut of her chaos repertoire.

Finally around 4:45am I was ready to kill every living thing in the house (including Scott - he snores pretty loud when there's nothing to mask the noise) so I got up and went to Walgreens and bought two box fans, some breathe-right strips and some ear plugs.

It was a good recipe for peace and I managed to sleep from about 5:30am to about 11:00am. Then we figured we'd better get in gear and finish cleaning the house so we can leave.

We've worked pretty hard in the three hours since, and then it started pouring rain right when I was actually starting to load the U-Haul.

And I mean POURING. Deluge. Sheets of Water.

Ridiculous.

I guess with both of us cleaning it will get done faster, right? And then all we'll have to do is wait for the rain to stop. If it doesn't I suppose we can move the BMW out of the carport and back the U-Haul in, then load everything out through the kitchen.

Useless

I'm sitting on our couch. On my right is the dog. On my left is a kennel with the three cats inside.

I'm watching a three-man crew pack up everything I own.

It's very strange to watch all this happening and not really have anything to do! I asked if it would be helpful if I brought things from the kitchen to them and they said no. They're pretty much saying "Stay Out Of The Way!" without actually saying it.

Right now the most useful thing I can do is take the turtle back to the pet store to go into the pond. Even Stinkerbell is in her cage and for once she's not upset about it... she's hiding in her bed.

We were planning to stay at a friend's house tonight on their futon, but all our pillows and blankets have already been packed, in addition to the fan I use for white noise so I can sleep!

I guess it's really happening!

Finally, a Plan!

The moving company called us back this morning and is planning to come on Thursday and pack, and then move on Friday.

We were really hoping to have them here tomorrow or Wednesday, but that is clearly not going to happen, so I guess we'll suck it up.

Also they told Scott to tell me to stop packing - for liability purposes they have to pack everything. So now I'm just trying to organize and clean. That sucks.

I dismantled and hosed out the hamster cage today, Tempura is going to live with my friend Kelle who LOVES animals and has been wanting a hamster every time one comes into the pet store, so I know she will spoil her and take very good care of her.

I just don't like feeling like I'm not doing anything to get our life progressing.

Amazing.

I happened to read about this while looking up Darlene Zschech on Wikipedia (long story as to how I got to her on Wikipedia but anyway...)...

I've always been impressed when American Idol contestants sing a Christian pop or worship song on the show. They are often judged pretty harshly for it, but I give them kudos for doing it at all.

I wondered how it was that I missed this episode and then I realized that it aired two days before our wedding and watching TV was the last thing on my mind right about then...

In any case, I am pleased that it was on the show.

Last Day

It's beginning to get light out on my last day of work in Key West. I'll likely go in on Sunday or Monday and do some computer stuff, but today is my last shift on the floor.

Stinkerbell is sleeping on my lap... when I got out of bed about an hour ago she got up and followed me to the living room.

All the animals are being extra-needy right now - Stinkerbell has never moved so she can't really understand the boxes, but Buster and the cats have experienced boxes before and are getting worried.

Buster tries to come with us anytime we leave the house now, he's afraid of being left behind!

We signed a lease today and faxed it back to the realtor, I'll post pics as soon as there's no way it can fall through. If I've learned nothing else in this recent chapter of life it's that I HAVE to take each day one at a time or I'll lose my freaking mind!

I did find an insurance agent in the area and have transferred our car and renters insurance, once the lease is confirmed I'll go online and transfer Comcast and do our address change.

I've packed a bunch of stuff - mostly clothes and bedding as it's clean. We're probably going to get rid of some stuff before we leave: two tv's we never use, our bed frame (since it's TOTALLY busted now) and all the crappy pots and pans since we've been collecting new ones from Crate & Barrell thanks to wedding gift cards.

I'm REALLY excited about the kitchen in the new house... once you see it you'll understand why!

Stay Calm

more animals

I'm sure that I will jinx the whole thing by talking about it - but I believe we're moving to Georgia. We picked a house tonight (I'll post pics as soon as the lease is signed) and are going to call tomorrow to schedule the movers.

I'm excited - I would love to go home to the northwest, but going anywhere new is cool, too. I'm hoping that we will be more free to travel "home" from Augusta than from Key West, I'd really like to be at my Family Reunion and Family Camping Trip next summer.

Of course, I'm having a hard time sleeping because my brain keeps making lists of things that need to be done before we move or in order to move.

And, there's a bit of added stress because someone is apparently illegal in Georgia.

Taking Action

This morning before I left for work Scott and I decided that if the company in WA doesn't call by the end of the day today, we're going to go ahead and go to GA.

He's picking a house now and getting his paperwork ready.

In the Meantime...

Since there's few things in my life at the moment I CAN control, I got bored and decided to cut and color my hair.

Granted, the light and color effects on these pictures make it look like I'm pasty white in the "after" pic, but I'm not...


I've really missed having dark red hair, so I decided to go back to it for awhile. Now if only I could force a decision in where we're moving to!

Packing and Waiting

Right now we don't know where we're going.

The company in Washington had a phone interview with Scott yesterday and the next step is for them to call him back and ask him to fly out for an interview in person.

We will continue with plans to move to Augusta until the company in Washington makes it clear whether they want to bring him on or not.

I'm just sorting and packing and organizing.