Honeymoon adventures and moving

We are back from our honeymoon. We are moved out of our apartment. We are living out of suitcases and couch surfing because we are officially homeless. There's a numbness to it, on the surface and maybe even a little under. Or perhaps I've shut down again to keep myself from crying. I am not okay and yet there is plenty to be thankful for. Staying positive, trying to look at things positively, I admit is exhausting, but I'm putting in the effort. A new chapter in our lives is beginning and I am fighting tooth and tangled hair to see excitement and the silver lining. So I'll go in order. 

We went to Seattle for our honeymoon. Amanda;s cousin graciously paid for our entire hotel stay in a lovely hotel in Issaquah. The bed was amazing and for the first time in years, I awoke in the mornings with little or no back pain. I felt spoiled. 

We were both sick the entire honeymoon but we got did not let it stop us. We went to the Northwest Railroad Museum and I rode a real train for the first time in my life. I loved it. All of the cars were from different trains and different time periods. We also got to see Snoqualmie falls on the ride, drank fresh, warm hot apple cider, and the train had to make an emergency stop because some jack ass tried to race the train and nearly got hit. Afterward, Amanda and I ate a picnic lunch in the rain by a river. 

Uwajimaya, a huge Asian food and gift store, in Seattle, was our next stop. We splurged a little and I'm still a little shocked that I spent 20 dollars on a bottle of Sakura Sake, which I am saving to drink in our new house (when we get it and are moved in). We spent so much in the grocery part of the store that we opted out of going to the book/anime shop nestled inside. A travesty to be sure, but I was really tired, aching, and we had one more place to go. Thankfully, Daiso, another Asian store on our list, was across the street. It is a very neat shop with interesting things from Japan. I would love to share our haul from both places but most of it is packed and in storage. After we finished there, we went to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory.

On another day, we took a ferry from Seattle to Bremerton. I stood on the front deck the whole hour long ride and enjoyed the breeze and water. I saw jellyfish, loons, seaguls, and seals. It was amazing! As we pulled into port, I noticed that there is a naval port there and saw the ship Kitty Hawk, which I thought was pretty cool. From there we drove down to Tacoma to a little shop called Crescent Moon Gifts. Largely a pagan store, they also had a tea room, and some fantasy stuff too. I was in pain when we arrived and there was so much to look at. The staff was so nice and I enjoyed talking with them. The store is also very peaceful and despite being in pain, I relaxed while we were there. 

We were supposed to catch dinner with Amanda's cousin and his family back in Issaquah but we didn't make it. One of our tires went flat and we discovered that we had forgotten to buy a tire iron. So, with a dying cell phone, we messaged Amanda's cousin and knocked on the doors of three houses for help. House two didnt have a tire iron but lent us a cell phone charger. House three had a tire iron and while we changed the tire, the man's daughter asked if she could help. Of course! We weren't in a hurry and it was a learning experience for her. After we put the doughnut tire on, we thanked everyone, returned the phone charger, and headed to Costco so see about getting a new tire or repairing ours. Our tire was toast! Apparently in losing air, it got hot and shredded from the inside, and sadly Costco didn't have one to replace it. So we drove from Tacoma to Issaquah at 45 mph because the doughnut tire couldn't go above 50 mph, on the I-5 and I-90. We were only honked at 3 three times. The next day we spent milling about a small shopping center while Firestone changed our tire. 

Coming home was hard. We had a good time but we missed the kitties. We also dreaded the thought of moving out of our apartment.

Two of our friend had packed the majority of our apartment while we were away. I can't even begin to express how much of a help that was. We still had a lot to pack and we were both still sick. We took a day to rest and visit with Amanda's cousin Kitty Kat before she flew back to Tulsa. She'd come up to visit family and see us. 

In the scant few days following we were a chaotic rush and mess of packing. We've made several trips back and forth between Spokane WA and Post Falls ID- where Amanda's parent's live. We are storing our stuff in a garage they are renting at their apartment complex and they are watching our cats. A couple of friends pitched in and helped up load and unload the u-haul and also helped me when Amanda was at work. Because Amanda needs to be in Spokane to work and because we are looking for houses and I have a few doctor's appointments, and because of rental agreements of the people we are staying with, we are couch surfing. We can stay with Rachel a couple nights a week and stay with Amanda's parents a couple nights a week, and to finish out the rest of the time, we are staying with another friend a few nights a week. We are taking our mail at one of our friend's houses in Spokane because that's where we will be a majority of the time and it is one of the places we are staying at. 

