Good morning

The morning starts with coffee in the box seats- i.e. the best viewing window. 58 degrees this morning with a 74 high predicted. I'm wrapped up in the softest Pendelton wool throw ( thank you Paul & Charles), Simone beside me. Sunny and clear.
Last night we actually went to the Christmas Tree Shop- a place kind of like the Pottery in Commerce that has seasonal things and other stuff. Did get a very inexpensive bench for the mud room (thanks Elizabeth) that will be a perfect fit, a perfect place to remove wet, snowy, muddy boots before entering the house.
There is a faint twinge of homesickness hovering. It's a good thing to embrace.

More birds and bees

Egrets and herons. And ground nesting yellow jackets. Lots of them. Excitment on their part and mine when the pest guy started smoking them out and attacking their hole. They're viscious. He had the proverbial ten foot pole with apparatus attached to do the job. Oh, and the lovely bee bonnet (mesh)- it was pretty cool.
So plumbing and pests fixed today. Tomorrow is my pre-employment physical and HR stuff. Planning to get, while in town, bike tubes so I can try the Eastern Trail. It's just up the road about 1/2 mile.
So far, I think people here are happy here. Everyone has been friendly. Lots of jokesters. There is a feeling of comfort/contentment surrounding people. They seem to like doing what they do. Of course I haven't started work yet, so more later.
Rain all day and much more water in the marsh today. Something about high astronomical tides. I got a tide app on my phone!

Big day

SOS

Basically, things have gone well with the move. Not all settled, but getting there. Then this morning I was looking for the heavy, metal, fireproof box that has our important papers, birth certificates,passports, etc. After some gnashing of teeth it was determined we left it in the Penske truck, behind the driver's seat (Annelle was driving so there was room!) uh, oh. Phone calls at 0700 when they opened. No reply. Drove over to the truck location in Scarborough. Truck not there. Jessica (a SAINT) made many phone calls, discovering 2 miracles: 1. The box was indeed found in the truck, as we predicted, and 2. It was only 10 miles away in Portland!!!!!! I thought I was going to cry.
Today at high tide we have water in the marsh! Photo on Facebook ( still can't access photos here).

Lists

Many lists. I'm so tired if I go out without a list I forget the important things. My feet are killing me- been a while since I've stood on them for 8 hrs or more a day. Tomorrow I'm cutting myself off at 7. The ktchen is workable and I'm planning on making dinner. The floor guy came to measure so we can get rid of the horrible carpet (3 different kinds) in the upstairs. No cable yet so the trusty iPhone is it for now. Plumber, pest control, etc on the list too. Glad I don't have to go to work for 2 more weeks. Oh, and the deck is heavenly-the sound of wind through the trees, just enough sun to be warm, birds and bees.

Terrible, horrible, no good, pretty bad (sucky) day (apologies to Alexander)

Not a complaint (we're moving to Maine!!) but a fact.
1. It RAINED ALL DAY
2. We had to change/retape/fix the lights on the motorcycle trailer twice (including finding a walmart to buy a new set)
3. (see 1 & 2) We left at 0730 and got to our stopping place at 2200 (10pm).
But I learned Simone and Jack like British Classic Rock. After being quiet all day, they started singing along with Fleetwood Mac (1/2 of them are British). They especially liked Pink Floyd. Led Zeppelin, not so much.
And guess what happens first tomorrow? We get to go to walmart again for yet another set of lights. The roads in PA were so bad one of them jumped off the trailer. And we had even taped it down because the other one had jumped earlier. Let it be known the cats were WAY less trouble than the trailer.
But just a little less than 400 miles and we'll be home.

The journey of 1183 miles begins....

A little emotional driving away this afternoon. A little emotional on the road. Annelle in the truck, me in the Honda. Amazingly, Jack and Simone were very quiet. Irregular meows off and on but lots of silence. A few times I had to take roll: "Jack? "meow". "Simone?" "meow". Anytime I started talking they would talk back. They DO NOT like the motel, however. Simone is staying in the carrier and Jack has finally calmed down and is sitting next to me purring like a nut. Tomorrow 10 hours on the road though. Oh, I did give them a few drops of the homeopathic anti anxiety stuff. I think it worked!!

30 years

Today was my last day of work at ARMC. Someone who works at the hospital brought me a photo from 1981 when she had her first baby and I was with her. Little, young thing that I was then. I know it hasn't hit me yet. And I know it will. But immediately following my party I started the truck packing. Lots of help from some strong, smart packers and I still can barely move. Tomorrow the caravan pulls out, cats and all. Stay tuned.

Insomnia

This must stop. Really. The magic happens the minute my head hits the pillow: brain in overdrive. All the errands, work to be done here, work to be done there, how the cats will do, yadda, yadda, yadda. Maybe if I make a concerted effort to think this hard during the day I'll get it out of my system. I've had to buy a second bottle of children's benadryl (I hate the hangover if I take an adult dose).  Thankfully there is less than 1 week of this to go. Then I'll be so exhausted for a week or so I'll sleep like a baby. Perfect.
Open house here in Athens on Sunday.  Fingers xxxed.

Churning mind

Have started a couple of posts in the last week. Oh, my. Family health up in the air. Only 2 more weeks here in GA for me. Telling people, admitting to myself, that I'm leaving is so much harder than I ever expected. And its combined with lots of excitement and anticipation. New place, new job, new house, new everything. Overwhelming, thrilling. And disturbing to be leaving when my family is in flux. Not a lot of easy sleeping going on here.

A Big Day

1. It's the 12th anniversary of our "official" union. We'll be sharing the bubbly over the phone. :(
2. Dump run for all the junk in the back yard. Thank you to Michael.
3. Hot tub now lives at Anne and Creig's house. Those 3 men did 2 days work this morning getting that thing moved. I KNOW they're glad it's over. And now we have a little deck big enough for the table and chairs outside. Very cute. Maybe I'll conquer the photo thing today.
4. Oh, and the Dawgs play tonight (though I'm betting most of you don't really care about that.)

St Joseph is upside down in the flower bed putting his mojo out, I hope. The house is all ready for it's new family.