3/18 On the truck

Everything is out of my house. Everything, that is, except the tons of dog hair left behind. Oh my. And to my embarrassment, there's plenty of dog hair being transported to Quincy too.

But the wonderful news is that my stuff will be delivered on Friday. Yes, this Friday. My shipment was last on, first off of this truck. I'm beyond pleased. This means I won't have to take a day off from work without pay in order to be there for the delivery. The cable guy is coming Friday too. Other than having a huge mess, I should be good to go. The phone is already turned on, and I'm calling water and electricity tomorrow to get them in my name. Got a text message from my niece Kris today with the necessary phone numbers.

Things are progressing. And I'm anxious to get going. It's going to be hard to leave here, but I can't wait for the next chapter to begin.

3/17 Happy St. Pat's Day

Yesterday was a significant day in many ways. First, my dad would have been 83 years old. Second, Quincy turned 13 months old and Cookie turned 19 months old. Third, my friends gave me a wonderful party. Caroline hosted it but Lorena and Genia worked so hard too. The food was fantastic, and although the turnout was small, it was perfect. The people I wanted to be here were here.

I slept well last night at Caroline's. She has a marvelous guest room, and it's amazing how well you can sleep when you ahve a good mattress. Guess I have to finally get a new one once I get settled in Quincy.

I ate so much yesterday at the bbq, but we have so much food left that Caroline and I will eat hamburgers (and veggie burgers) again tonight. Yum, yum, yum.

I woke up at 5:30 this morning and got to my house before 7. The packers got there at 8:30 so I had plenty of time to finish up the few things I had left to do. Paula, my realtor and friend, came by at 10 and I signed some papers. There's now a lockbox on my house too.

The movers finished packing at 2, and they will return tomorrow around 8:30 or 9 to load up the truck. I still don't know when they'll deliver in Quincy, but the driver should be able to tell me tomorrow.

This is really happening. My house is a blur of boxes, and no longer seems like my home. It felt good to get it done though, and to get back to Caroline's. I spent the rest of the afternoon playing with her cats until she got home from work. Caroline is getting her taxes prepared right now, so I'm taking the opportunity to update my blog. More tomorrow.

3/15 Lots of work

Am getting things done in order for the movers to come on Monday. Caroline came and helped me for a while.

Took the pups to the kennel this morning. It made me sad to realize that last night was indeed the last night they would stay here in the only home they've known. I'll just hope that dogs are as adaptable as children are.

Tomorrow is my going away party, so I have lots to do in the morning before the barbecue at 3.

Am tired and will relax now, and finish up tomorrow.

3/6 A few changes

First of all I changed my last day at work. It's now Wednesday 3/19 instead of Thursday. I want to leave Thursday morning when I pick up the pups at the kennel and just head on out.

And Genia might be riding with me. She's from Belleville and the dogs love her, so she is strongly considering going with me. It would be such a big help with the dogs, and my stress level will go down about 80%. Hope it works out.

Caroline called and she's having a goodbye barbecue for me on the 16th. I'm looking forward to it, providing my house is ready for the movers. They come the next morning, so I'll have to have everything ready so I can enjoy the party.

3/4 Storms, etc.

I was up most of the night with the puppies. The thunderstorms were huge and fantastic, but kept waking up Quincy. Poor Cookie was already awake. She gets really scared during bad storms. Plus she had diarrhea. Q has the tapeworms and C has the diarrhea. Go figure. (Cookie didn't have an accident however--just had to go outside every half hour or so until around 4 this morning. I'm proud of her for not messing in the house.)

I'm waiting for the Sears technician to arrive. (Insert doorbell sound.) He's here now, and we have two new motors plus other parts. So the elliptical should be entirely fixed today. That makes me happy. Now that it's fixed it's time for the elliptical to be moved to Quincy and to not work again.