This is all very stressful. I feel so lost and displaced. Some other things have happened, good and bad but I haven't processed them all. When I do, I will share. However, we are house hunting and trying to get well, and just trying to enjoy time with our friends, family, and kitties.            

Consulting the Skulls, More Sad News, and formulating plans for battle

While the cats are in the window enjoying the birds and squirrels, I've been beginning my day with a bit of the normal routine. E-mail has been checked, facebook messages have been checked, coffee is being consumed, and Amanda has been driven to the bus stop, all the while I've bitch slapped the depression monster. I'm not sure what makes my ability to do it this morning different from other times, perhaps its because I'm angry. 

Recently, because I've been fascinated with horoscopes and astrology, I finally sat down and did a couple of "find out your signs" calculators online. I did a couple to test that the information was correct. What I was looking for was my ascendant/ rising sign. I already know my sun sign is Pisces (A water sign) and that my moon sign is Aries (a fire sign). After plugging in all the info, I learned that my ascendant/rising sign is Leo (a fire sign). My first thought was "SHIT"! I'm water and double fire?! And then I realized that makes a lot of sense in how I approach and handle things in life. Also, my mother is a Leo and my father is a Gemini. I would like to learn more and thankfully, I have a couple of friends who really like astrology as well as the internet as some books. It is time. 

not my photo

A couple of nights ago, while my depression monster was singing me her favorite poisonous songs, I decided it was time to consult the universe, Gods, Ether, what have you for just a general "What do I need to know?" Normally I would use a tarot deck, but for some reason I felt pulled to draw from this oracle. LET GO was the main message. That's one of the hardest things for me, but I am trying. 

The sad news is that neither of my parents will be attending the wedding. I think there is more going on than either of my parents are telling me. They don't like to worry me, but that worries me even more. Especially when my Dad tells me over text that he is sorry that life seems to be imploding for both of us. With his and Mom's depression, I'm more than a little worried. But basically, Mom was scared to navigate airports alone. Being a tiny woman who is half deaf who also has health issues, that's more than a little scary. So, we are in the process of getting her to the doctor to get a statement saying that she can't fly due to health reasons so Delta will refund her ticket. Because really, if she was alone and had a seizure, she'd end up in a hospital with no insurance and Dad would have to go get her and that would just be a mess.  So, yeah. 

We were outside when my next door neighbor got home last night and told her the sad news of our impending move. She was pissed and sad too. She likes us. We are relatively quiet and nice and don't bother anyone. She said we should fight them. She also said she can point out all the apartments who's tenants who are fraudulently staying here. That's depressing. She also asked us why we only for 30 days to move out when everyone else got 120 days. We don't know the answer to that. I don't want to ask or poke the bears down in the office lest they decide to revoke the $1800.00 they are giving us for relocation costs. I'm sure part of that money is to shut us up, to make sure that we don't bitch to who ever about it. But little do they know that they pissed off the wrong Witch. I know we have wanted to get the hell out of here, I know that we haven't liked dealing with them and their lack of professionalism and care of the property, but we wanted to move out on our own terms when we were ready, not be forced out during the month of our wedding. After we have moved, after we have that check and have cashed it, I'm raising hell. Every one I have talked to about it says to do it, which keeps me from mentally making excuses for their behavior and backing down to be the doormat who gets shit wiped on her. No, not this time. There will be reviews left on every apartment website. There will be a message sent to the local news paper about them and the housing authority. I won't be talking about just our experience but that of my friend who was forced to live with cockroaches for two months because they couldn't get their shit together. It's on.... just after my wedding.

