Another Day.

On Tuesday we will be coming up on 3 weeks as Oregonians. Things are a bit better today. The 3 pets are settling in nicely. We had a small issue with Bob - remember how she was ninja-lurking to go outside and then we let her? After that she spent two days hiding upstairs, only coming down to eat, I thought she might be sick but I realized it was nothing more than shock. It must've be quite a surprise to have last been out in Pennsylvania and then the next time you go outside - Surprise - Oregon! I'm pretty sure she was just freaking out, but has gotten over it, this morning  David is clearing out some crap from the crawlspace and she's passed by several times.  The dogs are of course enjoying it, as long as they can go out and nose around, food appears on time and they can snuggle in the bed they could be in China for all they care. There are tons of little garter snakes so that amuses them for hours on end.

I continue to muck out and clean, I was about to change my middle name because everyone that comes near the house I greet them with "Hi, I'm Julia, CanYouSmellCatPee?" but I'm happy to report - NO, you cannot! People get very freaked out by cat pee and yes, it's a beast to get rid of. This woman let up to 22 cats free range pee in this house for over 10 years, but in less than 3 weeks the smell is gone. Is it easy? Nope - I have hand washed all the floors and the lower half of the non-removable walls, David has taken out the lower half of most of the sheet rocked walls and all the baseboards have been torn out, there are areas in this house I've dumped straight Odor-Ban on. What's really effective I've found is Odor-Ban in hot water followed by Mr. Clean in hot water with a high concentration heavily applied and let to dry.

But it's not all work. Kim and Steve were over for breakfast yesterday and then after they left we headed to the local farmer's market. Since we'd done a huge run at the store we didn't buy anything but we certainly will next week. They were having an antique car show so we wandered around there and then I finally got to go to the yarn shop. It's only open for 5 hours a week, but the owner Nancy gives you her cell number and if you need anything she just comes down and opens the shop for you. That makes sense given how small the town is. Today we're heading out to the Astoria market later, first I'm tackling the large crap pile in the yard. If you need dirty Christmas decorations, let me know and I'll send them out right away. I have a job interview next week for a job I probably don't want but it doesn't hurt to look. We are exploring an island with Kim and Steve on Saturday and then on Sunday I'm helping Kim with some of her cleaning jobs just to get started. It is a bit anxiety producing figuring out what I'm going to do, when I was at the bank I realized that for the first time since I was 11 years old - I'm unemployed!! But I am enjoying it. 

The Truth Hurts

We have lived in this house for 2 weeks and 3 days, give or  take a couple hours. As you can tell the tone has gone from giddy Here We Are to How Did We Get Here? Par for the course! The thing about living in a foreclosure is it doesn't look so daunting when you first move it. You scrub and throw things out, start ripping out, ripping down, blank canvas. But it's like dating that guy every one warned you about - the few weeks things are going great and you wonder what everyone had against him. Then you find out about the side chick, the gambling problem and the probation.  Do you stay and work on him - or do you pack your bags and go? Ugh. So this week has been the septic - our biggest fear. When we had it looked at the water had been turned off so it was on but then turned off again. We have been of course using it and discovered it doesn't work properly. This system uses a pump in one tank to a second tank - the guy came and replaced the floats in the first tank - David cannot find the second one. This has been hindered by the piles of junk and trash overgrown with blackberry bushes. He looks and then does something else - it's frustrating. We can have the plumber look to the tune of $100 an hour, no thank you! David got under the house today and fixed all the leaks, he did not like that. Not at all. But on the other hand I made us those Beyond The Beef burgers - it was much different than the one I had in the pub. So if you're wondering - I was very meh about it, I would not eat it again. David on the other hand - loved it. He said it tasted to him like a really good hamburger, but a little better and would definitely eat it again.  They are very thick and bumpy, juicyness, I put sharp cheddar on it which made it a little better for me, super duper for David. They are not cheap, but not overly expensive, they are supposed to be better for you so I guess if you're trying to cut down on your meat consumption it would be a good thing. I've started to look for a job, going back and forth as to what I want - or don't want - to do. I have an interview next week for a full time position but......I don't think so. We'll see!

Out and About In Oregon

Today I met Kim in Astoria which is the halfway mark between her house and mine. Astoria is more of a very small city on the water, very funky and kitchsy is the best way to describe it. Lots of art stores and museums, culturally diverse, coffee shops, book stores,ethnic restaurants. I met Kim at the Heritage Museum - small but all local history. We wandered around there and then walked into town browsing everywhere. I didn't buy anything, we have not unpacked what we brought so adding to it is not on the list. We visited the Fabric and Yarn shop, more fabric than yarn but the fiber arts are well represented. Nope, didn't buy any yarn either, they do have a knitting group that meets on Wednesday and Saturdays which we may end up going to - since it's the in between we can both go! The owner also told me that the little yarn shop in Clatskanie is closing soon - the owner is retiring. I was like GRRR, just in time for me to arrive - seriously!! But there's tons of shops about for me to explore.

