This and That

So. No, I have not disappeared. Nor have I given upon blogging. It is just that my normal blogging computer is still not connected to the internet and I feel guilty asking Mikey to give up computer time, since that is his work and all. Lucky for me, he has moved his work into the office, leaving the laptop available for internet goodness. So, perhaps you will hear from me more regularly once again. Or perhaps not.

Exciting Event: Our propane tank arrived on Tuesday, proving us with oodles of hot water for washing dishes and selves, as well as a stove upon which I can turn raw things into cooked things. I have been doing lots of both. Yesterday, I went on a baking spree, making both banana and apple bread and wild rice breadsticks to go with the wild rice soup we had for dinner. This morning I made a valiant attempt at pancakes (how could I forget to put in whole stick of butter?) that will filled with apples and (you guessed it) wild rice. I figure if I am going to take the time to make it, I better make a bunch! It was fun doing all that cooking and having fresh, homemade food around is wonderful, but it leads to lots of dishes AND depressing visits to the scale. Sigh.

The house continues to be wonderful. We organized the garage the other day, putting up the shelves we used to us in the kitchen and a new tool cabinet (thanks to my FIL). It went well - read: no missing brackets or screws - but it would have been easier if I weren't spending the whole time checking the area for creepy crawlies. I know that all manner of biting and stinging creatures would like to spend their hot summer days on the cool concrete slab, especially since we saw one, a scorpian, with our very own eyes. Although I do not normally squish bugs/ants/spiders/etc (even the pincher bug ones that I really hate), I have come to the realization that I will not hesitate to smoosh a Scorpian, a Black Widow, or a Brown Recluse, all of which might be living nearby. The thing is, they are poisonous. If it were just me, I might risk it, trying instead to be very watchful, but there is NO WAY to train cats to avoid creepy-crawly things. Plus, I have heard just how nasty Brown Recluse bites can be. No thanks. I am not going to search them out for destruction and if they want to maintain peace around here, they better follow suite.

Finally, a brief note. My posts have been remarkably boring lately, I know. "First, I did this. Then, I did that. It was fun." I'm not sure if all my creative energy is going into setting up the house or if it is the time contraints on my internet use, or if it is just a phase, but I haven't even had any interesting thoughts to share. Sometimes I have them and they don't make it here, but my brain has been quite pedantic lately. In fact, a large portion of my day has been spent staring out the window, watching the plants and the sand and occasionally, but not necessarily, a bird or rabbit. For now, that is A-okay with me.

Blasted Intarnets

Okay, so I wrote up this great email detailing the travel plans (tickets have been purchased), but then realized that for now, we are a one computer family and it's not MY computer. All my email addresses are on the Mac with isn't web connected at the moment. So if you are interested in seeing the plans (and helping me out with some sticky wickets that need unsticking) please email me. Thanks. :)

Listy McLister

Ways I Plan to Keep Busy This Summer:
*knitting
*daily cleaning
*cross stitching
*basic home repairs
*cooking
*beadwork
*blogging
*organizing photo albums
*logic/word puzzles
*entertaining

Buildings found in Anza:
*El Coyote mexican restaurant
*Post Office
*Auto Shop and "Parts Department" (the junk yard)
*Circle K convenience store
*Market
*Dairy Queen
*small strip mall containing vet, pharmacy, hair cutter, etc.
*Lutheran church
*Catholic church
*Mormon church
*Spanish speaking church (most likely Catholic?)

Things I Have Planned for My Trip to MN in Aug:
*11/12 - Mayo Appointments (anyone who wants to hang out with me and share a hotel room is welcome, I'm travelling alone and will be quite bored between proddings)
*13 - not sure
*14/15 - Hang with Thom, Kathy, Ulrich, in cities
*16/17 - Hang with Daddy, Pam, Brooks, in Superior
*18/19/20 - Hang with Mom, Ty, Shanta, help with wedding stuff
*21 - Head home (rest up for school the next day)

Animals We Have Seen on Our Property:
*lizards, lots and lots of lizards
*Quail
*Jackrabbits (adult and baby)
*spiders
*dead snake (and snake trails)
*Horny Toad
*flies
*Squirrels
*a big blue bird (possibly a Blue Jay, but I'm not sure)
*small, brown leaf birds
*tiny, brown grasshoppers

Country Rambling

There is something about being out of the city that motivates me to do stuff. Rather than sleeping in until 9:30 and then spending the day playing video games and stuffing my face, I have been getting up at 7, doing odds and ends around the house (unpacking, dishes, breaking down boxes, etc), and stuffing my face. All this DESPITE the fact that I started reading The DaVinci Code this morning. Quite interesting. I suspect I will be finished with it before I sleep tonight.

