Beth's Contradictory Brain

So Grateful!

The closing is done, I've got the keys to our new home!

Our mortgage man called this morning saying that although there had been a problem with our loan being FHA due to the earlier appraisal issues, everything was fine, it was converted to a conventional loan instead. That lowered our monthly mortgage payment another $20 bucks or so. (From what I understand this is highly unusual and gracious on the part of BB&T.)

I just want to say how grateful to God I am for everything about this whole process. There were time things could have gone wrong, or cost us more money or something in this process, instead things worked out in our favor. I believe God's hand is in that.

I also want to thank all you wonderful people here online who also said words of encouragement and prayer for us. It means a lot. Truly.

Tonight is moving the cats into the new house, once I can get the second one out from under the bed. Then the movers show up at 9 am tomorrow. I won't have internet until Monday at the house, but I'll go somewhere and get some wifi over the weekend.

On The Verge

There's something that feels weird, yet maybe cathartic about moving. About packing and unpacking your life. It's been nice to have plenty of time to pack. I'm still at about 95% done. The kitchen is always the hard part. I've spent weeks visualizing where the boxes go, where the limited furniture we do have goes, unpacking things, getting a real feel for the house. I still haven't even ventured around the back yard.

So it's been really frustrating to not be able to feel excited about all of this because I'm worried there will be some last minute glitch. The closing is at 4 pm tomorrow and as of 4 pm today the people handing the closing don't have the instructions yet. I'm mostly sure everything will be just fine, but again, it's frustrating having to worry.

I'm also really sad Nerdstar isn't here for this. It's a big event and she's away. Now, yes, we could have delayed all of this until she was done with her Army stuff, but part of me also wanted to have this to do while she was gone. (See the title of this blog if you're confused!)

I'm really looking forward to not being in an apartment. The complex we've been in these two years has been really nice. We never hear our neighbors. It's safe. The people, when we do see them, are nice. But I'm tired of having people so close all the time. Poor Ramen dog wants to be social and he barks when he hears anyone outside. It's annoying. I'm looking forward to having the deck in the back yard, and sitting out there. I'm ready for some place that's actually home.

So tomorrow we do a final walk through at 3, the closing at 4. Then I'll come back to the apt. and get the cats and a few things to take over to the house. I don't want to have to deal with the cats the morning the movers come, so they'll be the first to spend the night in the house.

I'll find out tomorrow what time the movers are showing up on Friday. It always amazes me how it'll take them about thirty minutes to load everything we own onto a truck, and then another thirty minutes or so to unload it.

I think the weather's supposed to be decent for Friday. Keep your fingers crossed.

Bad Week

Let me preface this entry by saying how terrible what happened at VT is, and how much I pray for God's comfort for all those affected.

Well, last Saturday we did manage to find a better apartment. It's out in a little more suburban feeling area and seems to be a better property all around. While it's been a complete headache to move twice in about a three week period, we both believe it's going to be worth it in the long run. Tomorrow the movers show up again.

As is typical of all things - we finally got internet service today, now I guess we'll have to see how long it takes them to transfer it to the new apartment.

For the bad parts. As Nerdstar wrote about, we spent Saturday evening with friends and their sick little boy. Monday I got totally sick, fever, nauseous, all of it. Spent the next 24 hours emptying out everything in me. Poor Nerdtar got a little sick yesterday, but never did throw up everything like I did. I'm slowly starting to eat again, but every muscle in my torso hurts from all the hurling!

In the middle of being sick, the weather here was terrible and the winds hit at least 50 mph and blew my motorcycle over - twice! Thankfully the only thing damanged was the mirrors. But, it just adds more things to the seemingly endless list of things that have to be taken care of.

So that's what's up around here. It's feeling like the longest month of my life - aside from the terrible time Nerdstar was in Iraq.

But, I am optimistic things are going to get better soon!

Patience is a virtue

Life is still pretty sucky here in our new city. The water at the apt. is getting warmer – but still not HOT. It’s kinda hard to do things like laundry and dishes without hot water. We’re looking at different apartment complexes, but so far we’re not really having much luck. We’ve got maybe three or four to look at on Saturday. Of course, finding a better place just means packing up everything we just unpacked, and finding a way to get it moved. But if we don’t find a better place, I’m afraid we’ll be unhappy the entire time we have to live in this apt. I’m afraid it just won’t feel like “home” – and that’s an icky feeling.

We still don’t have internet at the current apt. We contacted Verizon the other day, the only other choice is Comcast, and one of Nerdstar’s coworkers had horror stories about Comcast. Verizon was really prompt in sending the actual equipment for DSL, but now it could be a whole extra week before their “machines” can be bothered to actually turn the service on. WTF?

