Project Move: Day 31 The Last Room Tackled

     The clouds blew quickly by my sky light and blocked out the sunshine.  It was going to be a wet, stormy day.   That was not going to stop me from my mission.  If I could repair the car stereo system of the Suburban, then I had the perfect vehicle for me.  I wouldn’t need another car and would just suffer the $6000 commuting gas expense.   I could carry my kayak and bicycle in the truck and just go to Lake Natoma every day after work and pick what sport that I wanted to do.

     Fry’s had originally installed the stereo system and attempted to repair it a few times, but the fuses kept blowing, so I gave up.  The Lt. Colonel mentioned way back when that it might be a short that was blowing the fuses.  I hoped that he was right. 

      After a few dead-end phone calls, I called Fry’s in Roseville to see if they were more competent than Fry’s San Marcos.  They directed my call to their car stereo department which never picked up the phone.  So I found Sundance Car Audio & Security on Google after many other phones calls.  It was only one exit away from me on Hwy 50, too. 
      They are a serious car stereo installation and repair business.  I explained what was going on, and the technician figured that by the time I got back from lunch that they’d have it fixed.  He figured right.  They found that my DVD player that Fry’s installed had an internal short.   I just had Sundance disconnect it, since I didn’t have little kids to entertain with the car TV anymore.
      Listening to my fabulous tunes from my car stereo on my way home, I was so thankful to the Lt. Colonel for giving me hope that my Suburban’s car stereo only had a short.  He was right!  I texted him and thanked him and added, “In just four days you changed my life for the better.  Whoever gets you will be lucky!”
      He texted me back telling me that I’ve done the same for him.  Because of me he’s going to follow his dream of buying a yacht and living in it on the coast.  What a wonderful dream!  Too bad it’s not on my current path.   My current path is settling in to landlocked Sacramento and doing my teaching ministry.
      So I focused on diving in to the last room to unpack, my office/sewing/storage room.  I managed to clear the room and organize it.  I found some stories that I wrote when I was in grade school which were fun to read and my math teaching material to bring to school on Monday.  Now I just have to return a few boxes that I’m not unpacking to that room, and I’m finished with my move.

Project Move: Day 30 Social Break

    My nerves have been rattled by this constant move of 30 days.  Digging through boxes to organize my new household has made me deal with the loss of my old life over the last few days.  Fortunately, today God has helped me focus on my new life.
    A big supporter of my book, "The Romance of Kilimanjaro," who's a high school choir friend asked me if I'd like to go to the children's mass at St. Mel's with her.  She had helped me find Divine Savior Catholic Church last week, though her current church is St. Mel's, an old fashioned catholic church that doesn't have much of an adult choir program.  I still wanted to check out St. Mel's and see her, so I joined her.
    I hadn't seen her since our 20th high school class reunion which was 11 years ago.  At that time she lived in San Diego when I lived there.  We just never got our schedules together to see each other then.  It was wonderful to see her smile that eminated from her beautiful soul.  She was much taller than I remembered, but I wore high platforms throughout high school to camouflage that I was a short gymnast.  I also always wore high heels at the reunions.  Now I just wear flats to keep my feet comfy, so my dear choir friend seemed quite tall in comparison.
    She expertly guided me into a side door of the church and with only a few steps lead me to a pew behind her son who gave her the most beautiful smile upon her entrance.  Oh, I remember those days!  Then his and our attention turned to the mass that was starting.
    Hearing my friend's beautiful voice again was such a treat!  We sang in unison for all the songs.  We were once again choir sisters blending our voices, but this time we joined together to glorify God with our song.  God was not one that I would have glorified in our junior high and high school choirs.
    In high school I was an unchurched heathen that only did the benediction at our graduation, because I was the Student Body President and was required to give a speech at graduation.  The only speech remaining happened to be the benediction!  The powers that be ignored my protest and instructed me to just come up with something uplifting to say for the final speech at graduation. 
    It's funny how God has been messing with me to get me to this place right now---a Christian author, who wanted to be a mainstream author, and a math teacher on ministry for "At Risk" high school students, who just wanted to inspire girls to become engineers.  God is the best choreographer ever---He's intricately woven my life to experience life from both sides of the God fence.  No matter how stubborn I have been, He's found a way to orchestrate my maze to get me here---my Lt. Colonel got me to look at Edjoin for math teaching jobs, and my new principal was the only one in 5 years who believed in me enough to ask me for more job references after I received a bad reference.
    God also wanted to give me a hug today to calm my nerves, so He did during that mass at St. Mel's.  He surrounded me with Tiepolo-like painted church walls, since 15th century Tiepolo is one of my favorite painters.  He surrounded me with children which have been missing from my life for the last 30 days of this move.  Most importantly, he surrounded me with the love of my choir friend.
    She took me over to park at her husband's car repair shop after mass, so we could get coffee and breakfast in Fair Oaks Village.  Her husband was busy repairing a Subaru Outback which is the car that I was intensely researching last night to replace the Nissan that my son has permanently taken to college. 
    Her husband told me all about Subarus.  Apparently, they may not get the gas mileage that the manufacturer states.  They are also expensive to repair, since they are engineered so precisely due to their unusual four-wheel drive drivetrain.  For instance, if one tire needs replacing, they all have to be replaced. 
    Bummer!  Maybe I'll just drive the Suburban to work and pay over $6000 for gas to commute.  I would have to repair the stereo system, so I could listen to local radio.  That would sure free up garage space which I could use for storage.  I could also drive directly from work to Lake Natoma with my kayak and bicycle in the truck.  Hmmmm.  Decisions.
    Over coffee I learned that my choir friend was quite an entrepreneur herself.  After several successful careers, she finally was blessed with her son and retired.  Like me, she got bored with just being a mom and slowly started buying up foreclosed properties, fixed them up, and rents them.  My choir friend and I are both entrepreneurs that once lived in San Diego and have returned home to live out our lives.  What fun!  Thank you God for my friend asking me to go to mass today!
    After our coffee we both had 11am meetings, so we had to go.  I met my dad at my place.  It was so good to see him.  I gave him the tour of my new woman's cave in the making.  Then we headed out for lunch.  Upon our return I took him over to my neighbors that were his former patients.
    My neighbors were so excited to see him.  They treated him like a catholic family would treat a visiting bishop!  My dad and I spent over an hour visiting with them.  I actually may have sold a lot of my limited-edition, hard-copy books to the wife.  She collects rare books and wants to give them away as Christmas gifts to her kids, since my dad, their family doctor, is in the book!
    As dad and I walked back to my place, he told me that my neighbor had prostate cancer like he did.  It's amazing how God brought my dad back into my neighbor's life right when he needed him.  It's truly amazing how orchestrated our lives are by God, if we just take the time to notice.

