With no cable, we're watching things we can stream on the TV. Our current fave is The Expanse, an Amazon Original. We've binged watched Seasons 1 through 3 in about 7 days and are now in Season 4. It's a really great show - if you can get it, it's well worth the time. It's complex, intense but fascinating. I didn't realize it was based on a book and when I checked Amazon, it's actually a few books. I'm going to try to head to the library to see if I can find them - getting a new library card is always a fun thing to do when you've moved somewhere new.
We're planning to be at Atlantis for three nights for New Years. I was there today for a free play event - my casino host found me and said she was glad we were going to be there. Another friend was playing and he told me it's the best event Atlantis does - he said it's incredibly beautiful and a lot of fun. And - a great thing - we live close enough to decide to head home for 1/2 a day - to spend time at home, check on the cats and then head back. We'll see how it goes. Three nights feels like a long time but...there's another special event most of New Years Day which makes staying there the third night the best option. J. may head home that day - we have complete flexibility -
The new house has blue paper on the roof which is one of the final steps needed before they can shingle it. Once the blue paper is on, the house is watertight - and then they can do more inside work. We got pricing for some additional cabinets we added - in our 'flex room' (office) and the sides of the heatilator (fireplace) and that added $9K to our price. We're going to check on that because it seems way out of whack with the total cost of all the other cabinetry in the house.
We cancelled the Mediterranean cruise officially - we've known for a long time we weren't going to make the trip. We're still planning on Alaska and are working on deciding excursions. I'm pretty 'no' on anything involving a plane or a helicopter - mostly the expense. But also just don't want to do excursions that involve air travel.
There hasn't been snow in weeks which is nice - but it is very cold here. Most mornings are in the low 20's and it gradually warms up to the 40's by noon. It's an adjustment. We've added a tower space heater from storage to the living room - the central heating takes a bit to warm the room and having the extra heater makes mornings easier. It's still absolutely beautiful. Crystal clear skies with beautiful clouds; hills covered with glistening snow surround us. It's very pretty.
2020 is going to be a wonderful year - we have so much to look forward to.
Saturday, December 28, 2019
Friday, December 20, 2019
Licensed
We arrived for our DMV appointment a little early and that was a good thing because we had to get both cars inspected prior to starting the registration process. It was easy - the inspection station was at the same location and the guy took the California registration, got the current mileage and returned a minute or two later with the form we needed. Back in line and called immediately to a window.
Not quite 2 hours in total and I think the guy helping us was sort of purposefully stretching it out so he could then do his lunch break once we were done. It was quite a bit of paperwork: Nevada Real ID's for each of us, registration for two cars and plates for both cars.
As we finished getting our pictures taken, we hear a voice say 'Hi, guys'....and it was our builder S. who was waiting to be helped with registering a vehicle. Gave J. a chance to ask a question and I said to S. 'sorry, S.. You can never get away from work, can you?'. As always, he was fine - he is such a truly, genuinely nice, stellar person.
Last night, we did our homework from the electrical guy and drove to the most recent development completed by our builder to look at the different options of outdoor lighting. I think we've decided what we want - at least I knew what we wanted until J. opened up the discussion again when we got up this morning. We're adding some expense to the house with the selection we've made - and I'm as mindful of that as anyone - but this house is the ONE house in our entire lives we've had input on from start to finish and I don't want to settle. Our Tracy house lacked outdoor lighting and we don't want to make that mistake with the new house.
It will be a Holiday week next week mostly though we do hope we see some progress on the house.
J. has done his Christmas cards and I've got to get to work on mine. My friends from my old job are now officially on Winter Break so if I want them to get a card, I'll have to look up their home addresses to mail them. It will be do-able.
We're making white bean and kale stew and we're adding meatballs we made with ground chicken and some leftover ground mild Italian sausage. Smells yummy simmering on the stove.
The heater wouldn't turn on last night so it was pretty cold. We both slept OK 'cuz we have a lot of bed covers. We had a repair person out when our builder (when we saw him last week) confirmed that what we were describing hearing when the unit fired up was not normal. The guy adjusted the filter and adjusted tabs to keep it more secure. But the unit stopped turning on at all - so another repair person came by today - first thing this morning - and actually went up into the attic space where the unit is and checked the burner. Made an adjustment and now we're good. AND he replaced the very dirty filter with a new one. We're super toasty and comfy now. (About 30 minutes after the first repair person showed up, another guy showed up - didn't know the first guy had 'pulled the ticket'. Nice they really made it a priority - no heat is a big deal when it's 22 degrees outside.
In the news, Trump was impeached by the House. Now we wait and see what happens. I don't know how the Senate can ignore all the direct evidence of his actions but...these are extraordinarily crazy times we are living in so who knows what will happen -
It's been a 'hard' week having multiple commitments across all days - other than Monday being completely 'clear', we've had appointments daily - things to do, places to be. It's good since many of the appointments related to the house and we are ever-so-anxious to get moved there soon - but I'm looking forward to Sunday through Tuesday being low key and at home. Atlantis for Christmas dinner on Wednesday.
It's an adjustment being 'just us two' for Christmas this year - but we've kept it very low key in general, which is really nice. The boys gifts are done and easy (cash for H. - distributed via the joint account he has with J. at Wells Fargo so we can monitor his spending) and we paid for B.'s ticket to Banff and here over Thanksgiving. J. ordered a couple things and other than that, Santa is gifting us some fun $ for our time at Atlantis over Christmas and New Years. I'm really excited to be able to be there for New Years - something we've been invited to do each year but never could get there from California - but this year, we're IN and really excited -
Time to add the meatballs and fire roasted tomatoes to the stew and get our cheddar biscuits going. I enjoy cooking with the time to do it - J. and I split the duties and can throw together a meal pretty easily!
Not quite 2 hours in total and I think the guy helping us was sort of purposefully stretching it out so he could then do his lunch break once we were done. It was quite a bit of paperwork: Nevada Real ID's for each of us, registration for two cars and plates for both cars.
As we finished getting our pictures taken, we hear a voice say 'Hi, guys'....and it was our builder S. who was waiting to be helped with registering a vehicle. Gave J. a chance to ask a question and I said to S. 'sorry, S.. You can never get away from work, can you?'. As always, he was fine - he is such a truly, genuinely nice, stellar person.
Last night, we did our homework from the electrical guy and drove to the most recent development completed by our builder to look at the different options of outdoor lighting. I think we've decided what we want - at least I knew what we wanted until J. opened up the discussion again when we got up this morning. We're adding some expense to the house with the selection we've made - and I'm as mindful of that as anyone - but this house is the ONE house in our entire lives we've had input on from start to finish and I don't want to settle. Our Tracy house lacked outdoor lighting and we don't want to make that mistake with the new house.
It will be a Holiday week next week mostly though we do hope we see some progress on the house.
J. has done his Christmas cards and I've got to get to work on mine. My friends from my old job are now officially on Winter Break so if I want them to get a card, I'll have to look up their home addresses to mail them. It will be do-able.
We're making white bean and kale stew and we're adding meatballs we made with ground chicken and some leftover ground mild Italian sausage. Smells yummy simmering on the stove.
The heater wouldn't turn on last night so it was pretty cold. We both slept OK 'cuz we have a lot of bed covers. We had a repair person out when our builder (when we saw him last week) confirmed that what we were describing hearing when the unit fired up was not normal. The guy adjusted the filter and adjusted tabs to keep it more secure. But the unit stopped turning on at all - so another repair person came by today - first thing this morning - and actually went up into the attic space where the unit is and checked the burner. Made an adjustment and now we're good. AND he replaced the very dirty filter with a new one. We're super toasty and comfy now. (About 30 minutes after the first repair person showed up, another guy showed up - didn't know the first guy had 'pulled the ticket'. Nice they really made it a priority - no heat is a big deal when it's 22 degrees outside.
In the news, Trump was impeached by the House. Now we wait and see what happens. I don't know how the Senate can ignore all the direct evidence of his actions but...these are extraordinarily crazy times we are living in so who knows what will happen -
It's been a 'hard' week having multiple commitments across all days - other than Monday being completely 'clear', we've had appointments daily - things to do, places to be. It's good since many of the appointments related to the house and we are ever-so-anxious to get moved there soon - but I'm looking forward to Sunday through Tuesday being low key and at home. Atlantis for Christmas dinner on Wednesday.
It's an adjustment being 'just us two' for Christmas this year - but we've kept it very low key in general, which is really nice. The boys gifts are done and easy (cash for H. - distributed via the joint account he has with J. at Wells Fargo so we can monitor his spending) and we paid for B.'s ticket to Banff and here over Thanksgiving. J. ordered a couple things and other than that, Santa is gifting us some fun $ for our time at Atlantis over Christmas and New Years. I'm really excited to be able to be there for New Years - something we've been invited to do each year but never could get there from California - but this year, we're IN and really excited -
Time to add the meatballs and fire roasted tomatoes to the stew and get our cheddar biscuits going. I enjoy cooking with the time to do it - J. and I split the duties and can throw together a meal pretty easily!
Thursday, December 19, 2019
House Progress
We met with the builder's planner last week. We finalized the roof color which then made it time to finalize the outside colors as well - important so they can start working on the stucco. We also finalized the interior paint colors with her. We asked to confirm she had received a flooring change order we did awhile back with the design team and she hadn't - so we got that to her this week as well.
It's frustrating that the builder doesn't have sample colors or suggestions. She basically said 'drive around, send me the address of house(s) you like and we can do it'. Only we couldn't really find one that had the stone style we love with a color scheme that hasn't been repeated already quite a bit through the neighborhood. But we figured it out on our own. We spent a lot of time driving around looking at exterior colors and stone and found a house we like and a stone we love via the stone company's website. Not a stone that we think we see anywhere in our neighborhood but the style we love (compacted stacked stone with a lot of texture) in a color scheme we haven't seen anywhere else. I think it's going to be beautiful.
She set up two walk throughs for this week. We did a cabinetry walk through on Tuesday morning and had an electrical walk through this morning. It was 22 degrees during the Tuesday walk through and it was very cold. Today was a balmy 34 - didn't even zip up my coat!
It feels like a house! While I still get very confused about what's where (because framing creates see through walls all over the place and I lose track of where we were - not to mention that I'm not super clear on what rooms are where to begin with) - it's feeling like we can 'see' how it will look when it's done. I've been worried that we didn't do any high(er) ceilings - will it feel very confined and 'small'? But we are doing a bright white on all the ceilings - something I've never had in any house we've lived in until this town house we're renting - and it is amazing how it really does make the place feel more spacious and 'grand'. The brightness and lightness draws your eyes up.
The electrician commented more than once how much he liked the floor plan - he said 'it's so wide and open, I really love it'. I loved seeing the house in the 9AM light - had also been worried that I would miss the beautiful sunlight we had in our Tracy house. While the northern exposure definitely isn't as bright, there is still plenty of beautiful light in the house and the windows in the great room are a beautiful view onto the golf course. It's really a very pretty location and I'm really glad we chose the lot. Turns out the first lot we'd chosen (but decided not to buy because there would be a new housing development behind us and we didn't want back neighbors when other lots were available that made that a non-issue) is not being sold - the builder will eventually build spec houses for sale.
The cabinet guy took us into a couple of 'in progress' houses in the neighborhood - and we're reminded just how much design is a very personal thing. In one house, they had to redo the fireplace wall to make it big enough for the huge elk head that's going above the fireplace. That place was very 'rustic' - not our taste at all. And a 9 blade ceiling fan that is hideous - like the room will just lift off the planet when it's on. But oh well. Not our house.
The other house we visited was to show us what a 'builder's carpenter' fireplace mantle looks like vs. the custom mantles our cabinet guy builds. We are doing the custom for sure. Huge difference in craftsmanship and aesthetic and I've never had a mantle before and I don't want one that looks bad.
We'd love to think things are humming along on schedule but we know they aren't. Our builder told J. 'it's been the snow' - and I told J. 'that's bullshit. He's forgetting we live here now and the week of Thanksgiving and into early December was not great weather - but largely it's been a non-issue. They are weeks behind the 'added every conceivable delay cushion I could think of' and I don't think March is going to happen. BUT - when the house is closed in and water tight, they can plow through a lot of inside stuff pretty quickly so fingers crossed they can make up ground.
Tomorrow, we've got DMV appointments to get our cars registered and licensed and to get our driver's license updated. We've both got appointments so hopefully, it won't be too long of a wait.
Days just fly by so quickly - can't believe it's been over two weeks since I last wrote a post. Like they say - being retired is BUSY! The pace is just slower and less 'mandated' but there's still plenty to do.
B. is safely deployed and doing OK. They work 8 hours on and 24 hours off so he's working out a ton. They are housed in a Marriott property with a gym on site. Free wi fi and breakfast, too.
H. is the owner of a car and has been applying for work all over the place. Not the best time to apply but he's hopeful he's got a potential gas station job in the works. He had an interview and the guy asked to call his former boss - so fingers crossed.
I have a free play offer at Atlantis on Saturday and some free play at GSR as well so that will be a fun day. I did a slot tournament at Atlantis on Tuesday and Wednesday - cancelled the room reservation because I had a huge trouncing (lost!) this past weekend so I couldn't fund two more nights and days of play. I didn't place at all well in either of the tournament rounds - and truly thought I would not win a thing - but apparently, low participation was on my side 'cuz I ended up in the top 80 so I got $50 in free play.
And - in other news - we moved up a tier in the players club so now we get two monthly free car washes - and the most amazing thing about THAT is it's Hutch's - the same car wash we had (and LOVED) when we lived in Hayward. Must be the same family. Doubt we will be this tier level from July 1 through December 31st of 2020? But we'll see. We've played more because we were here a lot more in the months leading up to the move - but keeping up that level of play may not happen - and that's OK. There's plenty to do and way more things to enjoy than just slot play. I'm still loving it - but it's OK to slow it down as needed.
Here's hoping I have a big win this weekend - big wins keep the fun happening so that's my mantra. need some wins to maintain the play!!
It's frustrating that the builder doesn't have sample colors or suggestions. She basically said 'drive around, send me the address of house(s) you like and we can do it'. Only we couldn't really find one that had the stone style we love with a color scheme that hasn't been repeated already quite a bit through the neighborhood. But we figured it out on our own. We spent a lot of time driving around looking at exterior colors and stone and found a house we like and a stone we love via the stone company's website. Not a stone that we think we see anywhere in our neighborhood but the style we love (compacted stacked stone with a lot of texture) in a color scheme we haven't seen anywhere else. I think it's going to be beautiful.
She set up two walk throughs for this week. We did a cabinetry walk through on Tuesday morning and had an electrical walk through this morning. It was 22 degrees during the Tuesday walk through and it was very cold. Today was a balmy 34 - didn't even zip up my coat!
It feels like a house! While I still get very confused about what's where (because framing creates see through walls all over the place and I lose track of where we were - not to mention that I'm not super clear on what rooms are where to begin with) - it's feeling like we can 'see' how it will look when it's done. I've been worried that we didn't do any high(er) ceilings - will it feel very confined and 'small'? But we are doing a bright white on all the ceilings - something I've never had in any house we've lived in until this town house we're renting - and it is amazing how it really does make the place feel more spacious and 'grand'. The brightness and lightness draws your eyes up.
The electrician commented more than once how much he liked the floor plan - he said 'it's so wide and open, I really love it'. I loved seeing the house in the 9AM light - had also been worried that I would miss the beautiful sunlight we had in our Tracy house. While the northern exposure definitely isn't as bright, there is still plenty of beautiful light in the house and the windows in the great room are a beautiful view onto the golf course. It's really a very pretty location and I'm really glad we chose the lot. Turns out the first lot we'd chosen (but decided not to buy because there would be a new housing development behind us and we didn't want back neighbors when other lots were available that made that a non-issue) is not being sold - the builder will eventually build spec houses for sale.
The cabinet guy took us into a couple of 'in progress' houses in the neighborhood - and we're reminded just how much design is a very personal thing. In one house, they had to redo the fireplace wall to make it big enough for the huge elk head that's going above the fireplace. That place was very 'rustic' - not our taste at all. And a 9 blade ceiling fan that is hideous - like the room will just lift off the planet when it's on. But oh well. Not our house.
The other house we visited was to show us what a 'builder's carpenter' fireplace mantle looks like vs. the custom mantles our cabinet guy builds. We are doing the custom for sure. Huge difference in craftsmanship and aesthetic and I've never had a mantle before and I don't want one that looks bad.
We'd love to think things are humming along on schedule but we know they aren't. Our builder told J. 'it's been the snow' - and I told J. 'that's bullshit. He's forgetting we live here now and the week of Thanksgiving and into early December was not great weather - but largely it's been a non-issue. They are weeks behind the 'added every conceivable delay cushion I could think of' and I don't think March is going to happen. BUT - when the house is closed in and water tight, they can plow through a lot of inside stuff pretty quickly so fingers crossed they can make up ground.
Tomorrow, we've got DMV appointments to get our cars registered and licensed and to get our driver's license updated. We've both got appointments so hopefully, it won't be too long of a wait.
Days just fly by so quickly - can't believe it's been over two weeks since I last wrote a post. Like they say - being retired is BUSY! The pace is just slower and less 'mandated' but there's still plenty to do.