So while I will be formulating the best course of action to take for that piece of business, I am going to spend today making a plan as to how I want to pack up my apartment. I need to make somewhat of a meal plan so I know what groceries to get, and I need to make a list of things to do apartment wise, as well as what's left to be done for the wedding. I am hoping that today  I can get my hair bleached and dyed as well. I've already sent off the information to our lender to see if we can get pre-approved for a home loan and am waiting to hear back on that.  Aside from that, I'm just going to try and relax today. I might be mostly ready mentally to start doing things, but I feel like shit physically and need to calm down and not over do it or I won't be good for anything. The one thing I hate most is sitting around and watching everyone else do the hard work. I feel like a giant ass hole when that happens. But, it is what it is. 

It's starting to feel like home...

This is our Yule/Christmas tree. Yes, that is technically a Halloween tree (a friend gave it to us last year) but our Yule/Christmas tree hadn't made it over yet and I kind of missed out on a lot of Halloween this year. Plus, purple lights! anyway, I also decided that while we are unpacking, I might as well decorate for Yule/Christmas so I don't have to do it later. So far, so good, I think. Although, I don't really have suitable pictures of the rest of the house yet. The camera on my phone is crappy and I just haven't had the time or energy to find my Nikon and take proper pictures (sorry about the poor picture quality here). I will this week.

The move went pretty well. I think only one thing got broken and it was small. We had some help, which was much appreciated. However, it is taking forever to unpack because Amanda works full time and I have been doing homework. We have also had to run back to Amanda's parents house and go to the family Christmas party. We've done some shopping, went out to find fire wood, run errands, and had company. And to top it all off, I have been having computer problems. So I am going to try and break things down in a short list and explanations because I have lots to do today.

1. Windows 10 and my computer hate each other. After upgrading to Windows 10 for free, at the recommendation of a friend, my computer began to rage war. Display drivers crashed repeatedly and I got the blue screen of death several times. Also, I could sit right in front of the wireless router and have no internet. Apparently this is a problem for Toshiba and Windows 10 because it's on their website. One of my friends came over to downgrade me back to Windows 8.1. But then we had to download drivers, I had to reinstall Microsoft office only for some reason our product key didn't want to work, so I spent an hour and half on the phone with a nice lady who I couldn't totally understand. We had to link my computer to hers so she could do things on mine. Then here were the updates and oh yes, I had to go and turn the program off that looks for updates for me because it was eating up all the CPU and I couldn't do anything. Now, it's fixed. I think. But this computer is weird and Amanda is going to get me a new one for my birthday. So I just have to keep this one running until March. 

2. We have lots of books. We have 4 of the tall, 5 shelf bookcases full of books. Well the bottom row on at least three of those bookcases has Amanda's vinyl records on them. We keep finding boxes that have books in them so Amanda thinks we are going to need at least two more bookcases. It was so funny because when we were getting some things we needed for the apartment, I told her we were going to need at least 4 bookcases. She didn't want to believe me. We were going to have the second bedroom be an office, but Amanda thinks at this point, it's just going to have to be a craft/ library. I'm okay with that. 

3. We have had lots of company. Our friend Chris comes over at least once or twice a week, which is great because she is one of our most low maintenance friends.  She's very calm, very laid back and all around good company. Birdy and Dram live a couple of block away and have been coming over almost every day to help me unpack or help with my computer. Sometimes not a lot of unpacking gets done because I have just been so exhausted, but Birdy built two of my bookcases, the tv stand, and fixed my computer. She has also helped me out when I have had to do some homework by making me tea or coffee. She is going to come over today at some point too.  

We also had the twins come up for an over night stay. I think it was too soon. I was ready for them to leave when they left to have lunch with their grandmother. They came back after that, which really was fine. I just don't think we were ready to have over night company yet. 

4. Showers and cats go hand in hand for me now. Firstly, Narcisa loves to play in the bath tub, specifically she likes to attack the shower curtain liner and leave little paw prints all over the tub. Secondly, she likes to watch me show, as in sit on the side of the tub and stare. We had a kitty who did that some years ago, so this isn't a new thing, what is new, is that she thinks she wants to jump in with me while I am showering. Um no. I am already having a hard time taking showers as is. I actually had to take part of a nerve pill to take my first shower in this apartment. I have a thing with new bathtubs, it's like I have to get used to them before I am truly comfortable with them. Also, there is the slipping factor, the fact that I used to get burned every time I took a shower because someone would flush a toilet or turn on water somewhere else in the house, and a few other things. Amanda thinks it also has to do with my back. Either way it sucks and I need to get over it fast. 

