Rough Draft

A Dog Named Bridget

This poor dog.  I can now add boxes and movers to her list that makes her bat-shit crazy.

When we started the process of moving boxes from the YMH into our car, we decided to have her tied up in the front so she could be outside, around us, etc.  However, she only stood there shaking uncontrollably.  No amount of comforting seemed to work, she just continued to shake and pant.

On the day the movers came last weekend and started bringing out furniture from the house, she was a mess.  The one thing that seemed to work was when we put her car crate out there with her comfy blanket...that allowed her to lay down, sleep, and most importantly, she relaxed.  We did take her with us to the new house when the movers loaded up the truck for the first load.  Since she had her crate she basically stayed in there and was fine.

She is now forced to be on a leash because our backyard does not have any fences, which is a bummer.  If the weather stayed DRY we could leave her outside on the enclosed deck and she could at least enjoy some fresh air and kick back on the patio furniture she loved so much in Idaho.  However, she is still somewhat uneasy about that and when I put her out there she wants to immediately follow me inside.  There is also the enclosed sun room and she likes to go out there but she would still rather be under my feet at all times.  I'm assuming over time she will relax enough to be more than two inches away from at any given time!

Yesterday Larry and I brought a dozen or more boxes into the house in order to go through more of them...and the dog continued to shake uncontrollably.  Sadly, she doesn't understand me when I tell her that the boxes are being unpacked and that we are staying here and everything is okay.  She just pants at me, shaking.

Because of the long journey to get from the west to the east, she became used to going potty basically when we stopped at a pit stop and when we arrived at the hotel, etc.  So, we got ourselves a longer leash and we take her out several times a day.  We are also going for walks (except the days when it rains) which now she LOVES and the minute we say, "let's go for a walk" she is up and her tail is wagging (she didn't do that before, she hated going out on a leash).

We've also been working harder with her to train her to be "quiet" when she starts barking at some innocent person and when the doorbell rings.  So far, she has been really, really good.  We walk the neighborhood (at least a part of it) and she just walks along, not barking and not pulling.  And, because our house is situated differently, she doesn't bark randomly at someone outside anymore either (she used to go CRAZY with the common walkway and empty lot next to our back fence in Idaho!!).

All in all, she is doing great.  We don't think she liked the YMH either but now she is back to a regular routine, she goes to the back door when she needs to go out, she isn't barking like a crazy-loud dog, and she loves going on walks which gives her some exercise.

In, But Far From Settled

I am exhausted.  This whole month-long turmoil has literally taken its toll on every one of us.  We are slightly off.  Well, maybe more off than normal (hey!).  We are all just this side of cranky.

But, we are BETTER.

The movers came with their cigarettes (seriously, do you have to be a smoker to be a mover? They ALL smoke...and these guys were especially delightful in the fact that they had their ciggy's in their mouths while IN the truck WITH all our stuff.  Super extra nice with a side of UGH).  Honestly, I started the day off chipper and excited: they were here to MOVE our stuff OUT of the YMH.

However, I soon grew VERY tired.  Sleepy.  Emotional.  Exhausted.  Within one hour of arriving (slightly late due to road construction in downtown) they had pretty much emptied out the entire one car garage and were then on the side of the truck, smoking, and taking a break.  Now, I'm all for breaks but holy crap, they had only been there an hour AND we were paying them by the hour.  I wanted to go over there and "snap, snap" their asses back to work (I didn't).

Can I state for the record that I HATE to watch the movers move my stuff.  When they decided to tackle the refrigerator, I had to take the dog for a walk and not watch.  We ended up going with a UHaul service and so we had to rent all the dollies, blankets, and the truck (they drove) and then you hire out a team of men (we hired four for 9 hours) to simply load and unload.  Unfortunately for everyone the furniture dolly (the heavy duty one with a strap) was broken and the UHaul people didn't notice that fact before they put it in our truck for the day so our movers had to CARRY everything.