We found a really cool diner close to where Nerdstar works, and it has free wifi that’s actually fast and reliable. Yesterday I got lucky and got a table back in the corner next to a plug because our laptop doesn’t hold a charge for very long.

It’s hard to find anything in a new city without internet access. We need to do searches for apartments, then we need Google maps for directions. We can’t find things like a dog park for Ramen, or movie times, or places to eat. We’ve done quite a bit of driving around and trying restaurants we see – that’s gone pretty well most of the time.

It’s all just so constantly frustrating. Every day I hope something, anything, will get better, and usually each day just brings more frustration. I try to keep in mind that eventually all these frustrations will be resolved. But then there will just be new ones.

Even the weather has sucked since we got here. Although, I’m pretty sure it sucks more where we were living.

One bright spot is that I went back to do more in the process of hopefully getting hired at the hospital I’d like to work at. With any luck, next week will bring the final step in the process.

Not Having Fun

Well, I think we're finding out just how ghetto our apartment really is - and are seriously looking into finding another one. UGH!!!!

The apt. doesn't have hot water. Then there's the downstairs neighbors who apparently run a daycare out of the place. Then there's the funky smell from the oven when we've used it. And a few other things.

We talked with the upstairs neighbor who's lived there for four years and the info she gave us was pretty bad.

We don't have internet set up at the new place yet. I've had spotty luck with free wifi signals, but not that great.

Most of the apartments in this area have a 30 day trial period where you can just pay the days you're there and get out of the lease. So if we can figure out how to move our stuff again - and find a better apartment that won't break out bank... UGH!!! We just really got everything unpacked and put away. Nerdstar's going to check with work and see about using the allotted $$ she hasn't used up for this move. There was another complex that seemed nice, just gotta see about prices again.

I haven't heard back from the hospital I'd like to work out. Not sure how long to wait before talking with a couple of the placement agencies that have called me. The job finding situation is stressful enough - adding it to having to find another apartment - it all brought me to tears tonight.

Needless to say neither of us are happy. It's hard not taking it out on each other, but we're trying not to.

I still think we can like life in the DC area - it's just been really hard to get settled in.

Say some prayers for us. I'll update when I get a chance.

UPDATE: It wouldn't let me post a comment on my own blog... ugh!

Rhea, We're finding that there's probably at least a short list of illegal things about this complex - like the alleged daycare being ran out of the two downstairs apartments.

Life in a really big city is so fun!

Settling In

The movers delivered all of our lovely stuff at 8 a.m. Wednesday morning. Nerdstar has to work all this week, so I spent the day figuring out where things go and what needed to be unpacked sooner rather than later.

The evening was one of the most fun we've had in a long time - we spent it trying to get our two very stubborn cats out from behind the washing machine where they seemed to think they were stuck. All I can say is they're lucky I didn't kill them once we got them out. We barely got the washing machine out of it's little space enough to lean it forward to the cats could climb up the back of it. The girl cat had no trouble. The boy cat - who could jump 12 feet if he wanted - acted like he was at the bottom of a deep well and just couldn't be bothered to get out.

Yesterday I hit a wall and just didn't get much done. Moving always makes everything feel so out of place and out of sorts. I'm really ready to feel like things are all squared away. We haven't even started unpacking the kitchen. We did find a really nice grocery store in the neighborhood.

Happenings

Slowly but surely this move is happening.

Nerdstar and the poor cats arrived Sunday evening to check out the new place. It was a rough night for my poor Nerdstar. It was just her and the cats, a sleeping bag, and a laptop - without internet. Silly cat yelled at Nerdstar almost all night and kept her awake. Little Man has decided he's just going to live in the closet.

We've joked about our new place being ghetto, Sunday night she really felt that way. There was a dead mouse on a mouse strip under the sink. She could hear music playing till 3 a.m. Things like that. Talking with her on the phone, I was starting to feel that little sense of dread about this whole move thing.

Monday morning the movers showed up and put all of our stuff into a truck. That's always nerve racking. I finally got on the road about 1:30 with Ramen.

It was my turn to see the new place. (We saw a different apartment than the one we actually moved into when we decided to move into this particualr complex.) It's really not at all bad. No, there aren't any right angles in the place, everything seems a little crooked and the floors aren't level. But it has the largest bedroom and living rooms we've had anywhere. The bathroom and kitchen could be bigger - but that's always true in apartments. And at least now we have a garbage disposal and dishwasher in addition to the washer and dryer.

