Monday, October 31

Who's the sleepy kitten?

I always know when Brian's asleep on the sofa because I've been hearing the same television show for an extended amount of time. Like right now. I don't know what he's watching, and I can't understand it beyond the noise over my headphones, but it's been the same basic voice noise for more than 30 minutes. This is not typical "Awake Brian" behavior. And then, I hear the snore.
HOUSTON: I am beyond pleased to tell you that I accomplished everything on my list for the day. The results: We have an official residence when we arrive in Houston. My mail is changed and being held until we settle in to Houston. Our auto and renter's insurance is being transferred to Texas. Now, all I have to do is pack more boxes. I got three done today. Tomorrow, more. Actually, a lot more: kitchen and bathrooms.

My Dancing with the Stars voting (6 votes allowed):
Ricki Lake ~ 2 votes.
J.R. Martinez ~ 2 votes.
David Arquette ~ 2 votes.
Hope Solo, Nancy Grace, Rob Kardashian ~ 0 votes. It's crunch time, people, which means that the points go to the people I think most deserve them. With only six votes, every vote counts for that much more. (I find myself to be incredibly pretentious right now, as if my little votes actually make any difference!)

Sunday, October 30

Getting ready for Thursday's launch

Well everyone, tomorrow is the day. Tomorrow, I start boxing stuff up in my house. It's the big day. I'm digging into my kitchen, into my bathrooms, into the living room. I may even start the packing for the several days we'll be homeless. I don't want to start stressing out, but I think I'm gonna.
Also on tomorrow's list: call the apartment complex and find out what the hell is going on with my place; call the insurance company and get that transferred to Texas; and change our address and hold the mail in Texas. I have only four things to do tomorrow, and only three of them need to be completed. I can do that. Right? Right?!?!
Monday. Monday. Monday. Bring it on.

Well, that sounded brave, didn't it?!?! Love it!!

Saturday, October 29

My purple pig won ... TWICE!

Is it wrong that I'm actually kind of disappointed that we didn't get lost in the corn maze today? Every year, for the last two years, Brian, Katy and I (with Sydney present as an observer) have managed to get ourselves lost in the corn maze at the pumpkin patch. I'm pretty convinced that it's an easier maze at the Queen Creek patch, rather than the west Phoenix patch we went to the last two years. The corn rows were a bit too thin, and the paths were too well-walked. We let a five-year-old guide us in the maze and we made it in and back out within about 15 minutes, without a single moment of where-are-we? panic. Not fun!
But still, the pumpkin patch was pretty awesome. We got to pet goats, watch pig races (YES!!), launch pumpkins, pick pumpkins, and bought a delicious, homemade apple pie. All in all, it was a pretty perfect day.

Friday, October 28

She's STILL my baby!!

Also, today is Sydney's birthday.
It's amazing how just the acknowledgment of the day can bring back every single memory of the day. I can remember it so clearly. It's bizarre to me how vividly I can recreate every single moment of her being born. And how melancholy it makes me throughout the day. I could sit and stare at her, and cry my eyes out with love for her. I rarely let myself get all "I'm a goddess because I made her," but on her birthday, I let the thought and emotion run free. The kid rocks. And she's mine.
And, she's five.

Weird. That looks like a ... cold

I'm still so tired.
I got a decent night's sleep last night. I took a two-hour nap this morning. And yet, still tired.
I've taken my NyQuil, and I'm thisclose to getting into bed and going to sleep. In fact, I just had an incredibly difficult time typing out that last sentence. I must have backtracked and re-spelled half of it.
Because of my tiredness, I didn't get any of my phone calls done today. This is not a big deal, I don't think, because it seems as though some of the stuff has been taken care of without my prodding today. I like it when that kind of thing happens.