5. I have been so tried lately. All the movement is good for me and I have enjoyed unpacking, moving stuff around and getting out to explore my new surroundings. But it is taking its toll. I am still dealing with PCOS, my fibromyalgia is flaring up- today I am hurting pretty badly, and my back is giving me grief. Something new has come about as well. My friend Chris thinks it is just my tendonitis but I have never had it hurt in my hand before. While tendonitius might be the case for my writs, I think I actually strained something in my hand. It happened in the move and I think I aggravate it when I get up from chairs. Even doing simple things seems to bother it. It is better, but it was cause for concern earlier in the week.

6. Family. My Dad's leg is doing better, apparently. I still think it looks awful. It's still hurting him terribly, but he's working and sounds kind of upbeat on the phone. 

I just got off the phone with my Mother and my cousin Shi-chan. I have been so excited and happy for my cousin Shi-chan, she has this amazing boyfriend, who is a friend of mine from  high school. Anyway, they are happy together and apparently he moved in with them. Most people who have been following me for awhile know how vicious my aunt can be. Apparently she was up to her usual shit of tearing into Shi-chan (you know emotional abuse) and Shi-chan's boyfriend stood up for her. Oh but my bitch of an anut just can't have that. She needs complete control over Shi-chan. so now she's calling everyone trying to find out the guy's last name so she can get a restraining order on him. she wants him out of her house now!  She wants to get a restraining order on her daughter boyfriend because he stood up for the daughter she was abusing... Yeah... fucking bitch!

My Grandparents seem to be doing well. They are taking their yearly snowbird trip to Texas. So far so good! Hopefully they have a nice, easy time, and have fun. Last year Grandma fell and hurt herself. I insist to the universe at large, that there will be none of that this year.

7. Finally, last night was a good night. I made Cavatini for dinner and then we played Start Wars Monopoly until midnight. That's late for us these days, really late. We didn't even finish the game, but I was kind of starting to fall asleep, so we had to call it quits. It was a lot of fun!

  

A Quick Announcement!!!

In these past weeks I haven't really been in the internet. I haven't really been on the computer either- more like avoiding it because I was frankly too tired. Well, I'm here to say that's not going to get in better for the next few weeks because we finally got a move-in date for our apartment!!!

December 1st at 10 am, we do the walk through and paper signing. From there we'll be picking up a Uhaul and spending the day moving our stuff. We won't have internet for a couple of weeks, which sucks because my next term starts up on November 30th, but I have a couple of places I can go to do homework. Of course, I am going to try to get my teachers to open the modules early for me, so I can get a good deal of the homework finished before life becomes chaos. Especially since we are having Amanda's family Christmas party this weekend. Because everything has to happen all at once, during the same week.

Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know what's going on. As soon as we get moved in, unpacked, and situated, I will take some pictures.  

LAND!!! 15,000 miles traveled

(Our Uhal trailer hooked up to the back of my Jeep)

Two hours later than my native Time Zone, I'm sitting the living room of my Out-laws (it's a little inside joke, they are technically my in-laws), updating all of my internet statuses to let friends and family know that I've arrived safe... Technically, I arrived last night sometime after ten after a very long day of driving filled with stress. I'm sore, pretty sure I'm coming down with something, my back is bothering me something awful, and I'm down right exhausted. But, we are alive and nothing too terrible happened along the way.

Our move began four days ago and I feel that I didn't get to say goodbye to my parents the way I wanted. On the upside there wasn't any fighting. so that's good. Anyway, we made pretty good time for the first day and arrived in Denver that night. The only annoyance was that my girlfriend missed the exit to her friend's house and we ended up taking much longer than we had intended. 

(Yoda and Galen in their doggy carrier situated in the back of the Jeep. You can barely see Galen but he's the black shadow in the back.)

Day two was filled with less driving than we wanted but we were all so tired. We at least made it out of Colorado and most of the way through Wyoming. However, my girlfriend forgot to put my gas cap back after fueling up my Jeep. A short time later I heard a 'thunk thunk thunk' and didn't have the foggiest as to what it was. Turns out, that was my gas cap. And for some reason gas stations just don't carry them. Also, we made really crappy time due to meeting a friend and a cousin at Denny's for breakfast and then going to said friend's house to visit for a bit. Did I mention that I abhor driving in Denver? A deer tried to commit suicide that night by running out into the road but I guess thought better of it and ran back into the darkness my headlights couldn't illuminate. 

