Yes, We're Moving! (Countdown: 3 Days & a Wake Up)

Some of my new readers hadn't heard about the move yet, so this is the official informational post.

HusBean and I and our six animals are moving to Portland, Oregon. We've lived in Augusta, Georgia for almost 5 years, and were in Key West, Florida for 2 years before that.

I moved to Key West from Vancouver, Washington (it's considered part of the Portland metro area) to be with HusBean (then just boyfriend) after only having seen each other in person a total of 16 days. We had dated long distance for 5 months and got engaged shortly after moving to Florida.

HusBean is a former United States Marine, and has a GI Bill that he needs to start using in the next three years or it will expire. 

The plan is that he will go to school and get a Business degree, I will be working as an Escrow Assistant at a title company (I was an Escrow Officer previous to my move to the East coast).

We're planning to take Homeward Bound Hot Sauce big time, and Portland is a great place to do it. In addition  to that, we both grew up there and have long-time friends and many family members there or nearby.

We've really enjoyed our time in Florida and Georgia, and made some wonderful friends and connections that we will greatly miss. We fully intend to fly in on our fancy black hot sauce jet (pepper on the tail) to visit.

It's time to go home!

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.

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.

Packing Up

Things are far enough underway that I feel it is safe to announce our decision...

We ARE moving to Augusta, Georgia (unless we don't for some reason).

Right now we're planning to move around October 15th, we began showing our house here today and a rep from a moving company came to check out the house to see how much to charge Scott's company to move us.

We're trying to find someone to move in here as soon as possible so we don't lose our last month's rent.

Scott has been working very hard the last two days on cleaning the house while I have been working at the pet store. His last official day at work here in Key West will be this Tuesday.

My last day at the pet store will probably be the 12th or 13th and then we are anticipating having the movers take everything on the 15th.

Scott will take Buster, Tempura, Won-Ton and Zim in the BMW and I will take the three cats and Stinkerbell in the Honda. Should be an interesting 13 hour drive... Scott suggested that he and I and Buster go ahead and have Maui drive the other cats and the skunk.

No Georgia.

As soon as we thought we were sure about something, it changed.

Originally we were told that if we took the position in Georgia, we'd make at least what we are making now and have a lower cost of living - giving us the ability to save up a significant amount of money.

The official offer came in today at quite a bit less than what we are making in Key West to account for the lower cost of living in Georgia. Basically we wouldn't get anywhere financially and would have about the same amount of money.

In my opinion that's just not worth it. We've decided that the only reason to move from Key West is either to get ahead financially (and by a lot, not just a little) or to move HOME.

So, we're going to take the offer from the new company in Key West and work on the Washington/Oregon opportunities, and take them as soon as they are something that is worth our packing up and moving.

If you are in the Portland/Vancouver or Columbia Gorge area and think you know of a good job for me, let me know!

What Comes Next

I am watching Unwrapped on Food Network.

I'm not really paying attention though, I'm more mentally wrapped up in not knowing where I'm going to live a month from now.

Recently another option besides Augusta came up, and then today "Company C" gave Scott an offer to stay that is pretty good.

But now we've gotten our hearts ready to leave Key West.

The "mystery" option could put us close to home on the west coast, but likely wouldn't pay anything near Augusta or Key West. But it would be close to home.

Close enough to go to church every week at the place we love. Close enough to visit our ailing grandparents on a regular basis. Close enough to see our nephew (due in November) and all our friends' kids grow up.

This is a very hard place to be, emotionally.

I'm good at just picking up and leaving, I made the decision to move to Key West from Vancouver, WA in about a week.

I'm not good at not knowing what the plan is.

Don't Worry!

Yes, there is a Tropical Storm headed my way.

Right now the worst of it is 80% likely to hit The Keys and at the most become a Category 1 Hurricane.

We're not really afraid of Fay.


My bosses are being careful, we put up the metal storm shutters over all the windows and the front door of the store, although we are planning to be open in the morning tomorrow until we have a better idea of what time the storm will hit.

The news is on right now and of course the top story is the storm... right now even talking about the Keys and showing a map of Key West.

Local schools have decided to delay their first day of school until at least Wednesday.

Key West is supposed to get the worst of it (lovely). Right now the storm is turning northwest and is scheduled to become a Category 1 right over the Lower Keys. Supposedly we had wind gusts up to 41mph here in Key West today.

At home, we've stocked up on food, and Scott ran pitchers of tap water through our Brita and then dumped them into one of the vats we used for the East Coast Wedding Reception... we certainly won't be lacking for drinking water.