After that we went to Captain Flavel's house - it was beautiful! After he died his wife and two daughters inherited it and no one got married. In those days if you got married your husband got all your stuff - instead they kept the house and then the three of them when scampering all over the world - my kind of girls! After they passed away they left the house to the state as a historical site and since it never had any other owners and they kept it up, it's pretty much in pristine condition. They are looking for docents and tried to lure Kim but she stood firm. When we went to buy tickets one of the volunteers came up and told her they had other people from Seaside that volunteered and they were VERY HAPPY to have them. When we walked away Kim whispered "oh keep talking, that makes me so hot!", we had to stop we were laughing so hard - and that's why you keep your best friend forever. 

I did not make it across the Big Ass Bridge as it was such a beautiful day we went up to the Astoria Column which is super tall  - 163 steps to the top. There were so many people there I didn't even try, I can go back when it's less busy. Instead we enjoyed the amazing views, took more pictures and went to the little gift shop for 30 seconds - it was pretty crowded. After that I headed home, I drove down a few back roads I've seen but have not had the time to investigate. We're doing pretty good navigating around the area so far. I've started casually looking for a job, still not sure what I'll be doing but I have plenty of time for that. Right now I'm busy enjoying the area and seeing Kim and Stephen, there's time enough for work, isn't there?

Animal, Vegetable Or Mineral

So, one of the fun games you can play when you move into a foreclosure is What IS That? Because remember I said people that are evicted are usually not big on cleaning? Ever? That includes a lot of stuff most people would not ever think of living with and yes, we do think it's funny. David came into the dining room earlier today waving a broom that had a huge insect web stuck to it going "look what I found on top of the cabinet!" - I was all Ack! and Yuck, but it's nothing more than what I've waved at him.  In the overhead light in the bathroom is a body of something, we still don't know what. We are buying replacement plastic and then will get it down. It doesn't smell and there's no point to removing it now because no one wants to be the Mummified  Body Washer Off-er. 

This house has a garbage disposer in the sink, remember them? They were really big in the 70's and 80's and usually people that had them had money. I don't know if I actually knew anyone that had one back then - we were poor and had to carry our garbage out like commoners.  We did turn it on and it does run, it makes a lot of noise and it twirls.... we got a flashlight because what it was twirling was pretty nasty. It was brown, wet and humped up in the middle - yet it was happily whirling about making pretend grinding noises. David got the shop vac and sucked it out and yes, it was gross. I poured some peroxide down it and now there is no longer a faint weird smell coming out of the sink.  Steve told us you really can just put stuff like peelings down there and they usually only work for a little while, then they get clogged or the blades get dull. 

So, now that it's been cleaned out does it work? Nope. I threw a little piece of watermelon in and turned it on. It made pretend grinding noises and twirled the watermelon for my entertainment , but it was like Trump. A lot of noise and no results.  So that will be on the list as now every time we wash the dishes we're always grabbing at the flatware before it goes down and we have to fish it out. We are still dealing with a few other yucky things but overall we have the Yuck Factor down pretty far. And best of all - it's starting to smell like a house instead of a Cat Pee Farm. 

Hide And Seek

So things continue on the downslide - perfectly normal. We spend a great deal of our day searching for things that are anywhere but where we're looking. We have conversations that go like

"We need to buy hangers"

"We have a whole bunch of hangers, we don't need to buy any"

"Where are they?"

**Crickets**

I've been going crazy looking for my new Namaste bag I bought right before we left - I didn't have time to transfer my stuff so I packed it - somewhere-assuming I'd find it when we got here. Nope. Not yet. And since it was packed right before we left it could be anywhere. When you first start packing  you're a GoodyTwoShoes, carefully wrapping each thing, labeling each bin. I can see the ones I did at the beginning  - Kitchen, Mixer, Bowls. But then time starts growing short and then it's a bit more vague, Living room, Bathroom Stuff.

And then you hit Phase 3 where you're completely out of time and it's a free for all. You just wildly fling anything in a bin and hastily scrawled are things such as Important Stuff, My Stuff, Coats and Stuff.....and you can't even guess at it. The box labeled Important Stuff contained a pillow Kim made for me, two stuffed animals, old Bayada badges, a shirt, bottle of wine, etc...you get the idea. I have found things I do need, I did come across some hangers, I found my knife set, some clothes I needed - but no pocketbook. I actually have a bin marked Pocketbook and they are all in there, but that one.  I'll eventually find it, most likely when I stop looking for it.  But it's very annoying!  David continues to work on the house, he bought a 40,000 pound jack to jack up the middle of the house, some disgruntled tenant we believe purposefully removed a few of the house supports and yes, people do that. Sometimes they do worse. David once toured a house with a medical bracelet hammered into the wall and "I'LL KILL THE PERSON THAT BUYS THE HOUSE" - I love when people put cutesy sayings on the wall, don't you?

