The SD is supposed to be San Diego not South Dakota.  I'll start updating the blog as soon as we get internet.

 

Dotchi

Yes we made it to

Yes we made it to SD with no problems. Working on getting internet. Thx Donna for letting me know the blog didnt post my messages.

We have been so busy

We have been so busy 2day! Hoping 2 get 2 a computer sometime soon. Will update later.

We made it to Tucson Arizona today

The drive was fine pulling out today. Then we hit snow, ice and wind going through the mountains. It was fine though. We made it through the mountains in one piece. We stopped at a Missile Museum in New Mexico. It was so cool! The boys were fascinated.


I did learn one thing though. Be careful where you buy your coffee. We stopped at this one store and I bought a 32 ounce of coffee and a 16 ounce of coffee. I wasn't stopping for anything! Turns out that it was the WORST coffee I have ever tasted! It was like stale coffee with a taste of burned coffee to it and hint of vomit. Yuck!

Miles lost a tooth! He lost one of his molars and bleed all over the bathroom sink at the hotel here. At least it wasn't the carpet LOL. And Lil Mendel bought Mexican Jumping Beans and he's waiting for them to jump race across the table HAHAHA!

Well, my laundry is almost done. That was my quick update for today. Tomorrow, we head for San Diego after a nice breakfast that is complimentary... eggs, sausage, bacon and cereal! FINALLY! A non-carb laden breakfast!

Will update later.

Orders question from comments...

Yes, Janine, his orders were extended... i think through May. Word has it he'll be there until October. But that isn't official yet. Will keep you updated. (Wow, someone does read this blog! WOOHOO!)

We made it safely to New Mexico

We are in Roswell, NM. I've only seen one alien... and it was attached to a fence :) We woke up this morning to ice. I have pictures that I will post later. They had closed down I-40 through NM and into Arizona so we headed south to avoid the rain and snow and sleet, etc. I already drove my van through a blizzard in the mountains in near white out conditions... BTDT... don't wish to do it again. We stopped at this one rest area/ museum and the guy there was really cool. He said we DO NOT want to be travelling through the mountains in the night with the snow coming in... so we stopped in Roswell instead of going all the way to Las Cruces like we had planned. We had a big traveling day ahead of us and I have the chains for my tires JUST in case. Not that I think we'll need them though. We'll head out later in the morning to give us some extra time though.

All of us are doing great. I am getting tired of riding in the van so much. Wish we had more rest breaks instead of the 5 minute pee stops hubby plans. He asked if this trip was better than the last and I had to tell him no. The last trip across country we stopped to rest longer than this. It wasn't 5 minute pee break, get your butt in the van and lets GO! Oh well, at least we're getting there anyway. I am hoping we make it to Yuma, AR tomorrow night. If not, I'll be driving for awhile during the night. I don't mind that at all. I can get some DRIVING done while the kids sleep and break when I need it. Stop, stretch, get coffee.... that's another thing I don't like about this trip... stop and get some freaking coffee! I promised to quit smoking, so I've slowed down a LOT, but do NOT take away my caffiene (sp?) at the same time. AGH!

Better run for now, I am using the hotel computer and other people will want to use it soon.

Changing route b/c of the

Changing route b/c of the snow. Saw on the news that winter storm coming thru. We r heading south!

Nice comfy bed!

We are in Amarillo, TX now. The drive today was LONG. It took forever to get here. The boys had to pee every 20 miles like clockwork. But we did make it.

Okay, now a quick run down of the trip. We started in Ten Mile and headed through Tennessee on I-40 to Memphis. Then to Little Rock, Arkansas and south from there. We drove to Dallas, Tx then south of it to my step parents house where I got to see my brother, his wife and their baby. Then to Alvarado to visit bio Mom and her hubby. Then to step parents house again for hotel planning, then to the hotel where I fell asleep after a nice shower. The boys fell asleep on the way LOL.

Then in the morning we ate breakfast at Step Parents house and then we headed to Amarillo, stopping every 20 miles for the plethora of potty breaks. Now we're here, I am tired and going to bed.