Thursday, October 27

More and more posts about moving

I packed a box today. APPLAUSE!!
It was just a small box, and it was filled with a bunch of randoms. But still, a box! I honestly look around my house and don't see anything that I can pack right now. It's like everything is in the last-minute box. You know, bathroom stuff, kitchen things, food, clothes. I'm ready, and eager to get going, but I'm in a bit of a stalemate until next week. I figure I can make us live off paper plates and stuff for a few days, but not for a full week. Besides, I don't have that many boxes to get done.
I'm not avoiding the project, of course. I'm too much of a moving/packing freak to be avoiding the activity. In fact, I'm frustrated as hell that I don't have a whole bunch to do right now. Not to fear though, my dear readers, I will find little things to pack.

Wednesday, October 26

Better than "over easy"

Both my dogs are sleeping "sunny side up," as my mother likes to say. It makes me happy when they do this. Because when they dream, as Oliver is now, their little legs move and twitch. He's even making some little mewing sounds. This is an old photo, and he's awake in it, so it's really not demonstrating what I'm enjoying right now.
HOUSTON NEWS: I called, and I still have no official address yet. The corporate office is still waiting for a last-minute call, and until they have that, we can't move forward. I've got my renting agent's e-mail now though, so I can start pestering her via e-mail as well as phone. I'm really hoping that the final okay comes in tomorrow. Then I'll be more justified in pestering her. I prefer to pester when I'm justified.

Tuesday, October 25

You've got guts, babe

I didn't get hardly anything done today. A couple loads of laundry, I suppose. Also, I took Oliver and Daisy to the vet for wellness checks this morning. I wanted to be sure that, even though I know they're healthy, I know that they are healthy for the drive and move into a new place. Happily, all is well, and my creatures should be just fine settling into Texas. That appointment though, was the only thing that had to be done today, aside from taking the kid to and from school. Who knows why I ended up being a lazy bones today, but there it is. Tomorrow, I got plans and phone calls.
Sadly, the ballroom said goodbye to Chaz Bono tonight. I love that he was able to give a voice to people with gender-identification issues. I hope some kids, young and old, were inspired by his participation in the competition. I hope he is able to hold his head high (despite the judging and judgment encouraged on the show) as he walks out of the studio tonight.

Monday, October 24

Totally on purpose!

I'm toot tired (and I left that on purpose). I had given myself today to get my head together, and then get started on Houston tomorrow. I think, because of my "toot" tiredness, I may wait until Wednesday, and take tomorrow to cath (not "catch") up on some sleepand (ha, ha. See what I'm doing here?) get some laundry done.

My Dancing with the Stars voting (7 votes allowed):
Ricki Lake ~ 2 votes.
J.R. Martinez ~ 2 votes.
David Arquette ~ 1 vote.
Nancy Grace ~ 1 vote.
Hope Solo ~ 1 vote.
Chaz Bono, Rob Kardashian ~ 0 votes.

Sunday, October 23

In just a matter of days ...

My heart was in California this weekend, but my mind, most definitely, was still in Arizona. As much as I was here, I was there. It's a frustration for me, but that's my life over the next few weeks. I am destined to be distracted from one thing by another thing. I am going to be thinking of one thing while considering another thing. I am going to be packing things. Also, I will be organizing things. I shall be making lists and phone calls. I also, invariably, will be freaking out. It's that time again, when I'm too focused for my own good, and won't rest until my project is done. This project is, of course, Houston. It won't be done until I'm moved into the new place, and all my family is in a bit of a routine. So ... what do you think? About 30 days?
So, Project Houston officially commences Tuesday morning.

Thursday, October 20

It's like ... a blanket

Sydney and I were up bright and early this morning to make our trek across the desert to the wondrously beautiful land of California. I didn't hit a stitch of traffic until I got to the junction of the 101 and the 405, and rarely went slower than 80 miles per hour. So, we made really good time, and were in the Valley well before my 3 p.m. haircut and color appointment. And good for Sydney, there is a fun toy store next to Malia's shop, so her pile of birthday goodness grew a little bit this afternoon.
The most awesome thing on my drive was cruising into Conejo Valley and seeing this huge wall of fog rising up and encroaching on the freeway and the cities in front of, and under, it. (See picture, left.) You just don't see weather like that a whole lot of places, you know? It's one of the things I love about Ventura County, in general, and Camarillo, specifically. The fog rocks.