In other news I did let Bob-a-roo out this morning and she just putzed around the yard having a ball. I would love to keep her in but she is very focused on going out and has managed to escape many times, it's a losing battle. If we let her out just in the morning for now I can at least control it, she does make a few halfhearted attempts to get out , but is content to stay in for the afternoon snoozing on David's pillow.  Molly has become an issue, the farm down the road has something that goes off every 15 minutes or so during the day, it sounds like a pneumatic nail gun. David thinks it's to scare birds off their crops but Molly hates it and tries to run off. She is out on a leash now until she gets over it, but it's very annoying. We are going to Kim and Steve' s for dinner tonight and then next week it's my turn, see you later!

Fear Factor

If you ask me what the worst room in a foreclosure is I would tell you it's pretty much any room that involves running water. Usually something has been leaking and being ignored long term, most of the people that get evicted are not big on cleaning anything. Ever. So in order of scariness I would have to say it's usually the bathroom, followed by the kitchen and then it's a toss up between laundry room, garage and the bedroom of the 30 year old adult that never moves out. This bathroom here was beyond disgusting - before I arrived Kim swamped it out repeatedly. The toilet is permanently stained and will be replaced at some point. It's really not the worst we've ever seen, that award would have gone to the house David did in Bridgeport where the water was turned off and I think it was the adult son that was squatting there. It had actually eaten through the porcelain and yes, we did toss it. Fast.  The floor in this shower is lovely but hand made and has been leaking under the house for an extended period of time so David bought floor joists to hold up the floor til he can get to it so we don't end up taking a free tour under the house. The other day the spigot came off the hot water so David was running around trying to remember where he left the pliers.....ugh.The other problem is the fixtures are all cobalt blue and bathroom fixtures in dark colors usually look good for about 10 minutes, then they're easily discolored or the color is worn off and then they just look tacky and dirty.

The kitchen here was the main source of the Catpee Cloud, the cats had been living in the cabinets and piddling in them too. David is removing the lower half of all the Sheetrock in the house, we've scrubbed it but it's too saturated to leave. You don't smell it all the time but if it's a little damp it comes right through.  He's removed all the doors on the cabinets and the shelves have been scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed. He's replacing the doors and will paint all the shelves with an oil based paint and that should return them to their original state, if not he can tear them out. It's a problem because like I keep saying most of the things in this house were hand built, they are not factory made so the cabinets fit exactly and look perfect. 

The garage. Oh the garage. It is a thing nightmares are made of . The concrete floor was poured incorrectly and  over the years it's heaved, the windows are covered with plywood, the shingles are curling and covered with moss. There are holes in the walls and a hold leading up to the loft - I'm sure if there's a zombie on the property it lives up there. It smells of cat pee and despair.  There are no doors on it so our piles of boxes happily greet the neighbors that drive by, I'm sure the resident raccoon has been perusing my stuff. The deck and balcony come in last on the scary scale - some of it is bouncy, everything is covered in a layer of filth. David did bleach a bit of it yesterday and it's, well, it's not so bad.  The thing that bothers me the most about these foreclosures is you do not have to live this way - soap and bleach are cheap. I cannot imagine going into a bathroom covered in filth, cat shit and soap scum and being ok with it. But that is us and that's why  we are here. 

Surfing The InterNOT

So, the Ugliness starts. This is the part when you find out the bad things about where you live. We thought we had the internet issue under control. David called the other day and cancelled the Viasat that provided 12 GB a month to the tune of $350 in early termination fees, but way cheaper than continuing on with the service.  We thought the Verizon Jet Pack was the answer - and it was for a short time.  We watched the first two episodes of Season 8 of GOT, played on our laptops, life was good. Then this morning I got up to a text message on my phone that we were nearing the 15 GB limit for the month??? I called and apparently our Verizon rep forgot to mention this little fact. I was trying not to get upset but as I have to at least start looking for a job that will be near to impossible without the internet. Now, the thing is you still do have the internet but it's throttled way back  and runs much more slowly. If you ask them flat out if you can stream a movie they start hedging, hemming and hawwing. So in other words instead of Jon Snow fighting hard he would most likely be wimpy waving his sword about. Not good.  So she did tell me we did have 15 GB on the tablets and we could run the TV off of  them, but that is just a band aid on the problem, isn't it? We have Alexas that I stream music on, Netflix, etc... 

A neighbor stopped by this morning (they seem to enjoy checking on our progress) and I asked him - he has some capped service too but they don't really use the the wireless too much on the farm so..... Then I started calling around and Frontier is coming to hook up on Monday - keep your fingers crossed.  The other not so hot stuff is there was an apparent leak in the hot tub room, big surprise (not) and then the ants showed up so this morning David was shoring up the shower which is good for now. Gratefully it's contained to one area so it will not be too bad to fix. He's started peelng the shingles off the house and that's the only small area so far. Bob got out today, the little shit. She has been all ninja-cat for the past couple of days trying to shoot out the door and today she succeeded. She bolted right past me and headed for the garage, I was right behind her being very warm and inviting but she was having none of it! She escaped into the blackberry bushes and I could see her but she was purposefully not looking in my direction and then disappeared.  We called her for a few minutes and then left her to her own devices. 