I almost had a heart attack watching these men (complaining) how heavy everything we owned was...and carrying my furniture, large TVs, glass hutch, a few FRAGILE boxes and so on BY HAND.  At one point one of the guys was trying to hand off something heavy to a guy on the truck while barely holding a mirror box filled with, well, BREAKABLE mirror/glass stuff...OMG!

At the end of the day my head was pounding.  I was tired of their smoke.  I was VERY tired of their bitching and complaining about how HEAVY ALL our furniture was.  And the "main" guy and all his stories of bullshit about how he moved Elton John's piano (he might have, but I really don't give a crap) because mainly he wanted to chit chat and I didn't.  I was paying him by the hour and I don't need to pay people to chit chat.  I was nervous and stressed about that YMH and wanted to just be done and out.

They had to make two trips and bitched some more when I told them where the heaviest of furniture was going (upstairs).  Then, because they had to work slower without the heavy-duty dolly and carry everything it took them longer...so, by the end of the 9 hours they were just barely finishing with the last of the stuff in the truck.  However, they hadn't put anything together.  Are you kidding me?  We were willing and ready (with cash) to pay them overtime but they were about four hours past the time they wanted to be DONE and sitting somewhere having a cold beer.  Give me a break. 

So...that meant that none of the beds were assembled, none of the tables...hell, they weren't even going to put the feet back on the couches!  I was irritated.  Then, when we walked upstairs with the talkative-Elton-John-Moving-Piano guy (the other three were already in their car ready to GO) and I noticed where they put all our master bedroom furniture, I about lost it.  I told him he was going to have to move some of this around because Larry and I wouldn't be able to! Ugh. It wasn't until later that night I noticed that they put the heaviest TV we have (the sucker weighs probably 500lbs. and it came from our built-in in the family room in Idaho and it took Larry, me, Mike, and Linda to hoist that bitch into the spot and we four struggled with it) on the floor in the bonus room on the farthest wall from the TV jack.  Are you kidding me?  We have NO clue how to get that TV up on ANYTHING so right now it is in the corner of the room (luckily, we are not without an excess of televisions so we have plenty to spare for the time being!).

Larry did go and get these furniture mover pads that you put under the furniture and you can literally push with one finger all the furniture around.  I don't know how much they cost but they are worth their weight in gold, whatever they cost.  We were able to move an impossibly heavy filing cabinet across the bonus room without any effort whatsoever.

But, I digress.  Bottom line is this: I'm done with movers.  Tired of them.  Tired of listening to them. Tired of telling them where to put shit.  Tired of trying to find pieces that go with other pieces that were placed God knows where.  Tired of touching boxes, opening boxes, finding boxes.  And, tired of trying to make things fit (and in the sad case of our refrigerator, it doesn't fit in the spot...it is too wide, dammit...luckily, the refrigerator the guy put in here is at least brand new and stainless steel but it is smaller than mine and I miss it. SIlly, I know).

We are at least in a nice cape-cod style home in a very nice neighborhood.  We have met people (having dinner with the neighbors across the street tomorrow night) and have taken walks around with the dog, waving and making small talk with neighbors.  The house is a good size for us, despite the fact that it is taking some time getting the kinks out that just naturally comes with being in a different place.  I know I've said this before, maybe a hundred times or more, but our home in Idaho was just so perfect in so many ways, and therefore it makes any place else just a bit challenging...

...for instance, I apparently tripped the GPI on the washer not once but twice.  Why? I don't know. Luckily, our landlord is awesome and very organized and gave us a name of a very nice "handyman" (Joey) which we call for anything, he comes out and fixes it, and sends the landlord the bill.  (Kinda liking that.)  Lightbulbs are one of those things that Larry is obsessive about.  He wants the right amount of wattage in the right places so he is fixing that.  The shower in the master bathroom is older and comes out too slow for what we are used to so he replaced that.  The air upstairs is FRIGID (totally opposite than our home in Idaho!) and the downstairs half is nice but the kitchen/nook/dining room/laundry room half is NOT quite cold enough for me and we can't seem to figure out the system.  I'm sorry but on a 84 degree muggy day, 77 is NOT cold enough for me.  And, like our house in Idaho, this one also has dual air conditioners, how awesome is that?  Anyway, just little things to get used to.

