April 17, 2006 at 8:31 am (Houston, Moving, Relocation, Texas)
We’ve been here almost a month and are starting to settle in. It still doesn’t feel like home because we’re staying in someone else’s house with way too many people. We’re all really starting to get itchy to hit the road again, but don’t know exactly when our next trip will be. We know we’re planning on Albuquerque in September, then Tennessee, but we’re hoping to get to Austin at least once or twice before that. The sooner the better. We’re missing our time in the Moho.
We went to Kemah Boardwalk yesterday and had a good time. Especially all the boys, they put their all day ride passes to good use. Salem hung out with Kelly and me while we explored all the shops. She used her money to win a new addition to her stuffed animal collection. Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed the coffee shop with air conditioning. Josh and I even had time to find the local geocache.
It was 87 degrees today and the power went out in our neighborhood for about 4 hours this afternoon. You would think we’d been sent straight to the gates of hell based on all the whining in the house! Everyone was so dramatic about the heat, and the inconvenience, and the heat! Holy cow. To make it even more pitiful, Grandpa has a generator so we all sat around and watched recorded Tivo shows in front of a big fan while he finished his taxes on his computer in his room. Oh, the horror! I honestly don’t think it even got above 81 degrees in the house. I thought it was great because it was the first time in weeks that I wasn’t freezing in here from the A/C.
We’re looking into buying a house with Larry. They’re so cheap here that we should be able to afford half a house payment and still be able to travel like we want to. This will also solve the problem of storage of the stuff. More news on that later, but I’m calling a realtor tomorrow to get the search started.
I should have a new update ready for the website within a few days. I’ll post when I do.
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March 20, 2006 at 8:37 am (Family, Home, Moving, Relocation, Texas)
Salem has been happily setting up her room for 3 days. She was so excited to find out that Grandpa had reserved a bedroom just for her, and quickly started planning how she would decorate it. As of right now she has Neopets posters all over the walls, and all of her stuffed animals (a complete freakin’ zoo) up in the corners in hammocks. She has her flower rugs on the floor and a full size bed all for her. She also has the entertainment center and TV that was left in there and couldn’t be happier about that!
Bryce, on the other hand, wasted about 4 minutes after we arrived before hooking up his PS2 and getting down and dirty with the video game playing with his cousin Andre. He could not care less about the rest of his room. We could have left the room empty except for the game and he would be perfectly content. Andre is being so cool about giving up the privacy of his room. He’s been looking forward to Bryce moving in there with him for months. Now they have an awesome new bunkbed set thanks to Grandpa and have holed themselves up there for most of the last 3 days. Bliss.
Jake has been happily sleeping under the bed all day and just came out to be social. I’m so glad he seems fine, this was a big adjustment for all of us, and we can’t exactly explain it to the cat.
I miss all of you guys at work, both co-workers and customers! Thanks for the email, Charlene. Tell everyone there I said Hello!
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March 18, 2006 at 11:02 am (Home, Houston, Moving, Relocation, Seeing the world, Texas, Travel)
Made it to Houston today and arrived at Grandpa’s house by around 4pm. Tomorrow we unload the moving van, mostly into a storage unit. Fun. Not.
We’re all here, all safe and happy to be spending time with family. We all missed them, especially the kids. They’re having a great time with their cousins!
We’re also a bit sad that the traveling portion of the trip is done. We loved it, and living out of the RV for a week was so great. It makes us all the more impatient for our next leg of this journey.
I’ll write more when we hook up our own computer in the next day or maybe two. This one is ssslllloooooooowwwwww.
Also, more later about our side trip into Biloxi, MS and the unbelievable damage we saw from hurricane Katrina. Holy crap. If it’s this bad six months later, I cannot image how bad it was right away. Whole blocks are just scrubbed clean with nothing left but broken foundations and some very amazing old oak trees. It was like that for miles and miles on end and we only saw a tiny piece of it. Unbelievable.
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March 13, 2006 at 12:26 am (Family, Moving, Relocation, Seeing the world, Travel, quantum leaps)
We left our little house just after noon yesterday. After our traditional stop for “breakfast” at Ihop we hit the road and made it to Maryland in record time. Only 7 hours! When it usually takes us under 4! Let’s hear it for big vehicles hauling heavy loads and towing other heavy things!
I’ll let Kelly describe the drive better, but I will say that it was not difficult. Once we got adjusted to the truck and the RV things went very smoothly. I’m sure those people whom we cut off were just waving their fingers at us to be friendly.
Salem rode with me in the RV and had a very nice quiet ride while playing with Jake (who traveled beautifully). Bryce rode with Kelly in the truck and now Kelly’s ears are bleeding because the boy did not. stop. talking. for 7 hours.
We are at Donovan’s house now, enjoying our family and hanging out. We’ll hit the road again tomorrow.
This is so fun!!
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March 13, 2006 at 12:20 am (Moving, Relocation)
I HATE moving.
To sum up:
My fingernails are nubs.
My hands are red and puffy and feel like one big blister each.
My feet hurt so bad.
My arms are scratched all to hell.
Every muscle in my body is sore. Especially my legs.
How do we have so much crap when we got rid of so much crap already?
Cleaning. Enough said.