I had to get a couple things but I really wanted to check out Jones Beach - I've driven by it a few times but never had the chance to go look at it. In case you're wondering - it is a real beach with sand and everything, it's on the Columbia river and of course it's just beautiful like everything else around here.  It was very windy, today it's in the 60s so not too warm.  I had to walk awhile to get to a place where I could walk on the edge, there's a big drop off but I'm sure that's from the high tides . There were a couple of people fishing and no one else, I went to the edge and put my hand in. Everyone is always telling me how cold it is, but it was Long Island cold, not freezing.  I'll have to ask around though, it looked like it was running fairly rapidly and I didn't see anyone swimming. The house closing was supposed to be today but I forgot about the time difference  and it's too late to call so we will have to see. Hopefully it went alright but I never depend on that, been way too many rodeos for this girl!

By The Sea, By The Sea, By The Wonderful Sea

So, as I've said 100 million million times I'm now living by one of my dearest and bestest friends in the world. We've known each other since I was 14 and she was 12 - never lost touch through countless moves, life changes. I cannot think of a week that has gone by in the past in the past 54 years that we have not written, spoken, texted with each other. We survived some of the worst times in our lives together and I've always said if it had not been for the deep friendship of Kim, Liz and Richard I have no idea where I'd be now. The four of us have always had each other's backs, we were each other's safe harbors when the seas grew too rough. Even after she moved away there were times when things were so bad I would just sit on the phone and sob -and she would just listen, you cannot be a better friend than that. I always knew we'd find our ways back to each other and here it is years later we are back together.  Kim and Stephen have been over here quite a bit, they looked at it before we bought it, came over and changed the locks when we did buy it, they both helped swamp out the worst of it, housed David for a week while he was moving stuff, helped move stuff. And now we are here!

I had not been to Kim's house so on Tuesday I set out - it's a little over an hour, very do-able. Kim lives in a seaside resort town, it's very very pretty and a bit touristy, but so cool. They live in a neighborhood which I don't think I would do well in, Molly and Reuben would have us thrown out in a week. Kim's house is so perfect, I should have taken pictures (and I will), she has two gigantic cats and one teeny dog that you've met. We went downtown Seaside and she took me to the ocean first, the sand is powdery, not like the grainy sand of Long Island. It was a bit overcast and chilly but not bad. We walked out to the shoreline and I took way too many pictures of seagulls like I'd never seen one before. We strolled around town, poking in souvenir shops and clothing stores where all the hats and shirts had Seaside printed on them.  We ate lunch at a brewery, the one thing about Oregon is is it awash in beer! We had fried pickles and I had one of those new Beyond Beef burgers - no, it did not make me think I was eating meat but yes it was very good.

After lunch we went to the museum, then back to Kim's and she followed me to the tire repair as I had a slow leak. We dropped my car off so we could do some shopping next door at Fred Myers which is sort of like a cross between Target and Wal Mart. They finished my car at the same time we finished which was great and even greater was no charge!! I headed back home after that, we are going there on Sunday and we are planning on continuing with Sunday dinners because that is what old friends do. 

Surprises Galore

Someone asked me the other day if we've had any surprises - yeah, a few. The internet was a BIG surprise, or more correctly the lack of one. We are going to have to pay a heavy termination fee to Viasat  but the Verizon Jet pack works amazingly  - everything has hooked up to it easily and it  works so well even our friends were taken aback. You can hook up to 15 devices which is a lot, so far we've hooked up two tvs, on blueray DVD, a Roku, two tablets and 3 Alexas plus the phones and we still have room. The cat pee smell was sort of a surprise, not that I didn't expect it but it was a lot more than I had thought it would be. But we have in the past 6 days gotten it down to very tolerable, Kim remarked last night it just smelled like we have pets, but not in a bad way. Right now we're still dealing with RPS (Random Pee Spots) which are annoying - and they don't always smell all the time. You'll be sitting there minding your own beeswax and then suddenly the scent of Urine du Feline will waft gently past you. It makes us walk around like dogs hunting down a hidden hamburger, we had Kim and Stephen doing it last night, walking through the house,deeply sniffing.back tracking. We have it narrowed down at least. 

And speaking of last night - given the state of the house when we first arrived 6 days ago I was very surprised we could have someone over for dinner, but we did! Kim and Stephen brought dinner with them and what a great way to end the week. We spent the morning scrubbing down the place - again. We brought the table in and I even found my table cloths. The weather cooled off greatly - there's another surprise. I knew the temperatures were lower here, when I sent the girls some summer clothes Brandi had told me four pairs of shorts were more than enough since there usually wasn't a big opportunity to wear them. At night it's in the 50's and during the day it is usually hovering around the 70's. When we first arrived it was VERY hot and since we cannot open most of the windows it was awful! But we were assured it was unusual and it appears so. So dinner was fun, Kim brought their wee little dog Piglet and we just kept swapping the dogs out so no one got eaten.

Kim looked at our tree and said it's a Pecan tree - and we have two! They're both loaded - the Marion Blackberries should be ready to pick late June, early July - good surprise! They brought over Marion Berry wine and it was pretty good. It's so wonderful living somewhere that I really know people! I'm driving out tomorrow to visit Kim at her house in Seaside for the first time. We will spend the day together and I'm very much looking forward to it. 