It seems to be a lively area to live in. There are lots of kids and families outside in the evening. I like that.

Tomorrow morning the movers arrive with all of our stuff and I'm pretty sure by Sunday night we'll have it all unpacked.

We've been staying in the same hotel we stayed at last time - which is really nice. I haven't looked to see what brand of beds they have, it's the only bed we've ever had in a hotel room that's better than our bed at home.

Cold, Rainy Sunday

Nerdstar left for our new apt. this morning. She's got to give them lots of money in exchange for the keys. Lucky her has the cats with her - to yell at her a lot while driving. Poor pets, they really don't like moving.

Me and Ramen dog get to deal with the movers tomorrow. They're going to show up about 8 a.m. I think we did a little better at packing this time. Third time's a charm, I guess. We're letting the movers pack all the little breakable stuff and the dishes and pots and pans. But everything else is all boxed up.

We still don't know if they're going to deliver our stuff Tuesday or Wednesday. I'm pretty optimistic it'll be early Tuesday.

By this time next week we should be pretty well settled in.

Apartment Hunting

The last two days have been really crazy and stressful for me. Which means I made them really stressful for Nerdstar, too!

It's hard moving to an area this size without knowing hardly anything about it at all. Well, we know where Nerdstar's work location is, and that helped a little.

We also know that, in general, the longer you want your commute to be, the cheaper rent is supposed to be. So we debated and debated, close to work or cheaper?? Neither of us really wants to spend a couple of hours a day sitting in the car in traffic.

With all the stuff we have, we also really need a two bedroom - with one bedroom mostly for storing her 3 bicycles and our little grill and then the things a smaller place doesn't really have room for. But we were finding even the larger one bedrooms to be more than we'd like to budget at this point in time.

Also, the one of the biggest obstacles to finding slightly cheaper places to rent is having a dog.

Then there's always that "standard of living" thing.

So, we looked at listings, we looked in a huge apartment book, we looked online. Nerdstar made phone calls and ruled out most of them. It wasn't fun.

We went to look at two or three places on Thursday. They were kind of extremes. One was really, really nice, but when you factored in all the extra things they charge plus rent - you know, like parking spaces, it was just out of budget. The second was in the right price range - but a little more ghetto than I'd like. Plus, I really don't think half of our furniture would have fit through the skinny front door!

So, Thursday night I was really frustrated and depressed. I told Nerdstar that another option was for her to move to DC and me to move back to Austin! The one other option instead of us moving to DC has been that I move back to Austin and Nerdstar leaves for her five or six months of Officer Basic School out in Arizona. But that's not a total solution, because she still wouldn't find a job in Austin, or even Texas, after OBC.

The guy at the ghetto told us about another place with the same company. He said the two bedroom there was a little cheaper than the one bedrooms we'd been looking at.

So Friday we got up and looked at another two or three places. Learning what questions to ask before driving around. It was kind of the same situation, one was really nice, but more than our budget, the other was a little more ghetto but had the only two bedroom we'd been able to afford.

We grabbed some lunch and decided to go for it. We went back about 4:30 to fill out all the paperwork and see if we could get a lease on the two bedroom one.

It actually worked out a little better than I/we thought. I'd figured we'd be paying at least $3000 for the first month - to cover all the different deposits and fees and rent.

We'll move in next Sunday for under $2000.

I still have my apprehensions about living here. We'll be living about a mile from the Pentagon. The neigborhood the apartment is in varies quite a bit between really, really nice, and kinda ghetto. But there are tons of stores and restaurants and shopping and stuff not too far.

One thing that I'm sure of - it's going to take us FOREVER to learn how to get around this crazy area. I swear druken sailors designed all the roads around here. Not a single on goes in a straight line - and half don't connect to the other half.

I can say one thing for certain - we couldn't have done any of this without Google maps. I'm sure we're going to have a folder full of printed directions to everywhere soon!

One good thing is that the hotel we've stayed in is pretty nice - and has the best hotel bed we've ever slept in! Even the hotel's had it's problems - they had the power scheduled to be out from 10 to 2 yesterday afternoon. Not so bad, we were out and around anyway. But then, once we got back the tv hadn't reset right so no tv last night or this morning to check things like weather.

We also met up with one of Nerdstar's friends from back in Texas. She's a tiny little Korean lady with a nerdy white guy for a husband - they have the cutest little baby boy! Her friend is all set to take us to all the Chinese/Korean restaurants and grocery stores!!