Overall, we love it here in this house.  We are SLOWLY going through boxes.  We are SLOWLY setting up furniture (mainly the desks is all that is left and beds).  I am finding that by 9pm I am ready for bed, exhausted.  I am anxious to get boxes unpacked and start putting things away and hanging stuff on the walls.

So, we are in, but not settled just yet.  Time.  I know.  It will just take time, like anything.  I will say that while I am meeting people at the church, etc. and the neighbors seem friendly for the most part, I am very lonely here.  It is hard to not "know" anyone.  Not to call a friend and ask them to meet you for lunch.  Or, hang out on a Friday night laughing our asses off.  I miss my family, I miss my mom, I miss my friends, I miss our neighborhood in Idaho...and, even though they are in the midst of very hot weather, I miss the Idaho summer (and I have a feeling I might miss the Idaho winters too...holy crap...we are apparently in a higher elevation here even though we are only 12 miles outside of the "big" city...I'm scared...Darcie, what will I do without you??!?).  Right now, we are in the midst of a major thunderstorm and had one hell of a lightening storm in the middle of the night! Of course, it is about 81 degrees and muggy but it is pouring rain!

Hello Idaho, I miss you!

See You Down The Road A Few Miles

Four movers are arriving at the Yucky-Mold-House tomorrow morning to get our stuff out.  I am anxious and excited and can hardly wait.  We will have quite the road ahead of us with our landlord here but more on that LATER.  For now, I want to get our belongings OUT.  We started out with 20,000lbs on our move from Idaho to Penn and we have managed to take out just about all our boxes plus some furniture, basically reducing our load to half.  Not bad.  For tonight I will say adios...Larry is going to unplug his baby here which means I will only have the Blackberry for all my internet needs so...wish us luck tomorrow that everything goes smoothly and our pieces arrive in, well, ONE piece.  I'll be back once we travel down the road a few miles and into our New-Pretty-Clean house.  Peace out.

Full

I have hesitated at times putting out here on my blogs and on Facebook about the not-so-good time I have been having since moving to Pennsylvania.  However, I have always believed since the beginning of this whole blogging thing that I would be honest and true.  Sometimes my life isn't sunshine and rainbows and as much as I would like to wake up on the right side of the bed every morning, believe that the glass is indeed half full, and have a super sunny disposition, the bottom line is that I am not always THAT happy or cheery or think that the glass is half full and there are times, dammit, that I wake up on the wrong side of the bed, trip and fall flat on my face on hard floors.

Therefore, I DID express the down moments, the sad times, the depression, the heartbreak, the loneliness, and so on.  Sometimes I tried to limit the complaints and woe-is-me statements simply  because I felt like no one wants to hear moaning and groaning all the time.

Because I have put it out here (on my other blogs and on Facebook) often and maybe more often than I should...I am GRATEFUL to ALL the people who have responded to me.

I am very lonely living so far away from everyone.  I miss my life in Idaho and my family and my friends...

But...SO MANY OF MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS (you know who you are) have filled me up with such hope, such encouragement, such kindness and love that I feel extremely full.  Blessed.  Thankful.  Grateful beyond measure.

Even friends that I haven't talked to nor seen since high school are leaving me private messages.  Cousins and nieces and other family members who email me or call on a regular basis and give me a reason to smile and feel loved. Friends who have contacted me either in writing or by phone makes me feel happy. I even receive encouragement and kindness from people that leave me messages on my blog that I don't even know in real life.  That is incredible.

All of you who have helped me now, before, and in the future: THANK YOU.  Thank you all so much.  Your words, comments, and concerns have seriously helped me feel a little less lonely, a lot more loved, and I not only appreciate every last positive, uplifting, and hopeful message...but, you truly make me full.

Who Knew?

Before we left Idaho I had a conversation with my mom.