The Wheels of Progress Turn Slowly

So today was a stressful day in which we accomplished things. First of all we did get new phones the other day from Verizon along with a Jet Pack - do you know what that is? We didn't! It's a little thing that runs on cell service - but you can hook up to 15 devices on it! We got the unlimited data plan and as of this morning, the TV, the tablets, the Roku and all the Alexa devices are up and running - it's like coming back to the land of the living. Of course we still have the issue with the Viasat and we will probably have to eat the termination fee of close to $500. Yes, I know it's expensive but it will be much cheaper than trying to keep it - I figured we would run through the 12 GB in around 6 days and then be SOL for the rest of the month, not much we can do about it but move on. I was back to scrubbing today, the cat pee smells goes but then comes creeping back when the chemical smells masking it fade - but it is way better than it's been - there's areas that must've been worse than others. 

Now that we're past the major hurdles of it I can concentrate on things. This morning I grabbed the Murphy's Oil soap for the bathroom - it's not just the pee, it's the cobwebs, the dead bugs, the general gnarly layer of schmutz pervading every surface. I continuously dump and refill my bucket, when I can't see my bright yellow gloves in the water I change it - there's no point in smearing the filth back on.Every room I've done so far I have emptied my bucket about 8 times and the water is black.  I use microfiber clothes - I have a stack of them and when they get yucky I just toss them in the wash  for reuse - works much better than paper towels do and there's no waste. We've been here for 5 days and have barely touched the paper towels. When I got done with the bathroom even I was impressed, it must've looked like that when it  was new, it just shines. David is planning on pulling out the large vanity - it's not practical, takes up way too much room and is not in the best of shape. He'll preserve the tiles for Kim and then put a tub in - it will be lovely. 

And very exciting news - I got my car back - FINALLY. I got called at 6:45 this morning saying it would be here around 11, at 11:30 we called and were told he  was almost in Portland, at 2:30 we called again and then...... I had a bit of a meltdown. Ok, I had a volcanic eruption in which I did not say a lot of bad words - to my credit - but I was asked to stop calling everyone  a liar. I did not yell, cry or raise my voice but I just kept on going back to the fact that the car had been promised today, followed by liar,liar liar. Then I was told I would  be called back, an hour passed so I texted my (liar)broker to let them know that if I did not get my car TODAY I would be renting a car, they would be footing the bill and I would also be contacting the Better Business Bureau first thing Monday and names would be named. About 2 minutes later I got a call from one of the senior members who now was willing to work with me and at 7 pm my car magically appeared in Clatskanie. Being a cold hearted bitch has it's advantages along with not yelling - the one thing I've learned from being in home care for years is the first one who yells loses It gives the other party the opportunity to announce you're crazy and unreasonable - you lose! But not today my friend, not today. Winner winner, chicken dinner!!

Running In Place

That's what we feel like most days, you get up and just spend the day moving all day but it sometimes does not feel like you accomplish much. I clean and clean, moving on to the next cat pee oasis - anyone that walks in the door is asked to sniff around. After awhile all you smell is cat pee and a variety of cleaning fluids.  David has been fixing leak after leak after leak. The toilet first, then the washing machine cold water is leaking, the slop sink leaks down the side and the cold water tap is frozen on that side, the kitchen sink leaks..... there are broken pipes, hinges - David just looked at me wearily yesterday and asked "is it really possible to break EVERYTHING?".  Yes David , it is.

This morning he is outside because there is apparently water still going to the hot tub so that needed to be capped off. Today we are heading out to get new cell phones, David's does not work at all, mine only on the very back of the deck. We did have the Internet installed but unfortunately they appear to be a HUGE ripoff. When I opened the app I was pleased to see it would only be 50 dollars a month. Then I saw we had a limit of 12 GBs. A month. I knew it had to be a mistake so I called. NO mistake, but of course you could add to it, 50 is 120 dollars a month. I was almost crying at this point because those of us that understand GBs also understand with Netflix, Alexa, the tablets we will be blowing through that in a matter of days. AS of this morning after having Internet for about 16 hours we've already used up 2 and we haven't even set up the TV yet. There is no grace period and early termination is $15 for every month - David signed a two year contract. But honestly, given how much he was doing between health insurance, arranging the utilities, etc. it was not surprising it all slipped through the cracks. 

But we are making progress, the smell this morning is VERY faint, upstairs there is no smell at all. We will hopefully start getting furniture in the near future, very basic course. Since we will be working on the walls, floors, etc.. we don't want to bring too much in but we are planning on getting a platform bed! The mattress is still on the floor which means when we get up it's from a deep squat position. Being that we're late 50's, early 60's doing that repeatedly after working on the house all day can be quite painful. David continues to work on the yard and very big surprise - we are overrun with blackberries! I'll have buckets of them!