I asked Nerdstar if I'll ever get to eat American food now that we're surrounded by so many good ethnic places - she said not too much!

Apartment Hunting

Tomorrow we're getting up on the early side and heading down to VA to look at apartments. We'll be down there until Saturday. I'm hoping it all goes smoothly. We've been surprised at not being able to find apartment locator services - but maybe the internet has replaced them. We've been going over listings on Craig's List, Rent.com, and I think Apartments.com.

We're really not very particular about living spaces. We need enough room for us, the pets, and our stuff, but other than that we're not terribly picky. It'll be nice to have a dishwasher and garbage disposal again. (This old house has neither.) We're hoping for a washer and dryer in the apt., but I'm happy as long as it's even on premises.

What I'm finding overwhelming is the scope of area we could be dealing with. Then there's the issue of commutes and such.

Anyway. We'll know more in the next couple of days.

Moving Again

Our move to DC is in the works.

We don't have any details about anything yet, but hopefully soon she'll know her new salary and the relocation help. It will be the same moving company that moved us here - they were good so I've got no problem with that. And with the third across states move in two or so years, I'm getting better at packing.

For some reason I'm more than a little intimidated by DC. I know life there won't be like anywhere else we've lived so far. But I'm also hopefull that will be a good thing. Just think - we'll be living somewhere we could eat a different restaurant every day of the year.

They mentioned yesterday they'd like Nerdstar to start work there April 1. Yes, that soon. Our lease for this house ends April 18, I think that's going to work out about right. Her company should put her up in a hotel until she finds an apartment and schedules the movers.

I think for both of us, things are a little nerve-wracking until we know where we'll be living. We've been looking at apartment listings and so many are just so much more money than I'd like. Fortunately, her job location is literally yards from a Metro station, so that'll help. Hopefully I can find a hosptial or something similar close to where we end up living.

Reconnected

The cable and internet were turned on about 1:00 today, yippee!!

Now, if I can ever find the cable for the digital camera, I'll post some pics...

Things here are good, if really, really cold today. The forcast calls for snow tomorrow.

We've cooked dinner a couple of nights in a row and gotten 85% of our stuff unpacked. (I'd say at least 10% is going to stay packed for a lack of a place to put it.)

The neighborhood has mostly older people in it, but there are four or five kids who we've met and who have played with Ramen dog, so that's cool.

Not much else to report so far. I'll start my job search soon.

Disconnected

Nerdstar has to finally check out of her hotel today. We've kept the room so we could have tv and cable for a few more days. The cable company is scheduled for Monday afternoon - so we're going to be disconnected all weekend. I hope we survive!

Of course, there are movies, and unpacking, and exploring our new little city to keep us occupied.

The weather has been attrocious, I've seen the sun for maybe two hours in the past week. It's raining again today, will rain the weekend, and then snow showers start Monday. Fun!

Thankfully, I was able to take the motorcycle out and fill it up with gas and drive around our neighborhood area for a little while yesterday. And I had one of those perfect motorcycle riding experiences. It was a twisting two lane road with tons of colorful trees and leaves falling through the air. Sigh.

I'll post pics as soon as we've got internet at the house.

Here

Yesterday I was up at 1:30 a.m. trying to get the cats in their huge cage before they could hide under the bed. I finally got back to sleep about 4 and the alarm went off at 6:30 to get ready for the movers, who were fantastic and showed up at 7:30. Of course, the rain started about 1 a.m. and ended, oh, today.

I finally got on the road about 12:30 yesterday. I had to cancel the water service and turn in the cable box and turn in the apt. keys before I could leave town.

At about 6:30 last night I finally had to give up driving in the rain with all the big rigs and their splatter. I was exhausted.

I did at least get to watch Heroes in the hotel before trying to fall asleep!

I was going to get up and hit the road early this morning, but I had to wait for the rain to finally, finally stop. Ugh.

So after driving another 9 or so hours today through some of the really beautiful parts of this country - I'm finally in our new town. I saw the little house we're renting. It's cute, but little. Not sure where we'll put everything. It'll be lots of fun looking for a house to buy in Jan/Feb when there are ? feet of snow on the ground.

Well, my brain and body are fried. More to follow soon...

Movin Right Along - Muppets

I'm posting these on Sunday instead of Monday because I'll be loading the cats in the car and hitting the road in the a.m.

"Movin' Right Along" video

Movin' right along in search of good times and good news,
With good friends, you can't lose,
This could become a habit.
Opportunity knocked once, let's reach out and grab it,
Together we'll nab it.
We'll hitch-hike, bus, or yellow cab it.