B. is safely deployed and doing OK. They work 8 hours on and 24 hours off so he's working out a ton. They are housed in a Marriott property with a gym on site. Free wi fi and breakfast, too.
H. is the owner of a car and has been applying for work all over the place. Not the best time to apply but he's hopeful he's got a potential gas station job in the works. He had an interview and the guy asked to call his former boss - so fingers crossed.
I have a free play offer at Atlantis on Saturday and some free play at GSR as well so that will be a fun day. I did a slot tournament at Atlantis on Tuesday and Wednesday - cancelled the room reservation because I had a huge trouncing (lost!) this past weekend so I couldn't fund two more nights and days of play. I didn't place at all well in either of the tournament rounds - and truly thought I would not win a thing - but apparently, low participation was on my side 'cuz I ended up in the top 80 so I got $50 in free play.
And - in other news - we moved up a tier in the players club so now we get two monthly free car washes - and the most amazing thing about THAT is it's Hutch's - the same car wash we had (and LOVED) when we lived in Hayward. Must be the same family. Doubt we will be this tier level from July 1 through December 31st of 2020? But we'll see. We've played more because we were here a lot more in the months leading up to the move - but keeping up that level of play may not happen - and that's OK. There's plenty to do and way more things to enjoy than just slot play. I'm still loving it - but it's OK to slow it down as needed.
Here's hoping I have a big win this weekend - big wins keep the fun happening so that's my mantra. need some wins to maintain the play!!
Wednesday, December 04, 2019
Special Surprise
My phone rang just before 8PM and it was a Facetime call from B. . We rarely Facetime but...he's deploying soon so I figured he just wanted a face-to-face across the miles.
True! He AND B. - the young lady he went to the holiday ball with last year.
She wanted to say Hi to me.
The two of them have such amazing chemistry - it's just so obvious how much they enjoy each other's company - and it's just so great to see them spending time together.
It was great to see - and talk - to them both! I'm following her on Instagram - she just bought her first house - a fixer upper - and she'll be posting pics so that will be a lot of fun to watch!
Just can't express how happy I was to talk to her again -
True! He AND B. - the young lady he went to the holiday ball with last year.
She wanted to say Hi to me.
The two of them have such amazing chemistry - it's just so obvious how much they enjoy each other's company - and it's just so great to see them spending time together.
It was great to see - and talk - to them both! I'm following her on Instagram - she just bought her first house - a fixer upper - and she'll be posting pics so that will be a lot of fun to watch!
Just can't express how happy I was to talk to her again -
Feeling Accomplished
I left the house twice today - which is a significant event. We've been hunkered down since returning from Reno on Saturday - dropped off B. at the airport, went to GSR for a bit of play and drove home. It's been snowing pretty much ever since.
I drove myself to the bank twice - the one nearest are home (within walking distance) had all but one ATM down and the one ATM was at the drive through and was really icy.
It's the ice that scares us. We're fine trekking through snow and getting wet and cold. But when the snow turns to water and freezes, leaving things completely icy, it is terrifying.
I ventured a bit further away from home and explored the town a bit more. Stewart Street leads to great places - and makes me think of my cousin!
It's now Wednesday and I've ventured out everyday this week so far. Yesterday, we trekked to Scheel's in Sparks - an outdoor super store that you rarely hear about but WOW! Really amazing! Ferris wheel! Aquariums everywhere. We made a pretty large Winter gear lalapalooza purchase and had a nice time. On the way home, our car sort of steered itself to Atlantis - free buffet and dinner off the 'list' for the day. Super proud of our trip because the weather wasn't great but we did it!
We awoke thinking no snow today - it was supposedly going to rain - but there was gentle, steady snowfall this morning. Not cold enough for it to stay long once it hit the ground so luckily, I was able to stick with my plan of venturing out today to Walmart. We had a list of things we needed - mostly stuff we are sending to H. for Christmas. We're not doing 'gifts' really - but we're creating a treat box full of some of his favorite snack and food items. It's going to way a ton -
H. is in the process of navigating the purchase of a used car. We field phone calls and try to assist but mostly, we're letting him do the things that need doing. He's found a good, reliable car with a price point we are all comfortable with - and as soon as he's confirmed insurance, etc., we will move the money into his account for him to get a bank check to give to the buyer. (Thank goodness he was able to open a Wells Fargo account when he was here - makes everything much easier).
B. will be officially deploying on Saturday - 9 months at least. The Army packs up his apartment and stores everything for him and because where they are going has no base or housing set up, they will all apparently be staying in motels. That's a long time in a room with another person but that's the Army. He's OK with the plan - deployment compensation is good and he has nowhere to go and can't spend money so...he'll build up a lot of savings. He's got the travel bug and wants to head to Portugal next year -
I sketched out our 2019 estimated taxes and we're ready to write the checks and send them off - but first, we had to file change of address forms with both entities. Once we get an acknowledgement they've been received, we'll mail off the estimated tax payments. Something we'll be doing quarterly from now on. We do have withholding set up on my pension and our monthly retirement savings withdrawal but it's not enough to cover what we owe so we'll send in money on a regular basis.
I don't have any plans to leave the house again this week until I trek to Reno on Sunday for a two night stay and a slot tournament event. I'm looking forward to the play and the time to hang out. J. will come one night for sure for dinner - two free buffets are part of the event and we don't pass them up. We're both very careful - I ate a salad and a cup of soup for dinner last night and it was more than enough. I even skipped my usual small dessert because I'd had a treat earlier in the day.
Binge watching Madame Secretary!
I drove myself to the bank twice - the one nearest are home (within walking distance) had all but one ATM down and the one ATM was at the drive through and was really icy.
It's the ice that scares us. We're fine trekking through snow and getting wet and cold. But when the snow turns to water and freezes, leaving things completely icy, it is terrifying.
I ventured a bit further away from home and explored the town a bit more. Stewart Street leads to great places - and makes me think of my cousin!
It's now Wednesday and I've ventured out everyday this week so far. Yesterday, we trekked to Scheel's in Sparks - an outdoor super store that you rarely hear about but WOW! Really amazing! Ferris wheel! Aquariums everywhere. We made a pretty large Winter gear lalapalooza purchase and had a nice time. On the way home, our car sort of steered itself to Atlantis - free buffet and dinner off the 'list' for the day. Super proud of our trip because the weather wasn't great but we did it!
We awoke thinking no snow today - it was supposedly going to rain - but there was gentle, steady snowfall this morning. Not cold enough for it to stay long once it hit the ground so luckily, I was able to stick with my plan of venturing out today to Walmart. We had a list of things we needed - mostly stuff we are sending to H. for Christmas. We're not doing 'gifts' really - but we're creating a treat box full of some of his favorite snack and food items. It's going to way a ton -
H. is in the process of navigating the purchase of a used car. We field phone calls and try to assist but mostly, we're letting him do the things that need doing. He's found a good, reliable car with a price point we are all comfortable with - and as soon as he's confirmed insurance, etc., we will move the money into his account for him to get a bank check to give to the buyer. (Thank goodness he was able to open a Wells Fargo account when he was here - makes everything much easier).
B. will be officially deploying on Saturday - 9 months at least. The Army packs up his apartment and stores everything for him and because where they are going has no base or housing set up, they will all apparently be staying in motels. That's a long time in a room with another person but that's the Army. He's OK with the plan - deployment compensation is good and he has nowhere to go and can't spend money so...he'll build up a lot of savings. He's got the travel bug and wants to head to Portugal next year -
I sketched out our 2019 estimated taxes and we're ready to write the checks and send them off - but first, we had to file change of address forms with both entities. Once we get an acknowledgement they've been received, we'll mail off the estimated tax payments. Something we'll be doing quarterly from now on. We do have withholding set up on my pension and our monthly retirement savings withdrawal but it's not enough to cover what we owe so we'll send in money on a regular basis.
I don't have any plans to leave the house again this week until I trek to Reno on Sunday for a two night stay and a slot tournament event. I'm looking forward to the play and the time to hang out. J. will come one night for sure for dinner - two free buffets are part of the event and we don't pass them up. We're both very careful - I ate a salad and a cup of soup for dinner last night and it was more than enough. I even skipped my usual small dessert because I'd had a treat earlier in the day.
Binge watching Madame Secretary!
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
First Snow
On Tuesday, we went on a family outing to In & Out - B.'s visiting home tradition continues since there is one here in Carson City. We also went to Best Buy to look at TV's. J. had noticed 'lines' on the roads and freeway earlier that day - Nevada Department of Transportation readying the streets and highways for snow. They put brine on the roads - it helps prevent ice buildup and is less caustic than salt or sand. We knew snow was expected and felt good that NDOT was on top of it.
J. and B. went to the movies in Reno yesterday and then trekked to Scheel's in Sparks. I stayed home and spent three hours at Urgent Care. After a couple weeks of feeling terrible, I decided I couldn't keep planning on things getting better on their own - salt water gargles and OTC things weren't helping. Sinus infection. I've had two doses of antibiotics so far and feel like a new person. Glad we found that urgent care place because they can assist with getting prescriptions renewed. The nurse told me that it will likely take months for us to get an appointment with a primary care physician - there are a lot of people moving here and the health system is overtaxed. At least we know we can get medication renewals when we need to.
Every morning, I open the blinds expecting snow. Yesterday, there was a very light dusting on the roofs of the houses behind us and our fence - the cross beam supports where snow can accumulate and take longer to melt. Last night, it happened and we woke up this morning to very covered ground and cars. About 3 inches, we think. There were a few light snow falls throughout the day but it was mostly sunny. Not warm enough to warm up and melt all the snow - but it was a beautiful day.
We ventured out of the house to walk to Starbucks. We live just a couple blocks from one and we are both shocked that we haven't been very often. Guess my frugal 'I'm retired and living on a fixed income' is kicking in. But we went today - short walk with B. - hung out in the restaurant for a bit and then walked home. We're binge watching Netflix like crazy.
Tomorrow, we hope to make it to Reno and Atlantis for a delicious buffet. On Friday, if weather permits, we might go back to Scheel's 'cuz I'd love to see it. A Ferris wheel! Salt water aquariums! And lots of winter gear!
B. trekked to Reno this evening to spend time with a friend he met when he was here last summer. It's a new experience having him ask 'Is there a Walmart nearby?' and when I ask 'what do you need?', his silence was.....enough said. Glad he's using protection.
He agreed to text when he gets to Reno and text when he's home so that when I wake up in the middle of the night, I don't have to worry. He's confident but we're not. Driving in snow is very new to us - and between here and Reno is a very big bridge - one that frequently is closed to trucks due to high winds. It's a little nerve wracking having him out and about - but he spent his first week of vacation in Canada solo and it's a big adjustment to spend his second week with the parentals.
We've had a really great time, though - it's great having him here.
H.'s driver's license and new social security card arrived today so we sent them to him via Fed Ex - Tuesday delivery.
It's all new here - the cold, the snow. It's breathtakingly beautiful - I'm sure when we've been here a long time, it might all get old - but for now, we love it. It's really a clear sign the season is changing for real -
J. and B. went to the movies in Reno yesterday and then trekked to Scheel's in Sparks. I stayed home and spent three hours at Urgent Care. After a couple weeks of feeling terrible, I decided I couldn't keep planning on things getting better on their own - salt water gargles and OTC things weren't helping. Sinus infection. I've had two doses of antibiotics so far and feel like a new person. Glad we found that urgent care place because they can assist with getting prescriptions renewed. The nurse told me that it will likely take months for us to get an appointment with a primary care physician - there are a lot of people moving here and the health system is overtaxed. At least we know we can get medication renewals when we need to.
Every morning, I open the blinds expecting snow. Yesterday, there was a very light dusting on the roofs of the houses behind us and our fence - the cross beam supports where snow can accumulate and take longer to melt. Last night, it happened and we woke up this morning to very covered ground and cars. About 3 inches, we think. There were a few light snow falls throughout the day but it was mostly sunny. Not warm enough to warm up and melt all the snow - but it was a beautiful day.
We ventured out of the house to walk to Starbucks. We live just a couple blocks from one and we are both shocked that we haven't been very often. Guess my frugal 'I'm retired and living on a fixed income' is kicking in. But we went today - short walk with B. - hung out in the restaurant for a bit and then walked home. We're binge watching Netflix like crazy.
Tomorrow, we hope to make it to Reno and Atlantis for a delicious buffet. On Friday, if weather permits, we might go back to Scheel's 'cuz I'd love to see it. A Ferris wheel! Salt water aquariums! And lots of winter gear!
B. trekked to Reno this evening to spend time with a friend he met when he was here last summer. It's a new experience having him ask 'Is there a Walmart nearby?' and when I ask 'what do you need?', his silence was.....enough said. Glad he's using protection.
He agreed to text when he gets to Reno and text when he's home so that when I wake up in the middle of the night, I don't have to worry. He's confident but we're not. Driving in snow is very new to us - and between here and Reno is a very big bridge - one that frequently is closed to trucks due to high winds. It's a little nerve wracking having him out and about - but he spent his first week of vacation in Canada solo and it's a big adjustment to spend his second week with the parentals.
We've had a really great time, though - it's great having him here.
H.'s driver's license and new social security card arrived today so we sent them to him via Fed Ex - Tuesday delivery.
It's all new here - the cold, the snow. It's breathtakingly beautiful - I'm sure when we've been here a long time, it might all get old - but for now, we love it. It's really a clear sign the season is changing for real -
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Where Does Time Go?
The days just sort of blend into each other - it's already the night before a Friday and a weekend and I just don't know how things move so quickly.
Moving when older is hard at times. I feel constantly disoriented. Things are out of place; I don't have everything I use to cook (for example) at my fingertips. We've brought only what we need to survive to the town house but sometimes, we need something and then have to unravel where it might be? And is it worth it to go find it or just get it again. We really are trying not to buy stuff we know we have...but on occasion, we have to resort to that.
A church key can opener (to create two pouring spouts on a can of evaporated milk, for example) is not here and we don't know where to look. Obviously in one of many boxes labeled 'kitchen'...but there are a lot of those and they are in three places at the moment: original storage unit, new storage unit and the garage of the town house.
The cats add to the craziness - constantly underfoot which translates into me watching everywhere I'm stepping and moving uber slowly. They are sweet and fun but they are pains, too. I had to scold Nala repeatedly today for opening up the kitchen cupboards and climbing in. She can virtually any cupboard. Really. All day. She got spritzed with water and a (slight) swat on her butt along with a firm "NO" - and bolted off upstairs. Don't worry - she's forgiven me already and has come back. But she is staying out of the cupboards so far.
I am heading to Atlantis tomorrow for two nights - J. will come for a bit on Saturday to help me stake out machines. (It's two casino wide jackpots between noon and 8PM). At some point, I will need a restroom and food break and if I'm on a machine I want to stay on, J. helps with watching the machine for me. The event also gives us two free buffets so we'll eat at Atlantis tomorrow night for sure - though if the event goes all the way until 8PM, we will very likely be eating separately.
I'll pick up B. at the airport on Sunday and bring him to Carson City. He's having a wonderful time in Banff and he's clearly really enjoying his first 'on his own' vacation. Can't wait to see more pics and here more about his adventures.
We had a dusting of snow on the hills around us last night and the dusting was still there late afternoon. No more weather is expected until early next week and we're glad because hopefully, the roof will be sheeted and the windows will be installed on the new house before the really snowy weather commences this Winter. J. went by the house and reported the family room had standing water on the floor. The carpenter says they have a company that will come in and vacuum up all the water and dry it out. Fingers crossed.
I peaked out the window first thing this morning fully expecting to see snow - but didn't. Maybe tomorrow.
Moving when older is hard at times. I feel constantly disoriented. Things are out of place; I don't have everything I use to cook (for example) at my fingertips. We've brought only what we need to survive to the town house but sometimes, we need something and then have to unravel where it might be? And is it worth it to go find it or just get it again. We really are trying not to buy stuff we know we have...but on occasion, we have to resort to that.
A church key can opener (to create two pouring spouts on a can of evaporated milk, for example) is not here and we don't know where to look. Obviously in one of many boxes labeled 'kitchen'...but there are a lot of those and they are in three places at the moment: original storage unit, new storage unit and the garage of the town house.
The cats add to the craziness - constantly underfoot which translates into me watching everywhere I'm stepping and moving uber slowly. They are sweet and fun but they are pains, too. I had to scold Nala repeatedly today for opening up the kitchen cupboards and climbing in. She can virtually any cupboard. Really. All day. She got spritzed with water and a (slight) swat on her butt along with a firm "NO" - and bolted off upstairs. Don't worry - she's forgiven me already and has come back. But she is staying out of the cupboards so far.
I am heading to Atlantis tomorrow for two nights - J. will come for a bit on Saturday to help me stake out machines. (It's two casino wide jackpots between noon and 8PM). At some point, I will need a restroom and food break and if I'm on a machine I want to stay on, J. helps with watching the machine for me. The event also gives us two free buffets so we'll eat at Atlantis tomorrow night for sure - though if the event goes all the way until 8PM, we will very likely be eating separately.
I'll pick up B. at the airport on Sunday and bring him to Carson City. He's having a wonderful time in Banff and he's clearly really enjoying his first 'on his own' vacation. Can't wait to see more pics and here more about his adventures.