Project Move: Day 29 More Hands, Faster Work

    For the most part, it was wonderful having my son here with me.  We started out the day with strawberry pancakes topped with Cool Whip.  Then he informed me that he was leaving for San Francisco at lunchtime.  That meant I had to sprint to prepare for the work with which I needed his help. 
    Fortunately, I happened upon the ruffle skirt for my master bed in a box that was formerly in storage.  There's no way I would have been able to lift the king size mattress and put the skirt between it and the box springs.  I couldn't believe my luck at finding it!  So I quickly learned how to use my new iron for serious sewers and ironed and ironed and ironed the long ruffled skirt.  Drew lifted up the mattress when I finished ironing, and my bed was complete at last!
    Tearfully, I asked if he could stay a little while longer, so we could play Scrabble and celebrate his birthday.  He couldn't emotionally handle my tears and withdrew within himself.  I was more than at a loss.  I was dumbfounded by his reaction.
    "Am I pushing you away?"
    "Don't say that."
    Escaping down the stairs to hide my upset from him, I called Blair to see if we could bring those boxes over and get that couch.  Lying on the rug in a comforter and watching TV was getting really old.  She was there, so I asked Drew when he'd be ready to go over there.  He didn't want to help me.  He just wanted to leave for San Francisco.
    "I need your help.  Let's clear out the Nissan of my things and hop in the Suburban and take care of this quickly.  Then we can go get lunch before you go."
     "I'll just go after we bring the couch back."
     My heart sank.  I was so lonely for him, but he was running away from me.
     He was very helpful, but quiet at Blair's house.  We finished quickly.  Once we got the couch inside the house, he left.  So I invited Blair out to lunch to repay her for her kindness.  As I drove over to our local deli, I saw Drew driving by me.  Oh, well.  I'm stinky, chopped liver, I guess.
     He'd previously informed me that he was going to take summer school at Mira Costa College in Encinitas to recover his units and get his GPA up, and instead of getting a philosophy degree which he was thinking about last week, he's going to get a degree in audio, electrical engineering.  I'm so glad that his dad put some sense into his head!  I'm sad that I won't see him during the summer, though.
     Sacramento has junior colleges, too, where he could recover his credits, but it isn't as alluring as San Diego.  We don't have a good city marketer.  There's truly more things to do here---rafting, biking, hiking, skiing, and seeing beautiful waterfalls that aren't just stains in the summer.  Drew just has to give this place a chance. 
     After Blair and I had lunch, I researched recycling dumps for my moving paper which Blair didn't want.  Most places wanted me to pay them to dump my paper, but I found the Recycling Center on Power Inn Road that actually paid me $6---gas money---to take my paper!  Yay!  Now I know how to get rid of all my boxes, and it's on the way to and from work.  :-)
     When I arrived home, my garage was clear enough to park my Suburban inside.  No more complaints about my truck from the neighbors!  I was in disbelief that I was able to clear that garage so fast.  I'm so happy to have my truck inside again.  When it's a rainy day, it's really wonderful to step out of the truck and be dry.

Project Move: Day 28 Clearing Rooms and Tears

     It was a real bear when a mover asked me, "Where do you want this?  It's awfully special!"  The mover was referring to my heirloomed wedding dress.  My heart broke thinking of the dreams that I had.  Now I had to find a place to put that box, so I don't see it.  I placed it between boxes in the office/storage room for now.  I know that my daughter won't want to wear it, but I won the Kodak National Bride in that dress.  My wedding photographer entered my bridal photos into that contest without my knowledge.
     My once favorite glamour shot photo that I took when I'd just become a multimillionaire at 34 years old really bothered me, too.  I put it in a box face down.  I don't like that woman.  Her values were way out of line.  She craved money, status, and expensive things, and her husband knew that he had to provide her a life of a princess or queen.  The stress that that must have put on him.  She played a part in pushing him to lie and cheat people at work.  She had a part in ruining her marriage.
     One of the fruits of that marriage, Drew, will have to return to Sacramento before the weekend, since his Spring Break is coming to an end.  So I devoted my day to clearing out that room.  It had more than just Drew's things.  It had Sara's childhood things that had been in the storage unit.  I ran into their baptismal dress, her blanky, and her special classwork.  Tears ran down my face.  I missed my kids so much, so I texted them so.  My life that I built is gone.  It's just me now. 
     Then my cell rang.  My son decided to come back to Sacramento tonight.  Hurray!  Man, I needed him to come home.  Thank you God!  I had hoped that my dad was going to visit today and that would have taken the edge off, but he got too busy with his friends.  I'm saddened by that, but I had a lot to do to get ready for Drew's return.
      As I brought in my garbage cans, my friendly neighbor informed me that there were a lot of complaints about my truck being parked outside.
      "I thought that I had three weeks!"
      "No, only three days.  It's hard living with old people.  Like I said, there's a lot of 'Don'ts.'"  Then he looked into my garage and saw it filled with empty boxes.  He suggested that I make a trip to the dump and explained how to make the packing paper smaller.
      "I've been crying a lot today, so this is just more than I can bear.  It's going to be awhile before I get that truck into this garage again," I said with tears welling.  Being a former marine, he was really uncomfortable and retreated with compassionate words.
      After I did my errands I decided to try to put as many boxes into my truck as possible.  While I was loading the truck with my garage door illegally opened too long, my friendly neighbor's wife appeared.  She told me that her husband felt so badly about upsetting me.  I explained while waving my hands which held my knife for breaking down the boxes, "I just had an upsetting day.  It wasn't him."
      Alarmed, she said, "Here, let me take that knife."
      We talked as I organized and loaded the boxes space efficiently into my truck.  I explained with tears running down my face, "I just left my life of 17 years in San Diego.  I'm alone now and really miss my kids today."
      "Where's your husband?"
      "Married to someone else, but I divorced him.  He was a liar and cheater.  I really don't think that it's reasonable for someone to move in and have the garage cleared in three days.  I'm a trained project manager, and I can't imagine meeting that deadline," I said with tears welling.
       "Well, I'll see if I can get you more time."  She did.  Her husband came over and taped a permit onto the inside of the back window of my truck.  I had until April-ish---right around the corner. 
       I did manage to clear the garage for the Nissan to park.  The only thing left are the boxes full of packing paper.  Now I just have to organize and unpack the office/sewing/storage room, and I'm done with my move!  Just in time to start my new teaching job April 2nd.

