Runaround

So this week was devoted to travel. On Tuesday I had to meet other managers at a client's house 35 miles away so round trip was 70 miles - and that was BEFORE I had to head to the meeting in NJ which I carped about yesterday. After the meeting I stayed with Janet and Diane as I had a couple of days in between before I was off to my next Bayada event. It was fun, they have two very teeny weeny dogs that are hard to get used to since my two are large excitable messes. These dogs are small excitable messes and when you take them outside it's like hamster wrangling. I made them swear they would not poop as it's an area where you have to carry little poo bags around. Of course they lied and I was forced to stroll around with a bag full of Poodle Doodles. The next day I did a ton of paperwork and then went out to shop and spy on the amish - they rarely disappoint.

On Thursday we celebrated my birthday with carbonated coconut water, Pad Thai, Double chocolate cake and Game Of Thrones. Since I've finished the series I can start watching it and we made it through the first 3 episodes before we passed out from geriatric excitement. Of course the other thing I got was Epic Heartburn from the above mixture of foods - ugh! I was up and down most of the night, but morning it had reduced to pilot light of pain, still there but not anywhere near what it had been. The weather was so dreary today! Just grey and a bit chilly, there was not much to do. I'd already been shopping and so forth so we just hung out with a little bit more game of thrones. I left a bit early so I could stop and get some coffee creamer and yogurt for the morning, off I went. I sat in traffic of course - I love awards weekend but hate the city. But since they've had it here before it only took me one circle before spotting the front. And wonders of wonders - I actually was at the right hotel! 

I'm not going out tonight, I am volunteering in the morning and have to be up and out by 6:15am but that's fine. It's started storming and I bought a salad and sandwich for dinner, after this week I can take a quiet evening alone. Ordering stuff. For my birthday. 

Highway To Hell

Ugh. I hate traveling to the other end of the state because there are a lot of people there. And the second they are put on notice I will be coming, they all hop in their cars and take their position on the highway -  I have a meeting in NJ tomorrow and then my last Bayada awards weekend on Friday.  I had visits today and finished a little earlier than expected which worked out well because after I put the address in the GPS it was an hour and a half longer of a drive than I had anticipated. This morning was stressful because of,well, because of me. I had known for a very long time I would be leaving today so you'd think I would have started packing or something, maybe gas in the car, who knows! Not me. This morning found me ransacking my closet and dresser discovering I had Nothing To Wear. Since I couldn't decide what I wasn't wearing I stuffed my suitcase so I could sort through it later. Amusingly I've discovered I've pretty much packed nothing of use and 3 pairs of shoes.

After I got done with my last visit I went to the gas  station to get gas and de-stress a bit by sitting in the carwash. That is one of my go-to's when I'm freaking out. It's so calming, with the soap covering the windows, the hot wax, the giant blow dryer.... I wasn't super bad so I only sat through it once. yeah..... I've had a two car wash day. Then back to the house to finish (throwing stuff in a suitcase)packing,ran the dogs.I had a small cheese party because I felt bad about leaving them and off I went. I have a fairly new GPS that's pretty fancy - I can get text messages and phone calls on it. Unfortunately it somehow got connected to my Words With Friends so as I'm driving it will suddenly flash Mathmaddox91 Has Challenged You To A Game.  I have no idea how to stop it.  The other issue is I'm pretty sure programming the GPSs is left to Vindictive Old Boyfriends - the things it does to me! It decided we were taking the Turnpike which was going very well til we got to NJ. Then since I was tired from driving it started doing crap like changing how long it would take me to get here. It announced a traffic jam while I was sitting in it, then sneaky added an HOUR, then just as I was coming up to the exit it was like Oh, did I forget to tell you that exit is closed and now we have to divert you to Who Knows Where - I could have been tooling around Canada by that time. I finally arrived all crabbypants to the hotel and was very glad to finally be here. My meeting is only five miles from here so I'm currently sitting in bed and finally relaxing. 