Wednesday, October 19

MY CAR!! MY CAR!! MY CAR!!

CAR NEWS: I have the Jetta again!! And I think ... I THINK ... it may be perfect now. I got tape on my rear window until tomorrow. And I can't get it washed for a couple days. But really, who cares, I HAVE MY CAR. All done. Finished. And just in time for tomorrow's road trip! I swear, as I drove home from the body shop, and the Jetta and I drove through Papago Park, there was real joy. I think the car was happy, and I know that I was happy. It just felt right this time. Like my head, and the car talking to me through mind connection, knew that everything was finally right. Yes, the car and I had a moment. And it was real.

Tuesday, October 18

Dancing time for the awesome guy

So, I feel like the next couple weeks will be a quick (or not-so-quick) descent into madness. I'm starting to get pretty well freaked out about all the things I need to do, and get done, before November 3 and the move to Houston. I've a list that, even though it isn't a mile long, feels like it is. Also, I'm heading out of town for a few days. Going out to California for the weekend may not be the best thing for me schedule-wise, but it will do wonders for my mental, emotional and psychological well-being. The day after Sydney and I get back from Cali, my life of boxes will officially commence in earnest. Today, I stopped the service for both my cable and my electrical. Tomorrow, I've got a lovely list of people to call and things to check on.
CAR NEWS: I'm so sick of writing about this stuff. I'm sure you are sick of reading about it. But here's today's fiasco: The rear window, once they had it tinted, was discovered to be of an inferior glass grade. The window that was installed was after-market Chinese glass. Apparently, the glass needs to be American, else the tinting won't hold best, and the quality isn't as good. Everything else is fixed, it's just the glass thing. I explained to Garth that , sure, he could have the car for another day, but I had to have the car on Wednesday. I won't be driving anything but my car to California. I feel like I've exhibited an incredible level of patience here. And I don't normally do patience. (Brian once told me that I have patience for only two things: animals and jigsaw puzzles. Lately, that list has grown to include Sydney, but those three things are just about it for me.) There's no point in going on the warpath with Garth. This doesn't seem to be his fault, and he's the one that caught it and insisted the issue be rectified. Still, I'm over it. I want my car back.

Monday, October 17

3 ITEM!s for a Monday night

ITEM!: I read my last Frankenstein book today! Come to find out that I really didn't have a whole lot of ick to dig through before it started to come together. Of course, it is a horror story to the core, so there was still plenty to make me get kinda freaked out. But I enjoyed how the plot lines were pulled together. I think this may be one of the best book series I've read.
ITEM! (Also, CAR NEWS): I took the Jetta back to the body shop this morning. I had a decent list of things to fix. Upon checking out my list though, Garth suggested that maybe I would do best to get a rental for the day. Apparently, the four hours I could devote to sitting in the lobby wouldn't be enough. Also, he didn't call me this afternoon to come pick up the Jetta. Apparently, he needed much more than the four hours. Let's hope for a Jetta before noon tomorrow.
ITEM!: I want to go on record as saying that I support the Occupy Wall Street protests. I like a good revolution, and our government and financial systems are screaming to be the objects of one. I like that people have gotten so mad, and they aren't going to take it anymore. It's about time the people of this country rose up and made their voices heard. It infuriates me that politicians and financial fat cats are able to rob the people blind, and get away with it. I am loving the fact that people are screaming, making a scene, and bringing to bear their unhappiness with the country's current situation. Even if nothing real comes from it, I like that people have made their voices heard.