We are 130 miles outside

We are 130 miles outside Dallas Tx. Karl, Susan n baby are waiting for us. HI DONNA!

We r halfway between Little

We r halfway between Little Rock and Texarkana Arkansas. We should be in Dallas about 1 pm.

Help is on the way!

Help is on the way! Thank you Nana and Tammy for rounding up help for us! And Nana for helping us out. Dotchi

My go blog will not

My go blog will not post my pix 2 this blog. Check here they will post there. I will post its updates here.

UPDATE: I figured it out and have moved all the pictures to this blog :)

Hi all! We r still

Hi all! We r still packing. This isnt going as planned! We will b leaving 2day tho. Dotchi

We are almost done in

We are almost done in the boys old room. Started packing the U-haul with boxes. Dh is working in Chatt n will be home later 2 help.

Hello all! We have help

Hello all! We have help coming today. We are busy! No internet now so I am posting thru txt msg. Let me know if the pics dont post.

We have the U-haul. No internet right now though. Today will be pack like crazy day! Will update later.

We have the U-Haul apointment

I called and made the appointment for tomorrow at 11 AM. We'll drive to U-Haul and get it all wired and have the trailer hooked up and then we can come home and PACK pack. Like everything will be going in the van and such. First I need to have the van weighed empty at the certified scales. Then we can weigh it totally loaded and read once we're ready to head out. Ah! The fun!

 

I'm still packing, hubby is working in Chattanooga and the boys are helping me. STILL no one has showed up to help so we're on our own. Oh well. I figured that would happen.

Dotchi

I am learning the error of my ways

As I am packing everything and getting ready to move to the boat, I noticed that I have a LOT of stuff that is really pointless in having. Of course, you might notice the same in your house if you packed up your entire house into a boat. The main cabin area will be as big as our back porch... with a stove, counter, fridge, sink and dinette in it. It is going to make RV's look luxuriously spacious. It's going to be one of those moments where I step foot inside and say "Holy FUCK! why do I have all this stuff?" and then promptly unpack and get rid of more stuff. But at least I am getting the idea down pat.

To help you visualize what this entails, run to Lowe's and by 3 boxes for dishes (medium sized boxes), 2 for books (smaller boxes) and 2 large boxes that are for clothes (Large boxes). Now, everything you are going to keep (minus clothes) has to fit within those 7 boxes. That's not just YOUR stuff. That is the kids stuff too! Everyone! Now, we have a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom mobile home with a storage shed outside and we've lived her for 7 years... 8 years? I don't remember... but we don't declutter. Actually, we're packrats. Actually, packrats think we need help. We have STUFF and we're now having to decide what goes with us and what goes to the thrift shop. I can not tell you the van loads we have taken out of the house... and it's still rather full!

This could be my best experience yet. You should see what I am getting rid of. Almost everything. Yes, even the collection of books. There is this neat thing called a library. San Diego has 34 of them. I think I'll be okay. I did keep the Heinlein books though. I can't quite part with everything. And my Coke bottle written in Hebrew. That stays too... oh yea, and my sudoku books too. Those stay. And the little knit pink booty, it's too cute. Besides it is small. And I made it. Okay, so I have too much stuff still, but eventually I will have it together. I am working on learning what I REALLY need and what I want. And actually all I REALLY need is one outfit and my ATM card. But we're not getting that drastic.

But as I am sorting, I am starting to wonder what the hell I was thinking when I saved all this stuff. What the hell am I going to do with 3 boxes of Montanian newspapers? When am I every going to read all the file folders (12 to be exact) of emails, letters and notes that people sent me. I read them once... am I really going to need them again? Why do I save all the odd socks? Why did I save pizza boxes (hey, they were clean!) and velcro that came off the shoes and why do I have an entire drawer full of nuts, bolts and screws? What am I going to do with all this stuff? Did I really plan on using all that? I mean, really, how many people have use for a box of pens that dried up? And why, oh WHY did we save that refridgerator compressor like some prize? Sure, each thing has a story and it's all really fascinating, I'm sure, but we really don't NEED this stuff. And I have appliances in the kitchen I forgot I had. Even worst, I have some in there that I didn't even KNOW I had! Where did they come from anyway?