But Day three was awful. We seemed to be fixed for trouble the moment we awoke. The place we'd pulled over at for a few hours sleep was still closed when we awoke, so I couldn't go to the bathroom and had to hold it until a little later. When we got a hopeful town, I just about had a fit when the place we'd pulled into was closed too. Luckily, they opened just as we were beginning to get back into the cars and head out. The next thing to happen was a bit scary. the wind blew strong and gusted hard, so hard my girlfriend said she felt like the car was about to be picked up. For my part, I was hauling the jeep so I just felt like I was being pushed off the road several times. Not a good thing to feel and fight against on mountain roads. 

Then, after making it into Butte Montana, we stopped to get gas, coffee, and a bite to eat. I took the wrong exit and headed North instead of West, but really the signs were so confusing. North and West was one. South and West was another and I was still frazzled from fighting the wind. After that, my girlfriend took the lead and somewhere along the way she lost me. It was a good thing we had decided where we were going to stop next else I would have been screwed. I told her, "Don't lose me" and then watched her speed away, oblivious to me not being able to keep up for the trailer I was hauling. Honestly, that was really scary and it was dark and I didn't have cell service.

She left me behind again after I caught up with her at St. Regis, Montana. We had a bite to eat and switched vehicles. I wasn't too keep about driving Lookout pass in the dark much less in the rain. But this time I would have company in our friend who came to help us move. So as we watched Amanda and the trailer speed away, we sighed and I focused on getting to, up and over the pass in one piece. It started snowing before we ever made it to the top which was annoying and I really didn't want to worry about 4th of July pass, the next pass before we would arrive at our destination. I was tried, I was hurting, I thought I was seeing shit. Seriously, when you think you see a man in coveralls along the side of the road who isn't there for a split second, it's time to pull over. But we couldn't pull over. So, I was extra careful in getting over 4th of July pass. 

The rest of the trip was smooth sailing. We arrived, visited with the gf's parents for a bit and then crashed. Today, however, we had to unload everything. I think I hurt myself trying to help and the gf's Dad didn't help by making me feel bad for not doing more, but really, I can't do too much without risking my back. So I kind of felt like he needed to back off a bit. I took the light stuff in until I couldn't stand to be up. Then I went shopping with the gf's mom for a bit and now I am paying for it big time. Still, thank goodness for those motorized carts at wal-mart, if not for them, I would never make through there. 

There are some things to be sad about. My cats won't come out of the bathroom. We left a lot of stuff at my parents house. I didn't have the chance to do a general cleaning of my parent's house before we left. I think I am getting sick. And we left our bed behind so we are sleeping in recliners which really doesn't help my back and while my gf's parents offered up their bed, I can't take a bed away from a woman who's just gone through surgery. But we are getting a bed from one of my gf's cousins, used and left out in the rain, but a bed nonetheless. We'll have to dry the thing first and probably lysol it to death, but at least we will have a bed. And the last thing to be sad about is that my antique dresser, the one one my ancestors built, is broken. I asked my gf not to put her records in the drawers but she said it would be fine and low and behold, we arrive and the bottoms of the drawers are broken and the dresser is scratched. I'm going to have to sand it down and re-stain it. 

Good news is, I have a day or so before I have to go mess with school stuff. I'm just going to rest and try to enjoy it. 

Family gatherings, moving, and whatever else I happen to rant/talk about.

Went to Grandma's house for Thanksgiving dinner today. Grandma made one of her mouthwatering, delicious, home-cooked dinners. We had: turnkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, homemade macaroni and cheese, turkey gravy, a relish/vegetable/cheese tray, orange jello with mandarin oranges, pistachio pudding, apple pie with ice cream, and Pumpkin pie with whipped cream. My uncle went out and got some Thai meal that didn't have any meat in it for my vegetarian friend and made it for her to go with all the vegetables. I thought that was really nice of him. It was a really wonderful meal and the last time for awhile that I will have my Grandmother's cooking.