Movin' right along, foot-loose and fancy free.
Gettin' there is half the fun; come share it with me.
Movin' right along (doog-a-doon, doog-a-doon)
We'll learn to share the load.
We don't need a map to keep this show on the road.

Movin' right along we found a life on the highway,
And your way is my way, so trust my navigation.
California here we come, that pie-in-the-sky land.
Palm trees and warm sand, though sadly we just left Rhode Island.

Movin' right along, hey, L.A., where've you gone?
Send someone to fetch us, we're in Saskatchewan.
Movin' right along (doog-a-doon, doog-a-doon)
You take it, you know best.
Hey, I've never seen the sun come up in the West.

Movin' right along, we're truly birds of a feather,
We're in this together, and you know where you're goin'.
Movie stars with flashy cars and life with the top down.
We're stormin' the big town.
Yeah! Storm is right, should it be snowin'?

Movin' right along, do I see signs of men?
Yeah, "welcome" on the same post that says "come back again."
Movin' right along, foot-loose and fancy free.
You're ready for the big time, is it ready for me?

Movin' right along
Movin' right along
(repeat to fade)

Movin Right Along

I've got the Muppet Movie song in my head.

Apparently, everything has fallen into place. Nerdstar found a decent little house to rent and has scheduled the movers for bright and early Monday morning!

Today was my last day at work. I'm not at all sad to be leaving Kansas City, but I am sad to be leaving my job. It's the best job I've had in many years. It was weird driving home thinking that was the last time I'll see that place.

I've gotten, I'd say, 90% of our stuff packed, but man, this last 10% is the hard part. And I think I'm going to run out of boxes. (Yes, I saved almost all of the boxes from the last move.)

Monday morning is going to be hectic. I've got to get up early and get the two cats into their huge cage before the movers get here and/or they decide it's time to hide under the bed. Then, after the movers pack everything in their truck, I've got to do all the little stuff, like turn in the apt. keys, cancel the PO box and forward the mail, cancel the cable, electic, water, and gas. Fortunately, half of that can be done by phone.

Then it's the two day drive to my new, unseen, home.

Nerdstar's in charge of getting everything up and running at the new place, but I'll be in charge of what goes where and unpacking.

I'm not sure how long before we'll get internet set up at the new place, but we'll post what we can when we can.

Good and Bad

Well, Nerdstar is having 0 luck finding a place to rent to live in so far. All hope isn't dead yet, but will be soon. Then I guess we might have to move to plan B - buying. Which is kinda scary when you've never done it before.

One bright spot is that so far the people have been really, really nice to her! And the little town has a Wal-Mart, PetCo, Circuit City and even a little movie theater - none of which I was sure it would have. Woohoo.

I think the cats are really happy to have the dog gone. On the other hand, the poor dog is almost despondent now that Nerdstar has kidnapped him and taken him away from me :-)

I've got two more days of work - which is mostly good. The stress of "being homeless" and work has gotten to me.

Life is a highway

Up until this morning moving hasn't really seemed very real. Oh sure, we've got a spare bedroom full of big boxes, but those can be ignored.

But this morning, I sent Nerdstar and Ramen off into the great unknown. Unknown because we really don't have any idea what the place is like, or where we'll be living exactly, or much else for that matter.

The good part is she has great driving weather today and tomorrow, and it's going to be a beautiful drive this time of year!

I've got another week of work, that I'm probably not going to be in the mood for, but I guess it'll be a good distraction. There are still things to be packed, but it's mostly books, cds and dvds. I'm leaving the fun stuff like dishes and breakables for the movers. I think Nerdstar would let the movers pack everything if it were up to her. But I like knowning what's in each box so when I unpack I'll know where to find things.

It feels weird, but not a bad weird, to see where life takes us. It's certainly never predictable.

Progress

We had a good weekend. The place looks like a tornado hit it, but I think we're slowly making progress with packing. Nerdstar has four huge boxes of clothes and shoes. (Well, ok, maybe 1/4 of the clothes are mine, too - you know how lesbians share clothes.)

She's making a little progress on things today. The moving company is going to come Wed. and do their estimate thingy, and they said the week we're looking at should be fine.

So far not much luck on finding an apartment that's available and/or takes pets. Not sure how that's going to work out.

I'm starting to wish I could get out of my last two weeks of work, but I just don't think I can.

And Breathe

Oh man. We started looking online at places to live in our new city last night and it was kinda scarry! We're hoping to go ahead and find an apartment since there's really not time to really find a house. Not that I'm even sure we're ready to buy a house anyway.