Well, the whole point of this is that we are still busily (is that a word?) packing and cleaning and I am finding it really silly about all the stuff we kept because we might use it someday.

Anyone need 3 left shoes?

It's Wednesday Morning!

Good morning everyone! The days feel LONG. I woke up this morning and it feels like Friday already. The more I pack, the less I feel like I have done. I think that is because hubby is clearing out the office and every box I have packed and put in the bedroom under the wall shelf is replaced by another 2 boxes of computer stuff. At least it's organized.

 

Today I am going to be emptying out the boys bedroom, packing the kitchen, and getting the rest of our stuff to the bedroom. First I am going to load the dishwasher and clean up the kitchen because without routines for morning and evening it getting hard to keep up with.

 

The boys have been working hard to help out, thankfully *knocks on wood* and are sorting through their toys and stuff they want to keep. We sleep good at night from all the work we're doing. Yesterday Mendel 2.0 ended up with a headache and wasn't feeling so great, so I sent him to bed with some Motrin. By the time I got back from the trash run, he was feeling much better. Thankfully it wasn't anything major. Just needed to rest a bit.

 

Off to make breakfast now. I am going to make extra's from breakfast so we can have a quick easy snack later in the day. It helps us to have the quick easy snack.

Dotchi

AGH! I am stressing!

I started stressing today thinking it was about 2 days away. I have to repack the boxes b/c I misunderstood the hubby when he was explaining what to pack and where and such. I started stressing out and was complaining about all the stuff we have to do and how we'll never be done... hubby was like "dear, it is Tuesday. Chill." I thought it was Thursday! Hahaha! Okay, I am calm now. But still upset about the repacking. Nothing too big though, we've rid ourselves of one medium box of stuff from it. So that is good.

 

Our help never showed up. I wasn't really expecting it but hubby really thought they'd come help, especially since he's offering to pay $50 a day per person. I guess the unemployed have the luxury of being picky about the work they take. But he really thought we'd have help. I know better. It has been this way since we moved here, with the occasional exception, and I wasn't holding my breath waiting for help to show up.

 

Hubby has been working on the house repairs and I have been trying to figure out where to work first and trying to get it all done without getting disorganized in the process. It's not working LOL. I need to figure something else out. Right now I am working on packing into boxes for "stays on boat with us" and "goes into storage for later use". Man, when you limit the number of boxes you can have, you'd be amazed at what you can get rid of and what you REALLY want to keep.

 

Well, I have the boys cleaning out their toys and someone is going to figure out I am in here hiding any minute now. So off I go! That is my update for now. Anyone want to come help? We pay $50 a day (8 hour days with breaks).

Dotchi

OH MY GOD! I AM FREAKING OUT!

No, my caps lock didn't stick! I am starting to panic! First, it feels like "oh, it's JUST Tuesday. Wow, feels like it has been a week already." Then I am like "AGH! We're never going to get done!" Then I smoke, and I calm down some.

The house has three pages worth of lists to get done. We have most of the stuff! but I don't see how it is going to get all done. Thankfully the renters are happy enough to fix anything we leave, but we would feel better knowing it was done.

Where is hired help when you need them?

But I think we can still get most of the stuff done. I thought someone was supposed to be over to help yesterday but they never showed. I'll see if they show up today. I'll almost bet money that we'll be doing this alone the whole way through because, for the most part, we can't get help here if we beg for it. Heck, we're offering to pay and guess who showed up yesterday! No one. What do you have to do to get help in this area!?