My Dancing with the Stars voting (8 votes allowed):
J.R. Martinez ~ 2 votes.
Ricki Lake ~ 2 votes.
Hope Solo ~ 2 votes.
Carson Kressley ~ 1 vote.
David Arquette ~ 1 vote.
Chaz Bono, Nancy Grace, Rob Kardashian ~ 0 votes.

Sunday, October 16

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not today

I didn't get into my book today. Instead, I chilled on the sofa watching football, eating hummus and pretzel crisps, and baking chocolate chip cookies. The angels that made this relaxing afternoon possible for Brian and myself are Katy and Jade, who took Sydney to the dinosaur museum and McDonald's and entertained her for a few hours.
Instead, tomorrow morning, I'll take my scary book to the body shop. And while I sit in the lobby waiting for them to finish my car, I'll do some reading.

This book is really, really cold right now

Do you remember that Friends episode where Rachel and Joey exchange books, trading Little Women for The Shining? Remember how, when Joey gets scared of a portion of the book, he puts it in the freezer until he's ready to read through it? I think my fifth Dean Koontz's Frankenstein book is "in the freezer." I've had it sitting out on the sofa for about a week. Because of where the fourth book ended, right before the big, huge, and, I'm sure, bloody climactic fight, I'm more than a little nervous about how freaky the ending will be. I know it'll be awesome, but it probably also will freak me out. I know that the heroes will win, but my concern is how far Koontz will take it in their losing before the tables are turned against the bad guys. I had thought to devote today to reading the final book, and still plan to, but I'm still kinda skittish about digging in.

CAR NEWS: Also on my agenda for today, is to take my car out into the sunshine to inspect it again. Brian discovered last night that the rear window isn't tinted, and it should be. And the list for the body shop continues to grow...

Saturday, October 15

Too, too hot, but fun

We all went to the Fat Tire Festival today in Tempe. It was ridiculously hot. We are all sunburned, and we are all exhausted from the effects of the sun. Had there been, maybe, 20 less degrees outside, it would have been a perfect day, but, we are in Arizona, and such things don't happen coolly in the desert in October. The interesting part about the festival though, was how the event organizers seem to have underestimated the population of the are that would attend the event, by about half. It just seemed as though there was half of everything that should have been there, for the amount of people that were there. Only two beer tents. Only four food stops. Only two water stations. Lines for beer, of course, were incredible, and stretched about 200 to 300 feet. They moved quickly, which was nice, but still, we could have used another two beer tents. And another two water stations. And certainly, more food options.
One thing that they did have there was a Vaudeville-type entertainment tent, with about six shows, which started about every half hour. The show that Katy, Sydney and I saw was The Monster Show, which we were assured, was a kid-friendly show. First of all, the show was in a small-ish tent, which seated about 40 people. There were two air-conditioning units, but they were small, and the overall environment just wasn't conducive to the machines really doing a lot for us in the tent. Too many people, a black tent made of velvet and heavy draping, and 40 people that were toasted to at least 100 degrees each. Sydney, Katy and I sat in the second row, between a man on the aisle and a woman at the wall. I sat between Sydney and Katy.
The show starred two "monsters," a guy and a girl dressed in weird black clothes with bizarre face makeup, doing weird things. They didn't speak, but made faces and grunted a lot. They threw confetti and balloons, did dances, and were genuinely entertaining. Sydney laughed her butt off throughout the whole thing. Of course, there was plenty of weirdness, but that made the show even better. At the end, as the "monsters" were making their final bows, they wandered into the audience to lightly lick, and touch their tongues to audience members. (I told you there was weirdness. This actually made perfect sense in the plot of the show.) The guy monster came to the end of our row, and leaned in, as if to lick Katy. But he actually was leaning farther in, and was going for my shoulder. I leaned away as far as I could, but then just sat there, waiting for it to happen, and resigned to dealing with it. The guy leaned closer. His tongue was about half an inch away from my shoulder when this little arm shot out from my right side and SMACKED the monster on the face. "Don't lick my mommy!," she hollered to him! It was so awesome! To his credit, the monster stayed in character, pretended to slink away, and made his return to the stage. And Sydney was so proud of herself for protecting me from the monster. "People don't lick people, Mommy, and when he was going to, I smacked his face so he wouldn't!" I'm very proud of her, too. She can't stop talking about it!
Easily, the best part of the whole day!