We're still trying to even figure out a timeline to get both of us, the pets, and all of our stuff up there.

We're not exactly in panic mode, but I think we're both feeling a little overwhelmed.

Deep breaths - and one thing at a time...

October 16

That's the day Nerdstar starts her new job in a small town in Pennsylvania. The $$ was too good to say no to.

She got the job offer Monday while she's in Houston for a few days visiting her sister.

My emotions have been a roller coaster ever since. I'll be a little sad to leave my job, but am also aware that a year from now I'll wonder why I was sad. It's no secret we're not crazy about KC, but we're moving to a really small town, in the mountains of PA. It could be a frying pan/fire thing - but I don't think so. One thing I've hoped for in our new location is some really good outdoor activities. Well, if we can handle all the snow, there should be plenty to do outdoors. We'll see if I can get my fat ass in shape enough to even try skiing some bunny hills!

As of now I have no idea how the logistics of this are going to work out. We were planning on going to see The Kid the weekend of the 20th. It's 8 1/2 hours here to Dallas, 15 hours here to PA, and 20 hours Dallas to PA. Not much of that sounds fun. Plus all the packing and finding somewhere to live in said small town.

So that's our good news. Anyone want to come help pack??

Bleh

We had a pretty quiet weekend. We thought it would be fun to go watch UT men's baseball play KU. Tickets were only $6 each, and it was just about an hour drive. It was fun. Something to do. And there was funnel cake involved.

I think it's safe to say that Nerdstar and I really aren't enjoying living here. We both feel like aliens or we're in the Twilight Zone. And it's just hard to express and explain why, because there's not necessarily anything concrete behind the feelings.

And we're having problems between us. Sometimes I'd like to write more about them here, but it just seems like it'd be too hard to really write about all the intricate details. There's just no way to explain it all. But moving up here hasn't turned out to be the great new beginning we were looking forward to. Was it a mistake to take the job up here? I don't think so. We just couldn't have imagined how weird we'd feel living up here. Unfortunately, that and other things are making us feel further apart instead of closer together. Is it just a long rough patch to get thru? Maybe. Hopefully.

Getting Stuff Done

We have the important things - cable and internet service. We decided to go with Time Warner, simply because the whole time I've had service with them in Austin they've had really good customer service. Don't fix what's not broken. We also decided not to get a land line, because the only thing we were using it for was dial up, so we went with Road Runner. It's nice to have faster internet access!

Other than that, well, it actually looks like a much bigger mess today since I've started unpacking the kitchen. But we're pretty determined to cook more and eat out a LOT less.

I also sliced open my index finger last night. I was using a very sharp knife to cut the tape to break down the boxes, and it went thru my skin very cleanly! It took a little while to get it to stop bleeding, but it's on the top/side of my finger, so it's not too painful. Nothing like breaking in a new place with a little blood sacrifice :-)

Nerdstar is back at work today. It's also cold and cloudy! Can't complain though, with all the severe weather the past three days we haven't been rained on at all when it mattered. It was nice and sunny with a cool breeze for the movers to unload our stuff.

Here

Whatever the opposite of "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore" is - that's us. I've tried to think of a clever line for it, but just couldn't.

We made the drive from Dallas to Ft. Leavenworth today. I was afraid it would pour down rain on us all day, and fortunately we only hit a few light showers. The pets are holding up well so far.

The movers called while we were driving and let us know they had made it up here. We're set to meet them about 8:30 in the morning so they can put our stuff in our new place.

I'm very thankful and happy that things have gone so smoothly. Nerdstar was supposed to be back at work tomorrow, but because our stuff is already here, she's going to take the day and unpack. Then I'll probably do most of the rest of the unpacking, which is fine, I like unpacking.

I'm not sure if/when this will feel like "home". But it's a new start and that's just what the doctor ordered!

Wow

I guess it's only appropriate that on my last day of life in Austin, I sold my '69 Camaro. It's hard to say when either event is really going to sink in - moving and selling. I've had that car since before I turned 16. It was the only car I drove until 3 years ago. I'm 37 now. The freedom it brought in high school. The miles piled on in college. And on and on.

Sigh.

It's weird to be so sad and optimistic at the same time.

The movers show up tomorrow. When it's all packed up Nerdstar and I head to Dallas for a couple of days with my family. Not sure when our stuff will be delivered to the new place.

Also, one of Nerdstar's buddies from her time in Iraq is in town today. It's cool meeting him. Hopefully she'll write more about it.

I'll write more when I get the chance.