We had a dusting of snow on the hills around us last night and the dusting was still there late afternoon. No more weather is expected until early next week and we're glad because hopefully, the roof will be sheeted and the windows will be installed on the new house before the really snowy weather commences this Winter. J. went by the house and reported the family room had standing water on the floor. The carpenter says they have a company that will come in and vacuum up all the water and dry it out. Fingers crossed.
I peaked out the window first thing this morning fully expecting to see snow - but didn't. Maybe tomorrow.
Sunday, November 17, 2019
Little Victories
Retired and in a new place and today, we pat ourselves on the back for actually making food here - three meals in a row so far and we've eaten 'in' for close to two days. Tonight, we'll do a salad with chicken. I'm going to make spaghetti sauce tomorrow - double batch and freeze half.
It's been super nice to be starting fresh on provisions. Things are manageable and easy to remember and we're eating what we have. I did get some mini frosted mini wheat (cereal). Not a typo. The mini size is even more mini. And in the trek to Target, I also found some comfy, cozy tops, some makeup needs, cat needs, toilet paper (which I'm proud to say is made with 50% recycled materials and was LESS (way) expensive than the name brand we usually buy). Well, that's not true - we usually buy Costco brand but we're staying away from there because we truly don't have the space to store 48 rolls of TP.
We left all our toilet brushes behind - didn't seem like a big deal to replace them. It isn't but...$15 each added up. I also wanted to replace the laundry baskets - we brought those with us but they are losing handles. I didn't buy new, though - because we have them and they work. Might splurge on new when we get into our new house.
Roof is in process and windows arrive next week. We'll trek there later this week to check the progress.
J. also found a couple things that somehow were packed and shouldn't have been - he will get a package ready to send to the new owners of our Tracy house and get those things shipped to them later this week. Most we're sure they can do without but one of them is the electronic device that plugs in and allows them to get information on their computers about the power generated from the solar system.
Tomorrow, J. is going to South Lake Tahoe (which is in California) for a meeting and lunch with his new golf club. They play golf on Tuesday this week and he plans to join them. They play weekly. He found out about this club because I played slots with J. and his wife P. and J. invited (my) J. to join. They are a very nice couple and it will be fun hanging out with them on occasion. They play at Atlantis a lot but mostly weeknights so we'll run into them now and then. They travel a lot and our spending the holidays in Montana - so we won't see them until January, most likely. Look forward to it - such nice people.
Goals this week include the trip to DMV to register our cars and get Nevada driver's license. The new 'Real ID' program is in place here so a lot of documents are required - birth certificates, passports, social security cards, proof of residency in the form of our rental lease and our new house building contract, utility bills (which we don't have in Nevada yet). We'll figure out what to take, take all that we have and hope it will work. We purposefully didn't do Real ID in California because we knew it is required here - so we waited.
Other goal for the week is sketching out our 2019 taxes and preparing a payment to the IRS - we owe a lot and I need to get funds paid by the end of the calendar year to avoid a penalty. I plan to work on that tomorrow in the quiet of the morning - while binge watching Netflix. We don't have cable TV here - so we have an antennae in the window which is getting us local channels - and the TV is a Roku TV so we can watch Netflix and Amazon to our hearts content.
We just saw that Season 3 of The Crown is now available - so that will keep us busy for the week. Also enjoying Jack Ryan. So many things to watch -
It's been super nice to be starting fresh on provisions. Things are manageable and easy to remember and we're eating what we have. I did get some mini frosted mini wheat (cereal). Not a typo. The mini size is even more mini. And in the trek to Target, I also found some comfy, cozy tops, some makeup needs, cat needs, toilet paper (which I'm proud to say is made with 50% recycled materials and was LESS (way) expensive than the name brand we usually buy). Well, that's not true - we usually buy Costco brand but we're staying away from there because we truly don't have the space to store 48 rolls of TP.
We left all our toilet brushes behind - didn't seem like a big deal to replace them. It isn't but...$15 each added up. I also wanted to replace the laundry baskets - we brought those with us but they are losing handles. I didn't buy new, though - because we have them and they work. Might splurge on new when we get into our new house.
Roof is in process and windows arrive next week. We'll trek there later this week to check the progress.
Tomorrow, J. is going to South Lake Tahoe (which is in California) for a meeting and lunch with his new golf club. They play golf on Tuesday this week and he plans to join them. They play weekly. He found out about this club because I played slots with J. and his wife P. and J. invited (my) J. to join. They are a very nice couple and it will be fun hanging out with them on occasion. They play at Atlantis a lot but mostly weeknights so we'll run into them now and then. They travel a lot and our spending the holidays in Montana - so we won't see them until January, most likely. Look forward to it - such nice people.
Goals this week include the trip to DMV to register our cars and get Nevada driver's license. The new 'Real ID' program is in place here so a lot of documents are required - birth certificates, passports, social security cards, proof of residency in the form of our rental lease and our new house building contract, utility bills (which we don't have in Nevada yet). We'll figure out what to take, take all that we have and hope it will work. We purposefully didn't do Real ID in California because we knew it is required here - so we waited.
Other goal for the week is sketching out our 2019 taxes and preparing a payment to the IRS - we owe a lot and I need to get funds paid by the end of the calendar year to avoid a penalty. I plan to work on that tomorrow in the quiet of the morning - while binge watching Netflix. We don't have cable TV here - so we have an antennae in the window which is getting us local channels - and the TV is a Roku TV so we can watch Netflix and Amazon to our hearts content.
We just saw that Season 3 of The Crown is now available - so that will keep us busy for the week. Also enjoying Jack Ryan. So many things to watch -
Friday, November 15, 2019
Settling In
A week and a day post furniture delivery and we are starting to feel more settled. It's been completely awesome to have H. here with us - he and J. moved our smaller storage unit contents into a bigger unit earlier this week. Today, J. rented a UHaul van and we moved some bigger things to storage - from both our garage here at the rental house and some furniture. Chair and ottoman, a couple tables and the two huge Rubbermaid cabinets from the garage.
We emptied those 'man caves' before the move. Turns out the movers put stuff in them before they taped them shut. Hello, dishes we've spent a week searching for. (I went to Walmart yesterday armed with a list and dishes were on it - but I didn't see any I liked so I bought paper plates instead). We now have dishes - yippee!
In addition to helping us, H. trekked (with J.) to South Lake Tahoe DMV and left there with a reinstated California Driver's License. This will greatly help him get a license in Texas and was the primary reason he headed back here. It's all worked out wonderfully - he also trekked (again with J.) to the Social Security office to request a replacement SS card. Another required item for a Texas license he will soon have (back) in his possession.
H. and I also enjoyed a couple 'extra' days at Atlantis - just chillaxing and playing a bit. We had such a great time and it was really good to reconnect a bit. I had been sort of 'nervous' about his visit - excited to see him, of course! But....well, it all worked out - we had a great time and yes, winning definitely helped make it a huge blast - but mostly, we just hung out together and that was really nice. He attended an NA conference at Grand Sierra Resort during our extra Atlantis days (which is why we stayed in Reno vs. coming 'home' to the rental).
I wish I'd done a better job of identifying things we definitely want/need to keep with us vs. things we really don't need until we're in the house....but we've managed to have most of what we need pretty handy. Still looking for my box of shoes - I have no 'dress' shoes to wear if/when I dress up a bit - and we can't find any of the contents of the stuff in J.'s bathroom drawers and those things are needed. They will turn up - maybe in a few months. Oh well.
We made reservations to go to the NYE celebration at Atlantis and I am really looking forward to the event.
H. returns to Houston tomorrow so it will be just me and J. until a week from Sunday when B. will arrive for a week! It is great to have them both visit so they can see where we're at - and we can't wait to be doing all of this again soon when we move to the new house in the Spring.
In other news, I found a hair salon and got a haircut - I was over three months from my last cut and my hair looked awful. For $30, I got a wash, cut, blow dry and style - vs. paying $25 in California for a 15 minute 'spritz bottle' haircut only! AND she threw in a bottle of product for me to try. I think we're going to love Nevada!
On Wednesday night, I Googled 'Best Mexican Food 2019 Carson City' and we headed to Minden (about 20ish minutes south of Carson City) to Francisco's. It did not disappoint. AND as we were winding down our dinner, I notice a lady entering with a little girl - and it was my friend L. and her husband A. and their two granddaughters - who are identical twins! It was so fun to be surprised and to see them - and L. and I plan to get together soon! J. had said as we headed there 'you may run into to someone you know' - and sure enough, turns out Francisco's is their fave Mexican place, too!
Last night, we hit up Atlantis for a free buffet (for me and J.. H. was comped.). Good food and lots of variety. I swore I would only play $50 or so but I played more than that - but thankfully, did a Hail Mary spin that paid well followed by another spin that also paid decently - and I left with $32 more than I started. It was fun!
I'm heading there tonight and tomorrow night for drawings - I wouldn't bother usually but I have a TON of entries into the drawings because it was based on your tier points from November 1st through today - and with us staying there for a week, I racked up a lot of points. Worth trying for freeplay, cash or the grand prize (tomorrow's drawing) of a Cadillac car. H. says 'Mom, I can totally see you in that car'. We'll see!
I also did a slot tournament Monday and Tuesday this week and while my place on Monday was nothing special, I placed first in my round on Tuesday and placed overall high enough for $100 in free play. Combined with the $100 in FP for winning my round, I had $200 of fun - and considering I truly almost skipped Tuesday's round, it's a good lesson in 'you never know'. A mediocre run on one day can be bumped up on Day 2 by extraordinary play - so never give up. (Hence me going there two evenings in a row - can't win if you're not there and all those entries might result in something awesome happening).
H. hopes I win the Cadillac. I'm truly hoping for cash! Or free play.
We picked up the cats on Tuesday and bless their hearts, they were so very happy to see us - and have been showering us with cuddles and love ever since. They've been living the good life exploring all around a new place. Mufasa took a small tumble when she jumped onto the stair banister and slid partially down, eventually falling off onto the stair side. (Thank goodness it was the stair side because the other side is a 10 feet+ drop). She hasn't done that since, so yay for their learning curve.
As you can tell, we are getting very settled and it is feeling like home more and more every day. J. is loving being able to trek to the new house daily to check on progress and I'm loving just being home and close enough to Reno to head to Atlantis for events as I feel like it. My play level isn't going to be non-stop - truly, no way. (I spoke to someone I play with a lot who shared that she and her husband budget '$1,000 a day' and play every single day). No, I can't do that. And even if I could? No, I don't think I would. But I told J. 'when we're in our 80s and 90s and still doing well with our investments, all bets are off!'.
We emptied those 'man caves' before the move. Turns out the movers put stuff in them before they taped them shut. Hello, dishes we've spent a week searching for. (I went to Walmart yesterday armed with a list and dishes were on it - but I didn't see any I liked so I bought paper plates instead). We now have dishes - yippee!
In addition to helping us, H. trekked (with J.) to South Lake Tahoe DMV and left there with a reinstated California Driver's License. This will greatly help him get a license in Texas and was the primary reason he headed back here. It's all worked out wonderfully - he also trekked (again with J.) to the Social Security office to request a replacement SS card. Another required item for a Texas license he will soon have (back) in his possession.
H. and I also enjoyed a couple 'extra' days at Atlantis - just chillaxing and playing a bit. We had such a great time and it was really good to reconnect a bit. I had been sort of 'nervous' about his visit - excited to see him, of course! But....well, it all worked out - we had a great time and yes, winning definitely helped make it a huge blast - but mostly, we just hung out together and that was really nice. He attended an NA conference at Grand Sierra Resort during our extra Atlantis days (which is why we stayed in Reno vs. coming 'home' to the rental).
I wish I'd done a better job of identifying things we definitely want/need to keep with us vs. things we really don't need until we're in the house....but we've managed to have most of what we need pretty handy. Still looking for my box of shoes - I have no 'dress' shoes to wear if/when I dress up a bit - and we can't find any of the contents of the stuff in J.'s bathroom drawers and those things are needed. They will turn up - maybe in a few months. Oh well.
We made reservations to go to the NYE celebration at Atlantis and I am really looking forward to the event.
H. returns to Houston tomorrow so it will be just me and J. until a week from Sunday when B. will arrive for a week! It is great to have them both visit so they can see where we're at - and we can't wait to be doing all of this again soon when we move to the new house in the Spring.
In other news, I found a hair salon and got a haircut - I was over three months from my last cut and my hair looked awful. For $30, I got a wash, cut, blow dry and style - vs. paying $25 in California for a 15 minute 'spritz bottle' haircut only! AND she threw in a bottle of product for me to try. I think we're going to love Nevada!
On Wednesday night, I Googled 'Best Mexican Food 2019 Carson City' and we headed to Minden (about 20ish minutes south of Carson City) to Francisco's. It did not disappoint. AND as we were winding down our dinner, I notice a lady entering with a little girl - and it was my friend L. and her husband A. and their two granddaughters - who are identical twins! It was so fun to be surprised and to see them - and L. and I plan to get together soon! J. had said as we headed there 'you may run into to someone you know' - and sure enough, turns out Francisco's is their fave Mexican place, too!
Last night, we hit up Atlantis for a free buffet (for me and J.. H. was comped.). Good food and lots of variety. I swore I would only play $50 or so but I played more than that - but thankfully, did a Hail Mary spin that paid well followed by another spin that also paid decently - and I left with $32 more than I started. It was fun!
I'm heading there tonight and tomorrow night for drawings - I wouldn't bother usually but I have a TON of entries into the drawings because it was based on your tier points from November 1st through today - and with us staying there for a week, I racked up a lot of points. Worth trying for freeplay, cash or the grand prize (tomorrow's drawing) of a Cadillac car. H. says 'Mom, I can totally see you in that car'. We'll see!
I also did a slot tournament Monday and Tuesday this week and while my place on Monday was nothing special, I placed first in my round on Tuesday and placed overall high enough for $100 in free play. Combined with the $100 in FP for winning my round, I had $200 of fun - and considering I truly almost skipped Tuesday's round, it's a good lesson in 'you never know'. A mediocre run on one day can be bumped up on Day 2 by extraordinary play - so never give up. (Hence me going there two evenings in a row - can't win if you're not there and all those entries might result in something awesome happening).
H. hopes I win the Cadillac. I'm truly hoping for cash! Or free play.
We picked up the cats on Tuesday and bless their hearts, they were so very happy to see us - and have been showering us with cuddles and love ever since. They've been living the good life exploring all around a new place. Mufasa took a small tumble when she jumped onto the stair banister and slid partially down, eventually falling off onto the stair side. (Thank goodness it was the stair side because the other side is a 10 feet+ drop). She hasn't done that since, so yay for their learning curve.
As you can tell, we are getting very settled and it is feeling like home more and more every day. J. is loving being able to trek to the new house daily to check on progress and I'm loving just being home and close enough to Reno to head to Atlantis for events as I feel like it. My play level isn't going to be non-stop - truly, no way. (I spoke to someone I play with a lot who shared that she and her husband budget '$1,000 a day' and play every single day). No, I can't do that. And even if I could? No, I don't think I would. But I told J. 'when we're in our 80s and 90s and still doing well with our investments, all bets are off!'.
Tuesday, November 05, 2019
We Made It
Fairly soon after the movers left yesterday, we started finding things they hadn't taken. Two pretty large pictures on the study wall - along with a lamp. Other pics we'd put in a flat box that got mixed in with the empty boxes in the garage so we didn't see it.
We headed to the Holiday Inn Express around 7:15 last night and I was sound asleep by 8. We both woke up early and headed to the house around 5AM and proceeded to continue the last minute mad-dash loading of the cars. Still MORE stuff we hadn't packed. (They kept asking if there was anything else but we were just so 'done' I guess we didn't realize that there were a lot of things we hadn't previously packed). The movers were good - we just ran out of oomph.
We got most everything in - I'm pretty sure we left some towels in the dryer but oh well. We also had some things in both fridges that we couldn't take with us. Hopefully, the cleaning crew can use them. They were there before we left and I suggested they should take anything they saw that they might use.
We headed out of town a bit after 9 - I went to get the cats 'cuz J. had to go back to get a small suitcase I'd used to pack towels in the kitchen - it was still there by the table.
I survived 4 hours in the car with the cats. 90 minutes in, they sort of settled into their carriers. Seemed like they realized crying wasn't helping - so they (FINALLY) chilled. Good thing the vet gave them a sedative - right? Not that I noticed one little bit. They howled the first 90 minutes and I was really worried about how I would make it - thinking I would ask J. to change cars for the 2nd half of the drive - but we got into a groove. They'd peak up through the top of the carrier (mesh) to look for me and I'd reply 'I'm here'. I realized they seemed comforted by the sound of my voice - so I sang them a song I wrote for them - nonsense lyrics about 'I know you are upset and worried you don't like to be in the car. But we have to get to our new State and it's really not that far'. There were other verses but... I can't remember them. When my lyrics ran out, I started talking about anything I could think of - forest management, lakes and dams, twisty roads and the importance of passing lanes and turnouts. As long as I talked, they chilled. Music also helped - covered up some of the road noises.
The kitty spa is nothing special - if we hadn't just driven 4 hours to get there and if I'd had any idea where else we could go, I would have taken them somewhere else - but they will be OK. Nala got right out of her carrier and headed straight for her litter box. Muf took a little longer but they were both working on getting settled. The check-in person said 'they are doing well - not freaking out too much'. So I guess that's good.