Typically I am geared up to deal with my cousin Dashiell bouncing off the walls and my Uncle being a shithead and my Aunt shooting disapproving looks my way. But Dashiell was almost a polite, normal kid today. Almost. My Aunt was really nice to me. My Uncle was even nice for the most part but he tried to get me to talk politics with him. I refuse to discuss politics with him because he's a little bitch about it. He's one of those who can't handle someone else having a difference in opinion and god help us all if you're not on his team. It's so childish. He also didn't like how tired I was, which is his problem. And apparently he and my friend got along pretty darn well, she too shares his political views and if you have different opinion or she thinks you are wrong, there is no winning. In fact she's pretty much made me feel like an idiot just because I refused to fight with her about something that she was completely wrong about. Which is why she and I don't really talk politics anymore.

But all in all, it was a nice afternoon. We took family pictures in the yard, talked, Grandpa put money in my back pocket and we had a little fight about me trying to give it back.

On to moving. I'm not okay with this. I'm giving up almost everything but my things all over again. I keep trying to tell myself that this move will be better for me and have been trying to be more positive but the reality is, I'm really not okay. I'm terrified and I think this move might actually be worse for me in the long run, over all. I don't know what I'm going to do. I guess I'm going to keep pushing until I can't.

An Exodus in the making...

It's official, my Gf and I are moving to Northern Idaho. So I'll be leaving the grass plains for the mountains and snow again. All we have to do is square a date. I'm much more relaxed about it than I was a few weeks ago. I think I have had some time to process it and while my family isn't too happy isn't too happy, I am looking on the positive side of things. I'm going to have to transfer from one ITT Campus to another but I've talked to the people in charge of that at school and it'll be relatively easy.

Speaking of school, I've got a test tonight and I am hoping that I built my circuits right for lab. I'm probably going to have to leave early. We've got a car issue and my lab partner seems to be having as much trouble with formulas as I am. But I've got a handle on the formulas for this chapter so I'm going to help him out. My problem is the conversion aspect. The math is fine but the labeling is giving me trouble.

Well, off to take a shower and get ready.  

It's official!

So I don't have any interesting pics to post this time around... But it's official, we've completely moved out of our apartment and back in with my parents! Yay!!! Most people would be wondering how that's a cause for celebration since that seems like a step backward in the progression of life. However, for us it is a step backward to move forward. We moved back in to save some money so we could buy into the same townhouses my parents live in. We have to save up half the down payment + first month's rent and some utility money to get into these townhouses. Doesn't seem like much fun since we had our own place before. However, with these townhouses we can really make it a home. We can paint, if the basement's not finished we can finish it, and we can pretty much do anything we want with the place (once we get one) aside from knocking down walls. Plus when we move out we'll get our down payment back and charge for any remodeling we've done. So in the end it's an investment.

Also with moving back in with my parents, we won't have to worry about slap happy maintenance with the air conditioner and heater. It seemed every time the season changed there was something wrong with our heater or our air conditioner. And we don't have to worry about the water being shut off without notice and my favorite thing of all, no more brown recluse infestation!

Since I had limited time in packing and moving and while we had lots of help, it took awhile to get out of our old place due to the heat. It's been in the triple digits (Fahrenheit) here in the Midwest and according to the weather guys, it's not looking like it will cool down anytime soon. In fact, yesterday while we were trying to finish up moving out and cleaning the old place, we had to leave early because I got heat sick. I had to come back to my parents, drink lots of water, take a cool shower, and rest. It was pretty scary and worse I heard one news cast report that 30 people had already died this summer from heat stroke.

But all is well. The cats are settling in nicely, we're getting ready to get up and work on my mom's pantry. We have to get rid of some things of mom's to make room for the food we brought from our house. Don't worry, anything we don't need or will use, will be shipped to a food pantry.

Last night Dad, my girlfriend and I sat and talked about the couple of years when my family was vegetarian and all the interesting food we made from various cookbooks. We have a friend who is vegetarian coming for a visit. And of course we talked about other food we'd like to make for after she leaves. Looks like I will be expanding my recipe box again and finally, I'll get to have cauliflower cheese pie again. Num!

Well, gotta get up and get moving...