Hubby is home... quick run down of the days

Saturday dh got home and we picked him up at the airport. The boys were thrilled to see him. I was so happy to hug him again... it was just one of those military like photos. Kids running to hug dad everyone hugging each other... only he wasn't in uniform. LOL After that we went to Cracker Barrell to eat dinner. That was yummy. When we got home, I finished sorting the clothes with Miles help and then we sent the kids to bed. Miles kept getting up asking to help with packing (can we say EXCITED!) and hubby finally said "Mom and I would like to have some Mom and Dad time" and I wasn't there for this but dh said Miles looked traumatized by the thought and exiting stage left at warp 9. LMAO And that night after the kids fell asleep, let's just say... it was GOOD!

So then Sunday we woke up late. We drove to Harbor Frieght and spent oodles of money to fix up the house with. They had to call in his check since the system flagged it. We're guessing it's b/c that series of checks is always written in California and now here's one showing up in TN. It was embarrassing. Stopped the whole line, everyone looking at us. I could've died. But I'd rather they do that than to cash our checks all over the country while we're still figuring out that a check book is gone!

Went to Raccoon Moutain to visit Aunt Shiela, Uncle Russ, Aunt Rosie Aunt Sandy, Aunt Tia, Great Grandpa and Nana. That was nice. They kept asking where my shoes were... aren't flip flops shoes? I think they were more impressed that I even HAD shoes on! Then Sandy, Tia, and I sat outside talking and smoking while Lil Mendel rolled down the hill repeatedly and Miles ended up joining him. Shiela came out to chat with us and then the rest called to us and said Grandpa was leaving. Wow, that was quick. After Aunt Rosie, Sandy, Tia, and Great Grandpa left, hubby went to fix the brake lights on the van. It was a fuse, which means I have been driving without brake lights for MONTHS! Comfy thought.

Then we took Nana to Sticky Fingers. I highly recommend the sweet BBQ sauce and the whiskey BBQ sauce. Dh says he tried all and liked them. He said the hot sauce isn't as hot as my napalm chili, but then then too, you can't decide if my chili is good or not because the taste buds don't survive the first bite LOL. I love this restaurant! Forget napkins, you get TOWELS. And at the end of your very delicious meal, they bring you warmed wet wipes to wash your hands off... I actually needed it too! It was VERY good.

Then after hugging Nana and waving as she drove off, we went to Sears and got Lil Mendel a pair of pants. He is NOT the shopping kind. He was about to have a nervous breakdown in the dressing room and lamenting about "not another pair of pants!" and flat out REFUSED to try on anymore. So I said that was fine. Next pair of pants would be hand sewn by me in ANY pattern I chose and it'll be the elastic wasteband kind (he hates those) and he WOULD wear them or else. So, he now has a pair of size TWELVE (my gosh he grew!!!) Levi's jeans. Hopefully they'll outlast him. I did sit down with him in the dressing room and let him have a moment on my lap for a big hug and understanding of how stressful this must be to him. I didn't want to completely mean. Miles got a pair of shoes for the boat, white soles so it won't mark. He's in a size 10 in mens shoes! ACK!

So then we headed to Wal-Mart (sorry, Jan) for the last bits of what we needed since Lowe's was closed. After we finished, I bought ONE more pack of cigarettes while hubby headed to the van. I kept setting off the alarm. First they ran the pack of cigarettes over the deactivating thingy and the alarm went off again when I went out. So I ended up showing them that there was nothing in my purse (they kept giving each other sideways glances. I didn't want the police to be called), I emptied my pockets (man, I need to clean these pockets out) and we STILL couldn't figure out what it was setting off the alarms. We think it may have been the Byetta pen. Not sure. I was SO embarrassed. Even more so than at Harbor Freight. I felt like a criminal and everyone at the lines closest to the door were starring at me like they were waiting to see Grandma Betty and her trainee body slam me and hog tie me until the police showed up. I think we decided on the Byetta pen and I walked out setting off the alarm again. I was quite humiliated. I remember why I hate Wal-Mart!

Then we headed home. The day was shot since we spent it all out on the town. The plan of throwing everything on eBay just went out the window. But that's another rant for another day. We ended up fixing a light socket and few other things and going to bed totally drained of any life force. So much for extra money.