Since my goal this summer is to avoid becoming a fat cow, Mikey and I also went for a bike ride. It is a darn good thing we both have mountain type bikes instead of those wussy city-slicker ones, because the roads around here are mountainy. And sandy. We peddled our little hearts out and then came home to a welcome cold shower. I could get used to this cold shower thing, only I know that once it is no longer the only option I will wimp out.

And to top of the wonderfulness that is my life these days, I got to spend an hour talking with my Daddy. That would have been enough to make my day, but he overflowed my cup by telling me all kinds of good news. You know, the kind of good news that makes you cry with relief and joy. It is almost as though the shadows that have been lurking over my family for the last many years are finally giving up and going away. I am not innocent enough to think it is anything close to permanent, but I've been waiting for this for a long, long time. I can only describe it as...well to be honest, I don't think I can describe it, but it feels damn good.

So here I am, housed and exercised and unpacked and loved and overjoyed, giving thanks to the sun and the wind and the Fates and the LOVE that makes my life so overwhelmingly wonderful. I wish I could share this peace, this complete and utter satisfaction with every single one of you. Make you feel it deep down in your bones, your heart, your soul. The world would be a better place if everyone could feel what I feel today.

So much excitement!

We took our trip to the Big City today and to look at our car on the way home, you would think they had told us we weren't allowed back for 3 months. We stopped at CostCo and bought all the bulk paper products and cleaning supplies you could want. We also picked up a second cell phone (necessary since the computer takes up the land line), had some keys copied, took care of cat things (med and food and such), and bought tons of groceries. Oh! I amost forgot the best thing of the whole day...I got new towels! We have been using ratty old towels, hand-me-downs from both sides of our family, since we got together, but now that I have a snazzy new house, I decided it is time for snazzy new linens. I can't wait to take a shower. Of course, we won't have hot water until the 28th. Details, details.

We found that the 30+ minutes to town provides for ample discussion and music listening. Loverly.

It's Done

We are officially living in our new home. I am going to journal it to post later (now, I have to steal time on Mikey's computer), but here's the CliffNotes version...

Monday morning we picked up the Uhaul. Our friends came and we got it packed up in about 2 hours. At noon we still didn't have the keys, but after a leisurely lunch, we finally got The Call. We drove to Anza, unpacked in an hour, returned the Uhaul, and settled into the house for our first night.

Tuesday was spent unpacking the living room and kitchen, as well as setting up the bed and entertainment systems and some serious napping. We also took a trip in to Anza for some small errands and looking around. Today, we unpacked the bedroom and bathrooms, and started on most of the other rooms. It is looking almost like a home. Tomorrow, we will head into the big city for a shopping trip - we let ourselves run out of most things so there was less to move.

Things of Note:
* We still have no propane, so we are eating cold food and taking cold showers. Brrr. Fortunately, it is roasting out, so it doesn't feel so bad.
* The moon was absolutely full our first night here. It was beautiful.
* The kitties are adjusting well, some more slowly than others. They are enjoying the view (especially the rabbits and squirrels) from the new windows.
* It is very quiet here. I love sitting and listening to the world without all the cars and sirens and talking.

The Plan

6:30 - Rise and Shine, take last warm shower until the 28th (when we get our propane tank in)
7:00ish - IHOP to carbo load for the hauling of boxes
8:00 - pick up Uhaul truck, start loading things
9:30ish - friends and family start arriving to help - YAY friends and family! :)
12:00 - start making cranky calls if I haven't heard word from escrow

rest of day - treat friends and family to lunch, finish packing/hauling, return Uhaul, move cats, SLEEP IN NEW HOUSE!

Wish us moving mojo. My computer will be back up as soon as possible, but I will be in the technological stone age with dialup internet access. Most of that is needed for Mikey to download the bajillion emails he gets everyday, so my posting might be sporadic. Catch you on the flip side!

Lemons/Lemonade

So after a whole day of pins and needles, waiting to hear about the closing of our house (all while trying to wrangle 30 soon-to-be 5th graders on what is The Most Exciting Day of the Year), I got the call. "Both houses have funded and it is going to title company. It will record this afternoon and you should have your keys by 6:00 pm." I did a little dance, yelled the good news to my co-workers, and e-mailed my darling. (Because, as you may have discovered if you have been trying to contact us, our phone got shut off earlier than planned, so call the cell. That will be our new "personal number" anyway.) All was right with the world.