Good news! The movers (who originally told us they wouldn't deliver our stuff until Saturday) called to say they can get here Thursday - so yay! In theory, we could sleep in our own beds on Thursday night. (I'll have to figure out when to tell the hotel we won't be here as many nights as we'd planned). We're going to wait on that because H. is arriving in Reno on Thursday - he is attending an NA conference in Reno with some rehab friends so it might be good to have a room available for him/us while he's hanging out in Reno. We'll figure it out.
Tomorrow, our Internet service will be set up (fingers and toes crossed) and the plumber is coming to check on issues we're having with the downstairs toilet in the town home. Thursday will be movers and Friday we will have a refrigerator delivered. After that, we'll be able to get settled in.
First full day of residency is ahead and I'm ready for sleep. When we got to Hwy 395 and were coming in to Gardnerville, it was so stunningly beautiful, it made my teary. There is so much beauty and color here - lots of blues, oranges, grays, greens....just beautiful.
We headed to the Holiday Inn Express around 7:15 last night and I was sound asleep by 8. We both woke up early and headed to the house around 5AM and proceeded to continue the last minute mad-dash loading of the cars. Still MORE stuff we hadn't packed. (They kept asking if there was anything else but we were just so 'done' I guess we didn't realize that there were a lot of things we hadn't previously packed). The movers were good - we just ran out of oomph.
We got most everything in - I'm pretty sure we left some towels in the dryer but oh well. We also had some things in both fridges that we couldn't take with us. Hopefully, the cleaning crew can use them. They were there before we left and I suggested they should take anything they saw that they might use.
We headed out of town a bit after 9 - I went to get the cats 'cuz J. had to go back to get a small suitcase I'd used to pack towels in the kitchen - it was still there by the table.
I survived 4 hours in the car with the cats. 90 minutes in, they sort of settled into their carriers. Seemed like they realized crying wasn't helping - so they (FINALLY) chilled. Good thing the vet gave them a sedative - right? Not that I noticed one little bit. They howled the first 90 minutes and I was really worried about how I would make it - thinking I would ask J. to change cars for the 2nd half of the drive - but we got into a groove. They'd peak up through the top of the carrier (mesh) to look for me and I'd reply 'I'm here'. I realized they seemed comforted by the sound of my voice - so I sang them a song I wrote for them - nonsense lyrics about 'I know you are upset and worried you don't like to be in the car. But we have to get to our new State and it's really not that far'. There were other verses but... I can't remember them. When my lyrics ran out, I started talking about anything I could think of - forest management, lakes and dams, twisty roads and the importance of passing lanes and turnouts. As long as I talked, they chilled. Music also helped - covered up some of the road noises.
The kitty spa is nothing special - if we hadn't just driven 4 hours to get there and if I'd had any idea where else we could go, I would have taken them somewhere else - but they will be OK. Nala got right out of her carrier and headed straight for her litter box. Muf took a little longer but they were both working on getting settled. The check-in person said 'they are doing well - not freaking out too much'. So I guess that's good.
Good news! The movers (who originally told us they wouldn't deliver our stuff until Saturday) called to say they can get here Thursday - so yay! In theory, we could sleep in our own beds on Thursday night. (I'll have to figure out when to tell the hotel we won't be here as many nights as we'd planned). We're going to wait on that because H. is arriving in Reno on Thursday - he is attending an NA conference in Reno with some rehab friends so it might be good to have a room available for him/us while he's hanging out in Reno. We'll figure it out.
Tomorrow, our Internet service will be set up (fingers and toes crossed) and the plumber is coming to check on issues we're having with the downstairs toilet in the town home. Thursday will be movers and Friday we will have a refrigerator delivered. After that, we'll be able to get settled in.
First full day of residency is ahead and I'm ready for sleep. When we got to Hwy 395 and were coming in to Gardnerville, it was so stunningly beautiful, it made my teary. There is so much beauty and color here - lots of blues, oranges, grays, greens....just beautiful.
Sunday, November 03, 2019
Sweet Cats
J. and I strategize and talk things through daily - and then he usually just goes off and does stuff on his own completely not recalling what we've talked about previously. Today was one of the most prime examples of this phenomenon.
He comes downstairs with Nala in his arms, ready to put her in her carrier to go to the kitty spa for a couple days. (We can't risk them getting out during all the in and out that will happen when the movers are here tomorrow). I help him get her in and she immediately begins expressing her discontent. We can't find Mufasa anywhere - so now we have one cat in their carrier crying and carrying on while the other one is MIA.
What we had talked about doing was getting both cats in the study downstairs, close them in the study, close off all other rooms (just in case they bolt) and then entice them with some tuna to get them in their carrier.
I left Nala gyrating around in her carrier - turning it on both sides, upside down whilst she tried to escape - and went to look for Mufasa - found her hiding in my closet behind a rolling cart that I was going to move out today anyway. Jim got her and we managed to get her in her carrier, too.
While I was irritated that he started the process without looping me in on his plans to get going, it did work. I was shaking like a leaf by the time it was over because when the cats are stressed, I'm stressed, too. I was afraid Mufasa would hear Nala's crying and seriously hide to avoid getting crated. But she didn't. She was sleeping soundly when I rousted her from her hiding place.
We took them to the vet together and they were comforted by me in the back seat. They cried but were getting more settled. Nala is definitely far more 'chill' than Mufasa.
The vet will dose them with the sedative they prescribed on Tuesday morning - no guarantees it will render them asleep for the entire drive but a lot of it, we hope. We're going the back route which is about 45 minutes less of a drive than going up Highway 80. (We will be in the town where the boarding kennel is when we exit Highway 88 from Jackson so that saves 45 minutes of freeway driving from Reno all the way south to Minden).
It's a well planned out route and fingers crossed it will be OK. I can cope with them crying in their carriers - and having them on the seat might help them not feel so vulnerable. The floor of the car is OK but the vibrations down there would stress out any animal - especially two cats who haven't traveled much at all.
My ability to pack constantly is waning but I must keep going. Glad the movers can help a bit tomorrow and/or we can keep packing while they start loading. It's possible that by end of day today, we might be able to get a car in the garage which would allow us to start loading up stuff in the car that we want with us for the week we are in the hotel in Reno.
I woke up with a migraine today but proved that Excedrin with a 'best buy' date of March, 2014, is still viable. Worked like a charm.
PS - this is love: J. put the 70's channel on the TV (for some music to pack by). He knows that decade is my fave. He's sweet in ways that warm my heart from head to toe.
He comes downstairs with Nala in his arms, ready to put her in her carrier to go to the kitty spa for a couple days. (We can't risk them getting out during all the in and out that will happen when the movers are here tomorrow). I help him get her in and she immediately begins expressing her discontent. We can't find Mufasa anywhere - so now we have one cat in their carrier crying and carrying on while the other one is MIA.
What we had talked about doing was getting both cats in the study downstairs, close them in the study, close off all other rooms (just in case they bolt) and then entice them with some tuna to get them in their carrier.
I left Nala gyrating around in her carrier - turning it on both sides, upside down whilst she tried to escape - and went to look for Mufasa - found her hiding in my closet behind a rolling cart that I was going to move out today anyway. Jim got her and we managed to get her in her carrier, too.
While I was irritated that he started the process without looping me in on his plans to get going, it did work. I was shaking like a leaf by the time it was over because when the cats are stressed, I'm stressed, too. I was afraid Mufasa would hear Nala's crying and seriously hide to avoid getting crated. But she didn't. She was sleeping soundly when I rousted her from her hiding place.
We took them to the vet together and they were comforted by me in the back seat. They cried but were getting more settled. Nala is definitely far more 'chill' than Mufasa.
The vet will dose them with the sedative they prescribed on Tuesday morning - no guarantees it will render them asleep for the entire drive but a lot of it, we hope. We're going the back route which is about 45 minutes less of a drive than going up Highway 80. (We will be in the town where the boarding kennel is when we exit Highway 88 from Jackson so that saves 45 minutes of freeway driving from Reno all the way south to Minden).
It's a well planned out route and fingers crossed it will be OK. I can cope with them crying in their carriers - and having them on the seat might help them not feel so vulnerable. The floor of the car is OK but the vibrations down there would stress out any animal - especially two cats who haven't traveled much at all.
My ability to pack constantly is waning but I must keep going. Glad the movers can help a bit tomorrow and/or we can keep packing while they start loading. It's possible that by end of day today, we might be able to get a car in the garage which would allow us to start loading up stuff in the car that we want with us for the week we are in the hotel in Reno.
I woke up with a migraine today but proved that Excedrin with a 'best buy' date of March, 2014, is still viable. Worked like a charm.
PS - this is love: J. put the 70's channel on the TV (for some music to pack by). He knows that decade is my fave. He's sweet in ways that warm my heart from head to toe.
Saturday, November 02, 2019
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Finally Vertical
The drive up to Nevada on Sunday was during the huge winds which caused PG&E to do massive power outages across the State again. For us, the drive confirmed the intensity and danger of these winds because we've honestly never seen or experienced anything like it. Many instances of gusts that would move your car - or the truck next to you (really scary). Watching debris swirl against the freeway median wall like mini-tornadoes everywhere. Truly hurricane gusts (strength wise) which then whirled into vortexes that you could actually see. It was scary even just driving.
PG&E has majorly screwed up for decades in terms of not maintaining the power grid and we're all paying for it - but it is what it is and I do think shutting power off was the right call. I wasn't thinking that on the way home yesterday when I stopped in Colfax and the entire town was shut down. No power = no lights = no bathrooms. But shutting down the grid vs. risking sparking another fire - seems like the better option. Yes, I wish they had worked on putting more underground across the last decades....but they didn't. And, on the drive home, I also saw Cal Trans working on trimming trees and vegetation along the freeway that could get sparked by nearby power lines - so it's not just PG&E that needs to be tending things - it's everywhere.
But now, for the drive up. As we rounded the corner on the final approach to Carson City, I was pretty sure I saw our new house with actual walls! I was right! You can now go in and 'see' the rooms and that's a huge thing 'cuz it's very hard to have size perspective in a 'flat' house.
Our last round trip up and back and now we're 'home' (in Tracy) for a few more days before we trek back up permanently.
I've had some tears this past weekend - wrapping my head around this massive change and already missing my friends and our beautiful house (here). We spent time in the town house this weekend and it will be OK but wow, it is hard to feel like we'll be living 'between' for months in what feels like an oppressively small space. I'm sure it will get easier and once we're in and get more settled, we should be fine - I hope, anyway. It will have to do - because the new house will be well worth whatever the wait is and we just have to get through our first winter as Nevada residents. Spring will be even more our favorite season in 2020 and we're sure hoping our 30th anniversary gift to each other will be a house.
We're taking some drastic steps with H. - in hindsight, we really messed up getting him to Texas so quickly after finishing his DUI classes and counseling. Realizing that he's living in a suburb of Houston with absolutely zero public transportation of any kind - yes, really - we've checked multiple times - he is completely stuck without wheels. First step in getting some kind of wheels is getting a license and he can't do that it appears without getting the California DMV involved. So we're likely flying him back to Reno in a week or so and he and J. will trek to Truckee, CA (about an hour and a half away) to wait in line to figure out next steps. It's a complicated mess and has been really revealing of the things that happen that make it impossible for people to move forward. One thing leads to another and leads to another - and yes, all these 'things' are issues that H. is responsible for - solely - but we are willing to help him sort it out. He sounds motivated and positive for the first time in a long time - there are great jobs to be had - we just have to navigate all the steps that go with getting him squared away in Texas.
He really messed up by not prioritizing better and he knows that. But leaving him 'trapped' in Texas isn't a great choice so we're going to get him here to help get things taken care of on the California side of the issue.
It's cold here and we both slept fitfully lacking warmth. J. turned on the heat in the early morning hours and I finally got a blanket - it is feeling like Fall. It was 18 degrees in Carson City this morning so yikes, that is going to be quite an adjustment. The heater will be running a lot there. The garage was super warm this weekend and we realized it's the doors - they absorb the heat from the sun and put it into the space - it truly was the warmest place in the town house and it felt so good to go out there and feel warm. We're still figuring out the heater settings.
J. took the back route home so he was able to stop by the new house again and the trusses were delivered!! We will have a framed roof shortly!
I hear J. taping boxes so I'd better get moving - lots to pack up still.
PG&E has majorly screwed up for decades in terms of not maintaining the power grid and we're all paying for it - but it is what it is and I do think shutting power off was the right call. I wasn't thinking that on the way home yesterday when I stopped in Colfax and the entire town was shut down. No power = no lights = no bathrooms. But shutting down the grid vs. risking sparking another fire - seems like the better option. Yes, I wish they had worked on putting more underground across the last decades....but they didn't. And, on the drive home, I also saw Cal Trans working on trimming trees and vegetation along the freeway that could get sparked by nearby power lines - so it's not just PG&E that needs to be tending things - it's everywhere.
But now, for the drive up. As we rounded the corner on the final approach to Carson City, I was pretty sure I saw our new house with actual walls! I was right! You can now go in and 'see' the rooms and that's a huge thing 'cuz it's very hard to have size perspective in a 'flat' house.
Our last round trip up and back and now we're 'home' (in Tracy) for a few more days before we trek back up permanently.
I've had some tears this past weekend - wrapping my head around this massive change and already missing my friends and our beautiful house (here). We spent time in the town house this weekend and it will be OK but wow, it is hard to feel like we'll be living 'between' for months in what feels like an oppressively small space. I'm sure it will get easier and once we're in and get more settled, we should be fine - I hope, anyway. It will have to do - because the new house will be well worth whatever the wait is and we just have to get through our first winter as Nevada residents. Spring will be even more our favorite season in 2020 and we're sure hoping our 30th anniversary gift to each other will be a house.
We're taking some drastic steps with H. - in hindsight, we really messed up getting him to Texas so quickly after finishing his DUI classes and counseling. Realizing that he's living in a suburb of Houston with absolutely zero public transportation of any kind - yes, really - we've checked multiple times - he is completely stuck without wheels. First step in getting some kind of wheels is getting a license and he can't do that it appears without getting the California DMV involved. So we're likely flying him back to Reno in a week or so and he and J. will trek to Truckee, CA (about an hour and a half away) to wait in line to figure out next steps. It's a complicated mess and has been really revealing of the things that happen that make it impossible for people to move forward. One thing leads to another and leads to another - and yes, all these 'things' are issues that H. is responsible for - solely - but we are willing to help him sort it out. He sounds motivated and positive for the first time in a long time - there are great jobs to be had - we just have to navigate all the steps that go with getting him squared away in Texas.
He really messed up by not prioritizing better and he knows that. But leaving him 'trapped' in Texas isn't a great choice so we're going to get him here to help get things taken care of on the California side of the issue.
It's cold here and we both slept fitfully lacking warmth. J. turned on the heat in the early morning hours and I finally got a blanket - it is feeling like Fall. It was 18 degrees in Carson City this morning so yikes, that is going to be quite an adjustment. The heater will be running a lot there. The garage was super warm this weekend and we realized it's the doors - they absorb the heat from the sun and put it into the space - it truly was the warmest place in the town house and it felt so good to go out there and feel warm. We're still figuring out the heater settings.
J. took the back route home so he was able to stop by the new house again and the trusses were delivered!! We will have a framed roof shortly!
I hear J. taping boxes so I'd better get moving - lots to pack up still.
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Eating Off the Land
We've spent two days packing up the kitchen - brutally tossing things that aren't worth moving. Eating what we have so we hopefully won't have to worry about refrigeration for a week. I don't know what we were thinking or why when we asked for the refrigerator to be delivered on the 8th? But that's what we did and J. tried to change it and there are no earlier delivery dates available so...we might need to use plastic tubs with dry ice to keep condiments and stuff cold. And it's already pretty cold up there anyway so that will help. We have at least one ice chest in storage somewhere but no idea where and we don't see it in either unit - so it's buried. Guess we could buy a new one. We'll see what's left when we're doing a final pack up on the 4th.
Dinner was cornbread made with some Jiffy mixes that were a smidge past their 'best date' and two cans of Hormel chili. We'll be eating weird things the next week or so and then calling H.'s friend K. to come over with his wife and take what's left in the freezer. We've really cleaned out a lot so we aren't wasting much.
We don't have motel reservations for the 4th here in town either, yet - we need to do that. We could sleep on the floor in the house but...that will lead to not great sleep and sore bodies and the next day, we'll be driving 4+ hours with two cats who will be not at all happy about the drive.
I just chatted on Facebook with a friend that I'd really hoped to see again before the move - but that isn't going to happen. Luckily, she lives in Elk Grove and we can easily meet up once we're both settled - she's moving into a brand new house in the Spring, too!
It's down to the wire on number of days left here and while it's been 16 months of planning, it's all come down to this last mad dash week we have ahead of us.
We'd told H. we would get him a TV - but getting it shipped seemed silly. He found the same TV we found at Costco for $10 more at Walmart so he bought it - I sent him a check to put back in his bank account. Having that allows him to watch Netflix, set up his PlayStation and have something to do. Better to keep him busy, I think.
We head up to Nevada tomorrow - last round trip up and back until we start doing that to visit friends here in Tracy and Livermore.