Project Move: Day 27 Appointment Day

    Next week I actually start working, so I want to get all my appointments out of the way before then.  Since I ran out of contact lenses, I had my optometry appointment today.  My prescription was really wrong for my contacts and my glasses.  Here I thought that I was just going blind with age!  I bought the contacts on my medical plan and when the school's benefits plan kicks in, I'll get the right prescription for my glasses.  It always amazes me why my eyes continually change.  I wish that they'd stabilize and save me some money!
    After that I called my Midas in Encinitas and asked what my last services were.  My "Service Engine" light was on, and I figured it was another software glitch, since my truck just turned over 150,000 miles.  Sure enough I did have Midas do my 150,000 miles services early, so I took the Suburban in to a nearby Midas to get them to turn off the light.  Unfortunately, their diagnostic computer found that my oxygen sensor was bad.  Ugh!
     They fixed it in a few hours after delivering me to the nearby Sunrise Mall Foodcourt.  The adult transition program of the area was having lunch there.  It reminded me of my substitute teaching days.  A fellow with Turrets was busy swearing and shouldn't have been left inside---bothering others.  Even the other students were annoyed.
     The food court Japanese food was almost inedible.  I choked it down and went to explore my new local mall.  It was only one story and run down compared to North County San Diego Malls.  I went in to Macys and was disappointed with the styles displayed on the mannequins.  The styles were so unflattering and meant to hide figures that weren't in shape.
      Unfortunately, I was stuck at the mall until my truck was ready, so I wandered and wandered between the clothes.  Finally, my eyes found cute clothes hidden behind other clothes.  I ended up getting a couple full outfits and shoes and got an even bigger discount when I opened a Macys account!
      I'm starting to feel like I'm single handedly reversing the recession with all this money that I've been spending lately.  My ski purchase is still looming.  At least I still have great ski body suits, since my figure always stays the same.  I'm actually down a few pounds now, because of all the unpacking and heavy cleaning.
      Tonight I'm getting even more exercise.  I'm going dancing with an old friend from high school.  He and I were in the high school mountaineering club together.  In high school he was always the younger, scrawny guy who was a lot of fun.  We've been Facebook friends for a year or two, and when he lost his job, he noticed that one of his former bosses was a dear family friend and asked me for help.  I did let my family friend know of my mountaineering friend's job situtation, though I hate to strain friendships with business dealings.
      It'll be good to see my mountaineering friend again.  It's been 31 years!  If it wasn't for Facebook, I would have never even thought of returning to Sacramento.  But my fun, mountaineering friend sure made Sacto sound wonderful with all his dancing, skiing, and hiking adventures.
      It's a bad night to go out.  We're having a storm warning, but he and I were roped during white-outs, buried in snow caves, and lost cross country skiing in the snowy wilderness together.  Being diswayed from a meeting due to a little rain would mean that San Diego has made me whimpy.  No chance!
      Right before I left to go dancing, my petitioner called me back.  He had already left me a message on my phone calling me "Sweetie," so I wanted to nip that quickly.  He's 6'-4" and can dent up my Suburban by ramming it with his body, so I let him down as gently as I could. 
      I explained to him, "I really like you, but I only want to be friends. I'm starting a new life and a new job and I want to be free to discover what I want to do now."  He wasn't happy about my decision, but understood.  He wanted to talk more about it, but I explained that I had to meet a friend that I hadn't seen for 31 years at 7pm, and I didn't have time.  Then I dashed out the door into the pouring rain.
      Club 21 was our meeting place.  They have free East Coast Swing dance lessons on Tuesday night.  I felt like I was back at UC Berkeley taking dancing lessons.  We ladies circulated around to each male lead after we learned a new step.  Then my friend showed up, and I gave him a big hug.  I wish that I was attracted to him.  He's so fun, and we have the same interests, but alas we are just friends.
      He had sent an e-mail out to his dance friends asking them to all dance with me.  Boy, did they.  I'm exhausted and my feet ache!  I did get a lot better by the end of the evening.  Just watching the great dancers was a learning experience!
       I did have a sudden flash that my ex-husband was there.  That's never happened before, but dancing was our thing.  We took expensive dance lessons together when the kids were babies---before we moved to San Diego.  We actually got really good.   Eventually we stopped dancing together.  I wonder if we had kept dancing, if that would have helped our marriage.  Dancing is such a bonding experience.
      Dancing is the bond that the Lt. Colonel and I had, too.  After dancing with so many different men all night long, I was amazed at how he and I could immediately dance well together.  Now that I have some perspective about dancing, his swooping moves were extremely difficult.   He also lead me so well that I didn't need to know anything---I just felt his lead and unconsciously responded.  We are magical when we dance together.

Project Move: Day 26 Back to Unpacking

     My garage is filled with empty boxes to the point of severe discomfort.  So I called United, my mover, and asked if they would pick them up.  They said that they would if I paid them $100!  I remarked, "But the boxes are worth money, why would I pay you to take them away?"  She didn't have a good answer.
     I called a local storage facility and offered to give them the boxes for free if they pick them up.  I told them that they can sell them to their clients.  They had to think about it.  I think that I'll keep trying that tactic of locating a business that services people who are moving.  I have to have my cars in the garage in 2 more weeks.  So getting those empty boxes out of the garage is a project milestone.
     My indoor plants are repotted and back inside.  They aren't happy about being rained on and in the cold, but I didn't have time to water them, and they needed dusting. :-) 
     My cat hasn't been happy either.  She's been leaving me messes which she never does.  While I was potting outside, I noticed that she's getting her courage up to go outside.  She used to be an indoor/outdoor cat, and I'm planning on her being that again.  One more week of acclimating to our new home, and she's going out.  I had a new tag made at Petsmart with our new address and phone number.  It's even got a frame around it, so it will wear better with time.  It's cute on her, too!
     Since my last apartment carpet got filled with kitty litter, I bought a covered litter box, too.  It looks like a snail and has little steps so the litter comes off her feet before she steps back onto the carpet.  Hopefully, that'll save me from having to vacuum kitty litter from the carpet anymore.  Kitty litter really makes a vacuum smell.
     The rest of the day I cleared my room of boxes and started clearing the guest room.  The guest room is going to have to take another day.  I want to get it cozy for Drew when he returns from San Diego.  He was so upset about not having a relaxing room for his Spring Break.  Oh, well.  I couldn't help that my move and job start coincided with his Spring Break.  I'm glad that he's forced to spend a lot of time with his dad.  Drew needs both of us.
     My last major issue is my relaxing time in the evening.  It requires somewhere to relax.  My sofabed will arrive in 5-7 weeks and my tables will be refurbished at the beginning of May.  Maybe I'll blow up a camping mattress until my sister loans me a couch.  I hope that she hasn't stored the couch in a dirty place.  My home is super clean now.  Our joke is about her free stuff, "You want perfect.  You pay five dollar."  I just might pay $5 for the loaner couch.  lol

Project Move: Day 25 Taking a Day Off

    My petitioner last night told me that he takes Sunday off as a day of rest, so I decided to do just that.  First, I went to my first Sacramento church, Divine Savior Catholic Church.  It was a gorgeous building and had some inciteful older priests.  The choir was quite good and older like St. James.  The cantor was quite pregnant.  It's too bad that I've got too much change going on in my life or I'd offer to be a temporary cantor. 
    The choir director at St. James had started to train me to cantor many years ago, but the fires hit our neighborhood.  It was like living in a cigarette butt.  I took that as a sign that God didn't want me to cantor, so I never continued. 
     My ministry now is the "At Risk" students, not cantoring.  I have too many interests, so I have to pace myself.  I have to focus on what God wants me to do now---breaking the welfare cycle in what ways that I can.  I've learned the tools to do this over the last 5 years.  Lots of people can be soloists.
    After that I drove out to the State Soccer Tournament in Marysville in which my nephew, Luke's son, was competing.  Luke and I sat and watched the game together.  I told him about my date with the petitioner.  He was over 15 minutes late, so I texted him, "Please be here in 5 minutes.  I'm a German American and don't do late."  Luke and I laughed about that one.  Tardy people are not tolerated by us. 
    I wish that I could meet someone similar to my brother, Luke.  He and I used to go on weekend hiking adventures in the Sierras.  We'd always get lost on a dry river bed that looked like a trail in the moonlight, but this made us great orienteers.  He was also a model for Silicon Valley in his younger years, as well as a Director of Engineering.  He still is an upper level mucky muck in engineering.  He also has OCD and some extreme views about the evils of gay marriage, so I wouldn't want someone exactly like Luke---just close to him.
    The petitioner is nothing like Luke.  He didn't finish college, is a recently retired semipro frontline blocker for football, and has severe ADHD which is why he can run three different companies.  He will be a great friend to have here, but I know his chronic tardiness that he admits that he has and the fact that he'd run off for work without notice if he got a client call will enrage me.  We do have a lot in common and have interesting conversations, but there's no magic that would compensate for his tardiness and lack of me being number 1.  German Americans truly don't do late, and I've already been a lower priority to my ex-husband.   I won't make that mistake again.
    My Lt. Colonel had some serious magic and is now the measure that I'm using.  He was also prompt and highly educated.  I hope that he gets a job in Sacramento.  As time goes by, I know that that is just a fantasy.  All I can do is hope though.  Hope is what has always kept me focused on the future here and not just going to Heaven.
    Part of focusing on the future is being an aunty.  Watching my nephew play soccer was wonderful.  He's not as aggressive as the other players, but he assisted on the first goal that his team made during the entire tournament.  Maybe it's because Aunty was there.  :-)
    I discovered that he's got Aspergers like me, though I don't think anyone has acknowledged that.  He allowed me to give him a sideways hug which Luke informed me, "That's as good as it gets!"  He also is very quiet and solitary.  I did get him talking when I explained my gravity manipulation theory to him after he told me that he is going to study math or physics at a UC.  :-)
    After the tournament we went our separate ways, I enjoyed the beautiful Sacramento day by eating some frozen yogurt in Gold River at their outside tables.  I also did some weeding and repotting of plants.  It felt so good to play in the dirt again. It's been a long time.
     It's a good thing that I didn't take the time to dress down for gardening, because a new neighbor popped into my yard to give me information on the 49er Outdoor Club.  She caught me gardening in my nice clothes and jewelry---Gold River style. lol  I'm really enjoying Gold River and my new life in Sacramento now.