Last night I dyed my roots with a home kit because I can't afford to get my hair done at my salon of choice when I go home next week. I figured that since I'm going to be in a wedding I'll likely be in a few pictures and might as well do my best not to look like a hobo. Okay, most hobos' main concern is not the color of their roots, but I've been spoiled over the last few years.



Tonight once I got home from work I drained the turtle tank and brought it inside, then refilled it to a low level and rigged a lamp over the tank to give Zim a little heat since our AC keeps the house quite a bit cooler than he is used to.

I also wrestled with one of the awnings and managed to bring it down, tomorrow I need to find a bolt to bolt it to the side of the house. I'd like to fold down the other awning in the back, and the two in the front although Scott thinks it is overkill. In any case I'm going to convince him to haul the herbs and tomatoes and peppers into the shed (if we bring them in the house Minx will eat them) tomorrow morning.


After I made my few outside preparations, there was nothing to do but microwave some leftover chinese take-out,



snuggle on the couch,

start a new crochet project

and take cute pictures of our animals.

I'm expecting the power will go out for most of tomorrow afternoon and evening, possibly into Thursday, so we're gathering our candles and flashlights and books.

Goombay!

Backstory: Andy is my co-house-owner, ex-roomate of 2+ years and Man of Honor for the wedding.

Goombay is the first part of Fantasy Fest. It takes place on Petronia street, blocked off from vehicles and lined with food and craft vendors.

"Goombay is a form of Bahamian Music and a drum used to create it. Its most famous practitioner in modern times was Alphonso 'Blind Blake' Higgs, who performed at the Nassau International Airport for many years.

Goombay, also spelled gombey, is a form of Bermudan music, drum and dance, and is related to the Bahamian style."

I picked up Andy from the Miami airport at midnight Thursday night and we stayed in a local La Quinta. I had worked a full shift at the store before driving to Miami and was quite tired, but we still stayed up until about 2:30am catching up.

At 3am my phone declared a text message. Again at 3:30am. At 7am, Andy's watch alarm went off. I thought I had turned it off but it screamed again at 7:05am. At 8:30am the cleaning crew knocked loudly on the door (despite the fact that we had placed the "No Moleste" in the key slot) and actually opened it as far as the bar lock would allow. At 9:30am I received ANOTHER text.

When my alarm went off at 10:50am I wasn't rested but got up anyway as we had to check out by noon.

My sense of direction is pretty good and I aimed for where I believed the turnpike to be. I was right on and we made the short hop to the Kendall area of Miami. We hit Old Navy, Michaels, Barnes & Noble, Macaroni Grill and then to the Dadeland Mall for Nordstrom.

Once we traversed side roads and made our way to Homestead (by way of the Miami Speedway) we got on US 1 and headed for Key West at about 4:15pm.

Even stopping for beverages and bathroom breaks we made good time and arrived at home around 6:45pm.

After about an hour and a half rest, we changed and climbed in the car to head downtown. It was starting to sprinkle as we pulled out of the driveway, but were undaunted in our goal to experience the smokey carnival atmosphere of Goombay.

Downtown Key West is overrun with tourists currently and we were forced to park several blocks from Petronia. By the time we reached the festival it was starting to rain in earnest but as it is still very warm here, it wasn't uncomfortable.

Our appetites were growing and we decided to press on through the increasing downpour to find a suitable place to eat. The majority of the crowd was beginning to leave to get out of the rain and we found a small overhang to hold our plates under while we ate. My sundress was soaked through but the short hair is not easily messed up in rain so we walked through the sheets of water and puddles at least 3 inches deep.

Once we reached Duval again we decided to find a place to dry out that was not air-conditioned and made our way to Kelly's.

It took about 2 more hours to get dry enough to get back in the car.

One Week of Cousintude.

Carrie left this afternoon.

We crammed a lot of fun and excitement into one week...starting with the arrival (read the previous post).

Friday night after my shift was over I got cleaned up and we drove down to walk the Marina. We ended at Damn Good Food To Go and I had a deli sandwich while Carrie enjoyed a Boca Burger. Our hunger satiated, we walked up to Duval and surveyed the scene for a few blocks, long enough to buy souvenirs at Hard Rock Cafe and admire the "wildlife" (tropical birds and lizards that you can pay to have your picture taken with) on our way back to the car.

Saturday I had to work from 8am to 4pm, so Scott took Carrie to the Waterfront Market for sandwiches. After I was done at the pet store, Carrie and I went to Salsa Loca for dinner and then to the Blonde Giraffe for Key Lime Pie (dipped in chocolate and on a stick).