Boring Entry #87436

Man is it a gorgeous day today! Alas, I'm spending it lounging around. Nerdstar went to visit her grandparents tonight, one more time before the move.

I'd say we're about 2/3 packed. We've taken out lots of trash bags, given a few things to Goodwill, and have more set aside to drop off at my parents' house for their next garage sale.

The only complication in this move is turning out to be what to do with my '69 Camaro. (It doesn't run and the I don't think the tires would last through a tow across town, much less across three states.) A guy who restores cars was supposed to come by the other day and help me figure out if I want to start the restoration process, or sell it to him and be done with it. So far he hasn't come by. We think it's possible for the military to go ahead and transport it up there, and we can rent a garage at our apartment complex. But I think I'm just about to the point where I'd rather just sell it. In order to restore it I'd have to sell the few stocks I own, and I'd rather not do that - I think they're still going to gain some more.

I'm sure it'll work out one way or another. I just hate having things undecided.

The Packing Starts

We made it safely back to Austin. I'm pretty sure we're here for eleven days.

The only good thing about packing is that it makes you clean and organize everything.

I've always known my Nerdstar has a fetish for things like lotion and lip balm and soap and shampoos. Last night we got a look at just how serious it is. I gathered up 24 partially used bottles of lotion and 12 things of lip balm. That's at least a two year supply of both.

Then just to make last night a little more fun and interesting. We're watching the women's NCAA tourney - SIC EM BEARS!! - and Little Man comes prancing thru the house with a big, live bird in his mouth! It wasn't dead, but I think it was too in shock to fly, so we've had it in a big cage overnight and will see if it's doing better today.

Impressed

My poor Nerdstar. Even though it was her birthday, she had to get up for a 6 a.m. PT test - a two mile run, push ups and sit ups. Ugh! We thought, well, at least it'll be over and done with and we'll have all day to hang out and get other stuff done.

Her orders came in yesterday evening, so about 10 a.m. she went to her office to pick them up and work out when she had to be back at work after the move and such. Six hours later she's finally finished with all the negotiating and paperwork. She'd been talking with her commander about being living off post and receiving housing pay. Technically she's a single soldier and they don't have that choice. She explained that she's not some young soldier just out of basic, she's in her thirties and has a house full of stuff and 3 pets. (You know, because she can't exactly mention me.) Her commander had said getting the housing pay wouldn't be a problem because it'll come out of his budget and not the overall Fort Leavenworth budget. Well, it didn't end up being that simple. Nothing with the military is ever simple.

Long story kinda short, many strings were pulled and for the first time ever, a single soldier was approved for housing assistance here. It'll cover about 95% of our rent.

After all that, we still had to make it to the apartments to fill out the paperwork and pay the deposit. Fortunately that was hassle free. We even made it to the post office just in time to get a PO box before they closed.

She has to be back at work April 11. We still have to work out the details of movers, but a friend of ours said that arranging it all ourselves and being reimbursed should be an option.

Fun stuff.

It Starts

My flights to KS today were nice. Although, I went from sunny and in the 70s to drizzly and in the 40s - not a fair trade! Ramen dog is back at the kennel, the cats have the run of the house.

It's nice to be with my Nerdstar!!

The next two weeks are going to be insane. She still doesn't have official orders. Without them she can't talk to housing to arrange the move. Well, she did "talk" to housing, and found out that in addition to needing actual orders, the office of housing she has to go thru is in San Antonio. Uh, ok. She also found out that the basic procedure is the army guys come and get all your stuff and transfer it to a warehouse in the city you're transferring to, then you go and arrange with that warehouse for it to be delivered to your actual place of residence. What isn't said, but can pretty much be inferred, is that there could be several days between when all of our belongings would be picked up in Austin and the time they'd be at our new place up here. Yes, they would pay for your hotel stay if necessary - but that doesn't begin to address what we do with the pets. Ramen wouldn't be a problem really, God knows he's used to traveling and hotels. But the cats - omg. They're going to be pissed enough when they see the boxes starting to be packed. Then we're going to have to keep them indoors a few days before moving, then put them in a big crate. I can't imagine trying to keep two cats happy in a hotel room for two or three or four nights.

So, tomorrow we go sign a lease on an apartment, after guestimating a date for our actual arrival. Tomorrow is also Nerdstar's b-day, so I'm sure we'll do a nice dinner and I can give her her present.

Saturday we drive to Dallas to see my family and do birthdays and Easter. We can't wait to see Zach! Although, he's going to be mad at us because Ramen isn't with us.

Monday we head back to Austin and pick up the dog from the kennel and my car from the airport and begin to pack and organize and plan.