She told me that in the mid-late 1950's (okay, I should stop here and say that any errors made in details pertaining but not limited to the date in this story is all MY error.  I am solely going off memory) they sold their new house (that they built just a few years prior) and went looking for a home to buy (after getting into an argument with a "developer" when he told my parents that he wouldn't do everything that they wanted because he had his own ideas for these lots on the street they wanted to build on).

Despite the fact that my mom wanted a new house built, but the argument with the developer somewhat shattered that plan so they went looking for older homes and all the ones my mom found were old and rundown and she was used to her new homes. 

I pointed out to my mom that this area that they were looking at for older homes was far from rundown...Hill Drive (for those that know the area I'm talking about) was a VERY nice area so the homes couldn't be "that" awful!  But, she just couldn't get past the feeling that it was gross to deal with the fact that other people had lived there first. 

Feeling sad and depressed, she said, she spent days in bed.  Days. In. Bed. My mother! I was shocked.  Apparently, my mom was acting like a spoiled brat, my words, not hers, and words that I said to her as she was telling the story.  She just sold her beautiful NEW home and now my dad wanted her to go into these older homes that have other peoples nasty's (again, my word).

I listened to her tell this story and thought how very different my mother and I are.  I couldn't understand why she couldn't just snap out of it, bloom where you're planted, blah, blah, blah.

How did it end, you ask?

My dad felt horrible because his wife was MISERABLE (and probably concerned that she wasn't getting out of bed with two small boys under foot) and with his tail between his legs went to the developer on Waldo Place and apologized and agreed to his terms and my parents built the home they were to live in from 1962 until they sold it in 1993.  And, the developer was our neighbor.

The moral of the story? Or, at least my point in telling this tale?

I totally poo-pooed my mother and told her what a snob she was and that I couldn't believe she didn't get out of bed just because she didn't like the older homes they were looking at (on and around Hill Drive, no less!) and how she forced my dad to build yet another NEW home for her. 

I'd like to publicly apologize for calling my mother a snob.

Because now I think I know what she felt like.

It is how I feel in this nasty, smelly, old, in-dire-need-of-updating house.  I have only known our home in Los Angeles and then our new home in Oceanside and again our new home in Idaho.  I can hardly touch the cabinets in this house and believe me, I've scrubbed them.  I am not cut out, I don't think, to live in old, run down, smelly houses that has had God knows how many previous owners.  Y.U.C.K. 

So, I guess that makes me a snob who can't quite bloom where she is planted either, despite my mantra stating otherwise.  And here I thought I was NOT like my mom in that regard.

Birthdays

Monday was Josh's 14th birthday.  Hard to believe my baby is fourteen already and Lord help me but I see dark hair above his lip.  Hold me.

He got his traditional balloons in his room and then he wanted Chinese food for dinner.  Afterwords we drove around on this side of town...came home and made ice cream sundaes and watched some John Cena/Twelve Rounds movie, which both Jennifer and I were covering our eyes for a good portion of the movie.  This weekend to "celebrate" both birthdays we are going to go miniature golfing...

All the kids wanted to hear about their births and they wanted to know which birth was the easiest, the longest labor, and so on.

So, here is a brief, bullet-point snippet surrounding the birth of my firstborn...