The new owners are coming over next Friday evening (8PM! - the Friday commute from Hayward will be awful so that's why it's so late) to get info on appliances, thermostats, pool equipment, etc.. They also wanted help with utilities - we've already provided both water/sewer/trash and PG&E with our stop date so I replied they just need to contact the City of Tracy and PG&E to get things set up in their name. I'm fine with helping them but....we've got lots to do - not wanting to spend hours walking them through everything. We have all manuals, etc. ready to leave for them. They'll have to figure it out -
It's just after 5:30PM but it feels much later - we've worked pretty hard today and we're beat.
Dinner was cornbread made with some Jiffy mixes that were a smidge past their 'best date' and two cans of Hormel chili. We'll be eating weird things the next week or so and then calling H.'s friend K. to come over with his wife and take what's left in the freezer. We've really cleaned out a lot so we aren't wasting much.
We don't have motel reservations for the 4th here in town either, yet - we need to do that. We could sleep on the floor in the house but...that will lead to not great sleep and sore bodies and the next day, we'll be driving 4+ hours with two cats who will be not at all happy about the drive.
I just chatted on Facebook with a friend that I'd really hoped to see again before the move - but that isn't going to happen. Luckily, she lives in Elk Grove and we can easily meet up once we're both settled - she's moving into a brand new house in the Spring, too!
It's down to the wire on number of days left here and while it's been 16 months of planning, it's all come down to this last mad dash week we have ahead of us.
We'd told H. we would get him a TV - but getting it shipped seemed silly. He found the same TV we found at Costco for $10 more at Walmart so he bought it - I sent him a check to put back in his bank account. Having that allows him to watch Netflix, set up his PlayStation and have something to do. Better to keep him busy, I think.
We head up to Nevada tomorrow - last round trip up and back until we start doing that to visit friends here in Tracy and Livermore.
The new owners are coming over next Friday evening (8PM! - the Friday commute from Hayward will be awful so that's why it's so late) to get info on appliances, thermostats, pool equipment, etc.. They also wanted help with utilities - we've already provided both water/sewer/trash and PG&E with our stop date so I replied they just need to contact the City of Tracy and PG&E to get things set up in their name. I'm fine with helping them but....we've got lots to do - not wanting to spend hours walking them through everything. We have all manuals, etc. ready to leave for them. They'll have to figure it out -
It's just after 5:30PM but it feels much later - we've worked pretty hard today and we're beat.
Friday, October 25, 2019
Hardest of Weeks
Tuesday had J. making two trips to the vet. The first with Chloe who needed a vaccine booster. Chloe has been not well for some time - literally peeing everywhere - constantly. We'd started using a 'pen' to keep her in at night with the floor covered by washable puppy pads - doing anything we could to keep her from peeing on the tile - which then travels the full route of the grout. One pee could result in 10 square tiles and grout requiring deep cleaning - and with the house sold, we were trying to avoid needing to do a huge clean of the tiles again. (No amount of grout and tile sealant works against rivers of pee. Trust me.). We knew she couldn't help it and was mortified every time it happened. We'd mentioned it to the vet repeatedly and it just seemed age related.
While at the vet, they tried to do a urinalysis and realized there was some sort of blockage. Xrays confirmed a very large bladder stone. Only option was surgery. They also discovered that one of her vertebrae was off and was likely causing her pain. The vet agreed that we were looking at quality of life issues - so we planned to bring her back on Thursday to be euthanized. We decided we'd let the boys know, do some Facetime with them and spoil Chloe rotten for another couple days.
J. took the cats for their vaccine boosters at 1:30 - everything went smoothly.
In the mean time, something was clearly off with Chloe. She could barely stand - her feet would slip out from under her body. She was standing perfectly still as if she couldn't move - possibly (likely) in pain. We phoned the vet back to inquire and J. took her back in. We agreed to move forward with euthanasia then instead of waiting. She was clearly suffering - and it felt like she was telling us it was OK.
We called the boys later that day and of course, they were both sad and upset. She was a love of a dog and I'm sure they both would have liked to love on her some more before. But we feel like we did the right thing - seeing her barely able to move - it was very hard.
We quickly realized how quiet the house was shortly after J. returned from the airport on Sunday. He and H. had an emotional goodbye - and H. was winging his way to his new town. We checked in with him Monday and Tuesday and he was 'fine'. That's what he said. Only he wasn't.
On Wednesday morning, his friend J. took H. to the ER near their home - H. was so dehydrated, he couldn't feel his hands or feet and J. had to help H. walk to the car and get into the ER. Around noon our time, a doctor from the hospital phoned us - I answered the phone and they asked for J. - he was in the shower so I said 'I am his wife - is this about H.'? It was. The doctor asked me to tell him about H.'s history - H. had filled him in on the cancer diagnosis, his drug use and his history. The doctor asked me if there were any other addiction issues or medical issues or diagnosis that H. might not have said - and I stated no. I did tell the doctor that H. was stating he had been clean and sober for 18 months wasn't quite accurate.
While at the vet, they tried to do a urinalysis and realized there was some sort of blockage. Xrays confirmed a very large bladder stone. Only option was surgery. They also discovered that one of her vertebrae was off and was likely causing her pain. The vet agreed that we were looking at quality of life issues - so we planned to bring her back on Thursday to be euthanized. We decided we'd let the boys know, do some Facetime with them and spoil Chloe rotten for another couple days.
J. took the cats for their vaccine boosters at 1:30 - everything went smoothly.
In the mean time, something was clearly off with Chloe. She could barely stand - her feet would slip out from under her body. She was standing perfectly still as if she couldn't move - possibly (likely) in pain. We phoned the vet back to inquire and J. took her back in. We agreed to move forward with euthanasia then instead of waiting. She was clearly suffering - and it felt like she was telling us it was OK.
We called the boys later that day and of course, they were both sad and upset. She was a love of a dog and I'm sure they both would have liked to love on her some more before. But we feel like we did the right thing - seeing her barely able to move - it was very hard.
We quickly realized how quiet the house was shortly after J. returned from the airport on Sunday. He and H. had an emotional goodbye - and H. was winging his way to his new town. We checked in with him Monday and Tuesday and he was 'fine'. That's what he said. Only he wasn't.
On Wednesday morning, his friend J. took H. to the ER near their home - H. was so dehydrated, he couldn't feel his hands or feet and J. had to help H. walk to the car and get into the ER. Around noon our time, a doctor from the hospital phoned us - I answered the phone and they asked for J. - he was in the shower so I said 'I am his wife - is this about H.'? It was. The doctor asked me to tell him about H.'s history - H. had filled him in on the cancer diagnosis, his drug use and his history. The doctor asked me if there were any other addiction issues or medical issues or diagnosis that H. might not have said - and I stated no. I did tell the doctor that H. was stating he had been clean and sober for 18 months wasn't quite accurate.
H. was diagnosed with a compressed duodenum which resulted in an intestinal blockage. Once he got fluids, he felt better - and they were able to get the vomiting under control. They didn't let him eat because surgery was possible. He had a rough Wednesday but was better on Thursday morning - and they let him go home. (We're pretty sure if he had private insurance they would have kept him longer?).
The duodenum is between two major blood vessels - the aorta and the superior mesenteric artery (SMA). It is usually cushioned effectively by fat - which keeps the duodenum open and positioned between the two blood vessels. It's possible that H.'s continued issue with keeping weight on resulted in a lack of the fat cushion which in turn created the compression. A slight narrowing is what the doctor described but clearly - it was not slight for the day that H. started throwing up everything he ate or drank. He had stomach stuff happening the week before he left - but we thought it was likely just stress about the move. There is a very rare 'syndrome' of a compressed duodenum though the doctors (apparently) didn't mention that to H. . Again, possibly related to him not having insurance. That syndrome has 'wasting' as one of it's symptoms and that really describes H.'s inability to put on weight. Sure, we know some of the weight loss was related to drug use - but he's been clean for quite a while and still struggling to add weight to his very lean, tall frame.
His first week in Texas hasn't been great. He is home, able to eat, says he's doing OK and I sure hope that's accurate. He knows to eat small meals six times a day, consumer plenty of water and other liquids (emphasis on water) and to never let it go that long again if a possible blockage is happening.
Today, he confirmed he's homesick, missing us very much. I'm sure he feels as uncertain and unsure about this big move. Cypress is a Houston suburb but there is absolutely NO public transportation and everything is very spread out. He's heading to the DMV on Monday and if/when he gets a drivers license, we'll figure out what to do - he will likely need a car. First priority is a job. Trying to coach him to 'chunk things up'. Focus on something you CAN do instead of fretting about the things you can't - so for example, maybe do a Google map search of a 2 mile radius from the house and find places you could possibly work and use a bike to get there.
I'm struggling more than I like to admit because I worry so much about him being there - if he is in a place where the people around him are doing everything they can to help him, great. But if he's in a place where he can stay there with people urging him to be on his own in a very short window, that will be very hard for him. I'm not sure (actually pretty sure they don't) understand his addiction and mental health issues and how hard those things are on him in terms of any kind of change. And then I think 'he's 26 years old, Majah. He's got to pull it together and get through it'. If H. were B., I wouldn't worry a bit - because B. hasn't had issues that make moving forward on your own hard. H. said today (on the phone) 'in a month, if I don't have a license and don't have a job, then I'm doing something wrong'. Which is true. Because there are plenty of jobs out there. But that statement felt like it is something someone there said to him vs. something he would say to himself. And that kind of pressure is something H. has never handled well.
When I crawl into bed nightly and pull the warm covers up and get snuggly, I take a couple deep breaths, ask God to watch over both my kids (and a host of other people) and ask Him take a special interest in H. at the moment...and then I try to let it go - it's super hard but I'm trying. We can support and encourage him as much as possible but he has to make all these things happen on his own. He's an adult and he needs to adult.
Because of H. being sick, J. and I moved our departure for Nevada from today to Sunday morning - we will trek up with two fully loaded cars, drop stuff off at the town house and then have Monday up there as well. This will be the LAST round trip we'll be making as residents of California and I am super happy and excited about that. Today, I worked on packing the kitchen - threw out so much food but decided there's no point in keeping things that are super old, small amounts of things aren't worth moving (example: a bottle of red wine vinegar with less than a cup in it). We're going to head to Winco when we get up there and restock pantry staples and plan to shop weekly. I've told J. that I truly don't want to buy much at Costco - if we need canned chicken, get one or two small cans instead of 10 humongous cans. We wasted a lot of food and I don't want to do that as we enter this next phase of our lives.
We scheduled the City of Tracy once a year pickup for a week from today - we have the couch which we can't get anyone to take (even on the curb with a free sign, no one wants it). And likely some other trash items - we can have up to 10 32 gal. bags of trash also picked up - we won't have anywhere near that amount since we've been working on this move for well over a year now.
Leaving Tracy feels hard sometimes...I miss my friends already. But J. and I are really excited about our new home. New adventures. More (new) friends.
Today, he confirmed he's homesick, missing us very much. I'm sure he feels as uncertain and unsure about this big move. Cypress is a Houston suburb but there is absolutely NO public transportation and everything is very spread out. He's heading to the DMV on Monday and if/when he gets a drivers license, we'll figure out what to do - he will likely need a car. First priority is a job. Trying to coach him to 'chunk things up'. Focus on something you CAN do instead of fretting about the things you can't - so for example, maybe do a Google map search of a 2 mile radius from the house and find places you could possibly work and use a bike to get there.
I'm struggling more than I like to admit because I worry so much about him being there - if he is in a place where the people around him are doing everything they can to help him, great. But if he's in a place where he can stay there with people urging him to be on his own in a very short window, that will be very hard for him. I'm not sure (actually pretty sure they don't) understand his addiction and mental health issues and how hard those things are on him in terms of any kind of change. And then I think 'he's 26 years old, Majah. He's got to pull it together and get through it'. If H. were B., I wouldn't worry a bit - because B. hasn't had issues that make moving forward on your own hard. H. said today (on the phone) 'in a month, if I don't have a license and don't have a job, then I'm doing something wrong'. Which is true. Because there are plenty of jobs out there. But that statement felt like it is something someone there said to him vs. something he would say to himself. And that kind of pressure is something H. has never handled well.
When I crawl into bed nightly and pull the warm covers up and get snuggly, I take a couple deep breaths, ask God to watch over both my kids (and a host of other people) and ask Him take a special interest in H. at the moment...and then I try to let it go - it's super hard but I'm trying. We can support and encourage him as much as possible but he has to make all these things happen on his own. He's an adult and he needs to adult.
Because of H. being sick, J. and I moved our departure for Nevada from today to Sunday morning - we will trek up with two fully loaded cars, drop stuff off at the town house and then have Monday up there as well. This will be the LAST round trip we'll be making as residents of California and I am super happy and excited about that. Today, I worked on packing the kitchen - threw out so much food but decided there's no point in keeping things that are super old, small amounts of things aren't worth moving (example: a bottle of red wine vinegar with less than a cup in it). We're going to head to Winco when we get up there and restock pantry staples and plan to shop weekly. I've told J. that I truly don't want to buy much at Costco - if we need canned chicken, get one or two small cans instead of 10 humongous cans. We wasted a lot of food and I don't want to do that as we enter this next phase of our lives.
We scheduled the City of Tracy once a year pickup for a week from today - we have the couch which we can't get anyone to take (even on the curb with a free sign, no one wants it). And likely some other trash items - we can have up to 10 32 gal. bags of trash also picked up - we won't have anywhere near that amount since we've been working on this move for well over a year now.
Leaving Tracy feels hard sometimes...I miss my friends already. But J. and I are really excited about our new home. New adventures. More (new) friends.
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Goodbye for Now
My alarm went off at 4:55AM this morning and my body/mind did a huge WTF!. While getting up that early used to be a daily thing M-F, it is rare post-retirement and boy, howdy did I feel it.
J. and H. left for the Oakland airport just after 5:30AM. J. parked and got H. checked in and to security before he headed to his car. He's pretty emotional about the departure - he and H. are each other's bestie so...it's a hard goodbye for them. Hard goodbye for me, too - but I mostly feel excited for H.'s new adventure(s) and fresh start. He's needed a reboot for a long time and as the departure day approached and he worked on packing and sorting through his room, he said he was just getting more and more excited. I'm glad he left feeling exhilarated and ready 'cuz if he had been super sad and upset, my heart would have broken more than a little bit.
But he's off in high spirits and will be there in a few hours. He'll text us, I'm sure. At least I hope so.
I toyed with going back to sleep but decided I'd rather take a nap later so I tried to help J. out with laundry. I've noticed when I get a fresh bath towel that there aren't many in the linen cupboard and I've been thinking 'well of course, we packed them'. No, we did not. They were in H.'s room - SO MANY TOWELS. I've done two loads so far and there are still some left. We'll dry them, fold them and put them in a box for the moving van 'cuz we have enough to get us through - being a house of just us two has it's advantages.
The wire transfer was in our account mid-afternoon on Friday so we are officially no longer the owners of our Tracy house. (I'm half expecting the new owners to show up today for a visit - Sunday seems to be their day off. I doubt they will show up unannounced but we'll see). We need to notify our insurance company that we are officially renters at this point - we already have a renter's policy in place.
Today will be more packing. I'm trying to have extra inertia this upcoming week to compensate for the five days we will have 'away' this coming weekend. Still not sure we will go but we probably will. We've got a lot of stuff ready to take up and the more we take now, the easier the final trip up will be in early November.
Safe travels, H. . You have been a huge help these past few months and we can't thank you enough for all the work you've done to help us ready the house for sale and get things packed up. This fresh start is your chance to reboot - so do it! Just do it! We love you and are always here for you.
J. and H. left for the Oakland airport just after 5:30AM. J. parked and got H. checked in and to security before he headed to his car. He's pretty emotional about the departure - he and H. are each other's bestie so...it's a hard goodbye for them. Hard goodbye for me, too - but I mostly feel excited for H.'s new adventure(s) and fresh start. He's needed a reboot for a long time and as the departure day approached and he worked on packing and sorting through his room, he said he was just getting more and more excited. I'm glad he left feeling exhilarated and ready 'cuz if he had been super sad and upset, my heart would have broken more than a little bit.
But he's off in high spirits and will be there in a few hours. He'll text us, I'm sure. At least I hope so.
I toyed with going back to sleep but decided I'd rather take a nap later so I tried to help J. out with laundry. I've noticed when I get a fresh bath towel that there aren't many in the linen cupboard and I've been thinking 'well of course, we packed them'. No, we did not. They were in H.'s room - SO MANY TOWELS. I've done two loads so far and there are still some left. We'll dry them, fold them and put them in a box for the moving van 'cuz we have enough to get us through - being a house of just us two has it's advantages.
The wire transfer was in our account mid-afternoon on Friday so we are officially no longer the owners of our Tracy house. (I'm half expecting the new owners to show up today for a visit - Sunday seems to be their day off. I doubt they will show up unannounced but we'll see). We need to notify our insurance company that we are officially renters at this point - we already have a renter's policy in place.
Today will be more packing. I'm trying to have extra inertia this upcoming week to compensate for the five days we will have 'away' this coming weekend. Still not sure we will go but we probably will. We've got a lot of stuff ready to take up and the more we take now, the easier the final trip up will be in early November.
Safe travels, H. . You have been a huge help these past few months and we can't thank you enough for all the work you've done to help us ready the house for sale and get things packed up. This fresh start is your chance to reboot - so do it! Just do it! We love you and are always here for you.