Project Move: Day 24 Cleaning House & Meeting My Petitioner Again

    Since this is the first time that I've not been with Drew on his birthday, I had to keep myself mighty occupied.  Dry cleaning the stored area rug and my living room couch----my action item for the day---would certainly occupy me.  My Kirby was duct taped at the bottom, so I had a feeling that when I finished vacuuming the lower floor and changed the Kirby over to a dry cleaner that I'd have problems.  I was right.
     Unfortunately, the vacuum bag connector broke and didn't spin off.  That would not do.  I could not attach the dry cleaner to that outlet with the broken piece of plastic there.  I tried vice grips, but none were large enough.  Then I got out the hack saw. lol  That did the trick!  Off came the broken plastic. :-)
     So I dry cleaned the family room area rug that had left over darts stuck in the shag when the movers unrolled it.  It was just that dirty!  Then I attacked the living room furniture that had become my everyday furniture while I was in the apartment.  White couches are not meant to be used everyday.  Hopefully, the Kirby dry cleaning solution will whiten it back up!
      Once that dry cleaning was all done, I had to find a Kirby dealer that was still in business.  So I called around and found one that was closing in 45 minutes.  It was in my old neighborhood, Sierra Oaks, so I found it with only a little disorientation before it closed.
      The Kirby guy got irritated that I just threw the outer bag away with the broken connector.  He got a bag assembly like mine and showed me how to disassemble it and rebuild it.  While I had him repair a lamp cover on motor section, I practiced disassembling and rebuilding the bag assembly to make sure that I could do it at home.  He joked that he was teaching me "Kirby Assembly 101."
      At home I enjoyed the clean smell of the a drycleaned home, retrieved the bag assembly from the trash and rebuilt my Kirby.  No more duct tape!  No more broken lamp cover!  Now I have my awesome Kirby workhorse ready for action again---which will be tomorrow when the carpet and furniture are dry.  I have to vacuum up the dirt that the solution makes rise to the top. 
      I'm going to have to rise once more today and go meet my petitioner at 9 pm for dessert at our neighborhood Starbucks.  When I researched him on the internet, I found out about his firewood and landscape contracting businesses that he owns (even the estimated earnings of the businesses!), that he has a huge pit bull, the names of all his many siblings, and that he is in Sacramento Hikers and also Dungeon and Dragons Meet Up Groups.  I played Dungeon and Dragons when I was in high school.  I'm not quite sure why an adult would be playing that game, but I'll keep my mind open. 
      He's also 40.  My sister, Blair, told me not to tell him my age---no matter what.  lol  Our great grandmother was ~11 years older than our great grandfather, so I guess that looking younger than we are is a familial trait.  She never told anyone her age and didn't have a birth certificate which is why it's so hard to track down who she actually was.  We think that she's the Miami Indian in our family which would explain why Blair looks like an American Indian.
      Well, at least my petitioner isn't too much younger than me.  It will be nice to get to know someone with whom I have so much in common.  If nothing else, I'll be making a new friend tonight.  I always need friends who like outdoor adventures!

Project Move: Day 23 Art is Displayed

     The end of this move is near.  I dug through the mirror boxes and pulled out my paintings and arranged them in appropriate rooms with appropriate pairings of color and theme.  The marble pillars presented a heavy challenge though.  Each base, capital, and column of the marble pillars weighs over 30 pounds.  Whoever made the pillars made them by hand because capitals only fit on certain bases.  I was so relieved when I finally got the pillars where I wanted them to be and put together in a stable way.  Changing your mind about where one of these pillars should be is a monumental task to implement.
      Making my mind up about whether to call Leon, the petitioner, took some time.  I researched him on the internet.  He apparently has another business that he didn't mention.  It must be his cash cow for which he has no passion---firewood supply.  I did notice that he's on a lot of "Meet Ups.  "One of his "Meet Up" groups is the Sacramento Hiking Meet Up.  I was so psyched that I joined that meetup.
     I did text Lionel to call me for a coffee or dancing date.  He did.  My sister to
    A lot will need to change in my everyday life now that my kids are in college.  Since everything is changing around me,  I decided to go slow with the first date.  We'll be meeting for coffee per my wishes.  I'm just not ready to get  into a major relationhsip.  Pushing men away is my standard operativng procedure anyway.  I'm glad that I realize this about myself.  When I finally meet the right man, I'll have done my research.  I have a lot less baggage and know what questions to ask before I get invested in a relationship, too.

Project Move: Day 22 Petitioned by the Petitioner

     After I had the property manager's plumber do some repairs, I took my parent's tables to a refinisher/restorer.  The tables are solid wood and extremely heavy.  I managed to put the 6 foot long table into the Suburban like I put my kayak into it.  The little table was much more simple to put into the truck.  The funny thing is that it took two men to get the 6 foot table out of the truck. lol  Moving, another form of weight lifting!
     Then I headed to Target to get some necessary kitchen items.  I was in a quandry in the coffee maker aisle.  There are the stylish Krups, but I don't like the waste of the disposable inserts.   I didn't want disposable coffee filters either.  Then I saw the Hamilton Beach The Scoop.  It didn't use disposable anything, except the coffee itself.  Its reuseable filter is dishwasher safe, too.  How awesome!  I bought that one.
     I also bought some fun dishes with flowers and vines on them.  They have vibrant colors like cardinal, blues, yellows, greens, and purple.  This second half of my life is going to be vibrant like my dishes. 
     In fact, on my way home I decided to taste the local yogurt and had an interesting moment.  My hair was a bit greasy, and I wasn't wearing any makeup, since my alarm didn't go off this morning for my plumber's appointment.  Trying not to be seen, I walked by this guy who asked me if I'd sign this petition for getting more money for our students.  I walked briskly passed him saying, "No thank you."
    While eating some yogurt, I knew that I should sign that petition for more money for our students.  So I walked up to the man and signed his petition.  We got to talking about the lack of money in the school system.  I explained that I relocated because of the lack of money for the school system and teaching jobs.  I remarked, "At least I have family here."
    He has a big family here, too.  He also has a landscape construction business that wasn't doing so well with the economy, so he's the only employee.  I'd always run my profitable businesses like that---being the only employee.  He's also an inventor and has some patents.  I'm an inventor and am pursuing a kayak accessory patent. 
     He realized that to sign the petition, I'd have to register to vote in my new area, since I moved.  He happened to have those forms and was so excited to have his first voter register with him.  Then he remarked, "I'm really tempted to ask you for your phone number."
     Due to the move I didn't have any business cards to give to him.  He gave me his card and said, "I hope that you call me.  We can do coffee or go dancing."
     "Dancing?"
     "Yeah, I'll take you out on the town.  I'm a good guy, too.  Boy, this is my lucky day!"
      As I drove by in my dented up Suburban he happily waved to me, the lady with the greasy hair and no make up.  I couldn't believe that I met a great guy like this!

P.S.  To my blog readers:  If you want to support a struggling math/engineering teacher and author, please buy my first book, "The Romance of Kilimanjaro," soon to be followed by my second book at:  https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=9781613464960         Thank You!