Sunday morning we all slept in a little and then Carrie and I went to IHOP for breakfast. We took a short drive around the island and then found a parking spot a few streets over from the Green Parrot, where Scott's band was scheduled to play at 3pm. Right as I was parallel parking the BMW, a torrential downpour started and we had no choice but to brave it. Carrie found shelter under an overhang while I plugged the meter, and then we ran the two blocks to arrive just in time for the first song.

Butcher Hollow featuring Tyvek Velvette rocked the house, and a great time was had by all. Carrie and I walked Duval and shopped a little while Scott and the band packed up, and then we met up at Kelly's for some beverages. Our stay at Kelly's wasn't too long, as we decided to make homemade pizza for dinner.

Monday I worked a split shift - 8am to 11am and then 4pm to 8pm. Carrie and I managed to squeeze in a little pool time in between and then after the later shift the three of us went to Virgilio's for dinner and drinks, both of which were fantastic.

Tuesday we hit the pool again for a little while and then enjoyed lunch at Goldman's Bagels before I went to work. We enjoyed a quick meal of appetizers at Outback with Scott and Justin and then retired back to the house.

Wednesday morning we spent more time poolside before I had to go to work at 2pm, and then headed out to the Sunset Lounge to sing Karaoke.

Thursday I had the day off, so we set out for a drive up the Keys at about 10:30am. We stopped for coffee at Baby's Coffee before setting up on the beach at Bahia Honda. Turquoise water the temperature of bathwater, overlooked by blue skies. We waded for about an hour and a half to build up an appetite and then shared a Gardenburger at Rob's Island Grill on Big Pine.

On the drive back to Key West we stopped at Boondocks to play a round of mini-golf. Fortunately there are misting poles throughout the course, or we would have broiled to death.

Once back in Key West, we napped and then went to El Siboney for a fabulous dinner of Cuban rice, beans and plantains, followed by a piece of Key Lime Pie from Kermit's.

This morning we slept in and then joined Scott for lunch at The Cafe. I dropped Carrie off at the airport just before 4pm where she managed to get on a 4:55pm flight to Miami since her 4:17pm flight to Tampa had been delayed to around 5:30pm.

"It's Like a Heat Wave, Burning in My Heart"

DAY ONE

My second (ever) trip to Las Vegas began on the morning of July 4th. We managed to pack and finish cleaning our house within about 2 hours, then threw our luggage into a taxi and headed to the airport.

Our plane from Key West to Miami was on time, and while we waited, Scott took a Dramamine and I took a Benadryl. I managed to stay awake long enough to snap some great shots of the water and then crashed for the remainder of the half-hour flight.

Touching down in Miami we were met by a bus to take us to the gate. After off-loading into the terminal, we prepared for the 3 hour layover by eating a personal Pizza Hut pizza and finding a spot to nap. As the boarding time grew closer, we collected ourselves only to be notified by the P.A. system that due to the thunderstorms in the area, the American Airlines ramp was closed.

Our original departure time was 3:30pm and we watched the announcement board change to 4:00pm with disgust and then hope, as we boarded the aircraft at about 4:30pm. Sadly, once on board we sat at the gate for about another hour, waiting for the ground crew to finish loading our luggage. Apparently the union has a rule that if there is any lightning, the ground crew is not allowed outside. Why they think lightning would strike a person as opposed to any number of the other much LARGER objects nearby is beyond me.

Touchdown at McCarren airport was about two and a half hours later than anticipated, but we managed to get our bags and a taxi to the hotel by 8:30pm, despite the 114 degree heat.

Scott's parents, sister, and brother-in-law met us at the front door of The Paris, swapped us our bags for beverages, and we made our way to our room. We took about an hour to decompress and then took off walking for The Venetian.

If you've never been to Vegas, you don't realize how big it is. Not just that the buildings are big, or that everyone is "over-the-top", but that The Strip is several miles long. Just because you can see another casino/hotel from your own quite clearly, does not mean it is a ten minute walk.

We dodged slow tourists and finally arrived at our goal, only having to wait about 15 minutes for a table at the Grand Lux Cafe.

Dinner and drinks down the hatch, we walked at a much more leisurely pace back to our hotel, where I went to bed and everyone else went back downstairs with the intention to gamble, although Kevin was the only one that really managed to stay up. It was to his fortune though, as he won about $775 playing poker.