Friday, October 14

And we're driving a Jetta again!

CAR NEWS: I got my car back today!! YAY!! Not that that means perfection has been achieved. Oh no. I'm taking it back on Monday with a little list of fixes, that will, I have no doubt, grow over the next couple days. Sunday afternoon, my plan is to take the car into the bright sunlight and look over every inch of that car, finding every little thing I can find that needs to be fixed. They're expecting me back there on Monday, right after I drop Sydney at school. My intention is to camp out in the lobby with a book and my phone until they're done fixing it. If I have to go back on Tuesday morning, I'll do that, too. The car will be perfect, or as close as they can get it, before I leave them alone.

Thursday, October 13

But first, remove the firewall

Brian, Katy and I spent a good portion of our evening last night updating and restoring our phones with the new iOS 5 operating system. Best news of the night: I don't have to create my ringtones through iTunes anymore. You can actually just buy them through iTunes now. Also, I downloaded a ringtone app that's much easier than the one that I had. But also, now I can buy my own text alerts, too. There are a ton of nifty new features with the new iOS 5, and we're having a good time figuring them out. Every day is a brand new discovery. It makes having a cool phone so much more exciting.

CAR NEWS: And then there was "tomorrow." Yes, yes, I know. Garth told me yesterday or today. So, when I hadn't heard from him by late this afternoon, I figured that gaining custody of my little car wasn't on my agenda for the day. This is the deal: the exhaust cover they ordered was the wrong one, so they had to re-order the right one. When I called, they were just putting the car up on the lift to replace the cover. Garth thought the cover was the last thing to do, before the car was detailed, so "probably tomorrow." The best part of my day was Sydney telling Brian's parents, "My mommy really wants her own car back." It's not like I've been bitching about it or anything. Ha ha!! Well, my dears, if all goes well tomorrow, none of us will have to listen to me whine about it anymore!!

Tuesday, October 11

Hold on for one ... no more dancing

I have no opinion on Chynna Philips being asked to exit the dance floor, except to say that she, sadly, really bombed her routine last night, so this wasn't much of a surprise. It won't be long until only the good dancers are left, and then the eliminations will get more painful.
In Texas news, I filled out the application for the apartment we want in Houston. I'm actually pretty excited about it. It's quite a bit more space than we've had before, and it should be a comfortable place for us. And once I've got the new address figured out, I can get down to the nitty gritty of moving. It occurred to me this morning that I don't have a moving book to keep all my notes in for this trip. I'll have to find one soon. I've already started collecting random bits of paper that really should be in one place.
CAR NEWS: Not today, but maybe tomorrow afternoon. And if not tomorrow, then Thursday. The insurance adjuster requested a used rear window for my car's replacement, but when it arrived, Garth was unhappy with the looks of it. He refused it for the car and asked for a new window. So, now that the window is installed (done today), we have to wait for it to set in and then the car needs to be detailed. (Yay!! The car gets to be DETAILED!!) Honestly, I'm disappointed that I don't have my car back. I was really looking forward to getting it back today. And even though I don't want them to rush, I really, really want them to rush!

Monday, October 10

Monday, Monday ... It's a day!

I always love it when my weekends come and go with no blog posts. In my head, I'm all, "WOW!! It was such a great weekend that I couldn't find time to blog! I was too busy!!" But then I remember, well, no, I just got lazy. Actually, Saturday night, I was kinda buzzed and slept it off on the sofa. Last night, I was reading. See, nothing all that amazing. Just a non-fancy weekend!