1.  His due date was August 12 and my water broke on July 13, two days before my scheduled baby shower, which I missed.
2.  I was working on a chart for the baby shower when I decided I wanted a nap.  I was looking forward to seeing my godparents that night at my parents house.  I was abruptly awoken by my water breaking around 2:30 in the afternoon.
3.  My parents drove me all the way downtown San Diego where the hospital was because Larry was at work.
4.  My blood pressure was very high and what seemed like very fast decision making on a handful of doctors and nurses, they decided to go with a C-section, so off I was whisked to the stark white operating room when I was totally prepared for the pretty, wallpapered rooms with soft lighting.
5.  We were (okay, I was) thinking it was a girl, Emily.  It was not a girl.
6.  Josh was breech and so when they took him out his legs shot up to his head and he had to wear a brace for a few months.
7.  He was SO TINY! Just over 5lbs. and I never wanted to leave the safety of the hospital with all those talented nurses.
8.  When we took him home we didn't realize we needed an infant car seat and so we only had the larger one and he swam in that thing.  Oops.
9.  Josh was a great sleeper and took incredibly long naps.
10.  I didn't realize that I was supposed to put the Vaseline on his circumcision and the rubbing alcohol on his umbilical cord.  I mixed the two and let's just say, he screamed.
11.  He was the only one of the three who didn't nurse.  I tried but it didn't happen.
12.  Larry accidentally erased the video coverage of his birth when he filmed me in bed announcing to my sixty+ baby shower guests that I wouldn't be there.  We didn't take any still photos because I didn't even have a hospital bag packed YET.  (Needless to say, when I was pregnant with the other two I had baby showers over two months prior to their due date AND the hospital bags were packed just after I peed on the stick!)

Today is my husband's birthday.  The big 4-9.  When we met he had just turned 29.  It is hard to believe that we have known each other for twenty years, been married for eighteen. 

Larry grew up his entire life sharing his birthday today with his twin brother.  For five years of our marriage he was able to celebrate his birthday as the only big cheese in July.  Then, his son is born two days before his birthday and now he is "sharing" once again.

For many, many years we would have a birthday party for Josh with cake, etc. but in two days did we really want to make another cake?  Okay, okay, stop shaking your head in disgust.  He ended up getting a sliver of cake with a candle on it.

Today he is at work and the kids can hardly wait for him to get off work so we can go out to Mexican food for dinner (his favorite) and maybe come home and play a game and then have some yummy dessert.

So, Happy  Birthday to my firstborn Josh...and to Larry!

The Dog

Ah, Bridget.  The little beagle dog who turned three during our vacation and often gets a bad rap for her barking at little children walking home from school and anyone who comes within fifty feet of our home's perimeter.

We took her to the vet several times making sure all her shots are up to date, checking on an ear infection, and running tests for seizures.  We also had them give us a bottle of sedatives to relax her on the road and possibly in the hotel because I envisioned barking fits at everyone who happened to walk down the corridor and possibly anyone in the pool, even if she couldn't see the pool.

On the day we were locking up the house and heading out I couldn't find the bottle of medication.  I was overwhelmed and hot and frustrated and annoyed with myself.  Where did I put it? We had the car already packed and were taking crap out and looking through boxes and in glove compartments...nothing.  Ugh.  So, before we headed to our first night in northern Idaho, we stopped at the vet again and bought ANOTHER bottle of sedatives.

Well, the first day, she was a dream! She panted a bit in the backseat (we kept her in a crate) and we planned several stops along the way in which we had a total routine down: dog first.  So, before anyone headed off to the bathroom we got her out of the car to go potty and I grabbed the traveling food/water dish and gave her water.  We fed her only twice and every time we stopped, she went potty.  She didn't bark at anyone at the rest stops (well, unless she truly didn't like someone and on the rare occasion she would bark at people...it was kinda funny who she picked to bark at).

She didn't have any accidents in the car or in the hotels.  She hardly barked.  Initially she was a little uneasy in the car but she got used to it to the point where she preferred to be in the car, in her crate.  She ate fine, she slept at night fine.  Not once did she require taking out at 3am.  She slept on "her" blanket on our bed every single night.

Other than the fact that we couldn't sight see the way I would have wanted to...she was a dream traveler.  We ended up ordering take out or having something delivered to our room and we ate dinner in our hotel room...in the mornings Larry took the boys for breakfast and then Jennifer and I went down to eat. And Larry and I alternated who took the kids to the pool.

And, all that medicine? We never used it.  Now we have over thirty dollars of pet sedatives and we didn't use any of it (I still haven't found that first bottle).  After the first day we decided to chance it and see what day two brought.  Basically she was so "exhausted" after the drive that she got into the hotel and crashed all night.