7 Months.

I arrived in Key West on September 18, 2006. In these last seven months I have become accustomed to living on a tropical island.

In some ways, Key West reminds me of the island of Maui. Similar weather and wildlife, but not as many volcanoes. The local wildlife is primarily chickens, which are protected.

We have settled into somewhat of a routine, spending the majority of our time together on weekends. The marina in downtown Key West is our favorite place to walk, and we often start the journey with a meal or drinks at Dante's or Pepe's, make a stop at Kermit's Key Lime Pie Shoppe, and end up by A&B Lobster House or even Island Dogs on Front street.

We make it to church up the Keys about 3 times a month and like to hit the beach at Bahia Honda in the afternoon.

The best Thai restaurant is on Key Largo and the best Grilled Cheese sandwich is at Bobalu's Southern Cafe.

We have been honored to have guests in the last few months, the first being my cousin Giselle, followed by Kirk and Denny the following week and Scott's parents a few weeks ago. We really enjoy showing off our favorite spots in the Lower Keys and finally purchased dining room chairs so we were able to make dinner a few times with Gary and Carla.

I have made the trip to the west coast twice; once with Scott in December for Christmas and then again alone in early March to sing back-up for Megan's CD release concert and finish recording my first song.

We made some friendships initially that have kind of fizzled out over the last few months, but friendships we felt were pretty shallow to begin with have proven themselves much stronger.

I have changed jobs and am now really enjoying my time at work daily and having a wonderful time working with the wide variety of creatures at the store. I am excited to be learning about many different animals and their environments, and testing myself on my knowledge of freshwater and saltwater fish.

Scott and I's relationship has only become stronger in the last seven months. When we moved here to Florida, we had only ever spent about 14 days together and that was spread out over 5 months. Our drive from Washington to Florida was the longest consecutive time we had spent together up until that point and was a real test of our friendship as well as our relationship (and our tolerance of felines). Since our engagement in December we have been steadily growing together and enjoying our family of animals.

And most importantly, the cats don't hide on top of the refrigerator from the dog anymore.

Life Is Rough

The weather in Key West since we returned from our Christmas vacation has been the coldest I've felt yet. The skies are often grey and it drizzles now and then.

Last Thursday was an exception. Sunny and around 80. Donna, Ray and I stopped on the way back to the office to have lunch at a pub on the Boca Chica Naval Base.

The view is beautiful and I enjoyed my grilled cheese sandwich in serenity.

Return to Paradise

I have come back to Key West an engaged woman.

Our trip to the west coast was very eventful, exciting, and busy! We packed a lot of visits with friends and family into 9 days.

We began our adventure on Friday, December 22 after work. We managed to finish packing and prepare the animals for our absence and get to the airport on time thanks to a ride from Brandon. We checked in and found our flight was overbooked and they were in need of people to fly the next day. Fortunately enough people jumped at the chance to stay in paradise for another day that we were able to leave on our scheduled Delta flight to Atlanta.

The planes that come in and out of Key West are of the smaller variety, and altitude and turbulence are felt stronger than on a bigger jet. By the time our two-hour flight landed at Hartsfield-Jackson International airport I was feeling a little more than quesy. We had about a two hour layover before our flight out, so we rested and I took a dramamine to face the next leg.
We arrived into San Fransisco around 12:30am and Gary and Carla picked us up at baggage claim. Once at the Cumpston house, I stayed up for about 20 minutes, long enough to discover that the box of presents I had shipped by UPS 3 day a week previous had not arrived yet. I went to bed and we agreed to try and track down the package in Menlo Park the next morning.

I woke up on Saturday when Kevin and Katie arrived from their flight in. Carla and Scott were out "shopping for dad" and trying to track down the UPS package. I heard a doorbell and found the missing package on the doorstep. Scott and Carla arrived back at the house about an hour later and we all drove together to Fogarty Winery up in the hills.

We did some wine tasting and took a couple of fun pictures on the hillside overlooking the valley.

We made our way back down to Woodside and stopped at the Woodside Bakery for lunch, enjoying fresh baked bread and wood-fired pizza with leftovers to take home.

After a nap, Gary, Carla, Katie, Kevin, Scott and myself got in the car and drove to Gary's cousin Doug's house. Doug's wife Liz and kids Ray, Cate and Jane also joined us and after homemade hors d'oeuvres we all went into downtown Palo Alto and sat down to dinner at Spago.