We're not even sure when she'll get an appointment with the housing office in San Antonio to get any of the information we need. We're keeping open the option to just go ahead and pay for moving everything ourselves, just to avoid all the headaches and stress.

The next two weeks will be crazy, but at least we know they're going to be crazy, hopefully that'll help our patience levels!

Winding Down

I think the weight of the last year and a half is finally starting to lift. Two more days of this long, hard separation. Thursday afternoon I fly up to Kansas. Friday we're set to sign a lease on an apartment. I guess that's the beginning of the next phase of our lives together.

I used to be someone who was obsessed with making sense of the past and how it lead to the here and now. Maybe these past two years have cured me of that. Because really, I pretty much just want them behind me.

Yes, there are a couple of good things to come out of this time in my life. But honestly, for the most part, it sucked, and I sucked. At least I don't have any delusions about my strengths, my weaknesses were much more evident.

Hmmm... this sounds like the late night rambling that it is.

My point is more that I'm hopeful this move truly marks a new start for the both of us.

The Move

We're getting closer to an exact date for "THE MOVE" and it all seems weird and surreal. Nerdstar's current set of orders ends on her birthday, the 25th. (hint, hint) I'm going to fly up there again so we can sign a lease and open a bank account. Then we'll drive to Dallas for Easter, which is my birthday. (hint, hint) Then we'll have 10 to 14 days to pack everything up and get settled into our new place.

I've actually already packed two boxes of books and set aside another box full to donate to the library. I'm very slowly getting things organized and throwing things away. I've got a list of things to get done, like getting the vet records, giving notice on our current lease, canceling our renters insurance, etc. I'll get a lot of that done next week.

It's sort of a long transition time, but I think we're both more than ready for this period of being apart so much to end.

Under the general anxiety we both feel is a lot of optimism for this new start.

In unrelated news... Sic Em Lady Bears! Both games in the Big 12's women's basketball tournament were great tonight. Baylor managed to beat Tech and UT lost a game they started up by 17 points to KSU.

Almost all moved in

I guess it's a good thing when I get to work on a Monday morning and it feels like a week since I've been here.

Friday night was all about trying to finish up packing. We got about 85% done. Got to bed before 1 am. Saturday we had to get up about 8 and pack some more stuff - mostly dishes. The movers showed up about 10:30 and had everything in the new place by 12:30. I had just enough time to set up the tv, dvd, stereo, vcr stuff before the cable guy showed up! A friend of Nerdstar's came by to help out for a little while and set the computer up for us. So by Saturday night we had entertainment, a bed, and the computer! Unfortunately, the telephone lines aren't working yet, so no internet access. (Yes, we're cheap and still on dial up!)

Saturday evening we went to Cheesecake factory and that made us happy! They haven't even done any advertising in the two or three weeks they've been open and it was a full house! Thankfully it was only about a ten minute wait. mmmmmmm cheesecake - actually we were too full so we took the cheesecakes home and had them for breakfast yesterday. I had enough left that I just had it for breakfast this morning.

Yesterday we had to get up about 8:30 and drive to Dallas to have lunch with my family and pick up Ramen. I think he's glad to be back with us, although it has to be weird since it's a different place. It rained all day yesterday and is still raining. I only wish we had some firewood for the fireplace. Guess we'll pick some up this weekend.

The new place is very very quiet and I love that. It's a little bigger and the pets have their own bedroom - not that they'll use it! There's a window about four feet up on the wall by the bed, so Little Man likes to jump off the window sill onto the bed in the middle of the night while we're sleeping. Nice.

It was also a shorter drive to work for both of us this morning.

We've still got the artwork and about one big box full of random stuff to pack and bring to the new place, but that can wait until tomorrow when it's not raining. By Saturday at the latest we'll have everything in place.

Now it's time to really get into the whole Christmas thing - and then, even better, it's vacation time!! We're headed out to Sacramento for about six days over New Years, it's going to be a lot of much needed fun and relaxing!

So much to do

As you know, this is a busy week for me. I've actually had work to do at work and then going home and packing (and watching a little tv) every night. We're getting closer to done packing, but I think tonight will be a long one. Fortunately, there's nothing good on tv tonight to distract us!

I'm very ready to be in a nice clean place and to have everything in place. The movers show up between 10 and noon tomorrow, then we'll spend a few hours unpacking. There's a brand new Cheesecake Factory in Austin and that's where we're headed tomorrow night - my mouth can't wait!!

Sunday we drive to Dallas to pick Ramen up from my parents' house and drive back.