I never would have thought that Bridget would have been such a great dog to travel with.  Plus, everyone at the rest stops all wanted to pet her because let's face it...she is damn cute.

Here

Well, we are here.  On the east coast.  To live.

The trip was as enjoyable as it could be driving 2500 miles over nine days with three kids and one dog.  Compared to right now, I would take that random hotel in the middle of South Dakota with the fresh coffee in the lobby, hot breakfast in the morning, and maid service.

We hit a good share of rain throughout the trip and the California in me was surprised.  "Really? It rains across this country in JULY?!?"

The countryside, however, despite the rain, was amazingly beautiful.  We hit a total of 9 states: Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

We were able to make the two sightseeing trips I wanted to make on this trip: Mount Rushmore and Lincoln's tomb.  Amazing and amazing.  Breathtaking and fascinating.  Completely and totally WORTH the pit stop.

For Mount Rushmore we took the 250 or so steps through their "walking trail" to get even closer to the carved rock.  We were lucky enough to be walking down some steps with an employee that was off duty and she stood and talked with us for twenty minutes and we were able to ask questions...that was great!  Loved this place.  A total MUST SEE.

When we hit Springfield Illinois my main objective was to see Lincoln's tomb.  However, we were traveling on a Sunday and the tour book said they were closed Sundays and Mondays.  I instantly cussed out (in my head OF COURSE) our Triple A person who mapped out this trip of ours and I specifically told her the only two stops we planned to make and was pissed that she would have us going into Springfield on a SUNDAY!  However, I called and the lovely man on the other end informed me that the literature was incorrect and they were in fact open.  I took back all the nasty stuff I said about the Triple A lady.

So, we found the Oak Ridge cemetery where he is buried and we walked into the monument and around the grounds (I really wanted to see the first place they had him buried when graverobbers almost stole his body but they have taken that structure down and replaced it with a marker).  When I walked passed his tomb, I got chills.  It felt surreal.  Now everyone is anxious to visit DC and check out Fords Theater...we are a morbid bunch. 

Anyway, as an added bonus and because we had plenty of the afternoon left we decided to check out the home he and Mary bought prior to his presidency.  Apparently, in the parlor of this home was where he was informed he had won the democratic nomination.  The streets around his house were all set up to look exactly as they did when Lincoln lived there so you could see it as he saw it.  Is it me or does anyone else get tingly thinking about that kind of stuff? (Okay, I know, it is only me.)  Inside the house some of the items belonged to the Lincolns and many just to that time period but the highlight was the banister.  It was the only thing in the house that was not only original but was not replaced so it was the actual banister that Lincoln TOUCHED.  Cool, yes?

The house and street tour was great because we were able to have the dog with us and walk around even though she couldn't obviously go into Lincoln's house.

We kept our drive to about 300 miles or 5 hours, give or take, which was PERFECT.  We woke up early but not TOO early...everyone got ready, we divided up for breakfast (someone had to stay with the dog in the hotel at all times) and then we were on the road by 9:30-10 and into the town by 2-3pm...enough time to check in, relax, take the kids to the pool, figure out and order dinner, and crash, exhausted.

Now we are in our home here in Pennsylvania but I am not myself.  There is a lot of work to be done and I have never moved into an older home so I have a bit of anxiety/sadness/disappointment/frustration/overwhelm going on.  Today Larry has continued to paint the many rooms and I have done basically nothing other than cook dinner.  I am feeling lost and lonely and sad and out of sorts.  Our moving truck comes on Saturday and we are hoping to get as much of the painting done as possible.  There is a lot of little bits of "stuff" to do before we can take it easy...mainly stuff that I am entirely too finicky/princessey to let go of...thankfully my husband understands this and accepts the crazy requests of his heavyhearted wife.

I will have more detailed information on my IDTOPA blog (see the sidebar for the link).
I will also have pictures to share of the above mentioned and more once the moving truck delivers all our stuff and I get my computer and camera charger all hooked up again.  So, stay tuned.  In the meantime, if you want to say nice and happy and the-world-is-not-going-to-end kind of things, I welcome them.