After ordering, Scott wanted to take a walk outside for some fresh air, so we crossed the street to a small park. It was quite cold out and Scott had not brought his jacket out of the restaurant, so we walked at a decent pace to stay warm. After making a few laps around the park we stopped next to a park bench, and after he got out of my grip, went down on one knee on the sidewalk and proposed. I must not have answered and he said "Please say yes!"

I said yes (of course!) and we went back to dinner and celebrated with the family.

We were treated to a chocolate lava cake with ice cream and whipped cream and champagne.

Sunday morning we went back to the jeweler to pick the final setting for the diamond Scott had picked out (astounding in it's own right) and did a little last minute shopping while waiting for it to be ready to pick up.

Pizza for lunch again but this time at "Pizza My Heart" in downtown Palo Alto, where we bought t-shirts for $5 each and got a free piece of pizza.

Christmas Eve dinner was Potato Cheese soup, salad and paninis. We watched The Devil Wears Prada and then went to bed around 1am.

Christmas morning Scott's sister Katie and her husband Kevin ran yelling "Santa was here! Santa was here!" through the house at about 7am. There was a beautiful sunrise through the trees as we opened our stockings and gifts.

There was a little time for naps before Doug and his family came over for hors d'oeuvres, and then a quick dinner before Gary delivered Katie and Kevin to the airport for a flight back to Portland.

Scott and I stayed up for a little while and then went to bed, only to be woken up at about 12:30 to pile into the car and leave for our drive north. We hit rain going through San Fransisco and it didn't let up until it turned to snow just south of Weed. The snowflakes were about 3 inches in diameter and blowing sideways. We braved the blizzard and it got better by the time we reached Yreka, coinciding with daylight.

We finally pulled up to my mom's house in Clackamas right after noon on the 26th. The first visit was to Monica and John Paul's house, where we watched the kids open their presents. Mom had asked that we be back to her house by 5pm to begin preparations for our pseudo Christmas Eve traditional evening. Our evening began with dinner and the traditional lighting of the advent wreath candles, and ended with opening yet more presents and crashing into bed around 10:30pm.

Morning of the 27th we drove across town to the home of Keith and Julie Thomson, parents of Scott's brother-in-law. After opening gifts and enjoying homemade shortbread, we proceeded to Scott's Grandma Virginia's house minutes away and opened MORE gifts.

Once we said goodbye to Virginia, we drove back across town and stopped at the Ouchida house for about a half hour, where we discovered that Britt and Dan got engaged about two hours after we did.

We dashed out to the Oregon City McMenamins to have lunch with Tiffany at about 3pm, and then made our way back to Mom's house to nap.

Applebees off 112th in Vancouver was our destination for dinner with Andy, Adam, Kelli and Sarah Rodriguez. They enjoyed their "Chou-lendars" and we shared engagement stories.

Thursday morning we met Britt and Dan for breakfast at Jam On Hawthorne and then enjoyed a couple of hours with TJ, Michelle and Taylor at their home in Milwaukie. We had just enough time to drive to Mom's to change and then head to The Ram in Lake Oswego for lunch with Carla, Grandma Eloise and Scott's other cousin Jane.

In the short amount of time between lunch and dinner, I had the opportunity to spend my Target gift card and a little time at Bridal Exclusives in Clackamas Promenade and may have found THE dress.

7pm found Lou, Mom, Scott and myself parking in the lot at Riverplace, and braving the very cold wind to walk down the plank to the Marina Fish House (previously Newport Bay). Gary and Carla joined us shortly after and we enjoyed a fantastic meal capped off with Gary and Lou sharing a berry cobbler.

Friday morning we woke early and drove to Monica and John Paul's house, visited for a few minutes and then delivered Sammey to Brusett's house for a birthday party. Kevin agreed to perform our ceremony, whenever it ends up being.

It was great to see the girls at my old office for a few minutes before heading south into Portland.

Scott dropped me off at my hair appointment and then we grabbed lunch on the way to visit Julie and Ella. Ella is 4 1/2 and very smart. It was great to catch up with them and we were sorry Keith wasn't able to be there.

I dropped Scott off with Andy and spent the afternoon at the downtown Clark County Title branch saying "hi."

I met Roxy and her family and Tony at the Spaghetti Factory in Vancouver for dinner, and then sped to Tualatin to meet the gang at Hayden's Lakefront Grill.

JVA rocked the place out and I even got to play a little cowbell before TJ took over. It turned out to be a bit of an un-official engagement party, attended by Monica & John Paul, TJ, Andy, Travis, Pete, Jen, Chad, Bill, Bob & Chelsea, and Matt and Tiffany. We stayed until the very end and finally got to sleep around 1am.