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Closing Delay
We finally received confirmation that the buyers loan funded - after two days of waiting. Technically, we didn't stop owing the house two days ago - we will stop owning it tomorrow. We hope. I had weird dreams all night about people bringing huge amounts of cash - only not enough to pay what we sold the house for. It was a long, weird night. No explanation for the two day delay - the first day, it was because the lender was doing a final doc review. But the second day? Crickets. No idea why they took an extra day but oh well. It funded today and it's truly just waiting for the sale to be recorded which should happen tomorrow. They took down the For Sale sign and removed the lock box on Monday.
We're in a packing frenzy with H. getting his stuff into two huge suitcases and a small carry on. He and J. dismantled the master bedroom headboard and brought it all downstairs. If Salvation Army won't take it tomorrow, we'll have to get some help to make a trip to the dump. I'd put it on the curb but the mirrors make me very nervous - someone getting seriously injured trying to take it off the curb would be a disaster. I'd rather just toss it. J. thinks he could keep/use the nightstands until he gets new bedroom furniture so we might add those to the moving load. And if Salvation Army won't take the sideboard, I'm taking it with us. No way I'm taking that beautiful piece to the dump. I'll try again to sell it up there and use it in the mean time -
We have reservations to travel up there again on Friday, 11/25 for 4 nights and we're not sure what our plans are so for now, we're keeping the reservations. We'll have to decide by 11/23 - we could definitely get some more stuff up there on our own which lightens the poundage for the moving van on the 4th. But we'll have to see how far we get on the packing by then.
I feel overwhelmed and when that happens, I lose all inertia. But I made a bit of progress today so hopefully, that will help. It's just overwhelming. We've packed so much already but there's so much more to go.
One of H.'s friends came over and took a huge package of frozen chicken legs, some pizza rolls and some donuts that I got just for him and his family. I went to Stockton yesterday (where Krispy Kreme is) and had lunch with my CBO friends - very fun and very sweet. I miss all of them so much and it was great to see them!
Hopefully there will be no crazy dreams tonight so I'll feel more rested tomorrow. For now, I'm determined to get two boxes moved out to the garage. Two down, Lord only knows how many more to go.
We're in a packing frenzy with H. getting his stuff into two huge suitcases and a small carry on. He and J. dismantled the master bedroom headboard and brought it all downstairs. If Salvation Army won't take it tomorrow, we'll have to get some help to make a trip to the dump. I'd put it on the curb but the mirrors make me very nervous - someone getting seriously injured trying to take it off the curb would be a disaster. I'd rather just toss it. J. thinks he could keep/use the nightstands until he gets new bedroom furniture so we might add those to the moving load. And if Salvation Army won't take the sideboard, I'm taking it with us. No way I'm taking that beautiful piece to the dump. I'll try again to sell it up there and use it in the mean time -
We have reservations to travel up there again on Friday, 11/25 for 4 nights and we're not sure what our plans are so for now, we're keeping the reservations. We'll have to decide by 11/23 - we could definitely get some more stuff up there on our own which lightens the poundage for the moving van on the 4th. But we'll have to see how far we get on the packing by then.
I feel overwhelmed and when that happens, I lose all inertia. But I made a bit of progress today so hopefully, that will help. It's just overwhelming. We've packed so much already but there's so much more to go.
One of H.'s friends came over and took a huge package of frozen chicken legs, some pizza rolls and some donuts that I got just for him and his family. I went to Stockton yesterday (where Krispy Kreme is) and had lunch with my CBO friends - very fun and very sweet. I miss all of them so much and it was great to see them!
Hopefully there will be no crazy dreams tonight so I'll feel more rested tomorrow. For now, I'm determined to get two boxes moved out to the garage. Two down, Lord only knows how many more to go.
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Town House Visit
We had a fun weekend in Reno and Carson City and enjoyed spending time with H.. He played slots with me and Black Jack with his dad and while we didn't come home ahead, we didn't come home broke either - so that's a win. We called it a Family Lalapalooza weekend - J. and H. also had massages yesterday morning before we headed home - a nice treat.
We got the keys to the town house we are renting in Carson City and got to see it for the first time - it is nice and will be fine. The decor is a little 'dark' for my tastes - darker brown carpeting, darkish taupe paint on the walls and dark wood cabinetry throughout - but it's pretty. J. took measurements and we're starting to figure out how to fit the pieces of furniture we are moving with us into the various spaces. Half the size of this house - so things like the electric piano are hard to place. But we'll make it work.
There has been progress on our house as well - tons of lumber there and pretty sure a lot of framing will happen this week. We also have subfloor down - so we can start to see the rooms. When we look at it as it is now, some spaces seem so small - but I'm sure the house will be fine - it's not a small house.
H. will head to Houston this coming Sunday and I shared with him yesterday how I was feeling emotional about it all. Then I realized I was being a terrible mother - focusing on me and my feelings primarily - when he burst into sobs in the car on the way home. He said 'I'm just going to miss you guys so much'. And I said 'we feel the same'. It's a good fresh start for all of us. Later, when our emotions were a bit more in check, I asked him - saying "I'm going to ask you something and I want you to be honest about it - do you really want to go to Houston?". His immediate reply was 'yes, I do'. He said he's had offers from friends to stay in Tracy? But he really doesn't want to stay here. I think he feels like we do - we love Tracy and have been very happy here - it is and always will be (and will always feel like) home. Time for fresh beginnings and new adventures.
I'm planning on saying my goodbyes here at the house and J. will do the airport transport. I think both of your parents losing it as you get in the security line to leave would be bad. I'll lose it in the privacy of our house and will hopefully be better by the time J. gets home.
We should get champagne out and celebrate - and we just might. But more low key since this is the third time H. has moved out.
We signed all the mortgage docs on Friday in our realtor's office. I nudged the new owners about the payment needed for the furniture items they are buying. They asked if they could drive out and drop it off on Sunday and I said 'no, we're out of town. Just write me a check and put in the mail to me - it should reach us by Tuesday'. Sunday, I'm sitting at a slot machine in a very noisy casino when I get a call - she said 'I can't find your mailbox to put the check in'. I said 'I'm sorry - having a hard time hearing you - but you can't put something in our mailbox since it's a US postal mailbox and you aren't the mail delivery person'. I asked her to put the check under the front door mat - and she sent me a pic of her having slid the envelope between the door and door frame - so I immediately called and said (to her husband who answered - I think it is her husband - at this point, I'm honestly not sure they are married) 'please don't leave it there - it will get stolen. Please put it under the mat so it isn't visible'. It was there when we got home yesterday and I'm heading to the bank to cash it.
It is 11:45AM and in 15 minutes, we will no longer own this home. Feels a wee bit sad but mostly feels great to have it sold and to be a huge step closer to our next great adventure.
This week, we will get H.'s stuff packed up and organized. We have a Salvation Army pickup scheduled for Friday and whatever they won't take will be put on the curb for a city trash pickup. Today, we'll put the free couch out again - so far, no takers. But there's still time.
I shared how sad I felt about H. leaving and how I felt like I'd messed up being so emotional about it with my friend C. (who by the way texted me just as I was starting an email to her) and she said 'give yourselves permission to have all the 'feels' (as they call emotions at her house). There have been a lot of big changes for all of you so of course there's a lot of emotions happening'. And J. basically said the same thing - we'll all be having our fair share of suspense, sadness, etc. about H.'s departure - but we can also all remind ourselves how grateful we are for technology that makes it easier to be in touch. Facetime, email, texting - as H. said 'I'm going to be in touch with you guys all the time'. I hope so!
To fresh beginnings and new adventures. To being renters for the next five-ish months. To getting used to a new state, new city. To watching our dream house be built before our eyes and not having to drive 3.5 hours to see the progress! And to looking forward to friends, family and our sons visiting often.
We got the keys to the town house we are renting in Carson City and got to see it for the first time - it is nice and will be fine. The decor is a little 'dark' for my tastes - darker brown carpeting, darkish taupe paint on the walls and dark wood cabinetry throughout - but it's pretty. J. took measurements and we're starting to figure out how to fit the pieces of furniture we are moving with us into the various spaces. Half the size of this house - so things like the electric piano are hard to place. But we'll make it work.
There has been progress on our house as well - tons of lumber there and pretty sure a lot of framing will happen this week. We also have subfloor down - so we can start to see the rooms. When we look at it as it is now, some spaces seem so small - but I'm sure the house will be fine - it's not a small house.
H. will head to Houston this coming Sunday and I shared with him yesterday how I was feeling emotional about it all. Then I realized I was being a terrible mother - focusing on me and my feelings primarily - when he burst into sobs in the car on the way home. He said 'I'm just going to miss you guys so much'. And I said 'we feel the same'. It's a good fresh start for all of us. Later, when our emotions were a bit more in check, I asked him - saying "I'm going to ask you something and I want you to be honest about it - do you really want to go to Houston?". His immediate reply was 'yes, I do'. He said he's had offers from friends to stay in Tracy? But he really doesn't want to stay here. I think he feels like we do - we love Tracy and have been very happy here - it is and always will be (and will always feel like) home. Time for fresh beginnings and new adventures.
I'm planning on saying my goodbyes here at the house and J. will do the airport transport. I think both of your parents losing it as you get in the security line to leave would be bad. I'll lose it in the privacy of our house and will hopefully be better by the time J. gets home.
We should get champagne out and celebrate - and we just might. But more low key since this is the third time H. has moved out.
We signed all the mortgage docs on Friday in our realtor's office. I nudged the new owners about the payment needed for the furniture items they are buying. They asked if they could drive out and drop it off on Sunday and I said 'no, we're out of town. Just write me a check and put in the mail to me - it should reach us by Tuesday'. Sunday, I'm sitting at a slot machine in a very noisy casino when I get a call - she said 'I can't find your mailbox to put the check in'. I said 'I'm sorry - having a hard time hearing you - but you can't put something in our mailbox since it's a US postal mailbox and you aren't the mail delivery person'. I asked her to put the check under the front door mat - and she sent me a pic of her having slid the envelope between the door and door frame - so I immediately called and said (to her husband who answered - I think it is her husband - at this point, I'm honestly not sure they are married) 'please don't leave it there - it will get stolen. Please put it under the mat so it isn't visible'. It was there when we got home yesterday and I'm heading to the bank to cash it.
It is 11:45AM and in 15 minutes, we will no longer own this home. Feels a wee bit sad but mostly feels great to have it sold and to be a huge step closer to our next great adventure.
This week, we will get H.'s stuff packed up and organized. We have a Salvation Army pickup scheduled for Friday and whatever they won't take will be put on the curb for a city trash pickup. Today, we'll put the free couch out again - so far, no takers. But there's still time.
I shared how sad I felt about H. leaving and how I felt like I'd messed up being so emotional about it with my friend C. (who by the way texted me just as I was starting an email to her) and she said 'give yourselves permission to have all the 'feels' (as they call emotions at her house). There have been a lot of big changes for all of you so of course there's a lot of emotions happening'. And J. basically said the same thing - we'll all be having our fair share of suspense, sadness, etc. about H.'s departure - but we can also all remind ourselves how grateful we are for technology that makes it easier to be in touch. Facetime, email, texting - as H. said 'I'm going to be in touch with you guys all the time'. I hope so!
To fresh beginnings and new adventures. To being renters for the next five-ish months. To getting used to a new state, new city. To watching our dream house be built before our eyes and not having to drive 3.5 hours to see the progress! And to looking forward to friends, family and our sons visiting often.
Friday, October 11, 2019
Words Fail
My aunt passed away early Wednesday morning. Peacefully. I've been trying to synthesize the impact her life had on my life and there truly are just not adequate words. I guess the best way to say it she was just always there.
My earliest memory of her - a memory that is seared in my brain - is her helping six year old me get my shoes on. Sitting at the kitchen table in her home with her husband not far away. She's putting on my shoes and I see my brother walking up the driveway - in his dress Marine uniform - and I say 'Auntie M., why is S. here?'. She says 'he's going to be so happy to see you and he's going to take you home'. He was with my older sister and our Uncle from Oklahoma.
Not too long into that car ride home, my little sister and I would find out that our father - who we had seen in the hospital a day or so before and who said he would be home soon - had died. Suddenly, tragically. Gone. Forever.
There are a lot of parts of my childhood that I know I've blocked memories from. I frequently have 'zingers' of scattered memories that I try to place - sounds or smells or random fleeting snippets of things that I can't quite form into something meaningful. But I know from that point on, my Auntie M. was always simply just there for us. She willingly opened her home to us whenever we needed a place to be - tons of fun play time spent with our cousins. She pitched in helping our mom navigate doctor appointments and other childhood events. She sent her husband to any and all Father/Daughter events with me and her husband and two sons were frequently at our house helping with things - Christmas morning finding Hot Wheels tracks from the family room up the steps into the living room, weaving through the house. My new bike put together by them. Not to mention any and all household repairs and/or any issues we had. If we as kids were needing anything - like when our Mom was very sick and we didn't know what to do - we'd call Auntie M. and Uncle J. and they would be there to help. They helped a lot.
Christmas Eve was always at Auntie M's house - food and fun - always a pinata for the kids. She created magical memories that I do have total recall of - and I feel so blessed to have her in my life.
I've had some wonderful women mentors in my life and she's one of the very best - strong, loving, matter-of-fact.
I was a Girl Scout because of her (she worked for the Girl Scouts for many years) and would push myself way outside my comfort zone because when camp counselors found out who my Aunt was, I didn't want her to ever be disappointed. Leave the place better than you found it is still my mantra.
She taught me to cook for an army whilst setting limits. (Two slices of bacon was a huge treat - but when you're cooking for 20-30 people at whichever cabin we were at, unlimited bacon was out of the question). Her kitchen was always bustling and the heart of her home.
When my mom died, J. and the boys and I were staying at a hotel - and she insisted we come stay with her. I never want to impose on people - but she was absolutely adamant - 'I have tons of room so come here'. One of my fondest memories during that very hard week was my two sons laying on the floor watching the movie "With Six You Get Eggrolls" with Auntie M. and their parents. She didn't have a lot of what would be considered 'kid movies' - but the boys loved that movie - and so do I. She said 'I'm so glad to have a chance to get to know your boys and spend time with them'. And she said 'they are really good kids'. They were....and are.
She created opportunities for her grand kids to spend tons of time together and same for all the cousins. So many memories of time at the mountain cabin with our cousins. Seances and rock climbing. Hiking. Napping. Playing crazy card games like Nertz. (I can't remember the names of all the card games we played).
We all miss her so much - but mostly, I just think how blessed we all are to have had her in our lives. I was sad when I heard she had died - but immediately thought 'but she's with J. (her husband who left us decades ago) and her mom and her two oldest children - what a reunion that will be!'. And Bridge with my mom, too, 'cuz I'm sure heaven has great Bridge games.
I love you, Auntie M. Thank you for always being there for me - and for all of us. You've left behind a legacy of people who continue to grow close to each other no matter the distance.
My earliest memory of her - a memory that is seared in my brain - is her helping six year old me get my shoes on. Sitting at the kitchen table in her home with her husband not far away. She's putting on my shoes and I see my brother walking up the driveway - in his dress Marine uniform - and I say 'Auntie M., why is S. here?'. She says 'he's going to be so happy to see you and he's going to take you home'. He was with my older sister and our Uncle from Oklahoma.
Not too long into that car ride home, my little sister and I would find out that our father - who we had seen in the hospital a day or so before and who said he would be home soon - had died. Suddenly, tragically. Gone. Forever.
There are a lot of parts of my childhood that I know I've blocked memories from. I frequently have 'zingers' of scattered memories that I try to place - sounds or smells or random fleeting snippets of things that I can't quite form into something meaningful. But I know from that point on, my Auntie M. was always simply just there for us. She willingly opened her home to us whenever we needed a place to be - tons of fun play time spent with our cousins. She pitched in helping our mom navigate doctor appointments and other childhood events. She sent her husband to any and all Father/Daughter events with me and her husband and two sons were frequently at our house helping with things - Christmas morning finding Hot Wheels tracks from the family room up the steps into the living room, weaving through the house. My new bike put together by them. Not to mention any and all household repairs and/or any issues we had. If we as kids were needing anything - like when our Mom was very sick and we didn't know what to do - we'd call Auntie M. and Uncle J. and they would be there to help. They helped a lot.
Christmas Eve was always at Auntie M's house - food and fun - always a pinata for the kids. She created magical memories that I do have total recall of - and I feel so blessed to have her in my life.
I've had some wonderful women mentors in my life and she's one of the very best - strong, loving, matter-of-fact.
I was a Girl Scout because of her (she worked for the Girl Scouts for many years) and would push myself way outside my comfort zone because when camp counselors found out who my Aunt was, I didn't want her to ever be disappointed. Leave the place better than you found it is still my mantra.
She taught me to cook for an army whilst setting limits. (Two slices of bacon was a huge treat - but when you're cooking for 20-30 people at whichever cabin we were at, unlimited bacon was out of the question). Her kitchen was always bustling and the heart of her home.