UNTIL

30 minutes later, I received another call. "Title didn't clear the wire transfer in time, so they pulled the file and it won't record until Monday. I'm really sorry." Damn. I took a deep breath, cried to my co-workers (who have all done this before, each saying "Yep - title companies suck*.), and e-mailed Mikey again. I finished cleaning up my classroom, which has never looked so good on the last day of school (If I decide not to go back until August, I don't have to!), and headed home for an evening of moping and vitral spewage.

My biggest concern was the U-haul reservation we had for 8:30 this morning. When making said reservation, I got the distinct impression that U-haul had very little sympathy for the needs/situation of its renters. I girded myself to ask for a reschedule and if they refused, I was going to tell them we were taking our business elsewhere. Someone was looking out for us though, because our reservation wasn't in the system at all. We were relieved not to have a cancellation fee, and the manager was relieved that she could appease us with a trailer on Monday. She didn't have the size we wanted (17 ft.), so she gave us an upgrade for free. AND it turns out that milage is cheaper on Mondays.

So, today I am officially apologizing to the powers that be for all my whining and griping from yesterday. I was all geared up emotionally to move today, but I can see that there are reasons why it didn't work out. Thank you.

It is my understanding that the title company now has all the money it needs and things should go through smoothly first thing Monday morning. While we are waiting for confirmation, we will be stuffing our belongings into a 24 ft. trailer (with the help of a few WONDERFUL friends) and getting ready for the first night in our new house. :)

I love them

I don't want my class to leave me.

I stood in the shower this morning, thinking about all the things I haven't said to my kids. I still want to go over the "it's/its" thing again. We didn't get to explore CA statehood as much as I'd like. Although I did talk about the power of words some, I forgot to warn them about those damned Iron Cross shirts. There is so much they still don't know and I am scared to be sending them on without this vital information.

On a more selfish note, I'm not done enjoying them. J-----'s sense of humor and L---'s artwork, A-----'s newfound confidence and S-----'s slowly (OH SO SLOWLY) improving grades - I'm not finished listening and helping and tearing my hair out. After 10 months of thinking of these boys and girls as "mine" I am not ready to give them up. What if they don't come back to visit? What if I never see how they end up?

It is slightly easier this year because I know that I will be moving up to 5th grade with them. I will have a new class and I will become even more bonded to this group of kiddos, but it won't be the same. I was blessed with a cohesive, caring, cooperative, energetic group of kids who LOVED being at school. I can hope for that next year, but I still feel like I have a bird in the hand and I am getting ready to let it go.

Well, there is no more delaying it. Time to head to school. I'll keep thinking about what I have to tell them today and I will try (maybe) to keep from crying too much as I watch my fledglings leave my Room 9 next for the last time. Yikes.

I felt the earth move under my feet...

Yep. After 5 years and several misses, I have finally felt my first earthquake. I was sitting in the multi-purpose room at school when I felt the twitching. It was quick, probably only a few seconds of real motion, and it wasn't even that big, kind of like when a big truck drives past the house, but it was fun. I had a small moment of worry when it started getting stronger, but then it was gone. I was internet researching and found this list...

http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Maps/117-34_full.html

I am not crazy about the number of times Anza is listed, but I am happy to see most of them are miniscule.

In other news, the last day of school is tomorrow, and we are (as of this moment) still on track for a house closing tomorrow as well. If only our moving helpers weren't all backing out (all for legitamate reasons).

Update

To Do By June 17th:
*complete report cards
*clean classroom (5/8 done)
*complete cumulative files
*complete portfolios
*finish reading Bud, Not Buddy to class
*survive Gold Rush Day, Field Day, End of Year Auction, Last Day
*finish packing (7/9 done)
*clean house (7/9 done)
*hire U-haul truck
*sign final sale/purchase documents
*set up utilities (3/4 done)
*see dentist for filling
*get fingerprinted (put off until a less hectic time)
*weedwack yard
*take cats to Vet (attempted but postponed)
*make assessment and planning binders for next year

Inner Ear Problem or Just Really Oblivious?

I was happily vacuuming the bedroom, which was emptied of all its contents yesterday, when Mikey yelled at me. "Don't you FEEL that?"

I switched off the machine and looked around, confused. "Feel what?"