Project Move: Day 21 TV Splurge & a Homecooked Meal

   In desperate times relief is necessary.  My relief comes in the form of a TV.  Blair had given me an old TV that was outside, and we had to find a power cord for it.  When Drew saw it, he thought that it looked like a motel room TV.  He was right.
   The Best Buy salesman had shown me some Smart TVs and explained what they can do.  I was impressed.  I love the fact that you can access Facebook, U-tube, Netflix, Hulu, and a lot of other applications and use the TV as a TV.  I just couldn't bring myself to buy it yesterday.
    Today I thought about the money that I had put aside to live on while I was under employed as a substitute teacher.  I added up all the money that I've spent so far on this move.  I have enough money to buy a Smart TV and some new Alpine skis (my skis are from 1982 and are museum worthy lol).  So I bought a 40" Samsung Smart TV with 3D.  I'm going to have some fun and be styling in those 3D glasses!  Yay!
    My Comcast technician got it all set up for me, too.  He even fixed my wireless network, so I can use my computer in a comfortable chair.  He's a sweetie!  He even killed the wasps that nested in several spots in the eaves outside my garage.  :-) 
    Once he finished his work, I finally did my grocery shopping now that I know what room I have for kitchen storage---I completely unpacked my kitchen!  I made myself a salmon dinner with fresh, steamed green beans and a yam to celebrate.  I feel like this place is becoming home.   Life is good in Sacto now.

Project Move: Day 20 Loss of Sanity

     I'm done---I give up.  I just want to walk away from this horrible nightmare of everything being out of place.  This morning I couldn't even use the landline, my cell, or my son's cell to add him to my auto insurance.  I walked through the house screaming a bad word after I almost finished with the insurance agent and Drew's phone battery died. 
     We had breakfast at Starbucks, because I hadn't unpacked the kitchen.  Drew wished that he had brought his computer there.  His frustration erupted upon our returen when he wasn't able to get the internet cable to talk to his computer. He could only use my computer. He left for a less stressful San Francisco and then San Diego. He couldn't take it. I wish that I could leave, too, but this is my life now.  I just have to painfully sort things out.
    At least DirectTV was honest that they couldn't service me--my satelite dish was so old and my homeowners so full of "Don'ts."  They suggested that I use Comcast, so I wouldn't have any unpainted cable or dish on the outside of my condo for the neighborhood police to write up.  Apparently, Comcast can run everything through one cable unlike DirectTV, so I can record programs.
    Best Buy helped with my cell phone.  Apparently, my old Razor doesn't have very many cell frequencies, so it roams a lot which drains the batteries, and it has horrible quality issues when it's frequencies aren't available like at my condo.  Fortunately, I got a free upgrade.  I also bought a new wireless router, but it's not cooperating.  I am using it right now as a hardwire connection, so that's progress, I guess.
    This is a moment in my life where I HATE making it on my own.  I REALLY need someone sane around to help me.  I need a HUG!  I need someone who's comfortable like an old shoe.  I need "I Dream of Jeannie" to have everything right again.  Unfortunately, I'm the jeannie.  I have to make it right.  I can't pass the buck to someone else.  My life is what I make of it and what God wants me to make of it.  God, I need a hug!

Project Move: Day 19 My Household Belongings Arrived at the Condo!

    The movers had to add another long carry ($$$) on the Sacramento side.  My gated community in Gold River must have a "don't" for 80ft semi trucks. So my movers arrived with my belongings at 10:30am after transferring them to a smaller truck.  I was very irritated with the Pentecostal moving quoter who missed so many large items in the quote.  It still was less than my other reputable mover, but off by $1700!  I wonder what it would have been had I not gotten rid of my master bedroom set and packed so much myself.
    It's truly wonderful to have all my belongings in one home.  After I moved from my house in La Costa, I had a filled storage unit and quickly forgot its contents.  I knew that my skiing/boarding helmets were lurking in there and that I couldn't go skiing without my helmet.  When I was a kid, I never wore a helmet, but those days are gone. 
     A helmet would have been wonderful to have worn during that skiing episode. Helmets, however,  are necessary now.  There are so many chaotic snowboarders boarding fast down the mountains.  I was one of them when I was snowboarding.  Now I just want to take it easy on my body.  Snowboarding falls are quite harsh on your body.  Mogul skiing---surfing the bumps---is much easier for me, since I did that for 30 years---ever since I was 7 years old.
     Taking it easy sounds good to me in general.  I would love for this move to be over, but now I have to unpack.  Looking at all the boxes I constantly ask myself why I didn't throw out more.  Looking at the boxes I wonder if I should unpack my china and doll collection, or find a place to store the large, packed boxes.  Looking at all the boxes I tell myself that I'm going to have to convince the owners to sell this condo to me, so I don't have to move again.  I loath the thought of moving again.

Project Move: Day 18 Furniture and Cleaning

    The smell of  egg-meat muffins cooking made me break down and have a second breakfast.  After my sister, Blair, made me one in her Xpress Redi SetGo, I headed off to the designer furniture store to order my sofa bed.  I brought some orange-flowered, kiwi-colored fabric that Blair had given me which went with the kiwi fabric of the sofa that we chose for my new condo.  I explained to the salesman at the designer store, "I also need a whimsical, fun lamp to go with my sofa."
    He showed me a lot of lamps.  A couple were fun and definitely expensive---even on sale.  Then he showed me a lamp on clearance.  It was way too wild for Sierra Oaks, but it matched my fabric perfectly.  "I'll give you 40% off on this.  It does need a new shade, since this one has some dirt on it."  I couldn't really see the dirt, but I took his word that it was there---for 40% off.  I realized that he just wanted me to get the lamp, because it went with the fabric perfectly, and he's an artist.  I love artists!
    When I arrived to the condo to wait for my mattress deliveries, my neighbor told me that the neighbor in charge of programming the gate to my land line was home.  So I knocked on his door.  When he wrote down my name, he asked, "Are you related to Dr. Ulrich?"
     "Why yes!  He's my daddy," I beamed.
     "We were his patients until he retired.  He was the best doctor that we ever had!"  My dad was like Dr. House with a great personality.  He diagnosed tetanus in a patient when it hadn't occurred in the area in 40 years, and no specialist could figure out what the patient had.
      After that wonderful visit, my mattresses arrived and I cleaned the old living room tables of my dad.  Blair had stored them outside her house for years, and the feral cats had been fed on them.  I loved my dad's choice for our family home's living room furniture.  I had danced around those tables so many times while my mom played classical music on her piano.  Even after cleaning and cleaning those tables, they looked awful.  I will definitely have to call a furniture medic.  These tables are priceless in construction and memories.
      It's amazing to me the richness of my family connection now that I'm home again.  My siblings always complained that my ex husband took me away from them.  Now I'm glad that I returned home.  Yes, we had huge sibling issues, but we are adults now.  We've done our therapy and Celebrate Recovery.  We're ready to start over and get to know each other as who we are now.

