Goodbye to California

Hello all!

I realize that I definitely dropped the ball when it's come to blogging...for let's say the last 3 months? My goodness, it's been a long time.  So much has changed!  For starters, Jake finished his training in CA! He is now in another state doing other training.  

After he left, the movers came and packed up all of our belongings, which are now in storage.  My sister flew out to California to help me drive back across the States.  I checked out of my house July 31st and started the long voyage to the East Coast!  It's obviously been more than a month since I've had to deal with all of my moving logistics, but I remember it well.  The stress is unbelievable!  I'd never had to handle anything like that by myself before...and while I hope that I'll never have to again, I can't count anything out!  I had a lot of emotions about leaving California.  Our first home together was there.  Our family grew by three - two kitties, and then Archer! Our first two years of marriage were spent in California.  It definitely will always hold certain sentimental value.  And, while I don't really miss CA in general, I do miss our home there.  That home will never exist again...our belongings will be shipped to a new place, where I'll make a new home for us.  But, that particular home will never be again.  The first few weeks away were the hardest, but now I'm looking forward to our new house, new home :).

We loaded up the car, hopped in and drove 3,000 miles. 

CA to NV

NV to UT

UT to CO

CO to MO

MO to TN

TN to NC

I'll have to do another post with some pictures of our travels.  Honestly, now that it's done I really would prefer to not think of it again.  Driving it with a partner made the world of a difference, but what a hellish drive, nonetheless! 

For the time being, the kitties are staying with Jake's Dad (who is a total hero for keeping them during this transition time!) and Archer and I are staying with my parents in NC.  We are (not so) patiently waiting for our number to be up the housing wait list at the next place.  We're at number 9...and counting!

I'll do another post about what we've been up to, now that we're safely across the country :)

The last 2 weeks of May and all of June

Having just had a lovely cup of coffee and a breakfast of granola, yogurt, and blueberries, I now feel ready to update you all in the blog world about my last 6 weeks!  It has been such a crazy and hectic 6 weeks that I've barely had a moment to myself to think!  

First things first, about 6 weeks ago, I had my wisdom teeth removed.  ACK!  What a horrible experience!  I had several people tell me having them done "wouldn't be that bad!"  Well, I'm here to tell you that that's a vicious lie!  Coming off of anesthesia is awful, being on the pain pills made me sick to my stomach, the pain not only in my mouth but also my jaws was not fun, and healing took FOREVER!  The holes still aren't closed all the way, and I have to be vigilant about keeping food out so I don't get infected.  I'm glad that having them removed is a once in a lifetime experience, because I would not repeat it ever again! One of the best things about having them removed when I did was that one of my best friends had hers removed the same day.  We healed together (3,000 miles apart) and kept in touch about various torturous aspects of recovery.  

A week and a half after my oral surgery I started my nanny job.  For the whole month of June (and yesterday too) I worked 10 hours a day as a nanny for two boys, ages 6 and 10.  In the mornings, I'd get up at 6:30, pack up, take Jake to work, and then head straight to their house.  From 7:30-5:30 Monday through Friday I was with kids.  What a month!  I was so tired after work that some days I couldn't even make dinner, let alone do things like laundry and cleaning.  I now have so much more respect for single moms, because I don't know how they can work full time and then still do all the housework things that need to be done!  It was a great experience, and the kids were super sweet....BUT, kids bickering all day wears me out like nothing else.  Seriously, after getting a puppy, babysitting kids is probably the best kind of birth control there is.  

Speaking of dogs...Archer has had a very expensive mystery ailment for the last 7 weeks.  His pre-puce (the front part of his penis but not his actual penis) has had ulcers popping up, as well as being inflamed and swollen.  The first vet visit, the vet pulled out what she thought looked like a small sticker.  He was put on antibiotics for 10 days.  The day after the antibiotics were finished, the ulcers came back with a vengeance.  We went in again, she checked in all of the ulcers, found nothing, flushed them out with solution, and sent us home with stronger antibiotics and a steroid.  We finished the antibiotics, but have stayed on the steroid ever since.  We've been back in, the vet has taken swabs and cultures and sent those away to be tested.  Four hundred twenty dollars later (that was just for those godforsaken cultures), we have negative results, and no more idea of what it could be.  The vet now wants to do a biopsy, which would include having to put him under, which is about the most expensive thing you can do!  It's so frustrating because we don't have any answers, and it's just a problem that's hemorrhaging money....not great right before a cross-country move.  I showed a picture of Archer's issue (when it was at it's worst) to a friend who's ex-BIL is a vet.  He showed it to said BIL, and this vet said that a tiny piece of sticker is probably still in there, and it's causing the problems.  I think that's a much more reasonable assumption than an auto-immune disorder that we may never cure...so we're switching to the new vet for this particular problem.  So...after we've weaned Archer off of his steroids, we'll go in, put Archer under, and this vet will go searching for the elusive bit of sticker that's causing the problems.  I pray that we will find a solution soon, because I really don't want to be dealing with this during the move.  

Sorry to make this such a long post!  A lot has happened in the past couple of weeks. This is our last month here, and Jake is about to take his final final final test.  I'm hoping to leave August 1st, and start driving back to the East Coast!

Le Creuset Fantastic-ness

I love Le Creuset everything.  I have their dutch oven and I use it for EVERYTHING! I love how pretty they are, I love how evenly they cook everything, I just love everything they make!  Recently I managed to get to one of their outlets and I got a beautiful butter bell.  I really needed it, because I have 3 butter thieves in this house and they all have 4 legs!

Anyways, I've been wanting a grill pan for my stove top, and while I was perusing Le Creuset's website I found this:

Dreamy Grill Pan

It just shot to the top of my wish list!  If anybody has an extra hundred dollars they want to send me, I'd appreciate it! LOL!  