I forgot to post this. But when I was leaving the conference at the Beau Rivage last Friday I saw an old guy with a Packer hat on. I said, "Go Pack!" And told him I lived in Milwaukee for 10 years. Asked him where he was from and he said, "Eagle River." I screamed a little and said that's where my son-in-law is from. Asked him if he knew the Potrykus family. He said, "Sure, Doc's my dentist." Doc is Todd's older brother Neil. Eagle River is a small community, and the world is a small place.

3/1 This month

As my s-i-l, Andrea, reminded me--I'm going to be living in Quincy this month. I can't even believe it. One week from tomorrow my family is coming. Two weeks from Monday the movers are coming. In two and half weeks I'll be leaving. Wow. And I haven't done much yet. So--bye bye.

2/28 Can't sleep

The dogs woke me up at 4:30 to go outside. They came right back in and went to sleep, but not me. I haven't been able to go back to sleep. My mind is just racing--so much to think about, so much to do. I have to put the finishing touches on my presentation for tomorrow. There are going to be around 300 people there, and we are talking about the importance of funding case management. Some federal folks will be attending, and it's vital they hear us.

Then of course there's all I have to do with the house and other items to get ready to move. I'm so excited, yet know there's a lot of work ahead of me--not the least of which is driving to Quincy with both dogs. Last time I drove to Quincy in August, Q was six months old and I didn't have C yet. Now Q is one and C is 18 months. They'll take up the whole back of the car, plus I have to take at least two suitcases, a big bag, dog food, toys, water, computer case, purse, and a dog crate. Oh my. I have no idea how I'm going to get everything in the car. But I'll do it. Everything always does work out, even when it seems impossible. I just want to have enough room in the back of the car so the dogs can at least move around for the 12-15 hour drive.

Lots of fun things to look forward to also--I'm going to be home for Easter. Plus family members are arriving on the 9th. I love to show off the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Besides the devastation still in evidence, there's incredible natural beauty. It'll be fun to have them here.

2/27 Tired but happy

Met with the new painters last night. They are great guys. Both teach and coach at a middle school and both have been teaching for 25 years. I'll get the estimate today or tomorrow. They'll even come back in to touch up after the floors get finished.

I've got everything arranged, including someone to clean up at the very end--because I'll be gone. This has taken a lot of orchestration, but here's the schedule:

3/17 and 3/18 Movers move
3/19-3/23 Painters paint
3/24-3/27 Floorers floor
3/28 Cleaner cleans
3/28 House goes on the market officially

Throughout--payor pays. Yes, it's taking some money but it's going to be the best looking house in the subdivision and that will help sell it. Someone (who shall be nameless) said I should paint the place myself to save money. I'd love to do that. But I've never done it before, plus I work until 3/20 and am leaving that same day. (Have to be at work in the new city on 3/24.) There's absolutely no time to (a) learn how to paint and (b) actually paint.

This move is happening incredibly fast. I told Rob that I see the effects of stress on me. But I'm doing the best I can. And at least this is good stress.

I'm a lucky bug.

2/25 Some things are done

Well, I'm having the movers pack me. The price was right. They're packing on the 17th and loading on the 18th. I'll stay at my friend Caroline's house from the 17th until the 20th. Then the puppies and I will take off.

Elliptical guy has to return during the first week of March to install a new motor.

Paint guy didn't work out. Have to find another one.

Realtor was awesome, but I knew that. She's the one I used when I bought this house.

Floor guy will be here at 5:30 and friends will be here at 7 to play cards. Two of them have to work tomorrow night so we switched our card playing to tonight.

Guess that's it for now. Lots to do. Have to file a homestead exemption. Forgot to do that. It will help the next owner on their taxes.

Then there's my actual job. :) Guess I have to keep working.

Something cool happened though. I got interviewed last week by the local TV station--I think I wrote about that. Well, the reason I got interviewed is because I asked a question of the main speaker at another conference last week, and I invited him to a conference this weekMississippi Gulf Coast. Well, the bigwig is actually going to show up. Chutzpah pays sometimes.

2/24 More cleaning

Last night Genia and I had fun at the movie. Definitely, Maybe is definitely, not maybe, worth seeing if you like romantic comedies. We both thoroughly enjoyed it.