A Good (Repair)Man Is Hard To Find

So, the house passed inspection a few weeks ago with the exception of the short list. It was not bad as far as lists go, most of it was pretty simple. Two of the items were related to appliances - the stove and kitchen fan. Now, these items came with the kitchen, they're high end and meant to last forever, but they are older. David and I were pretty disconcerted. If they were run of the mill Kenmore or Samsung easy fix, these are neither. And the fan is....odd.  You push a button on the cook top and it rises like something out of a sci fi movie, except it doesn't work. The issue with the stove was it does not lock during self cleaning - since we don't use either we hadn't thought of it. David looked all over for information on the fan, he did find it and then discovered we would need a part. Which he ordered. The part was 700 dollars. FOR ONE PART.  We had an argument about his trying to fix it all on his own which I said absolutely not - I could see this turning into a huge fiasco quickly

So, we would need a repairman - O. M. G. Anyone that has tried to hire a service person can tell you it can quickly become a nightmare and that's even if you can find one. David started calling - no, I don't go outside of Fayette county, no we only repair the appliances we sell, no answer, left a message, feel free to panic. The worst part was neither of these repairs were absolutely necessary - they are just extras. So I went on Yelp and found another name - David called and I could hear the fall down surprise in his voice - yes, I'll be there at 9am tomorrow. AND HE WAS.  You just wanted to pinch him to make sure he was real and you hadn't had too many wine coolers at dinner yesterday. Stove was fixed pronto (it was just minor) and the fan - well, it didn't work because...

it had never existed. 

Apparently it was something you could get but since the original owner had opted not to it was just a dummy slot for where it should have been, mystery solved.

So David contacted the appropriate RE since we couldn't fix what had never been there in the first place. Rather hilariously the people buying the house couldn't care less and just had it removed from the list immediately - the inspector had put it there, not them. And David was able to return the part since we didn't use it. And as for the repairman he got a stellar review on Yelp from me and if someone does well for you I would suggest you do that also. That's a large app for everything and I know when I'm looking I definitely look at the ratings - I want them to know I thought  he did an awesome job. David paid him double his service charge and could not thank him enough, he tried to refuse but really - he did save the day for us.

The Trouble with Dogs.

So, this morning I was reading a book that the main character was a dog - a great Dane to be exact. It was exceedingly well written and the dog dies peacefully, in his sleep of old age - in three sentences. And yet I am a blubbering mess, mourning this fictional dog in the early hours, I think every dog owner can relate. It's funny how my relationship with our dogs has changed as I've gotten older, we had dogs from the day we moved in together to now, but it was different. Our  earlier dogs ate leftovers, we just let them out in the morning banking on them coming back, we took them to the vet of course but we didn't worry.  And when things happened - we had one dog eat fishing line, another had an anaphylactic reaction to a bee, one drank anti-freeze - we just handled it(FYI everyone survived)

But now? Part of me thinks it's because it's just me and David - the dogs ARE family now. When they go out in the field we go with them, I bring a book with me and I sit on logs while they investigate. They for years they only eaten the best food recommended by the vet(no people food!), anything happens we bring them in to be seen - years ago we would call and the vet would fix it over the phone. We worry - what is that? Why is he limping? Does she look alright? And now they are heading to the latter part of their lives - they are large dogs so 10 to 12 is the average. Reuben's muzzle is turning white, Molly is getting a bit lumpy, they're starting to slow - they still bounce but not as high. We have started to relax the rules - they get pizza on Pizza Friday, cheese just because, not a lot but enough to keep it interesting. 

I'm always amazed when people abandon a family pet when it gets old, to me that's just one more phase I love. Yes, they get slower, thinner, their sight starts to dim and they are no longer muscular giants - but they also get calmer, cuddlier, quietly enjoying your company. Walks are slow, no longer the frantic racing, but we walk along  quiet companionship.  They happily enjoy the snacks you give them, this morning both Molly and Reuben sat in the kitchen, tails ablur waiting for their Easter eggs. They are becoming senior dogs along with us becoming seniors too.  Sometimes it makes me a bit sad, but this is just a part of life, isn't it? And right now they are both so enjoyable, silly dogs and will remain so for a long time coming. 

A Little Change In Plans

The fun thing about moving a lot is it takes a lot to get you upset. I mean you do for like 30 seconds, then you start Plan B with an occasional segeway into Plan C. If it's bad then D comes into play. So, we have a half assed closing date, a real closing date, etc... none of which is written in stone. But since we have time in any case we've been sorting and packing a bit at a time. Plan A was UHaul shipping containers with the idea we would pack all the things we need but not right now, ship it out and then as we get closer to closing pack everything else. Hmm. So - David called to confirm and they told him, well, you can't use YOUR trailer you have to use OUR trailer which is of course Moderately Priced for Your Convenience. David grumped ok, then they told him he could pick them up in...Pittsburgh?? When David pointed out he'd been told it was supposed to be Uniontown they said well, that's a "preferred location" - David said that was the location HE preferred. Arrgh.