Saturday morning I got up at 7am and went to Bridge City for rehearsal before singing and playing keyboard for worship during church. Mom and Lou brought Scott for the service and I got to hold Connor for about 1/2 of the message.

Scott and Sindos' wedding started just after 2pm a few miles away and then we had a small window of time to pre-pack for our flight out. The wedding reception was at the Oswego Lake Country Club and we bailed after dinner was served.

Packing up and loading out managed to only take us about a half hour, helped by the fact that we decided to ship a lot of stuff from Portland to Key West so we didn't have to cram it into our luggage.

We arrived at Bob's house around 9pm and had an hour to hang out with Rachel & Gary, Mike & Erin, Monica & John Paul, Brooke & Nate, Andy, Bob & Chelsea, Chris and show pics of Chou to Jeff.

After a round of goodbyes, Bob dropped us at the airport and we checked in for our flight back to Atlanta.

Scott gave up some toothpaste and lotion at security, and we were able to board our plane without having to wait too long.

The three hour layover in Atlanta was taken up by napping, especially after I took a dramamine, which knocked me out hard.

The flight to Key West went quickly and smooth, considering I was sleeping.

Shaunta picked us up and we were happy to get home and greet the kitties right around 1pm.

Time Flies and Cockroaches Don't

It's almost been two months since I arrived in Key West.

I've enjoyed a major festival (Fantasy Fest), visited the local Starbucks (which is privately owned and does not take Starbucks cards), gone to the beach once, to Miami twice, almost quit my job, been locked out of the house three times, gone to the pool three times, been late to work a few times and early a few times too.

Life is pretty normal, except for discovering a cockroach on it's back in the bathtub as I was turning on the shower. He's now working with the cast of the new movie "Flushed Away."

The drive from Key West to the mainland is beautiful. The speed limit is 45 for about half the trip, so while it's only about 130 miles, it takes a good 3 hours. There's never a time where you can only see ocean, the longest stretch over the water is the Seven Mile Bridge.

The most authentic Mexican restaurant in the area is Salsa Loca. Considering how far we are geographically from Mexico, it's nice to find good Mexican food! The servers are all older white ladies, but whoever is doing the cooking definately knows what they are doing.

On Halloween evening Scott and I enjoyed dinner at Monty's, which is an outdoor bar and restaurant right on the boardwalk. We enjoyed a taco salad and watched the sunset, then walked on the dock out to a boat that was moored but had it's underwater lights on. There were 6-8 Tarpin fish swimming and dining on minnows in the light. It was an incredible view. We sat on the dock and watched them for a good half hour and then got 50 cents worth of fish food out of a dispenser and tried to feed them. They weren't interested.

At Home in Key West

I've been home for one week as of yesterday.

We commemorated the event by spending the afternoon on Picnic Island - which is really a sand bar. The water is shallow enough to just anchor and wade around. We enjoyed a few games of frisbee (I was knocked in the head only once, remarkably) and I don't know if anyone was counting, but I should have gotten double points for landing the frisbee on the bow of a strangers boat.

Apparently we left our brains in the northwest, because even though we are now living in Florida, neither of us has purchased any sunscreen. Fortunate for us there was a mother with two children on our adventure, and she provided a menu of spf 30 and spf 50 for our enjoyment. I chose some 30, but not soon enough and am a bit pink.

Scott's furniture arrived today, moved off the truck in about 2.5 hours. I have unpacked two boxes of dishes and glassware and started the dishwasher running. I am greatly looking forward to putting clothes away in a dresser in the closet, and not just in organized piles on the master bedroom floor.

We are now one step closer to the dream - sleeping on a real bed. The bed frame arrived with everything else today, but the movers would not bring the mattress or box springs as they had mildewed in storage while in North Carolina. We will have to purchase a new mattress and box springs, along with a couch, since it's predecessor (I've always wondered if this word literally means "previously deceased"...) was also denied transit due to mold.

We have a full set of dishes, glasses, chargers, a toaster, what I think is a juicer, and some other various kitchen items. There is also a lovely set of tables that include a small dining table, a coffee table and side table.

The cats are getting used to the dog, on Thursday night Maui (the siamese) "kissed" Buster (the boxer) briefly. Progress from hissing. Chou can usually be found on top of the refrigerator, although we are doing our best to discourage this. Minx ate some of Buster's dog food yesterday, I don't know if it was because she felt she hadn't had enough cat food or if she was just trying to get Buster to notice that SHE is the alpha dog.