Shirebound's LiveJournal

*sound of a loud, clanging bell*

Every mosquito in New Jersey (EMINJ): Who's ringing the dinner bell?

Mosquito Spy (MS): I am! Shirebound's back!

EMINJ: Shirebound? Are you serious? We've missed her so much. She's been gone for decades!

MS: She's back, for real! That delicious, succulent, tasty morsel!

Baby Mosquito: Who's Shirebound?

EMINJ: Oh little one, you have such a treat in store for you. Shirebound's a legend! A feast! And she's back, hooray!

MS: And she walks her fur-dog four times a day, meaning we can ambush her constantly. Squeeeeeee! Sharpen your knives and forks, and follow meeeee!

EMINJ: Here we come! *sound of drooling and flying and cutlery sharpening and happy mosquito-laughter*

And that's the story of my return to the east coast in mid-summer, folks. I didn't forget that mosquitoes love me, but I didn't remember how *much* they love me. Ah well, Autumn (a cool, refreshing season I haven't experienced in nearly 40 years) is nearly upon us, and hopefully the swarm will have better things to do soon.

Shiremom and I are unpacked (almost)! This is our first day to truly relax, so we'll be enjoying a movie (a much-anticipated re-watch of "The Martian"). I slept well last night for the first time since... June 14th? We haven't put up any pictures or art, and we're still gathering bits and pieces of furniture from family members and neighbor yard sales, but (dare I say it?) I think the worst is over. I even have pristine New Jersey license plates on my car after a 2-hour visit to the DMV yesterday. (I still have to get Shiremom and her car there.)

The best story from the 7-day, 400-miles-a-day car drive across the country concerns our movers. We took the middle route across the country (Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, etc.) and the moving van came the southern route (Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, etc.) On the very last day of the trip, August 8th, Terry the mover called to let me know when he'd be arriving at the house the next day (the reason we had to get here so fast). I happily told him that we were going to make it to NJ that night since we were already on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. He said, "So am I!" I said, "I'm at mile marker 221." He said, "I'm 15 miles behind you!" Amazing. And hours later, when we stopped at our last rest area for gas before crossing into NJ, there was the moving van at the same place! Terry walked over to the car laughing, and we shook hands.

It's been a wild ride since mid-June, and there's still a ton to do, including untangling my health insurance, finding doctors, figuring out where everything is around here (banks, post office, restaurants, parks), get a snow shovel and rake, buy winter boots and coats (we have NOTHING!), and much more, but wow, we've been working hard.

I'm back. I'm so relieved and happy. I can't wait to start writing chapter 3 of my story, catching up with all of you, and... oh yes, buying some mosquito repellent.

*so many hearts*

I don't know why I'm so hard on myself, I really don't. Around 11:30 a.m. yesterday I started feeling panic because I hadn't yet started two important projects I had planned to tackle that morning. But then I made myself think back to what I had already accomplished since waking, and felt better:

* Fixed the shower head
* Showered
* Found some things Shiremom was looking for
* Went through two cartons and found places for everything
* Walked Pippin 3 times (once in the rain)
* Went through the mail
* Tried in vain to figure out what the switch in the hallway is attached to
* Tried in vain, for a third time, to get someone at the Social Security Admin. to answer the phone
* Ate breakfast and lunch
* Went online and printed out new voter registration forms
* Enjoyed reading recent posts on Dreamwidth and LJ
* Responded to sweet comments
* Found the light bulbs and set up a few lamps
* Moved my bed to a new position
* Sent two texts and one email

It's been less than a week since the moving van arrived, and Shiremom and I have a lot already. I'm proud of us. :)

I'm not hiding, just drowning in move details! Wonderfully, nearly everything on page 1 of my 3-page Task List of Doom is now finished and crossed out. Onward to page 2... much accomplished, much more to be done.

I *think* I may have set a record (at least with me) in being on hold on the phone, waiting for U.S. Postal Service customer service to come on the line so I could straighten out a glitch in my change of address submission -- 1 hr., 6 minutes on hold. Have any of you waited longer than that?

My brain hit a wall over the Fourth of July holiday and refused to process anything connected to the move for several days. To give myself a break, I... wrote about hobbits, yay! I now have two chapters nearly finished for a 'short and sweet' Cormallen story that I tried to start months ago. Thank goodness the writing Muse hadn't been packed away in a carton yet, unable to communicate.

*Wednesday hugses*

I'm still here, but soooooo busy! I'm slowly crossing off items from my 3-page, single-spaced Task List of Doom for the upcoming move across the country, but it's still quite daunting. Today I have a doctor's appointment then it's off to the Auto Club to get the route mapped and find out about pet-friendly motels, I'm dropping off my 15-year old car for $$$ repairs so I can trust it on the long drive and beyond, meeting with the landlord, returning a bunch of phone calls, and continuing my research on renting a moving truck vs. hiring a moving van. I also want to find out about shipping Shiremom's car across the country so we both have a car when we get to our destination.

But while I'm buried in details and flailings, life goes on. My free-spirited niece just got engaged! Her equally free-spirited boyfriend designed and carved the engagement ring himself (they don't have much money). She's ecstatic, and so are we. He's a sweet and attentive man, and most importantly, Pippin adores him.

Pippin needs breakfast and walkies.... gotta go!

Hello, my friends. I wanted to let you all know that Shiremom, Pippin, and I will be moving across the country (to New Jersey) in the next 6-8 weeks, and it's going to be quite a hectic time since i didn't know this until yesterday! It's good news, or will be when the 1001 things I need to do and take care of pre- and post-move, including figuring out how to get there with Pippin, and finding new doctors and health insurance for Shiremom and myself when we do, have been completed. During my recent visit back east, my brother and sister-in-law and I had some long discussions about the future. We agreed that it's a good idea for the family to gather together in one place now, instead of separated by 3000 miles from one coast to the other, to make sure that together we can take care of Shiremom (age 85) and Shiredad (age 89) with the least stress when it becomes necessary. There are other reasons, as well, including financial ones, but 'circling the wagons' as a family is the main one. I want to move while Shiremom is still agile and able to adapt to a new life.

I have pages and pages of lists of phone calls, tasks, emails, plans, and deadlines to take care of in the next weeks, but I'll try to be here every day. When the dust settles, probably late September, we should be able to exhale a bit and start our new life after nearly 40 years in California.

So... I need to get to the day's tasks and phone calls and scramblings! More news as I get it, including a new address.

Many ♥ ♥