We're Here!

A week ago today we arrived with "all we own" packed inside our two cars. After selling our previous home, packing up, and treking all the way up north, we are finally getting settled in our temporary rental home. The bare essential furniture arrived last Wednesday to get us by until our home is built. Hubby left on Saturday for his "day" job down south ... it finally is hitting our youngest son with Down syndrome that daddy is away. I've been trying to juggle getting settled, taking a test for a new drivers license, finding new insurance coverage, getting a library card, etc. and stocking the fridge and pantry with some comfort foods. Daughter #1 got a job the second day we were here at the CDA Lake Resort ... she just happened upon a local job fair and took advantage of the opportunity. Daughter #2 is busy making friends and plans to apply for a summer job. My "to do" list is long ... but I have checked off quite a bit already. Boy, going from a 3100 sq. ft. home to a 1400 sq. ft. home has cut down on my cleaning time!!!!!! I LOVE IT! Tomorrow our cable TV and house phone will be turned on ... Little Nathan has missed watching Rachel Ray on the Cooking chanel. As soon as the DSL is hooked up, I'll be posting some pics of our journey. Peaceful Dreams

Shuffle, Shift, Pack,

OK ... One last day to spend being l..a..z..y! Thursday we have to repack the van and Camry for the trip up north. You should have seen us as we headed out of our old neighborhood ... we looked as though we were homeless and living out of our cars! Actually, we are "homeless" ... at least for one more week. I've had to thin out our loot so we can all have a place to sit on the trip. My poor mil has had her home invaded by a family of five plus a dog. I'm sure she will enjoy her peace when we leave early Friday ... but I know she will also be lonely.

Last Leg

This week finds us resting and basking in the sunshine. After last week's ordeal of frantic packing and moving, we get to rest our heels just a spell. On Friday, we head up north for a scenic journey and Easter stopover at the folk's home in Northern California. This will be our last leg of the journey to our new adventures in the Pacific Inland North West. BTW, we have a buyer for the GTO!

Count Down to Move ... Day 5 (Elusive Sleep)

I have no idea why I'm still awake at 2:30 AM early Monday morning! Most of the previous evening was spent wrapping and packaging large framed pictures and packing a bit more of the kitchen. I've only been up since 4:30 AM (the old time) when my youngest decided it was time to get up. Then, too, I began packing. We do have a deadline of Saturday to be out of here. This is not an easy task for a family of five to empty out a 3100 square foot home and make it sparkle. Must be adrenaline kicking in as I haven't had any coffee since early afternoon. Dh was doing a little figuring the other day and discovered we have four cars and only three drivers! Brilliant deduction ... one we almost overlooked. You see, we were hoping to sell our 65 GTO before the move, but that has not happened to date. We've had several "interested" parties ... one that was probably an overseas scam artist ... so to remedy the situation, dh drove the muscle car to his mom's house for temporary storage in her garage. As soon as he returns from our move up north, he will drive the car to a friend's classic car showroom and try to sell it. The car really is in remarkedly great condition ... even has original interior seats ... no tears or marks. It's fun to drive ... grrrrr.

The Plate, The Passage of Time (and Pope John Paul II)

I read a headline today about the faithful holding a vigil at the tomb of Pope John Paul II and thought to myself ... "Oh, my ... he passed away just a few months ago ... in April "... The realization soon struck me that it WAS now again April and that a whole year had passed. I vividly remember the day he died ... but before it was announced by the smoke signal at the Vatican ... I was antique/vintage ware shopping at a local shop and found a 50% off table with a commorative John Paul II plate for sale. I looked at my dh and he said, "You should probably buy that plate as the Pope is on his deathbed" ... I paid the $7 price and walked away. Upon my arrival home, my daughter (#2) made the announcement that the Pope had died. Dh suggested that I should check out Ebay and sell the plate ... There must have been over 100 different plates and coins and other misc. items for sale. I'm not Catholic ... but just could not bring myself to make a profit from his death so set the plate aside. My mil was over a few weeks later for Mother's Day and spotted the plate sitting on our desk. She being a devout Catholic made reference to the "beautiful" plate. Of course, dh gave it to her as a special addition to her Mother's Day flowers. She was so proud to display that plate and soon had it in her china hutch.
Dh and his younger brother have a friendly sibling rivalry that the family compares to Ray Romano and his brother on "Everybody Loves Raymond" ... it's always in jest as to which one of them is Mom's favorite son ... jokes are always being made back and forth ... So my dh made mention of the fact the he gave Mom the special Pope plate and that Mom favored him (lol) ... Little brother's response the next day as he visited Mom for lunch and dh called was, "guess what plate I'm eating my lunch off of (lol ... jab ...)." Those two boys may never grow up!

Walking the Land

Yesterday I walked and scoped out my property with a new friend. She informed me about noxious weeds, something I had been studying about at a website last week, an old logging road at the back of our land (I had never noticed this before), and all the different names of the plants and pine saplings. We found pussywillows (a childhood favorite of mine), dogwood, ponderosa pine, just to name a few. We even discovered that the area our new home is to be built will have a view of the lake from our front porch. This is something that dh will enjoy hearing as we have rocking chairs planned for relaxing and soaking in the sights, sounds and scents. We even discovered a deer trail, with fresh hoof marks and a few fresh "piles" of "organic" matter :) My new friend gave me lots of suggestions for using some of the snapped and hollowed out trees both downed and still standing. To some we can add wild bird feeders ... and others we can use in the landscape. It's nice to meet someone from the area that is a wealth of information. We're in countdown mode with six days until our big move.