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming!
ITEM!: Today is Oliver's birthday! My darling little dude is now 11 years old. And to make me a happy mommy, he spent as much time on my lap as possible, and right now, at this very moment, he's curled up next to me sleeping away. He's got his little head resting on the pillow, too. It's pretty awesome. In fact, I'm going to take a picture of him right now for the blog here. Done and done.
ITEM!: I've been moving along on my list for Houston, sort of. I think we may have settled on an apartment, and I need to call them. That'll happen tomorrow, because really, we do need someplace to move into. Once I've got that handled, it's all good.
CAR NEWS: I have none. I was told last week that the car would be ready today or tomorrow. I didn't hear anything today, so I'm hoping that tomorrow will be my day. I miss my car. I saw a red Jetta on the road today, and actually moaned longingly at it. It was the weirdest thing. It's like being away on a vacation, and when you miss your own space being around you? That's what I'm going through. I just want my own space back. And if it's clean, that would be even more awesome.

My Dancing with the Stars voting (9 votes allowed):
Hope Solo ~ 2 votes.
Carson Kressley ~ 2 votes.
Ricki Lake ~ 2 votes.
Chynna Phillips ~ 1 vote.
J.R. Martinez ~ 1 vote.
Rob Kardashian ~ 1 vote.
Nancy Grace, Chaz Bono, David Arquette ~ 0 votes.

Thursday, October 6

No soapbox today, kiddos

You know, I've been sitting here with an empty Blogger page for about two hours, alternating between another window with the Yahoo! home page, and watching television, which is more interesting. My blog-based apathy frustrates me, because whenever this happens, I am struck by the fear that I really didn't do a damn thing today. It pains me that I wasn't impassioned with anything. And the lack of creativity, with which to just make something up, is hard and heavy at my mental threshold.
My dogs are cute.

Wednesday, October 5

An Apple a day

As an unabashed LOVER of all things Apple, I am incredibly saddened by Steve Job's passing today. <---- This is the very first Apple product I ever had. Mom and Howie bought me a Macintosh Classic for my freshman year of college. I had the only computer in the dorm room, and every one of us had their own floppy disk for their work on the machine. I remember the day I got it, and the completely random class I had to take to learn how to use it. It amazes me how far the computers themselves have come, as I sit here typing this out on my MacBook, connected to the Internet via wi-fi. Technology is pretty fantastic.
And that's just the computer. Don't even get me started on how fuckin' fantastic iPods, iPhones and iPads are. Of course, I have one of each, and you couldn't pay me enough to take all my Apple stuff (unless I can buy all new versions of everything). It isn't lost on anyone, I'm sure, that most of us learned about Jobs's passing on a device that he created.
Just for funsies, let's count the Apple products Mom and Howie, and Brian, have bought me. First, I preface this by saying, I AM, AND HAVE BEEN, VERY WELL SPOILED IN MY LIFE!! Admitting that makes this exercise more fun than irritating. Computers: 4 (two desktops, two laptops); iPods: 2 (one classic with a black and white screen, and one about six months later, because it was the next generation model available in color and with 60 GB of space); iPhones: 2 (every other generation is mine); and iPad: 1 (for now. We don't like sharing with Sydney, and she won't let us use it. I see an iPad 3 in my future).
Of course, an entity as huge as Apple won't fall because of this, but one does wonder about the future of the innovation in the company. Jobs was the driving force behind the products from Apple. I'm not so much concerned for the improvement and growth of the computers, phones, iPods and iPads. They're just a matter of making the cooler and better. I'm more curious about what won't be invented now. There was no market for iPods until Jobs created one. There was no market for smart phones. No market for iPads. No market for iTunes and the app store. All these things were created by Jobs for a culture that didn't realize how badly we all needed them until we had them. What will we miss out on? Sadly, what we don't know, won't benefit us.

Tuesday, October 4

It's called "The Dead Town." Scary!