Anger Management

The first month of moving and restoring a house is awful, there is no other way to put it. I still don't have my car, now it will be Saturday due to dip shit having "truck issues" (ie doesn't know what he's doing). We are at the store every day, as soon as we get home that's when we remember what we forgot. It's not really forgetting, it's when your cooking burgers and there's no ketchup, there's a light switch but no lamp. The pets are doing fine - Bob is still under house arrest until we are sure it's safe, the dogs went out today for the first time with just their electric collars and no leashes which was a big relief for everyone. They are not used to being on a leash so it can get a bit annoying for everyone. 

And the house. This is the first time in a long time we've had to live in the house from the start of renovation. There is a certain type of anger to it, isn't there? This house. This house was built by someone who really took time, carefully thought out and the man hours that must've gone into it. The tile floor is inlaid with hand cut dividers, the cabinets handmade, built ins in the hall, dining room. The bathroom is a bit dated, but my - it is all tiled, varnished cedar - the shower is constructed entirely of tile with a big window overlooking the creek. There is a cantilevered balcony on the second floor, on and on. And the woman who lived here - with up to 22 cats as per the postal person, managed to destroy it. She let the cats piss, shit and live in the cabinets, she probably never cleaned in the 11 years she lived here. Cobwebs, dirt, filth, everything just reeking of cat pee.

David mopped the floor. Kim mopped the floor, I mopped the floor. This morning I got Mr. Clean and a bucket of the hottest water and proceeded to hand wash the floor. I emptied the bucket when it turned black - 5 times for one room. It still smells a bit like cat pee, but it's much less. David will be gutting the kitchen, tearing out all those carefully crafted cabinets due to some one's laziness and indifference. But it's already looking better - it will be one of the biggest undertakings we've ever done, but I think it will be worth it to see this place restored to it's former glory. 

Day Four and Counting

So, we are on Day Four, landing in Ogden Utah. We were going to try and do the whole she-bang in 4 days but it is just not worth the stress. This morning I had figured out an 8 hour drive which even with stops would be about 9 hours or a bit more. We did not leave at the crack of dawn, no one was motivated this morning and it was fun to stay long enough to have breakfast at the hotel. We have been doing Best Western for the remainder of the trip. The downside is the expense of course, but the upside is the lack of scary characters. It's hard to make reservations blind - I do as much research as I can but until you get there it's hard to figure out. I do go a lot by reviews and what people say - I'll discount the ones that whine about no conditioner or the person at the desk was not what they expected. The ones that talk about mold and the broken lock on the door THAT I pay attention to! But I'm too tired to spend the time so BW it is. Anyhoo, back to the drive....

So we left after 8, the drive is a straight shot - the route I've mapped is all highway and all the places we stay are right off the road. We were doing excellent...and then a dead stop. And not just a dead stop, turn your engine off and roll down the windows stop. We sat for so long I took Molly and Reuben for a long walk on the side of the road, the weather was very nice today. People smiled at them and asked what they were, it did help pass the time. The big hold up was an 18 wheeler flipped  on it 's side - no one was hurt but it held up traffic for miles! We went about 10 more miles and then hit construction which should have not been bad for a Sunday but everyone  was already piled up. It ended up taking an extra hour and a half, but still the driving was not like the other day. David has done all the driving because he doesn't trust anyone else to do it. 

So it ended up adding an extra hour and a half, but we arrived around 6 to the hotel and got everyone settled again. They're all getting used to it and once we have them in the room they go about their business, Bob bounces around the room and explores, the dogs flop on the bed and stretch out. This place has a restaurant on premises which really helped, I did have to laugh when ordering the takeout. We had wanted beer with dinner and the girl on the phone said we aren't allowed.... then I remembered I was in Utah which is a dry state. The only place you can get alcohol is a State Store as opposed to WV and PA where you can get all the scotch you can carry at the gas station. It was fine, I started making reservations at a Econolodge since I didn't see a Best Western listed, the woman put me on hold for +10 minutes twice, then couldn't get her computer to work, can I call you back? I looked again and the next town up had a Best Western which I called and booked. Ready for day 5!

Day Three

So, today was the long 10 hour ride - well, maybe a bit longer than that. Maybe a lot longer than that - here's a little helpful hint if you're driving across country take the time zones into consideration. Which I did not. We gained an hour in Iowa and then gained another in Nebraska, but that certainly didn't make it feel any shorter.  On the upside we arrived here around 4pm even after driving about 700 some odd miles - the downside was everyone was toast and super not happy. But we are staying at the Best Western Plus Lodge in Sidney NE and it is beautiful! We got the dogs walked and settled, Bob was unpacked and left to explore the room, they are actually quite good about all of this. We have had a few issues, Molly gets in trouble for policing the entire hotel(she barks at whoever parks in front of her room so we have to keep the curtains closed), Reuben got hauled fast away before he could mark one of the fancy wood posts outside the door as his - the usual mayhem. 

We ordered pizza in last night, there are a lot of hotels here so there are a lot of delivery places. I booked our next place - another Best Western, the ones out here by the way are very fancy! We decided to break up the travel a little more and do an extra day - 10 hours is just too rough with the pets since we have to stop more frequently to walk and water them and I think it's just too stressful for everyone. I had thought we could do two more 10 hour days which would mean only one more overnight stay in a hotel - but the downside to that is we would be arriving to our new home in the early evening. The water and electric need to be turned on, we will have no food in the house - we've done that before and it is always an over the top disaster. So we will be doing two 8 hour and then will only have 4 hours left so we can be at the house midmorning Tuesday. 