New Motto

I feel like my trip home was much needed.  Fourteen months is too long to go without seeing your family and friends.  I needed that re-set that comes from being separated from your normal life - enough time to get some perspective and figure out the ways that day to day life can be improved upon.

[BTW- I have a terrible habit of ending sentences in prepositions!  I simply cannot help myself]

I don't have a terrible life in California.  I actually am a really lucky individual, living the life that I do.  However, after all but one of your friends have left, and your husband is working all the time, things can get a little...lonely.  Bad patterns can erupt.  For instance, before my trip, I really didn't do much every day.  I've watched many more hours of television than I would like to admit.  But, when you don't have any plans, and you don't much to do, it feels like the natural progression.  So, you sit on the couch all day long.  It doesn't feel good...the guilt starts to creep up!

Fast forward to my trip.  I was a busy, busy bee the whole time I was there.  Go go go go go go go.  Although I felt exhausted from doing so much, it was certainly a wonderful change of pace.  I decided that something needed to change in my real life back home.  Of course, my first week back, I was sick as a dog, so that really interfered with my new plans!  This week, I'm ready to have a change.  My house has been clean for a whole 9 days.  For anyone who knows me, they know that's pretty astounding.  I feel like that's the first part of my changing my daily life here.  It feels good.

My new motto is:  Just because you don't have anything to do, it doesn't mean you shouldn't do anything.  

So now even when I have an empty day (like today) I will still be productive, I will find things to do, and I will be happy to not be on the couch all the livelong day.

April Travels

I've been a little quiet on here for a few weeks, but April has been a little crazy.  My birthday is in the beginning of April, which was fun!  I'm one of those people who love everyone's birthdays, and my own is no exception.  Jake got me a sewing machine for my birthday, and I'm working on some curtains right now!  My best friend sent me a personalized sewing machine cover for my birthday present, which was a wonderful surprise!  Jake and I ate at a lovely local Italian restaurant that I'd been wanting to try for months, and it was yummy!

After my birthday I started gearing up for my trip back home.  I hadn't been home in 14 months, which is a REALLY long time!  My family back home just joined the modern times and got fast internet, so for all that time I didn't even get to see their faces via skype!  Theoretically, now we can skype :).  Before I actually flew back East, I spent 2 days in San Jose with a family that I lived with for a month while I was taking care of their children.  It was wonderful to get to see the family again, and to spend some time with them!

On my third day with my San Jose friends, I went to the airport and flew 3,000 miles back East.  I spent the second half of the day flying, getting in just after midnight.  The next ten days were spent visiting as many people as I possibly could!  By the end of my trip, I was feeling ill from allergies/exhaustion/running around like a madwoman!  I tried to take it easy and spend as much time as possible with my sisters and family.  I went to a wedding of friend from my middle school days, and luckily I was able to run into other middle school friends from when I was a home-schooler!  Certainly the best part of being back home was seeing SO MANY PEOPLE!  Like I said, I hadn't been home in almost a year and a half, which is just far too long!    I didn't get to see everyone, but I'll be home again in a few months and make sure to see them then.

The other special thing that happened while I was home was that my eldest cousin had her baby...the first new baby in our family!  I got to see the baby and was happy.

The day I flew back West, I woke up at 4 am with some stomach issues.  I was sick, and sick, and sick.  Flying was something I was not sure I could accomplish.  At that point I'd been up for hours, felt terrible, and the last thing I wanted was to be crammed in a plane with 150 strangers!  My solution was to cry about it (of course!) and when that didn't make me feel better, I set to make it through, even if that meant puking on a plane (the horror!!)

After about hour one (of seven) on the plane, I started to feel better.  I had taken two Dramamine and tried to sleep as much as possible.  My Mama got me some Saltines, and I drank ginger ale and prayed I would make it!

I did.  Getting home took twice as long as usual, which you can imagine was wonderful as a sickie.  Saturday  was a stomach bug day, Sunday was stomach and throat (bad enough to spend two + hours in the urgent care because I was convinced it was Strep throat), Monday was throat and cold symptoms, and since then it's been just cold symptoms.  I am hoping that I finally kick this virus by the weekend, because I am tired of being ill!

Some pics from my trip home:

Pretty Dogwood Trees

GREEN

One of our new chicks, Pecan

Morning Routine

Every morning, Jake gets up way, way before me to go to work.  As soon as Jake gets out of bed, Archer hops up to snuggle.  We sleep together for a few hours and then get up.  It's heaven!  This morning, Jake closed a door somewhere else in the house, and Archer heard it shut.  He must not have known that it was Jake in the house, because he started barking, growling, and grumbling.  It was so comical to me, but I'm glad that I know my security is # 1 to him!  I had to ask/nudge him with my foot several times before he stopped grumbling.  He's the best dog ever!

Dentist Update

I went to the dentist this morning.  My first cleaning in 2.5 years went pretty well!  I still have beautiful teeth.  I love being told that I take good care of my teeth!  I always feel like a winner when I leave the Dentist's office!  Unfortunately, today I only felt like half of a winner.  I did not have any cavities, which is fantastic.  That victory was short lived...because not only do I now grind my teeth and need a night guard, I also have 2 lower wisdom teeth that need extracting.

MONEY MONEY MONEY!

Now, when I come home from NC, I have an appointment with an Oral Surgeon, then the next day I have an appointment to get molds of my mouth taken.  My surgery to remove the evil wisdom teeth is on May 10...super not excited!

The night guard is going to cost 236 dollars, and worst case scenario my wisdom teeth surgery could cost me up to 500 dollars after insurance.  Wow, sometimes being a grown up sucks!