Filling to the roof, with barealy enough room to close the door, the biggest moving van we could get. How?
Leaving our little house that we enjoyed so much.
Saying goodbye to friends. Way too hard.
On a brighter note though, we have no jobs! Or a home! Woohoo!! And who needs health insurance? Pshaw.
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March 9, 2006 at 2:21 am (Moving, Relocation)
We picked up the monster truck today, Bryce and I. He is so excited about it that I bet he’d try to drive it himself if I let him.
Today we load all the house and yard trash into it. Tomorrow first thing in the morning we’re hauling that to the local dump. I have two friends stopping by tomorrow to say goodbye (sniff) and the rest of the day will be spent packing up the truck.
I have to say, this truck is about six million times nicer than any other moving truck I’ve ever been in. It’s clean, it works, nothing is about to fall off, everything is very well labled so even I can figure out how to turn the lights on and release the emergency brake. The only problem I can find is that the seat is really not comfortable. It is a bench seat and the back only comes up to just below my shoulders, plus I think whoever made it must not realize that women’s butts are curvy shaped. I would have appreciated more contours and padding. Well, really, I come with my own padding, but the contoured seat would have been nice. Especially with 1800 miles of roads to cover.
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February 17, 2006 at 7:21 am (Friendship, Moving, Relocation)
I have two and a half weeks left at work, and I see most of my clients on a two week schedule. This means I’ll see almost all of them at least one more time. I’ve been telling them for the last two weeks that I’m leaving and they’re not happy at all! While it’s very flattering to be told how much I’ll be missed, and how much they like me, I’m not mentally or emotionally prepared to deal with the sad goodbye’s yet. I have tried to tell them all not to get all weepy and make me cry until their very last appointment! And then it’s only allowed during the last two minutes!
This move to Houston makes our third long distance relocation. Every time I’ve made those moves I’ve had to leave an established clientelle in the salon where I worked. If you’ve ever had a good manicurist or hairstylist, you know that you can become quite close to them, and develop a relationship that is really personal. Think about it. When you get your nails done, you sit face to face for an hour every two weeks and talk. How many of us even get to do that with our friends? I have literally had clients tell me stuff they will not tell their shrink! When I have to say goodbye to them, knowing I may not see them again for a very long time, maybe never, it is really hard. I love these people and our talks. I will miss them all.
I’ll miss hearing the stories of one who’s 4th grandson just arrived.
I’ll miss the wedding of another.
I won’t know how the job search goes for one.
I won’t know how one’s new puppy survives his illness.
I won’t know when one’s boyfriend proposes like she knows he will.
I won’t know if one’s daughter gets the college scholoarship she’s working so hard for.
I won’t know about the crazy dates one goes on.
I won’t know if one is moving to Florida.
I won’t know if one’s abusive husband leaves her alone.
I won’t know how well one’s husband recovers from his work accident.
I won’t know how any of their kids are doing.
We are all really excited about going, and woudn’t change our plans for anything, but I really hate this part.
They all have my email, and our website address. I better hear from them!
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February 15, 2006 at 5:46 am (Moving, Relocation)
Jake got his shots today, and a microchip injected under his skin. He has never done well with a collar so it seems a microchip is our safest bet to get him back if he somehow gets out of the Moho while we’re traveling. I don’t think the taste of the chip will deter any coyotes, for cats are crunchy and taste good with ketchup, nor will it deflect any cars that may hit him but it’s better than nothing. Jake is part of our family and we would be crushed if anything happened to him.
We also arranged to have the new tow-bar installed on the Jeep next week, and the Moho is back in the shop where they’re re-adjusting the choke and figuring out why the brake light is coming on. I certainly hope 3 weeks is enough time to get all the bugs worked out of that thing.
Next step tonight: putting stuff for sale on Ebay. I’ve been saying that for a month, but I really mean it this time. I actually made progress towards that goal today and took pictures of all of it. Now it’s a matter of writing up the info for each thing. It isn’t hard, and doesn’t take very long, so why have I not done it yet? Probably the same reason I haven’t vacuumed in forever. I just can’t get motivated. I hate that.
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February 14, 2006 at 12:18 pm (Moving, Relocation)
Dear Mr. Murphy,Now that we have reserved our moving truck, given our notice to the landlord and our bosses and notified all concerned family members of our schedule, Please refrain from dumping all the snow on us that hasn’t fallen yet this winter all at once. Thank you.
Yes, we have a departure date and we are OUT OF HERE. We are packing daily. Our pile of “giveaway” stuff is huge. Our pile of “throw away” stuff is much bigger than the capacity of our one single garbage can. The boxes are taking over the basement. Lists are being made. It is starting to look like maybe we are actually moving! Out of New jersey! Woot!
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February 6, 2006 at 10:04 am (Moving, Relocation, Texas, Work)
Now that I’ve given my notice at work, the “last day” celebration planning has commenced.
My boss came up with the idea of a “Texas Day”. We’ll all wear cowboy hats, boots and jeans while country music plays on the stereo.
Now I guess I need a cowboy hat. And some boots. Will they let me into Texas if I don’t own those things? Also, will they kick me right back out of I admit that I’m anti-death penalty, pro-choice and pro-gay marriage?
This should be interesting.
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