And the other benefit is getting everyone used to the time zone change - we have one more hour change  to go and then we'll be a full three hours ahead of our Pennsylvania time. The dogs are having a hard time of it, this morning found Reuben whining next to me this morning at 3am. I patted the bed and he got up, then got back down and resumed crying. Because in his universe it is 5 am and past the time he goes out to pee - in his eyes he had been very patient with me. So I got up and rummaged in yesterday's day clothes in the dark, found leashes, the room card, shoes. Molly was all ready too! so out we went at 3am in Nebraska - since it was 3am that would be when they run the sprinkling system too which delighted the dogs, but not their owner. I had a bit of a scary moment when I came in not being able to remember our room number, 107?136? I had two sprinkler happy dogs, wearing yesterday's rumpled laundry and my hair was not stellar so the idea of walking down to the front desk.......119!! In we went, David had put Bob the Bolter in her pen, she was looking quite malevolent but I have no idea where she thinks she's going. Jerk. Oh, well, on to day 4!

Traveling Circus

We are on Day Two of our travels, after the Car Transport Fuck Up we didn't get to the hotel til almost 8p,everyone over tired and a bit crabby. We've traveled with pets before - an over night stay here and there but this is the first time we will be doing about 4 or 5 days with two large dogs and a cat. Traveling with pets is  like traveling with children except worse because the big worries is one they'll panic and sprint which generally doesn't happen with kids. And you do see people that end up having to leave with the pet still lost, of course if you lose one of your kids that would probably be frowned upon ("We had to leave Cindy, but we did put up signs in case someone spots her"). Then finding somewhere to stay - a lot more places take pets but there's weight limits, you can only have one, no cats,etc... eating has it's own challenges since you cannot leave them unattended, and then there's the Stuff. Food, bowls, leashes......

Bob the cat is a bit worrisome, cats are notorious bolters. I bought a wire small dog crate, an excellent buy! I put a bath mat on the bottom, it's big enough for her to move around  but light enough to carry. The best part is the big door so it's  easy to get her in it and she really seems to like it,that was a win. Molly could win awards for travel, she not only doesn't mind it, but enjoys it. We take turns sitting shotgun, she sits straight up looking at David or out the window or flops on the blanket in the back. I had bought an inflatable mattress and threw a blanket on it - since it's a work van the entire back is empty - but that turned out to be a fiasco. ALL inflatable mattresses have a slow leak so the dogs were wobbling around back there like they were on the Jolly Roger and didn't have their sea legs. David put Bob's crate on it so every time they moved she jiggled around - I let the air out and everyone is happy.  Bob is traveling well, but we do have to watch her, the crate really helps because she sits in there when we are taking the dogs out,etc...

Reuben is doing OK but he is not liking this, it's hard because you can't explain to any of them what's going on. Reuben occasionally does a re-enactment of a Hallmark movie with an heiress kidnapping plot line, but he seems to be getting a bit better and it has not affected his appetite! And then there's just the sheer volume of stuff we cart in and out of the hotel rooms. Bob in her crate, The Terrible Two on leashes, coolers with our food  and coffee stuff (since going out for breakfast is impossible), their food, the litter pan, our suitcases. We have to shut Bob in the bathroom during all of this so she tends to glare at us balefully from the bathtub as we shut the door. But all in all, it's been going well, the hotels all have pet friendly room with hardwood floors, we get two beds so everyone is comfortable. The van has plenty of room and airconditioning so they can stretch their legs or go sprawl out in the back. We did two short days (under 8 hours) - tomorrow is a ten  hour day and we'll see how it goes. But all in all it's not been bad. 

Welcome To The Sh*tshow

So that picture sums up how the day went. The first company that was supposed to transport my car bailed on us so we got company #2. Now, he was supposed to pick up the car yesterday morning so David drove me to work  and at some point he called to say he would be there at 5, he was in traffic, behind etc... since these guys drive long distance you can understand it. During all of this we are packing like lunatics, throwing out stuff continuously (where on earth did it all come from??), and cleaning as we go along. The dogs and the cat are pacing, they can feel something is coming down the pike that they most likely won't like. So 5 pm comes and goes, we don't want to be pests but at 6:30 David calls  and he is still 80 miles away. He assures David he will be at our house by 10:30. If you know us you know we are up by 4am so 10:30 is like trial by fire for David. So I set the alarm for him and he gets up - 10:30 comes and goes.....he finally calls at 11 and is told that this guy is now going to pull over, sleep and will be at our house first thing in the morning. Why yes, it does get worse, thank you for asking. The next morning more of the same, at 7 tells us 8, at 8 it's now 9....at this point David has to drive to Uniontown to return the cable stuff since he waited all day yesterday for this guy. We had planned on leaving by 8, 9 at the latest. SO 9:10 and since I'm in charge this shit is getting real and I am pissed - I call the guy and now it's 9:30, 10 - I don't think so. I call the broker 4 times and text her - steamrolling. Then the owner of the trucking company calls - he's unaware it was not picked up yesterday, GPSs the guy, the guy and David arrive at the same time. Why yes, it does get worse, thank you for asking. At this point we are very behind, we don't get out of there til noon and as I walk out to the van I notice MY CAR on the side of the road - I take a picture and send it to the broker, then notice the car hauler is at my neighbors house, there's cars all over the place AND the state troopers - cluster fuck doesn't even begin to cover it. I take another picture and text that, but we are leaving - we have nonrefundable reservations and at this point we will be rolling in after 7, not great since we're already exhausted. In order to finish this up - the guy decided to rearrange the cars so he took them all off, then went to turn the car hauler and tore up my neighbor's yard and got stuck blocking traffic - someone called the cops. The owner of the company was freaking out and calling me because his driver was mysteriously not answering his phone. My neighbor called me while we were on the road to let me know that he finally got the truck straightened out with the help of a wrecker that was called, and he left at 2pm which is 23 hours past the original time given. We are at a motel in Elkhart Indiana for the night, I found an Econolodge that will take 3 pets - not the greatest but it's just for the night. One day down!