Project Move: Day 17 Murphy's Law Day

   Originally, the movers were supposed to deliver my things today, but informed me once they loaded most of my things on the truck that they might not be able to deliver on Saturday.  Sure enough, when I called the movers on Friday and explained that there's a break in the storm on Saturday and not on Monday, it didn't matter.  The 2-4 day delivery window would not be day 2 or 3, but day 4. "We can deliver in the rain and snow without damaging your things," the moving manager explained.  Let's hope so.
   This threw "Project Move" way off.  There was no TV for DirectTV to connect this morning, so I rescheduled them for Tuesday---to make sure that my TV was there this time.  I did get my Internet and land line via Comcast today.  I have to have a land line to buzz people in the gate, otherwise I wouldn't have one anymore.  Comcast also has a TV option, but apparently it's one of the more expensive TV providers, so I'll stay with DirectTV.
    My Sams Club online purchase of mattresses was weighing on me, too.  My delivery scheduler mentioned that I had two king sets and two full sets arriving.  That was news to me!  I double checked my order with Sams Club and sure enough the "2 pk" didn't mean box spring and mattress---it meant two sets of box springs and mattresses.  Bummer! 
    The Sams Club customer service representative told me to call the delivery company and deny the delivery, since I didn't want so many mattresses.  Then the delivery warehouse will return it to Sams Club, and I'll get refunded.
    With a heavy heart, I denied the delivery.  Now I didn't have beds at my condo arriving on Tuesday and mattresses have a long lead time.  I thought, "I'm going to have to take time off work for a mattress delivery now!"
    My brother-in-law came to my rescue.  He suggested that I look at Sleep Train Mattresses.  They deliver the next day.  Then he found a Sleep Train store on the Internet, so we stopped in after I took my sister and him out to lunch as a "Thank You" for letting me stay with them for so long. 
    Trying out mattresses after lunch is a good time.  We needed to lay on the mattresses and rest our stomachs.  While I was resting a stranger passed me and told me, "Wake up!" lol  Despite my Murphy's Day, I did find new mattresses---one for me and one for my son---and it'll be delivered tomorrow!!!  Woohoo! 
    More exciting is that my son, Drew, will be with me for Spring Break from college tomorrow.  He's delayed a day, since my sister's son who's picking him up is staying an extra day in San Francisco with friends and Drew.  What timing! We'll be able to stay at my condo, so we can enjoy our new sanctuary and de-stress. I was so relieved.  My sister was running out of beds.
    Once I handled all my issues blocking a successful move, I realized that my niece, Nicole, was throwing a St. Patrick's Day party.  I encouraged my sister, Blair, and her husband to go with me to see my niece's home and enjoy her party.  They did.
     My niece's dad, my other brother-in-law is very Irish, so St. Patrick's Day has always been a huge celebration for their family.  Now that I'm back in their lives, it's wonderful to learn about how they like to celebrate life.  They had quite a spread of Irish eats---corned beef and cabbage; Irish-Car-Bomb cupcakes; Irish-Creme cupcakes; alcoholic, green, Lemon, Ice Tea; Irish Whisky; and lots of other green-dyed food.
     It was quite fun to see Nicole's version of a "Man Cave" in their one-car garage.  She had a ping pong table and dart board with Christmas lights hung in the rafters.  How fun!  It was also fun playing with the baby boy of Nicole's cousin.  He loved all the attention that he got and especially loved Blair dancing with him.  It's good to be back with my childhood family after over a quarter of a century of absence.

Project Move: Day 16 Sofa Beds and Neighbors

    At 9am I took renter ship of the condo and basked in the subtle details of the art painted or permanently mounted on the wall by the owner, an artist.  She even put artistic little painted dots along the edge of all the patio steps for safety reasons.  I love how she mounted colorful plates on the fences right in the important focal areas.  How lucky am I to rent from a great artist?  Very lucky.
    Once my sister, Blair, took me back to her place, she informed me that my skinny-legged jeans were unacceptable and that I needed new clothes.  She's always going to be my fashion police even when I'm 80! lol She had me try on a few of her clothes, but I eventually pulled out an outfit from my now reachable suitcase.  Fortunately, she was appeased by my Anthropology outfit, and then we could go shopping for a sofa bed for my family room.
    I don't buy things often, but when I do I buy expensive items.  High quality items typically last decades and if you think in terms of price per year, my expensive furniture is less expensive than cheap furniture that lasts 5-10 years.  When buying furniture, I also buy neutral, timeless couches and use colorful pillows and throws to add life and current style. 
    Blair explained as we entered the first high-end furniture store that you should buy a neutral couch and a textured chair for style, as well as do the colorful pillow strategy.  She went to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in San Francisco for a year, so I'm listening to her interior design ideas very closely.  We did find a fabulous sofa bed on sale.  I guess during tax time the furniture store business gets really slow, so it's a good time to buy.
     We did find the same couch manufacturer, American Leather, at a different, less designer, high-end furniture store and it was more expensive!  I know where I'm getting my sofa bed.  Then we headed to cheaper furniture stores.  I could see the seams of the cheaper couches waving and the pillows weren't as snugly fit. 
    What I couldn't see is the construction of the cheaper sofa beds.  I know that my Lazyboy furniture for my former family room had a lot of mechanical issues with the recliners over time.  The leather on some of the furniture wore to a different color, as well.  The move gave me a great excuse to get rid of it.
    Since we were out near Stanford Ranch we stopped by RC Willey to see their couches.  We found none of similar quality, so wandered over to the appliance section to look at vacuum cleaners.  My Kirby vacuum is about 17 years old and is too heavy to lug up stairs.  Blair has a Dyson and raved about it.  The one appliance salesperson who was knowledgeable about the vacuum cleaners was called over to help us.
    He did a brief sales pitch and showed us the two ball roller Dysons and had us try one.  I vacuumed.  It was quite maneuverable with the ball roller.  Then I pulled the hose section out to see if it'd reach down the stairs.  It was a little short.  My Kirby has an extra long hose for the stairs, so I may just use that from the bottom floor.
    When I couldn't get the hose back in, I became annoyed that the salesperson had taken a phone call once we began testing the vacuum.  Another salesperson stood next to me, but didn't offer any help or advice about putting the handle and hose back onto the main arm of the vacuum.  My sister got it on, but we didn't know what she did and unsuccessfully tried it again. 
     In frustration I put both my hands up and said to the salesman silently watching us, "He's got 2 seconds to get off the phone and get over here or he's lost the sale."  The guy immediately called our salesperson on a phone call, but nothing changed.  We left the vacuum apart and walked out the store.  In a time with so many people trying to get a job, I was aghast at such customer service.  I still may buy a Dyson, just not from them.
     As we drove home we focused on Bank of America's stock going up a dollar---happy thoughts.  Then I headed over to my new neighborhood's TGIF party.  Most of the neighbors had kids my age.  Even so, they were a blast!  Most were quite opinionated and brutally honest.  It was Aspergers Heaven!  I learned so much.
     Then I met my neighbor, Dan.  That's Dan Lungren, our US House Representative!  I explained that I just moved here from San Diego, but I used to sell Camp Fire Mints to Lieutenant Governor Reiniche.  He remembered Reiniche.  That was comforting.  I'm definitely back in Sacramento.  Senators and Representatives everywhere!
     His wife, Bobby, came and sat at my table and chatted.  She is very delightful and made homemade lemon tarts that were quite good.  In fact, all the appetisers that people brought were great.  Apparently, the TGIF party only happens 6-8 times a year, so I was very lucky.  The joke of the night was that it was my "Welcome" party. lol 