"Seriously? The earthquake that is rattling the shower door." The look on his face suggested that I must be kidding. I'm sure the look on mine reflected the same, since I had felt nothing. I guess between the swaying back and forth and the noise of the vacuum, it was enough to mask the light effects, because when we did a little internet research we found the following report:

Magnitude - 5.6 - local magnitude (ML)
Time - Sunday, June 12, 2005 at 8:41:46 AM (PDT)
Distance from Anza, CA - 9 km (6 miles) ESE (106 degrees)

It was followed by several small aftershocks as shown on this map. Although I didn't feel it at all, the cats sure did. Just moments before, I had to break up a serious, fur-flying fight between Huzzah and Oliver. I thought both were acting a bit out of sorts, and now I know why.

There have been at least 3 earthquakes of similar size (not all quite so close, though) while I have lived in CA, and I have felt not a single one of them. It seems that the first earthquake I feel is going to be the one that sucks my house into the bowels of the earth. How sad.

Observations

We had to take a trip to our new town this afternoon in order to procure ourselves a PO box. While there, I enjoyed a meal at my new favorite restaurant (has to be, it's the only one within 30 miles) and made an observation of sorts.

First, let me explain my background a bit. I grew up in the middle of the woods, 5 miles from the nearest convenience store, 30 miles from the nearest grocery store/hospital/school, 60 miles from the nearest mall, and 120 miles from the nearest airport. In my family, you planned ahead when it came to purchasing, you knew your neighbors (having grown up playing with the kids), and you knew how to take care of yourself.

Since leaving home, especially since moving to CA, I have drifted quite far from that life. Right this minute, I live within walking distance of a grocery store, medical assistance, several schools, and more people than I can count. The mall is 5 miles (and 30 minutes) away and the airport is 50 miles. I can make a quick trip to the store for marshmallows in 5 minutes, I didn't meet anyone in my neighborhood (beyond a quick hello) until last month, and for awhile I was paying someone to mow my lawn.

We haven't even moved to the house in Anza yet, and I have already had more conversations with neighbors than I have had here. The waitress at my favorite restaurant lives about 1/2 a mile down the road from us. We learned this when she asked if I taught in Temecula. She recognized me from when her kids attended my school. The guy who is selling is the house lives a few miles away. And the man at the counter of the Post Office took the time to rib us about leaving the city to come to a little backwoods place like Anza.

So. My observation goes something like this. It seems that you would be closer to your neighbors in the city. You have more of them and you are closer. This is not true, and I think it is because you are constantly feeling as though you are invading their personal space. Afterall, you don't want anyone to notice when you run to the mail in your pajamas or take out the trash in curlers, so you try to return the favor. In an effort to provide privacy to the people next door (despite the fact that you can hear their toilet flush and see into their living room from your driveway), you put up an invisible wall. Unfortunately, the wall is often overly effective, blocking out any and all interactions, not just the uncomfortable ones.

In the country it is just the opposite. You would think people would be more distant, what with the...well...distance between them, but they aren't. I think this is two-fold. First, when it takes 30 minutes to get to the closest source of flour, knocking on the nearest door to borrow some doesn't sound quite so bad. Second, when you don't have to spend every waking minute pretending you don't see everything going on with your closest neighbor, it is easier to take the time to actually see them. You can converse more smoothly when you aren't wondering if they heard that fight you had with your darling hubby the night before. Perhaps there is something to the saying "Absence makes the heart grow fonder".

What do you think? Am I right? Wrong (gasp - could it be?)? What would you add?

Sorry

I will apologize in advance for the extremely boring posts that are going to be filling this blog for the next couple of weeks. I am in one of those transition times that I always handle so well (NOT) and I am a little preoccupied. Since I feel the need to continue posting lest I lose the habit, I am going to mostly talk about the things that I have to do and the things I have accomplished. You might just want to come back in about 2 weeks. :)

To Do By June 17th:
*complete report cards (10/30 done)
*clean classroom (3/4 done)
*complete cumulative files (16/30 done)
*complete portfolios (0/30 done)
*finish reading Bud, Not Buddy to class
*survive Gold Rush Day, Field Day, End of Year Auction, Last Day
*finish packing (3/9 done)
*clean house (3/9 done)
*hire U-haul truck
*sign final sale/purchase documents
*set up utilities
*see dentist for filling
*get fingerprinted
*weedwack yard
*take cats to Vet (optional)
*make assessment and planning binders for next year

Timeline

Current estimates have us closing the sale of our house on Thursday of next week and the purchase of our new house on Friday. Moving day is Saturday (as of this moment - subject as always to the whims of the Fates) and we're going to have to HAUL ASS to get it done on time. Get me another of those chocolate-coffee-whipped cream things I had this morning and I'll have the caffeine buzz to move most of it myself. :)

The Power of Love, Baby!