I slept good last night. I hear hubby stirring around so I better get off his computer LOL

SNOW!

Flurries that is. It is flurrying here pretty consistantly. The boys keep chanting "SNOW HARDER SNOW HARDER" and hoping that we get one freak blizzard before we leave. They want to wake up to FEET of snow, have one day of snow day and then have it melt the next day. Guess they didn't think about the flooding afterwards LOL. The temperature right now is 29 degrees and it's supposed to drop to 19 degrees tonight... of course the high was supposed to be 45 and I don't think we got above 40. So we'll see.

I am working on getting all clothes washed today and sorted and packed and all that fun stuff. I feel better but I am trying not to over do it either. I am going to work on the livingroom some more and then possibly the kitchen. Depends on how much I get done.

Feed to yahoo 360 and kiss wrestling

I finally figured out how to feed this blog over to there. But now it has a VERY old post as the main post. Not sure if I like this feed thing. Oh well! Guess I'll have to live with it.

Miles pointed out that I am grey! I have grey hairs coming around near my forehead. YEA! I know you think I am weird... but I like grey hair. I think it looks sophisticated and... missing a word her... cool isn't it... well, I'll just use beautiful. Refined, maybe? I am so excited to have it that I stood in front of the mirror looking at it.

That's when I noticed I have a slightly bruised cheek from the kissing wrestle with the boys the other night. The idea of kissing wrestle is simple:

There is the kisser and the kissee. The kisser tries to kiss the kissee on the cheeks, forehead and chin... the kissee has to try to kiss the kisser while not getting kissed! It turns into a wrestling match LOL. I was holding my own when Miles called Mendel 2.0 to come help him because he couldn't keep both my hands away from my face long enough to kiss my cheeks. He already got my forehead and I got his chin... and I was wearing lipstick so I could prove it MWAHAHAHA! But then Mendel 2.0 jumped in and was they were both trying to pry my hands from my face when the GREAT idea for Mendel 2.0 to be on the other side, to sit on the arm that was free already, came up and he leapt over my head and almost off the bed, but he caught himself. When he did, his leg shot straight out for balance and kissed my cheek. Ouch! I called an injured time out. So far the bruise is sort of able to be covered with plenty of consealer, but you can still see the poofy spot.

NOW, I am going to go pack some more and then go to bed early at the wee hours of midnight.

1001 things to do before I die

The Queen of Oreos gave me an idea. I am making a list of 1001 things I want to do before I die. I know my husband has his list, but I think it's time I had mine. So I started making the list and it's off to the right hand side under "surf the web". Now I would like ideas of things to do before I die. I am looking for experiences, not really anything like "buy a car", "win the lottery" and such. Things I can do that are for the experience. Make sense? Besides, I already bought a car.

How the move is progressing

Hubby should be home Saturday about 3PM. We moved all the stuff we're using into the boys room and we're all sleeping in there for now. We're almost done cleaning out the master bedroom. I have to do a trash run today and the renters should be here about 7 PM to drop off a load. It'll be stored in the master bedroom which will make it OFF LIMITS once they unload. But everything will be out of there by then.

Later today I'll be sorting and packing clothes that we don't need right now. We're working on getting our one bag complete for each of us. Lil Mendel's is done but the rest are still in the works. We have hygiene bags for each of us and a main kit for meds and such ready to go. Tomorrow will be the livingroom sort and pack. Thursday will be spent cleaning the yard and van.

So far it is going well. I figured I will empty the kitchen all the way next week. For now, I am getting just the basics and leaving them out.

Whew! This is a lot of work. I forgot what it is like to move. I need less stuff!

This is irritating me

My pictures load sometimes and not other times. WHY!?

What is this spider?

We found this little guys while cleaning today. He seemed to be just lounging around until I broke out the camera, then he started posing for us. I kid you not. Once done, he went inside the tool case and hid under teh zipper. Here are some of my favorite poses. Anyone know what this is?