ITEM!: Someone explain to me why Kristin Cavallari getting kicked off Dancing with the Stars is such a shock. Honestly, she was a not-good dancer, as well as kinda ridiculous. Her big emotional year was graduating from high school and deciding if she should go to college or got to Hollywood and become a random celebrity. Rich, white girl problems that, I imagine, so many of the show's viewers thought, "Huh? Whatever." You can blame it on apathy, that viewers figured she was safe and therefore didn't vote for her. Or, you can say, "You're ridiculous, and a not-good dancer. Buh-bye." Also, it's pleasing to see the pretentious Mark Ballas be sent home early in the competition.
ITEM!: I finished the fourth Frankenstein book tonight. The story is beginning to freak me out. I am so excited that the fifth book is the final one. If I had to sit around and wonder about the end of the story, or what would happen to the characters next, for any amount of time, I'd be a nervous wreck. I'm icked out completely by the state of the plot right now, and I want to finish the book just so I can get it over with. They're really good, don't get me wrong, but I'm bothered by the horror-ness of the story! I WANT TO WRITE LIKE THAT!!
ITEM!: I like it when Apple releases an underwhelming iPhone. It makes me not want to have one.

Monday, October 3

It's so unfestive

So, here we are, at the beginning of October. You know how I love my Halloween decorations. Unfortunately, all my Halloween decorations are stacked in the back of a storage unit downstairs, behind a whole bunch of other boxes and stuff. I have seven pieces of Halloween decor that Mom has given me and that I've picked up over the last couple months. Seven pieces. Seven! It took me five minutes to decorate my house for one of my very favorite holidays, and four of those minutes were used putting batteries in the ghosts. This is ... disappointing ... when it comes to my joy of decorating.


My Dancing with the Stars voting (10 votes allowed):
Hope Solo ~ 2 votes.
Ricki Lake ~ 2 votes.
Carson Kressley ~ 2 votes.
Chynna Philips ~ 1 vote.
J.R. Martinez ~ 1 vote.
David Arquette ~ 1 vote.
Rob Kardashian ~ 1 vote.
Nancy Grace, Kristin Cavallari, Chaz Bono ~ 0 votes.

Saturday, October 1

On to Houston ... in five weeks

So, I've got some news on Houston. It looks as though we'll be heading out to Texas in early November! Our lease is up here on November 4, and the new bosses want Brian out there as soon as we can get there. So, when the lease is up, we're Texas bound. I've got quite a list now of tasks and projects to get figured out and completed. Number one, of course, is securing a place for us to live. I think I've found an apartment, and will request that Jon and Emily do a drive-by to check it out for me. Then, a moving estimate. Yikes. Then, wellness checks for everyone before we leave, giving me some time before I need to find new doctors for everyone. Then, calling and cutting off all our stuff. Then, changing the address on stuff. Then, packing. All these things don't need to be done immediately, except the housing situation, so I'm not terribly stressed out about my list quite yet.
So, Houston, here we come!
CAR NEWS: Brian, Sydney and I drove over to the body shop this afternoon to see if we could sneak a peek at my car. Of a bit concern is the fact that we were able to drive right into the collision center, and right up to the hospital bay where my car was resting, walk around the car for about 15 minutes, and then leave, without anyone asking us a single question or even noting our presence. But, the car is in good shape, though obviously has quite a bit of work to be done to it (as it should, since they said it wouldn't be done until Friday). As of now, the outer panels on the passenger doors are off, and waiting to be replaced. The back window is out. The trunk door is replaced, and in only primer. The rear bumper is off and gone. The rear driver-side quarter panel is in place, though held on with spot weldings, and also is in primer. Some places are pounded out, and still need to be smoothed out. Oh yeah, and the entire rear interior needs to be put back in. But, on the whole, it still looks a lot better than it did this time last week. I miss my car though, and I'm getting impatient with a capital "IM."