Ready, Set,......What Did I Forget Now?

So, we are getting ready to get going, tomorrow we have to finish up, again. It seems like everyday we forget something or something happens, or doesn't happen...arrgh. We're currently waiting for the car transporter as we're planning(hoping) to ship my Subaru. The first one we had contracted with 123Transport apparently couldn't do it so they took the professional road and just simply stopped emailing and answering their phone when no one showed up here yesterday. That was ALOT of fun, let me tell you. So we found another company who is hopefully on his way after getting stuck in traffic. David forgot we also have to return the cable equipment and get that shut off, I cleaned out the fridge and freezer forgetting we had not had dinner yet.....no ketchup for you. It has just been a scramble for the past week. 

But it has not been all bad - my biopsy from my thyroid came back benign and I just need to follow it up in about 6 months. I had my last day at work today, I worked a half day to get everything tied up, finish cleaning out my desk, giving Carrie my List Of Crimes That Prevent You From Being Hired In Pennsylvania, the state that hold stealing library books on the same level as Involuntary Deviant Sex, who knew!. We had Mexican food and chocolate cake in the conference room followed by everyone thinking they needed a nap. It was hard saying good bye - I've been with Bayada for a total of 7 years and they've all been good, it's hard to find a company that you can say that about these days, isn't it?

I have our first 3 days of traveling mapped out - I got overambitious having us driving 12 hours the first day but since we're leaving a bit early I added another hotel in so it will be two 7 hour days followed by a 10 hour day depending on how everyone is feeling. We don't have a set time we need to be there and I think the pets will tolerate it better if we don't try to kill ourselves getting there. This is both awesome and scary at once, we can't wait but we are dreading getting started all at once. It will be fine once we get on the road, it's just getting on the road to start. 

Whore.

The debate continues to rage as the white men in congress continue to strip away our abortion rights, despite protests and the obvious disagreement of pretty much everyone. It is a heated discussion isn't it, there's very little middle of the road on opinions. I've been following conversations on Facebook and the thing that strikes me the hardest, the most upsetting part is -

where are the men in this conversation?

The pro-life women are worse than the men, harsh and unforgiving, my favorite phrase is if a woman doesn't want to have children they need to keep their legs shut - how disgusting and misogynist is that? Because no one seems to be mentioning the men. The ones that when their girlfriend, wife, mistress gets pregnant - they leave with no repercussions. And yes there are laws - but here's the thing, you need money to go to court to enforce them.  I remember  not that many years ago a friend of mine was taken to court by her ex husband to reduce his child support. She was living in a welfare hotel with their two kids, he was living in a beach front home with his girlfriend - his support payments were $90 a week. For two kids. To this day that just amazes me it even got that far. If he didn't want the responsibility of kids shouldn't he have kept his cock in his pants? And what about the men that ask and bully women to have abortions - where is there responsibility? Are they going to jail? 

We have as a society made having children impossible. Women are supposed to be self supporting, full time workers that don't leave their children with a babysitter,keep the house perfect and stay on the career track by taking only 6 weeks of maternity leave, unpaid in most cases while the male population......does nothing. If a 15 year old girl gets pregnant she is supposed to be responsible since she "got herself knocked up" but a 15 year old boy gets a pass because he's too young for that responsibility. If a woman has multiple children and lives on welfare it's shameful, she should be forced to have her tubes tied - why don't we make a vasectomy mandatory if a man skips out on his responsibility? I think to solve this problem we need to take the burden off of women. Yes they are the ones that get pregnant but men are the ones that get them pregnant and too long we have carried the sole responsibility. I have said again and again - if you want to decrease abortion put 100% responsibility on MEN. They will be completely responisible financially, for child care - if they walk out or default mandatory vasectomy. If we put it back on men I think the abortion debate will take a more enlightened view instead of this draconian punishment of all women. And for the women shaming other women - you are the embarrassment of our race.