Practice writing

I type enough each day. I was worried that I couldn't type 1667 words a day for NaNo WriMo... but now I am not worried at all. I have typed each night in place of writing in my diary and did a word count. Last nights word count was 2,600. Tonight's word count is 2,875. I am no longer worried about writing 50,000 words in a month... I am going to challenge myself to 100,000 words instead. I know I can easily get to the 50,000 word mark. I'll be a winner in 10 days at this rate! I could write THREE novels in a month! Man, I am good! Now, watch November get here and I've run out of things to write...

My New Home

The part that my husband (standing) is in, is called the cockpit. Right behind his legs are benches... those are the boys berths on the inside. (Nice legs, huh!) That's James sitting there next to my hubby. Hi James!

This is my new home! Our sailing yacht! I am so excited to get out to California and sail. The part with the two bigger windows is the main cabin. It's about 8' X 7.5' and the lower part with the 3 smaller windows (two on the side, one in front) is the V-berth... my "bedroom". I think the head is in that area too. The boys berths are at the back of the boat furthest from the V-berth. they go out around the cockpit on either side. I'll post a picture of that next.

Short term and long term goals

I now have true short term and long term goals. None of these willy-nilly "keep the house clean" "goals". Nope, I actually have a GOAL!

My goal is to write a novel. No I haven't gone off the deep end. I am completely serious!

Short term goal to this step is to write something that is 2,000 words every day. Why?

Because my long term goal is to participate in the National Novel Writing Month in November 2007. I figured that once I actually get the novel writen, I can tweak it to my hearts content. But at least it will be written!

I have always wanted to write a book and this is just the motivation I need. So, call me crazy, but my ultimate goal is to write a novel in one month.

Miles is sitting right here

This is Miles. He is my son. He is HUGE! He wears a bigger shoe than me (and I wear a size 11 in womens!) He is about an inch or two shorter than me... and I am 5'9" or something like that... I mean, the kid is going to be something like 6'5" or 7' tall when he gets to be an adult. Now he is sitting down behind me. So here is the interview with Miles.

Me: Good Morning Miles.

Miles: Yes?

Me: So, how is your day going?

Miles: I'm tired and can I listen to music?

Me: Not until you finish the interview... one mre question, then you can go. So, are you excited about moving?

Miles: I am going to listen to rap, hip hop, rock...

Me: Focus, son. Are you excited about moving?

Miles: Yes. I am going to live on a 30 foot yacht that is white and from what I have seen good looking. It looks like a LOOOOOOT of fun. Except for the rockety rockety rocky part.

Me: Cool. If you want to go listen to music now, you can.

Miles: No, I want to throw darts, listen to music, drink water, and hang out!

Me: The darts are magnetic, folks. Not to worry. So, Miles, are you looking forward to going to California?

Miles: Yes, because I get to see big battleships, a big aircraft carrier thatis a museum, I've been all over it... except for the parts that are blocked off. The local fire department has to install fire extinguishers before we can go to those areas just in case anything goes wrong. Oh, my dad has 2 or 3 yellow bikes! They were free to us. I have my own berth on the boat. My brother has his own and I think we'll get along better because of it. Me... Mom? Your turn.

Me: Thank you for your time, Miles. I am sure if anyone has any questions they'd like to ask you, they can leave them in the comments section and we'll check it out and answer them. Sound Cool?

Miles: I'm 5 plus 6 which equals 11. So not to worry. I'm responsible with darts.

Me: His ability to keep focused and on subject, never ceases to amaze me :) Until next time.

My new yahoogroup

So I started a new yahoogroup. It's basically for me to post my daily checklist each day and to check back with what I have done. I feel a bit silly because I am the only one on there and so I am the only one posting. If you want to join the list, it's open to anyone. You can send in a checklist or just post a "hey, this is what I did" or just be the cheerleading section of the list. Anyone want to join?


Click to join mydailychecklist (The group has since disbanded)