Project Move: Day 15 The Cat and I Moved

    While waiting for Vanessa to come downstairs, I drank in the beauty of canyonous La Costa and its incredible views.  My body felt like it was ripping from the inside out.  I will miss this gorgeous area.  At least I'll be doing training in Oceanside occasionally, so I will be back. 
    Vanessa did the standard parent-to-teenager morning order at one of her teenagers who hadn't appeared, "Get up!  You're going to be late for school!"  Then she appeared in the kitchen.  With tears I gave Vanessa a hug, and we told each other, "I love you!"  She gave me comfort drinks for the road and wanted to give me her delicious lemon bars, but I haven't had time to do my normal exercise and my pants are tighter.
     As I drove to my apartment, I soaked in all the colors of the plants and the beauty of the homes in the hills.  Then I descended into the dark parking garage on a mission to get the apartment straightened enough for my former housekeeper's visit.  I hired her in 1995 and had to let her go when I moved to the apartment.  I wanted her to see that I watched how she cleaned all those years and kept my apartment up well. 
     8am approached and passed and I realized that we had a misinterpretation about where we were to meet.  Thoughts of her making a Mexican breakfast for me and waiting horrified me.  I looked at the clock.  I could rush over there, but she would have to run to her cleaning job after 20 minutes.  I decided to stay put.
     About 10 minutes later I heard a knock at my door.  She had driven to me!  We shared a tight, long hug. "Te quiero mucho!"  (I love you very much!)  We both said to each other.  Then I gave her my cards with my new address and got her address.  I was going to send her my book, since I couldn't find my books in my packed Suburban.  She was going to send me her memoir interpretted by her daughter, so I could write her story one day.  I felt fortunate that we shared so many stories with each other in our Spanglish.  We are sisters in spirit.
    After her visit I finished the walk through with the project manger with no deductions from my security deposit. :-)  Then I got my housekeeper's husband to work on cleaning my apartment.  He even fixed the landlord's vacuum cleaner!  I had used my Kirby vacuum cleaner to clean, but had to send it with the movers, since I ran out of room in the truck.
    Finally, it was time to get the cat in the truck, deliver my ATT equipment to UPS, grab a Pelly's calamari lemon dill sandwich, and hit the road.  At 12:30am  I was departing San Diego and listening to choice homemade 80's musical tapes:  Laughs Unlimited, Eagles, Cat Stevens, Billy Joel, Queen, Grease, Abba, The Cars, and Kenny Loggins to name a few.  I loved revisiting my mindset when I was in my 20's---how I organized the music on the tapes.  I was certainly broken hearted, but never gave up on love. 
    My cat would howl every time the tape ended, so I guess that she liked the music, too.  She actually howled so much that while I was driving through LA and talking to surferdude, he mentioned that I should just toss her out the window to put both of us out of our misery.  (He's severely allergic to cats and hates them.  A major reason why we're just friends.)  By Ventura my cat got tired and used to the music.  She was like a sleeping baby though.  If my phone rang all howls broke lose!  I arrived safely and sanely with my kitty in my lap at my sister's house in Sacramento around 8 pm and quickly let her loose in the guest bedroom with her kitty litter box nearby.
     We are moved to Sacramento.  Now I have to figure out when my things will be moved here---either Saturday or Monday.

Project Move: Day 14 Remove Boxes from Apartment and Storage

      Self control was required in so many ways today.  My Pentecostal moving quoter drove with me to my storage unit and verified what the driver had told him.  You can't get an 80ft semi up that grade without bottoming out on the pavement.  So we had to get a shuttle truck to remove the contents of my storage unit. $$$
     Upon my return I overheard the four guys trying to disassemble my piano say that they didn't know how to get the legs off.  I was furious!!!  I hired them because I could trust that they've moved a lot of pianos well.  They finally got the legs off after many failed attempts while I tried to Google how to remove legs from a Reiger Klaus grand piano while my computer decided to do some windows updates and restart. 
     Tears just burst out!  That piano was my connection to my mother that they were pounding on to get the legs off.  I was soooooooo stressed out!  Finally, they figured out how to do it without damaging my piano and got it onto the elevator which the last mover could not do.  So they scored huge points with me.  The elevator was much more safe for my piano than the stairs.
      While juggling between two moving crews---one at my apartment and one at the storage unit, I tested out my idea for music in my truck.  My stereo system stopped working many years ago, and I never took the truck on long rides due to the gas mileage, so I never bothered to fix it.  Now the suburban was going on an 8 hour drive, and I needed music.
      What did I figure out to do?  I found an old cigarette to plug adapter and an old tape player that my son was using to listen to the old tapes that we discovered in the attic from the last move.  One tape case was my ex-husbands and one was mine.  I had listened to those old tapes on my journeys from UC Berkeley to Sacramento when I returned home for my breaks.  How appropriate to listen to this music while I return to Sacramento from this long, 26-year break.

Project Move: Day 13 Professional Packers Arrive

    There are so many boxes everywhere!!!  My apartment is like a maze of boxes.  My suburban is filling quickly and the movers won't move my indoor plants.   Those I can't give away.  I will squeeze them into the truck.  The movers also decided after packing my apartment that my storage unit will need a smaller truck to load its items.  They'll transfer those items to the big truck at the warehouse.  The costs keep growing!
    When I took a packing break and had original recipe KFC (the movers were sick of free pizza) on my balcony, I looked at a few golfers playing.  The man had a swing with a low rotation off to the side.  The woman practiced her swing so beautifully, and then when she actually hit the ball lost her follow through!  I was amazed at myself for even knowing this.  I don't play golf---I just have watched so many golfers over the last 1.5 years! lol
    Earlier, I saw the last item from my former marriage drive away.  My buddy who's a local mover and former summer-school-teacher co-worker took it off my hands.  My master bedroom set is at a charity now.  I've got a clean slate to start my second half of my life! 
    My clean slate is still decoratively bordered with my great friendships that I've made over the last 17 years.  I feel fortunate that I have so much love in my life from my friends, family, and former students.  When I made my 2012 New Year's resolution to find love, God made sure to remind me that I already have a lot given to me.  I guess that I should have said, "I want to find romantic love in 2012."
    Actually, I did find that love, too.  However, as with everything else in my life, it's so complicated!  If that is the love that God intended for me, it will happen.  He'll get a job in Sacramento.  Wouldn't that be miraculous?  That'd be an undeniable sign from God that the man who made my heart go pitter pat in January was more than fun on adventures.  He was God's choice for me.  If he doesn't get a job in Sacramento, then we had a fabulous time together during our four days of adventure. 
    For now, I have to focus on moving, becoming great at my new job, and finding a time to finish my third edit of my second book.  I've got a clean slate to organize and make shine after all! 