Today is cleaning again. Am tackling the kitchen floor and my bedroom and bathroom. The three most "doggy" rooms in the house. Right now I'm in the office typing this, and they are lying at my feet. Sweet, sweet dogs. But that will change once I get up again. They'll follow me around and want to "help" in their unique doggy way.

Yesterday I realized what a time crunch I'm under. Two weeks from today my company arrives (YAY!!!!!). And they leave the following Thursday (13th). The next Thursday, the 20th, is my last day at work. Yikes. I just have three and a half weeks until I leave. Sure hope I can get everything done.

I have five people coming by tomorrow. Paula, my real estate agent; a painter for an estimate; floor covering estimate; moving estimate; and a guy to fix my elliptical trainer. It's going to be busy. Plus I need to actually work in the midst of it. And the dogs can't be at doggy day care because they are closed on Mondays, except for boarding.

Yikes. I'm stressed--but this kind of stress is great compared to the stress of not having a job to go home to. :) And I really can't wait until my family comes to visit.

9/26 I love my dogs

I had a rough day. Had to stay at the new office all day by myself waiting for technicians who never showed up. Everyone else went to help the caseworkers move to their new place. So at least it was quiet, but sure was lonely.

But I picked up my puppies and they immediately cheered me. It's great to get that unconditional love. We got home around 6, I gave them their dinner, made my dinner, and by the time I was done eating they were sleeping. Michelle and Leo at Pampered Pets said both of them played hard today. Their Weimereiner friend was there and they all got worn out.

Quincy's passed out on my bathroom floor. She can see my bed from there so will open an eye every now and then to make sure I'm still typing. And Cookie is sleeping on my bed. Her favorite chew toy is close by but she can't be bothered because she's comatose. Aren't they cute?

9/25 Moving day and dogs.....

First the dogs. They were at the vets yesterday and got weighed. Cookie is 46--up three pounds since we got her. And Quincy is 59. Up 51 pounds since I got her. :)

Today we moved to our new office, and then we had an emergency conference call for hours and I didn't put anything away in my office. So tomorrow there's a ton, ton, ton of stuff to put away. Plus regular "stuff" to do.

Q only had to have one bath today. That's because every other time she went outside I was right at her side, saying NO every time she went toward the mud.

We're now watching Tropical Depression 13 in the Gulf.

4/10 No time to blog

Work is crazy busy plus I have to walk the dog every few hours. That does give me a nice break though.

Looks like things will work out for Wednesday. I'll write more about it as it happens.

3/18 Me and my RV

I'm nice and cozy in this RV. I really like it. Just hope I can find room for everything. It's amazing though; there are cubbyholes and storage everywhere. Under the bed, under the RV, under the couch, under the benches by the table, in the bathroom. And there are plenty of cabinets in the kitchenette. Again, I'm amazed.

This morning I went to church at Good Shepherd Lutheran which is Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Next week I'll go to Christus Victor which is ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America). Today's service was so much like a Catholic Mass that I could say most of the prayers without looking at the book.

Afterwards I moved all my stuff from the hotel to the RV. In doing so I broke Rob and Beata's TV they'd loaned me. I left my big one at their house and took a smaller one with me--no room in the car for the big one. So I had to go buy a new TV today too. Plus towels and pillows--things like that. No problem because I'll use them at my new house.

I feel great...work is only about a mile down Pass Road, and the coffee shop is only a mile in the other direction. Yay.

3/5 First day on the job

I'm really excited about going in to work, and woke up well before the alarm. My room is still a mess. No space to put everything away. Guess my little SUV held a lot after all. Only problem I'm having is that my back is very sore. Nothing serious, I'm positive. Just muscles that are unused to carrying heavy boxes and tubs. A few days of rest should fix it. And we all know how much I love taking it easy. :)

When I talked to John last night he said that the Deputy Director is expecting me at 9. Omigod, I'm having such a hard time waiting until then. At least tomorrow I'll have a key and will be able to go in early if I wake up early again.

There's just so much to do, and I'm anxious to get started.