So, back to square one. So on the upside he found a much better deal, it was a bit more costly but they can take all of our stuff. On the 19th. Of this month. Wow. So we are packing just about everything up - since the buyers are taking the guest room bedroom set we will not be sleeping on the floor and we are getting rid of everything in the living room after we go so it won't be that bad. But most of the kitchen will have to be packed up, along with, well ,along with everything I suppose. And of course there's all sorts of other things we need to get moving on. I finally got my Oregon nursing license - what a haul that was! I needed my original college transcript sent, my NCLEX results, every state I've ever been licensed in, FBI background, fingerprints, verification that I'm currently licensed.....etc.... about 6 weeks. Glad I started early!!

Now I have to get my Washington license, finish up with doctor's appointments, work, pack, work pack.....repeat as needed. It's one of those things that seems to drag and then suddenly - here it is. We are going to ship my car and then drive cross country with the two dogs and the cat and a trailer with the rest of our stuff. I'm sure it's one of those things that looks better on paper.

Pig In A Poke

A pig in a poke is an old term - it refers to buying something unseen. A poke by the way is a bag and I have no idea why you would buy a live pig in a bag, but that's just me I guess. So - we have bought a house on the other side of the country - and we have never actually seen it. And I won't say it's the most we've ever paid for a flip, but it's up there which is itself is a bit nerve wracking. Bet you're wondering how. Well, the money end was not a big one - we have a line of credit on this house which is through the bank. We can buy stuff based on using this house as collateral and then when we sell we pay it off and bank the leftover. So, essentially we can do a cash deal with the money being wired to the bank holding the property. 

And we did not really buy it sight unseen, we didn't see it but our friends Kim and Stephen did! We will be living only an hour away from our best friends so when David found the property they went out to see the place. The day they were scheduled to go Portland was hit with a major blizzard which dumped two inches of snow which paralyzed the state. No, I'm not kidding. Kim and Steve are also from LI where anything under 18 inches is considered do-able and don't be a baby so they trekked out despite the underwhelming amount of snow. Steve is a carpenter and Kim said it worked out in their favor - they took pictures of EVERYTHING, including plumbing, septic, the wiring, etc....  and it was truly workable. After we closed they went back out and ran into the owner of the ten cats - yep, that is a problem

Kim let  her know the cats have to go and she was not happy - she was the former renter and has moved in with a relative and is feeding her cats at our house! NOPE. We're hoping she has re homed them,otherwise we will have to have them trapped. Don't think I don't feel bad, but there is nothing I can do about the situation and she's had about 8 months to re home them. As to our house - we sold it in FIVE days. David and our RE Candy decided to list it so we'd have a couple of months to sell it. We had 3 offers - one was ridiculous and they seriously needed to be slapped. Full asking price but then wanted another 30,000 dollars worth of renovations with David providing the labor and us buying the materials - NOPE. Next one was similar but she had the nerve to get upset that we didn't want to work for free - NOPE. The third one came in lower, but wanted really nothing - SOLD. They have to wait til we pass the 2 year mark but that's coming up faster than you think! The first container will be here Monday and we have the basement half full of plastic bins already. The extra time will be nice so it will not be as frantic as it usually is.

It's Been Awhile

Wow - January 3rd is the last time I blogged! It's not that there wasn't anything going on, I think there was too much going on. Sometimes you just don't know where to start and the funny thing is I write on my blog all the time - in my head of course. It just never gets from Point A to Point B. I'll go over the some of the bigger stuff and  hopefully elaborate later on. I studied hard and got my CRRN (Certified Rehabilitation) back in the end of December so now I have a bunch of initials to add. The twins turned 3, can you believe it? Our older son Adam got engaged and is now looking at a house, our younger son Jackson was deployed to Japan. My dad turned 80 this year.

Oh, and we bought a house in Oregon. One of the things with visiting Jackson, Brandi and the girls is we fell in love with the area - it's all water and seaside like where we grew up but without the epic snowstorms and questionable relatives - paradise!  We'd been discussing it for awhile and David has been onlining it - he came across the perfect flip! It's an hour from where our friends Kim and Stephen live so they graciously went out and took a bazillion pictures and did a very extensive walk through. Then we put our house on the market and it sold in 5 days!!

We have to stay for a few more months to make the 2 year mark so we don't have to pay capital gains but that's fine as it gives us time to get our ducks in a row. More to follow! I promise!!