My aunt Kate has been dealing with some pretty deep stuff lately and for a while things were looking a little bleak. Thanks to the love and prayers and hard work of her friends and family, however, things are back on track. For more, check out her website over at Caring Bridge.

Incomplete sentences.

Met the guy who owns our future house today. Nice. Hard worker. Very informative. Thanked him repeatedly for working with us to make this happen. Learned lots about the well (they hit water at about 70 ft, but it is much, much deeper). Also did some yardwork on our current house. Trying to somewhat tame the backyard. Not really succeeding, but making a dent.

Didn't get much cleaning done. Napped and played Space Colony. Took me 5 times to beat that level, but I finally did it. Work tomorrow. Need to call siblings. I am a very bad big sister. Very, very bad. Time for bed.

Movin' and Groovin'

Today, we heard back from the inspector and got to work on the repairs that the buyers requested. Although the initial list looked pretty scary, it turns out that there really wasn't much that needed doing. Several of the things were just bogus - a "leaky" faucet that doesn't leak and a "missing" plug that wasn't missing. Others we took care of quickly (putting up some screens) and not so quickly (removing the half of the garden that was against the house). Now we have calls in to the roof guy and the termite guy, waiting for them to do some repairs/further inspection. Tomorrow we're heading back to the house to meet with the sellers and make sure they don't bulldoze too much of the landscaping under (no, I'm not sure why they're dozing at all). On the packing front, we boxed up most of the clothing, keeping out only things we'll need for the next two weeks, as well as emptying out more drawers and shelves. Things continue to progress in the expected manner.

Revelation

I was looking at this picture



when I realized that we were moving into a trailer. I mean, I knew that we were buying a manufactured home and I knew that a manufactured home was a mobile home without the wheels, but I had been adamently convincing myself that this one was different. "It doesn't look like a mobile home," I kept telling my friends and family.

Well, if you look at that picture you know I was just fooling myself. It looks very much like a trailer home. No real home is that rectangular shape. It is very distinctive. I know this because I lived in a big, green, single-wide trailer for many years as a child. I have never forgotten how the corner of my bedroom was peeled away by an errant stump as it was pulled up the driveway. From the time I realized that I would eventually be living in my own house, I swore that nothing could make me live in a trailer again. But, here I am, about to move out of my stick-built home into another trailer.

It turns out that I am okay with that. I suddenly understand why my parents made the choices they did. I look at that picture up there and I see, not only a doublewide trailer, but also land. We are going to have a buffer around us, keeping the world slightly at bay. Look at how far we are from our house - everything between belongs to us. I have decided, like I imagine my folks decided before me, that I am much more concerned with having the land around me, than I am about the differences between stick-built and modular homes.

Sharing

All the fourth graders in our school had to write a response to literature for their third trimester writing assessment. We have practiced expressing our opinion and backing it up with evidence from the story over and over and their actually getting pretty good at it. I decided to use The Poky Little Puppy, one of my favorite stories as a child, for the actual exam.


The kids were excited when I told them I was going to read a story that was an important part of my past. I told them how I used to read it over and over again and how I liked it so much that my Daddy even wrote me a song to go along with it. This really intrigued them and since I received a recording of that very same song not too long ago, I said I would share that as well.

I am not even sure how the kids reacted to the song while it was playing, because I was sucked into a time warp. I stood there listening to my Daddy's voice sing a song that meant so much to me and I had tears in my eyes. When it finished, I looked at the kids and said, "I used to really love listening to my Daddy play guitar. Listening to this song makes me miss him alot." My students, most of whom have been separated from their Daddies for a time by divorce, military deployment, or even death, understood what I meant.

Before I dismissed them for the day they got me to promise I would bring in some pictures of myself when I was little. I agreed to do it, even though all those pictures are packed and it will mean digging through boxes, because I love sharing these things with them. In fact, I'm thinking I will ask them to bring in pictures of themselves when they were younger, perhaps doing something special with someone they love.

Still Progressing

The inspection went well. We're getting closer...

Wheeeeeeeee!!!

We're going to the new house for the inspection. I can't wait to see it again! Here's a reminder for you...



and another...