When my mom died, J. and the boys and I were staying at a hotel - and she insisted we come stay with her. I never want to impose on people - but she was absolutely adamant - 'I have tons of room so come here'. One of my fondest memories during that very hard week was my two sons laying on the floor watching the movie "With Six You Get Eggrolls" with Auntie M. and their parents. She didn't have a lot of what would be considered 'kid movies' - but the boys loved that movie - and so do I. She said 'I'm so glad to have a chance to get to know your boys and spend time with them'. And she said 'they are really good kids'. They were....and are.
She created opportunities for her grand kids to spend tons of time together and same for all the cousins. So many memories of time at the mountain cabin with our cousins. Seances and rock climbing. Hiking. Napping. Playing crazy card games like Nertz. (I can't remember the names of all the card games we played).
We all miss her so much - but mostly, I just think how blessed we all are to have had her in our lives. I was sad when I heard she had died - but immediately thought 'but she's with J. (her husband who left us decades ago) and her mom and her two oldest children - what a reunion that will be!'. And Bridge with my mom, too, 'cuz I'm sure heaven has great Bridge games.
I love you, Auntie M. Thank you for always being there for me - and for all of us. You've left behind a legacy of people who continue to grow close to each other no matter the distance.
Friday, October 04, 2019
Almost Another Two Weeks
Every-other-week posting appears to be the norm. Time is flying by so incredibly quickly.
Today, I called Atlantis and booked reservations for us during the week we will be waiting for the moving company to confirm their arrival with all our stuff. If we don't need the room, we'll give the hotel notice and leave - but we might be grateful for a respite from what will be organized chaos.
I just emailed the boarding kennel in Minden (a bit south of Carson City) to confirm they will have space for our dog and cats during that waiting week. As soon as we're in the town house and somewhat settled, we'll go get our animals and get them settled. We just didn't want them roaming the townhouse and getting spooked (or getting out of the house) during all the hubbub of the unloading furniture and boxes.
Glad to report that J. (bless his heart for getting this off the list so quickly) took both cats to the vet earlier this week. The were howling in their carriers in the car (which I heard when he phoned me from his car while I was driving home from Reno in mine - I stayed a couple extra nights up there and he headed home) - but he said once they were in the exam room, they chilled pretty quickly. A little more 'crying' on the drive home but they were back to themselves - although a bit tired and a day or two of not feeling great from vaccinations. They are both very healthy and each weigh the exact same weight - 10.1 lbs.
And another milestone of sorts - I also entered a slot tournament at Atlantis and told the reservation person 'and I don't need the offered room for the event - I will be living there and can just drive in for the event. Felt super good to say that. 'I won't need a room'. Yay! We will be residents of Nevada soon!
The new owners threw a couple curve balls - decided they wanted a pool inspection. That report was fine - identified what we already knew: the heater needs repair. But the inspector also tested the water quality and found the water to be 'poor' - high phosphates and high chlorine. So the new owners are asking for us to drain the pool and redo the chemicals. We are replying 'no' to that. AND they also threw in a repair back from the original home inspection report - which is really not OK because we are way past the point of asking for additional repairs. We close escrow in 7 days.
I had a feeling they would be throwing things in last minute to get us to do additional things. Sometimes in this process I think they're going to end up backing out because they seem to be constantly manipulating and adding things here and there. I am super grateful to our realtor who also agreed with the 'no, that item should have been requested as a result of the home inspection - and you didn't ask for it then so no. It's off the table'. Fingers crossed. (It is yet another code issue identified by the builder of our house - exterior doors are to be hard core and the one in the garage isn't. Never knew. Never had any issue. But it isn't up to code 'as is'. (We've lived here 19 years and nothing has ever happened related to that door). And we've had attempted break-ins on the front door which is a hard core door - so go figure.
Hopefully one week from today, we'll have the cash in the bank and they will be the owner. We're only renting back one additional week past our original 'out' date - instead of 10/31 we will be out by 11/5.
My Aunt in Arizona entered hospice care earlier this week - was of sound mind and signed all the documents herself. Her body is giving out and she's had a lot of health things happening and she made the decision it was time. I'm grateful she was able to make the choice and additionally glad there are wonderful, caring people to help make her wishes happen. Her kids and grand kids are there to see her and I've been thinking about her and the family constantly. Glad they are together.
In just a little over two weeks, H. will be heading to Houston. He's excited.
We celebrated National Taco Day with Taco Bell tacos. I'll take any excuse to eat tacos!
Today, I called Atlantis and booked reservations for us during the week we will be waiting for the moving company to confirm their arrival with all our stuff. If we don't need the room, we'll give the hotel notice and leave - but we might be grateful for a respite from what will be organized chaos.
I just emailed the boarding kennel in Minden (a bit south of Carson City) to confirm they will have space for our dog and cats during that waiting week. As soon as we're in the town house and somewhat settled, we'll go get our animals and get them settled. We just didn't want them roaming the townhouse and getting spooked (or getting out of the house) during all the hubbub of the unloading furniture and boxes.
Glad to report that J. (bless his heart for getting this off the list so quickly) took both cats to the vet earlier this week. The were howling in their carriers in the car (which I heard when he phoned me from his car while I was driving home from Reno in mine - I stayed a couple extra nights up there and he headed home) - but he said once they were in the exam room, they chilled pretty quickly. A little more 'crying' on the drive home but they were back to themselves - although a bit tired and a day or two of not feeling great from vaccinations. They are both very healthy and each weigh the exact same weight - 10.1 lbs.
And another milestone of sorts - I also entered a slot tournament at Atlantis and told the reservation person 'and I don't need the offered room for the event - I will be living there and can just drive in for the event. Felt super good to say that. 'I won't need a room'. Yay! We will be residents of Nevada soon!
The new owners threw a couple curve balls - decided they wanted a pool inspection. That report was fine - identified what we already knew: the heater needs repair. But the inspector also tested the water quality and found the water to be 'poor' - high phosphates and high chlorine. So the new owners are asking for us to drain the pool and redo the chemicals. We are replying 'no' to that. AND they also threw in a repair back from the original home inspection report - which is really not OK because we are way past the point of asking for additional repairs. We close escrow in 7 days.
I had a feeling they would be throwing things in last minute to get us to do additional things. Sometimes in this process I think they're going to end up backing out because they seem to be constantly manipulating and adding things here and there. I am super grateful to our realtor who also agreed with the 'no, that item should have been requested as a result of the home inspection - and you didn't ask for it then so no. It's off the table'. Fingers crossed. (It is yet another code issue identified by the builder of our house - exterior doors are to be hard core and the one in the garage isn't. Never knew. Never had any issue. But it isn't up to code 'as is'. (We've lived here 19 years and nothing has ever happened related to that door). And we've had attempted break-ins on the front door which is a hard core door - so go figure.
Hopefully one week from today, we'll have the cash in the bank and they will be the owner. We're only renting back one additional week past our original 'out' date - instead of 10/31 we will be out by 11/5.
My Aunt in Arizona entered hospice care earlier this week - was of sound mind and signed all the documents herself. Her body is giving out and she's had a lot of health things happening and she made the decision it was time. I'm grateful she was able to make the choice and additionally glad there are wonderful, caring people to help make her wishes happen. Her kids and grand kids are there to see her and I've been thinking about her and the family constantly. Glad they are together.
In just a little over two weeks, H. will be heading to Houston. He's excited.
We celebrated National Taco Day with Taco Bell tacos. I'll take any excuse to eat tacos!
Monday, September 23, 2019
A Lot Happens in (Now) Two Weeks
I should update more regularly because there are so many things happening -
We went to Nevada on Monday - two loads for storage (two cars - we're adding lots of miles and spending money on gas but we're determined to get as much there ourselves as we can). We unloaded and J. handed me a piece of packing tape. I said 'what do you want me to do with this?' and he said 'I just wanted to give you something before I give you the update'. My immediate reaction was H. . Something up with him. But no - it was our builder (who had promised to call us on Monday) who said he had entered all the tasks into the project management software (which I guess he's never actually done before - maybe you don't do that step as a builder until you have an actual foundation to work with) - and we're looking at March. Maybe February but most likely March.
J. asked S. (builder) 'do you know of any rentals we can look at because as we said in our email, we've sold our home and are homeless at the end of October'. He said his company is also building some town homes in Carson City and there might be unit(s) there we could rent. Took a day but we were able to reach the property manager and she confirmed they had two units available on October 1. She knew with certainty that one was off the table for us because of the pets but she said she would talk to the owner about allowing all three.
We met her at the sales model and she confirmed the owner said yes to all three pets with a $500 deposit for each - fully refundable assuming no issues. We said 'yes'.
On the casino front, I placed high enough in my two rounds of play that I placed 6th overall and won $200 cash. I had a feeling I had placed in a 'cash win' category when the freeplay hadn't posted to my account by 2PM. I know it's not a huge amount but it is super cool to win cash - though it was immediately converted into freeplay since I used it to play slots! Of course I did!
Update - it's now Monday, 9/23. We just confirmed with the property management company that our application was approved. Our credit score 'was the highest we've ever seen'. Nice!! I'm about to make the online payment for first, last, $1500 in pet deposits and a few other fees. We'll get the keys on 10/4 and can start taking stuff we need to live to our interim home beginning that trip up.
Movers come tomorrow to talk through options and estimates. I'm ready to plan for them to finish packing and moving everything else - though we continue to pack and organize and are making (continued) good progress. We've got a massive amount of stuff for a charity give away, a box of hazardous waste to take to our city disposal, some metal items (old shelf, old trash cans) to take to the metal recycler and some old paints to drop off at the paint store for recycling. J. is going to work on those 'stacks' this week -
We're scheduled to head up again on Thursday and while we're both tired of the drive and exhausted with all of it, we will likely be going. We want to get a post office box and it's always fun to check on the house. It feels like it will be one of the last 'fun' weekends we'll have for a while since we'll be making multiple trips up pretty frequently as we tackle finalizing the move.
While the new owners have offered to let us rent back even into January, 2020, we've decided to make getting settled there in early November our goal. We'd rather get there and end the 'tug' of the back and forth - it is a lot of moving parts to deal with and it would all be easier to deal with when we eliminate the 3.5 hour drive each way multiple times a month. The project manager for the house wants us to start talking about outside look - and we still have to choose lighting. Our electrical walk through is (so far) scheduled for 10/31 - we won't be moved in by that date but we'll be close, we hope. (And we might be moved in by that date - we'll figure that out in the next week or so).
H. will be on a plane to Houston on Sunday, 10/20 - he is excited. He's winding down the things he needs to do to finish his DUI classes - so we'll be spending time helping him get packed up as well.
In other news, I trekked to the movie theater last night to see Downton Abbey - it was so wonderful! I think the last time I cared enough about a movie to go to the theater to see was Twilight - so it's been awhile. It was perfect in every way. I'm so glad I got to see it and can't wait to see it again a thousand times - via DVD (purchased) and/or on cable at some point.
Time to head back to the garage where I'm making an effort to match storage containers/bins to lids. From the onset of us realizing we were moving, we've tossed all containers and lid into one area/box and we're slowly making progress matching them - if they don't match, they are being recycled. I'm keeping many more than I will need but I will have a beautiful walk in pantry to organize and want to have plenty of options for how to do that - same with the laundry room.
Also time to fill up another 32 oz. of water for consumption. I'm doing at least 2-3 a day - super hot plus somewhat active requires hydration.
We went to Nevada on Monday - two loads for storage (two cars - we're adding lots of miles and spending money on gas but we're determined to get as much there ourselves as we can). We unloaded and J. handed me a piece of packing tape. I said 'what do you want me to do with this?' and he said 'I just wanted to give you something before I give you the update'. My immediate reaction was H. . Something up with him. But no - it was our builder (who had promised to call us on Monday) who said he had entered all the tasks into the project management software (which I guess he's never actually done before - maybe you don't do that step as a builder until you have an actual foundation to work with) - and we're looking at March. Maybe February but most likely March.
J. asked S. (builder) 'do you know of any rentals we can look at because as we said in our email, we've sold our home and are homeless at the end of October'. He said his company is also building some town homes in Carson City and there might be unit(s) there we could rent. Took a day but we were able to reach the property manager and she confirmed they had two units available on October 1. She knew with certainty that one was off the table for us because of the pets but she said she would talk to the owner about allowing all three.
We met her at the sales model and she confirmed the owner said yes to all three pets with a $500 deposit for each - fully refundable assuming no issues. We said 'yes'.
On the casino front, I placed high enough in my two rounds of play that I placed 6th overall and won $200 cash. I had a feeling I had placed in a 'cash win' category when the freeplay hadn't posted to my account by 2PM. I know it's not a huge amount but it is super cool to win cash - though it was immediately converted into freeplay since I used it to play slots! Of course I did!
Update - it's now Monday, 9/23. We just confirmed with the property management company that our application was approved. Our credit score 'was the highest we've ever seen'. Nice!! I'm about to make the online payment for first, last, $1500 in pet deposits and a few other fees. We'll get the keys on 10/4 and can start taking stuff we need to live to our interim home beginning that trip up.
Movers come tomorrow to talk through options and estimates. I'm ready to plan for them to finish packing and moving everything else - though we continue to pack and organize and are making (continued) good progress. We've got a massive amount of stuff for a charity give away, a box of hazardous waste to take to our city disposal, some metal items (old shelf, old trash cans) to take to the metal recycler and some old paints to drop off at the paint store for recycling. J. is going to work on those 'stacks' this week -
We're scheduled to head up again on Thursday and while we're both tired of the drive and exhausted with all of it, we will likely be going. We want to get a post office box and it's always fun to check on the house. It feels like it will be one of the last 'fun' weekends we'll have for a while since we'll be making multiple trips up pretty frequently as we tackle finalizing the move.
While the new owners have offered to let us rent back even into January, 2020, we've decided to make getting settled there in early November our goal. We'd rather get there and end the 'tug' of the back and forth - it is a lot of moving parts to deal with and it would all be easier to deal with when we eliminate the 3.5 hour drive each way multiple times a month. The project manager for the house wants us to start talking about outside look - and we still have to choose lighting. Our electrical walk through is (so far) scheduled for 10/31 - we won't be moved in by that date but we'll be close, we hope. (And we might be moved in by that date - we'll figure that out in the next week or so).
H. will be on a plane to Houston on Sunday, 10/20 - he is excited. He's winding down the things he needs to do to finish his DUI classes - so we'll be spending time helping him get packed up as well.
In other news, I trekked to the movie theater last night to see Downton Abbey - it was so wonderful! I think the last time I cared enough about a movie to go to the theater to see was Twilight - so it's been awhile. It was perfect in every way. I'm so glad I got to see it and can't wait to see it again a thousand times - via DVD (purchased) and/or on cable at some point.
Time to head back to the garage where I'm making an effort to match storage containers/bins to lids. From the onset of us realizing we were moving, we've tossed all containers and lid into one area/box and we're slowly making progress matching them - if they don't match, they are being recycled. I'm keeping many more than I will need but I will have a beautiful walk in pantry to organize and want to have plenty of options for how to do that - same with the laundry room.
Also time to fill up another 32 oz. of water for consumption. I'm doing at least 2-3 a day - super hot plus somewhat active requires hydration.
Friday, September 13, 2019
SOLD!
Received the offer on Tuesday, met with our realtor Wednesday, countered and our counter was accepted that afternoon. Close of escrow is on 10/11 and we have to be out by 10/31. We're hoping to be out at least a few days before that but we'll see.
Sold sign was added yesterday, lock box for realtor showings was removed and they picked up the stack of flyers the real estate office had made about the house. She suggested we keep a few for our 'scrapbook' - and we also saved all the pics of the house off the real estate website.
We have a lot of memories in this house and many parts of leaving are hard. But our new adventure will be amazing and we are super excited about it!!
Termite inspection happening in about an hour and the full house inspection tomorrow morning. The roof inspector will 'just show up' so we'll be ready for that as well.
J. is heading to Visalia today for a high school reunion lunch so H. and I will be manning the home front. J. will be home tomorrow afternoon.
On Monday, we will trek to Reno and Carson City for a few days with a list of things we need to take care of - including looking at apartments and visiting the boarding kennel to check it out. And getting a PO Box in Carson City so we can start having mail directed to our new home. (I don't want to change address to an apartment for a couple months and then back to the house - we'll just use a PO box to start and when we're in the house, we'll revert back to using that address and cancel the box).
We're super relieved that it sold quickly and while there was a twinge of 'damn, we should have asked a bit more' (the offer was what we asked), we are fine with just being done. The new owners have aggressively planned to release all contingencies by 9/23 so it will be a super busy ten days or so of inspections, (likely) some repairs, etc. - .
Time to get dressed to prepare for inspector arrival and then I need to work on cleaning the house. We're relieved to not have to make it spotless day after day but the new owners will be here tomorrow to accompany the inspector so we want to have it look nice. H. and I plan to stay while the inspector is here - two hours in the park on a very hot day is not appealing to either us or the dog - so we'll have them inspect the study and then we'll close the doors and hide out in here until they leave. I will attempt to get H. to watch a movie with me - fingers crossed.
UPDATE - met the new owners today - they came to accompany the inspector. The inspector arrived early - I was just stepping out of the shower when he rang the doorbell - thank goodness H. was home to answer. He (inspector) started the outside inspection. After I was dressed, I went outside and asked 'so are you expecting the new owners?'. His iPad said 'meet owner' which was me as far as he was concerned. But the family showed up - they were outside for quite a while. The inspector didn't ask them to come in with him - so I finally went outside and invited them in.
Very nice couple. Eight year old daughter. And the wife's parents who have been in America for a few months. They live in Hayward and are basically moving out here for the same reason we did: better schools. As I was talking to the wife, she said 'you can stay longer if you'd like'. I said 'well, we'd both need to talk to our husbands about that and our real estate agents, too'. Later, the husband approached me and said 'we aren't going to move here until January so you really are welcome to stay here if you'd like'.
Could it get any more perfect? Really! It's perfect. I emailed our agent and he explained the next steps - we'll let the process go through 'as is' but there is a form for the buyer to rent/lease back to former owner so that's what we'll do. Definitely through November and hopefully December if needed.
We really have no idea when our house will be done so having this extra time will be stellar. Their mortgage and taxes are more expensive than what we pay currently but not more than we'll pay for our new house so...it will be fine.
No logistics of moving to temp housing at this point. No worry about what to do with the pets. We have another month or two here to work through all that.
OH - and they bought the dining room furniture and kitchen table and chairs from us as well. They will bring cash next month and we'll just leave those pieces here when we leave. They also will keep the chaises and pool bins. (The chaises were going to be trashed so....we'll give them away).
There's really not a lot of furniture we're taking - if we keep whittling down what we have, we'll be able to get things moved up there pretty efficiently.
I am worried about winter. Traveling up there in December is troublesome. But J. said (when I called him in Visalia to share the incredible update) 'we'll just have to dodge storms'. But at this point, for all we know, we might be up there at the end of November and in our house. We'll see!
Sold sign was added yesterday, lock box for realtor showings was removed and they picked up the stack of flyers the real estate office had made about the house. She suggested we keep a few for our 'scrapbook' - and we also saved all the pics of the house off the real estate website.
We have a lot of memories in this house and many parts of leaving are hard. But our new adventure will be amazing and we are super excited about it!!
Termite inspection happening in about an hour and the full house inspection tomorrow morning. The roof inspector will 'just show up' so we'll be ready for that as well.
J. is heading to Visalia today for a high school reunion lunch so H. and I will be manning the home front. J. will be home tomorrow afternoon.
On Monday, we will trek to Reno and Carson City for a few days with a list of things we need to take care of - including looking at apartments and visiting the boarding kennel to check it out. And getting a PO Box in Carson City so we can start having mail directed to our new home. (I don't want to change address to an apartment for a couple months and then back to the house - we'll just use a PO box to start and when we're in the house, we'll revert back to using that address and cancel the box).
We're super relieved that it sold quickly and while there was a twinge of 'damn, we should have asked a bit more' (the offer was what we asked), we are fine with just being done. The new owners have aggressively planned to release all contingencies by 9/23 so it will be a super busy ten days or so of inspections, (likely) some repairs, etc. - .
Time to get dressed to prepare for inspector arrival and then I need to work on cleaning the house. We're relieved to not have to make it spotless day after day but the new owners will be here tomorrow to accompany the inspector so we want to have it look nice. H. and I plan to stay while the inspector is here - two hours in the park on a very hot day is not appealing to either us or the dog - so we'll have them inspect the study and then we'll close the doors and hide out in here until they leave. I will attempt to get H. to watch a movie with me - fingers crossed.
UPDATE - met the new owners today - they came to accompany the inspector. The inspector arrived early - I was just stepping out of the shower when he rang the doorbell - thank goodness H. was home to answer. He (inspector) started the outside inspection. After I was dressed, I went outside and asked 'so are you expecting the new owners?'. His iPad said 'meet owner' which was me as far as he was concerned. But the family showed up - they were outside for quite a while. The inspector didn't ask them to come in with him - so I finally went outside and invited them in.
Very nice couple. Eight year old daughter. And the wife's parents who have been in America for a few months. They live in Hayward and are basically moving out here for the same reason we did: better schools. As I was talking to the wife, she said 'you can stay longer if you'd like'. I said 'well, we'd both need to talk to our husbands about that and our real estate agents, too'. Later, the husband approached me and said 'we aren't going to move here until January so you really are welcome to stay here if you'd like'.
Could it get any more perfect? Really! It's perfect. I emailed our agent and he explained the next steps - we'll let the process go through 'as is' but there is a form for the buyer to rent/lease back to former owner so that's what we'll do. Definitely through November and hopefully December if needed.
We really have no idea when our house will be done so having this extra time will be stellar. Their mortgage and taxes are more expensive than what we pay currently but not more than we'll pay for our new house so...it will be fine.
No logistics of moving to temp housing at this point. No worry about what to do with the pets. We have another month or two here to work through all that.
OH - and they bought the dining room furniture and kitchen table and chairs from us as well. They will bring cash next month and we'll just leave those pieces here when we leave. They also will keep the chaises and pool bins. (The chaises were going to be trashed so....we'll give them away).
There's really not a lot of furniture we're taking - if we keep whittling down what we have, we'll be able to get things moved up there pretty efficiently.
I am worried about winter. Traveling up there in December is troublesome. But J. said (when I called him in Visalia to share the incredible update) 'we'll just have to dodge storms'. But at this point, for all we know, we might be up there at the end of November and in our house. We'll see!
Monday, September 09, 2019
Manic Monday
I fretted a bit that we only had one house showing this weekend. Our realtor says one or two a week is the norm in the current market....so I really shouldn't worry. But I do. Anxious to get 'sell house' off the list of things that need to be done before we move to Nevada.
Our slow paced Monday morning turned in to a somewhat less than mad dash to prepare for two showings - one at noon and the other between one and two. It worked out fine. When the call came about the noon showing, it was 9:45 and we all hit the deck running. Ran the vacuum, swept all the floors, dusted everything, made sure the kitchen was in good shape - gathered up Chloe, her leash and some water and headed to the park. The first showing was 45 minutes. We returned home quickly, ate lunch and got the call that the second group were 10 minutes away. They were in the house maybe 8 minutes - the realtor texted to say 'beautiful house, too many stairs'. There was an older couple and a young couple and the older gentleman was using a cane. This house is not cane friendly. "Multi-level" was the rage 19 years ago and there are stairs everywhere. Even though it has a full bedroom/bath downstairs (which we've turned in to an office but it could be turned back to a bedroom easily enough), it's still stairs up in to the kitchen. Didn't work for them. Too bad because it is a really great house for multi-generational living which happens a lot these days.
Tomorrow, J. is going to Monterey to take the cremains of his parents to a boat where they will be scattered at sea. This has been on the list of things to take care of for a very long time and I am very happy the cremains will no longer be in our closet. He has to stop at the County clerk to file some forms, then head to the boat. And since he's driving all that way, he's going to enjoy a round of golf while he's there. He'll be leaving the house at 6AM and be back 12 hours or so later. H. is off tomorrow and Wednesday so he will be able to help me if there are more showings tomorrow.
Chloe loves the park. This time, we went to the back section of the park and sat at tables there. She can wander to her hearts content and not get near the street. She walked and walked and was very hot - even though it was a very mild day - we were completely comfortable but we're not covered in thick fur. We took her home to cool down and when we went back, we made sure we had a bowl and a big bottle of water. We weren't there long enough to need it but now we have a ready set of "Chloe supplies" for future park visits. She has been sleeping like a rock since dinner - we wore her out!
I lunch with a work friend tomorrow and have a work friend dinner on Thursday. I am supposed to go to Reno this Friday for three nights but I'm going to call tomorrow and cancel. I'm not feeling it and really would rather stay home. We've got reservations at the end of the month and we will probably go then - hopeful that by that time, we'll know the house here is sold and can start sketching out a timeline.
Time for bed. I'm going to set an alarm to get up before J. leaves - to see him off and be available for Chloe - might take a nap tomorrow if I need it.
Our slow paced Monday morning turned in to a somewhat less than mad dash to prepare for two showings - one at noon and the other between one and two. It worked out fine. When the call came about the noon showing, it was 9:45 and we all hit the deck running. Ran the vacuum, swept all the floors, dusted everything, made sure the kitchen was in good shape - gathered up Chloe, her leash and some water and headed to the park. The first showing was 45 minutes. We returned home quickly, ate lunch and got the call that the second group were 10 minutes away. They were in the house maybe 8 minutes - the realtor texted to say 'beautiful house, too many stairs'. There was an older couple and a young couple and the older gentleman was using a cane. This house is not cane friendly. "Multi-level" was the rage 19 years ago and there are stairs everywhere. Even though it has a full bedroom/bath downstairs (which we've turned in to an office but it could be turned back to a bedroom easily enough), it's still stairs up in to the kitchen. Didn't work for them. Too bad because it is a really great house for multi-generational living which happens a lot these days.
Tomorrow, J. is going to Monterey to take the cremains of his parents to a boat where they will be scattered at sea. This has been on the list of things to take care of for a very long time and I am very happy the cremains will no longer be in our closet. He has to stop at the County clerk to file some forms, then head to the boat. And since he's driving all that way, he's going to enjoy a round of golf while he's there. He'll be leaving the house at 6AM and be back 12 hours or so later. H. is off tomorrow and Wednesday so he will be able to help me if there are more showings tomorrow.
Chloe loves the park. This time, we went to the back section of the park and sat at tables there. She can wander to her hearts content and not get near the street. She walked and walked and was very hot - even though it was a very mild day - we were completely comfortable but we're not covered in thick fur. We took her home to cool down and when we went back, we made sure we had a bowl and a big bottle of water. We weren't there long enough to need it but now we have a ready set of "Chloe supplies" for future park visits. She has been sleeping like a rock since dinner - we wore her out!
I lunch with a work friend tomorrow and have a work friend dinner on Thursday. I am supposed to go to Reno this Friday for three nights but I'm going to call tomorrow and cancel. I'm not feeling it and really would rather stay home. We've got reservations at the end of the month and we will probably go then - hopeful that by that time, we'll know the house here is sold and can start sketching out a timeline.
Time for bed. I'm going to set an alarm to get up before J. leaves - to see him off and be available for Chloe - might take a nap tomorrow if I need it.
Saturday, September 07, 2019
Refrigerator Work
I'm working on going through both refrigerator freezers and planning meals around what we have. Found some frozen cooked ground beef and frozen cooked Italian sausage so we're doing a Taco night and spaghetti. Also some chicken tenders for another night. I'm getting things out to thaw every couple of days. J. treks to the grocery store every couple of days anyway for milk (H. is here. He drinks more milk than anyone I've ever known) so I give him a list of the few things we'll need for each dinner I'm planning. We're not going to do huge stock up trips anymore. Eat what we have as much as we can to be as cleaned out as possible when the time comes for us to move to temporary housing.
Still have no idea when that will be but it will happen - I'm confident it will.
It's now Saturday and we jumped start our morning by getting a call for a showing at 11AM - at 9:45. I had just finished making myself an egg and hot dog breakfast sandwich on a hamburger bun. The bun and hot dog were 'use them up' items identified as I went through food this week. We scrambled to get the house squared away in a rush and left for the park just as they were all arriving.
Chloe loves going to the park - she gets to be off leash and run like crazy jumping through the tall grass. I think H. and J. are less vigilant than I was about her wanderings - which is my 'Mom-ness' vs. their 'she's fine-ness'. I just worry she'll bolt after a dog or get to close to the street and make a run for it. It's a busy street. She sniffs everywhere and tries to head for home. It was fun watching her be 'puppy-like'. Completely joy-filled.
We got back from the park about 20 minutes later (saw the realtor's car and the family's car as we started toward our car - J. uses the alarm data on his phone to know when they've left). J. went for a walk. When he returned home 30ish minutes later, he went upstairs to get showered and changed and discovered that they had turned on the fireplace in his bedroom and left it on. The room was hot!
He phoned the realtor and she said it was likely the 8 year old girl that had turned it on - it has a slight delay when it fires up so it's possible they didn't know it had been turned on.
I cleaned out my purse which required vacuuming it out. Also cleaned out (vacuumed) two tote bags we use a lot and J. is running those through the washer. Then I used Qtips and rubbing alcohol to clean the tower fan. I tried just vacuuming the dust out - which usually works - but the dust wasn't budging with the vac brush so I used cotton swabs and cotton pads with the rubbing alcohol to really get it clean.
We've cleaned surfaces in the house that haven't been cleaned in ages which feels great. We called our cleaning company to suspend services for now because we're doing all that needs to be done (and then some) to keep the house ready for showings.
Yesterday, we had a call with our builder who acknowledges that the 10/30 contract date for close of escrow won't happen. More issues with work crew and the plumber he's used for decades deciding to retire with little notice and no continuation of the plumbing company. I asked 'so will I be using my double oven for Thanksgiving or is it likely Christmas'. He said 'oh no, I'm aiming for November before the 'big snow' starts. Great. In a week, he will send us a timeline of the entire build so we'll know what will be happening when.
We feel better. But I have a sick feeling in my stomach that it's going to be later than November....and that leads to a horrible thought that we won't be in the house until next Spring. I don't want to be in temp housing for multiple quarters. One quarter, sure. More than one? No. Please. Just no.
I remind myself to stop worrying about things I can't control - take a deep breath and it will be as it will be. Everything is unfolding as it should. We aren't in control of most of it and we will be totally fine no matter what.
Next steps are to sell this house which will help us work through the timeline for when we will be out of this house and in temp housing up there.
I'm not sure why but I have felt absolutely exhausted for most of the day so I plan to head to bed early.
Also finding things that I'm just getting rid of. J. went to a local restaurant a while back to pickup takeout and they had avocado ice cream - so we tried it. It was tossed today. It wasn't awful. But it wasn't great, either. No one will ever eat it - even H. - so out it went. Also a bunch of 'smoothie' ingredients here for over a year that I'm not using. Berry mixes with kale and seeds and stuff. I'd try it but...no. I'd rather not. I tried once and that's it. I'm over it and they'll be tossed tomorrow.
Just tackling a little bit a day and looking forward to it being completely cleaned out soon.
I'm not a huge fan of sandwiches - but I'm trying to get used to them for lunch. I convinced J. that while I understand H. prefers white bread and I don't eat enough bread to buy a second loaf of something more substantial, we do need to buy white bread that has some firmness and texture. Not white bread that basically becomes mush upon adding sandwich fixings. Yesterday, I used a half of a tomato and made a delicious tomato sandwich for lunch. It was seriously scrumptious and might be a new favorite sandwich. J. bought potato bread which isn't H.'s favorite but it will have to do. Cheap white bread is just mushy and gross.
It's now Saturday and we jumped start our morning by getting a call for a showing at 11AM - at 9:45. I had just finished making myself an egg and hot dog breakfast sandwich on a hamburger bun. The bun and hot dog were 'use them up' items identified as I went through food this week. We scrambled to get the house squared away in a rush and left for the park just as they were all arriving.
Chloe loves going to the park - she gets to be off leash and run like crazy jumping through the tall grass. I think H. and J. are less vigilant than I was about her wanderings - which is my 'Mom-ness' vs. their 'she's fine-ness'. I just worry she'll bolt after a dog or get to close to the street and make a run for it. It's a busy street. She sniffs everywhere and tries to head for home. It was fun watching her be 'puppy-like'. Completely joy-filled.
We got back from the park about 20 minutes later (saw the realtor's car and the family's car as we started toward our car - J. uses the alarm data on his phone to know when they've left). J. went for a walk. When he returned home 30ish minutes later, he went upstairs to get showered and changed and discovered that they had turned on the fireplace in his bedroom and left it on. The room was hot!
He phoned the realtor and she said it was likely the 8 year old girl that had turned it on - it has a slight delay when it fires up so it's possible they didn't know it had been turned on.
I cleaned out my purse which required vacuuming it out. Also cleaned out (vacuumed) two tote bags we use a lot and J. is running those through the washer. Then I used Qtips and rubbing alcohol to clean the tower fan. I tried just vacuuming the dust out - which usually works - but the dust wasn't budging with the vac brush so I used cotton swabs and cotton pads with the rubbing alcohol to really get it clean.
We've cleaned surfaces in the house that haven't been cleaned in ages which feels great. We called our cleaning company to suspend services for now because we're doing all that needs to be done (and then some) to keep the house ready for showings.
Yesterday, we had a call with our builder who acknowledges that the 10/30 contract date for close of escrow won't happen. More issues with work crew and the plumber he's used for decades deciding to retire with little notice and no continuation of the plumbing company. I asked 'so will I be using my double oven for Thanksgiving or is it likely Christmas'. He said 'oh no, I'm aiming for November before the 'big snow' starts. Great. In a week, he will send us a timeline of the entire build so we'll know what will be happening when.
We feel better. But I have a sick feeling in my stomach that it's going to be later than November....and that leads to a horrible thought that we won't be in the house until next Spring. I don't want to be in temp housing for multiple quarters. One quarter, sure. More than one? No. Please. Just no.
I remind myself to stop worrying about things I can't control - take a deep breath and it will be as it will be. Everything is unfolding as it should. We aren't in control of most of it and we will be totally fine no matter what.
Next steps are to sell this house which will help us work through the timeline for when we will be out of this house and in temp housing up there.
I'm not sure why but I have felt absolutely exhausted for most of the day so I plan to head to bed early.
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Tales of Helpers
Our cleaning lady D. is here today - she wears earbuds and chats on the phone while she works. She is the third cleaning 'person(s)'...