Project Move: Day 12 Pack, Pack, Bye Surferdude

    My mind has been focused on serious packing strategy.  What can I pack in my Suburban that super heavy to lighten the mover's weight?  What items are too expensive to have movers touch and how am I going to pack them in the Suburban? In my mind I keep preserving the front seat for the cat carrier and litter box as I imagined packing all the items that should be in the Suburban.  My plants weren't going to fit.
    I'd already given Sergio all my plants in designer pots that I had stored at his house.  Realizing my balcony garden wouldn't survive the winters in Sacramento, I thought of bringing it inside the condo for the winter, but that would be too hard.  My plants love San Diego and belong here.
    After a week of only texts from super sick surferdude, we finally talked.  He had previously texted that he was sick, and he never gets sick.  He really hates to text, and this behavior started right after his appointment with a cardiologist, so I was concerned.  Fortunately, it ended up that he had a bad flu. 
    When he finally returned my missed call, instead of texting, he had a head cold and not a high fever any more.  I was just relieved that he just caught the flu and wasn't on a respirator after a bad cardiac stress test.  He wouldn't have told me if he was in the hospital, because he wouldn't want the attention.
    He asked how my move was going and added like always, "You really have nothing holding you here."
    He and I are very much alike, except I've finally let my heart open up to the possibility of building a life with someone again.  He wants to stay a tumbleweed forever.  He also knows that he has to say that to me to push me toward my new life.  Our relationship has evolved to good friends anyway.  He grew to like my Aspergers.  I was one honest person in his life, and he was brutally honest right back.  He'd also helped me understand the world of being famous, signing autographs, doing speaking engagements, and knowing the value of your name.  He would also listen to how I was setting up my author business, since I'm an experienced entrepreneur.  If he liked my ideas then he'd morph them into something for his surfing business.
    After our usual conversation that we have while doing other things, I realized that surferdude loves plants like Sergio.  He also has a Zen theme and my plants were, of course, exactly right for him, since we're too much alike.  So today he picked them up, and I got to say "Good-bye" in person and give him a hug and kiss on the cheek.
    He had never been to my apartment.  In fact, no romantic interest ever was.  It was my woman cave.  He loved the acrylic paintings created by my friend and my daughter and the bronze eagle that I couldn't fit in a box.  He also liked my compound bow, and I showed him how to set the shot.  He explained how to kill a coyote with my graphite arrows and not get caught.  I'd actually felt like killing a few coyotes after losing so many cherished cats to them.
    As I gave him a tour I showed him my family's book about all our military men.  "We're descendants of the best Hessians in Germany, so its in our blood.  That's why I have a cross bow." I remembered when he showed me the magazine with his lineage of famous professional surfers, so I finally shared my pedigree. 
    "I'm surprised that you don't have a side arm."
    "I don't do guns.  I like silent weapons."  I remembered when my mom  made a point of telling me when I was little that she would never have guns in the house, because my brothers and sisters and I would kill each other.  She was very wise.  That's probably why I've never bothered with guns for self defense.  God has also made it extremely clear to me that I am not to have blood on my hands.  I'll leave that to the marines in our family.  They keep our country safe and God keeps me especially safe.
    Surferdude and I lugged all my plants down the elevator and out to the culdesac while gabbing like we would on the phone.  He actually was getting the job in Las Vegas that paid really well, only was 4 days a week, and had serious perks like a company car and access to the company yachts.  He'd been working on that deal for 1.5 years.  I was so excited for him!  We both got jobs at the same time.  Go figure!
    We pushed and shoved plants into his van.  His van was full of my plants instead of all his surfboards.  "You scored!"
    "Yeah!"  He appreciated that I had a lot of expensive specimens.  I appreciated that my plants and pots would be loved.  "Hey, I'm going to compete is Santa Cruz in May."
     "Oh, that's pretty close.  I'll see if I can roust some Sacramento fans to come with me.  There will definitely be big waves there!"
     "It's a really big competition.  I don't usually go.  If the weather is bad, I'm not driving up there.  Oh, here's the last T-shirt from my last nose-riding competition.  It's in your size."
     "Thanks.  Look at this handsome guy on the back!  Nice!"  It was a picture of him riding the nose of his surfboard with his six-pack showing.
     We gave each other our final hugs and kisses on the cheek before he got back into his van.  As he drove off he waved, "Thanks again for the plants!"
     "Thanks for the T-shirt!"
    
   

Project Move: Day 11: Final Songs

     Daylight savings made me lose an hour of sleep, but I didn't let a little fatigue keep me from joining the St. James Choir one last time.  When I arrived, the first person that I saw was my dentist.  I gave her a hug and said, "Oh, I was thinking about you and wanted to let you know that I'm moving out of town, so I won't need any reminder notes."
     She could only think about the bill from August that my ex-husband never paid though.  "Your ex-husband still hasn't paid for your son's visit."
     "No!  He and his new wife wrote to me that they would take care of it.  I'm so sorry."
     "I'm about to send him to collections."
     "Does that cost you anything?"
     "It's bad for his credit score."
     "You know what, I'll just pay it, so you don't have to be bothered.  I still have the bill that you sent to me about this.  I can't believe that he is still so irresponsible."
      Then I went and gave my dear bass friend a big hug.  I'm going to miss him.  His wife left him right when I was establishing a woman cave without the ex.  We vented on each other's shoulders about the ex's.  Now he's in an expensive custody suit, since his son wants to live with him and not his mom.  I'm just so glad that I hung in there and the kids got to live in one nice home in a great school district.  Emotionally it was awful, but there are times in life when you have to focus on the greater good---my kids only living in one home.
      A soprano friend, who's always made sure that my music wasn't blocking her view of our music director, gave me a hug and joked, "I guess that I won't be telling you what to do any more."  When I pulled out my personal Catholic liturgy reference guide for the proper wording of our responses, she added, "Oh, can I have that when you go?"
      It was glorious to sing with my fabulous alto section one last time.  I made sure to sing with careful control for my last mass at St. James.  After we said, "...I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed."  I handed my friend my reference guide.  I knew all the rest of the responses by heart after that line.
     My eyes felt warm with impending tears after that gesture which signified the end of my choir time.  My voice started to crack with the revelation that this was my last time singing with my beloved St. James choir.  I bent over and dabbed my eyes with a tissue, felt better getting a little more blood to my head, and held back the tears to focus on the last songs.  As soon as the last song was sung, the tears flowed.  My soprano friend hugged me as I sobbed, "Another chapter is closed."
     "There will be many new chapters to open."
     The director had everyone get in a circle around me and lay hands on me and prayed to bless my new life ahead of me.  Most of the members said a personal prayer over me.  I was deeply touched and felt that I was in God's hands now.
     My lunch date was a Fianna.  She and I both had daughters that were beyond tempestuous.  She wanted to pay me for my book, "The Romance of Kilimanjaro," by taking me out to lunch.  I mentioned to her, "I'm sure glad that God told me to call you and go on a picnic with you."
    She smiled at the remembrance of how I called her out of the blue and asked, "Hey, do you want to go for a picnic?"   She was going to call me, because apparently God put it in her mind to get me to join her "One-Way Relationship" group.
     I put a little picnic together and instead of going somewhere, we had a picnic in her mansion's master bedroom looking out at the beautiful Batiquitos Lagoon.  She had me take the "One-Way Relationship" test right on her floor, and I was positively in a One-Way Relationship.  In fact, our marriages were quite similar.
     "When I did this 'One-Way Relationship' group, I ended up finally divorcing my emotionally abusive husband.  This will change your life, too," she insisted.
     It certainly did.  I saw the error of my ways and got rid of my emotionally abusive ex-husband who was living with me.  Now I don't need antidepressants and I rarely drink at home anymore.  It amazes me that my ex-husband made me mentally ill.  I would have never thought that possible, but I didn't set proper boundaries upon him and didn't understand how he was undermining me.  Now I know and say far away from him.
    When I returned to my apartment to pack, one of the first things that I did was put the Valentines coffee cup that my ex-husband gave me downstairs by the dumpster, so others in the complex could take it.  I want my new chapters of life to have no reminders of him.

Project Move: Day 10 Pack, Cry, Say "Good-bye"

    When my apartment started filling up with packed boxes, I felt overwhelmed.  This was no longer my woman cave.  My doll collection lay carefully wrapped in a box by my cousin and me.  I no longer had my comfort items on display---just an empty, dusty china hutch.  Music was the only thing now that could sooth my soul as I packed after my cousin left.
   After our morning of packing my son's room and doll collection up, we went to lunch.  Alice said, "You and I both know that you're not ever moving back." 
    She was probably right.  I'm a salmon swimming back to my headwaters where I was born.  Hopefully, I won't be dying when I get there!  I tearfully hugged her as she dropped me off, "I'll miss you!"
    "This is not 'Good-bye,' we will see each other again."
    I was so glad that her son is a student at UC Modesto.  I knew that I would have them visit me when they did the long drive up to collect him for his school breaks.  Hopefully, my guest room will be used a lot!
   Later my friend, Vanessa, had a "Going Away" Open House for me, since my friends came from various walks of life.  I was so touched by her show of love.  She made her home look so beautiful and the food was delicious as usual.  I cried with her before the guests showed and then drank some wine to calm down.  My tears were easier to control after a little wine.
    As my friends arrived and got to know each other, I was so happy for the connections that they were making.  One of my friends from junior high was a news broadcaster and producer and another friend's daughter wanted to learn about that career.  Some of my friends got into a heated debate about whether pot should be legalized.  We all seemed to love an intellectually-based discussion about controversial topics!  Two of my friends are math teachers at a community college and explained that world to my friend and me who are secondary teachers.  My artist friend found a new patron---one of my alto friends.  At least I'll be with my friends via their new friendships made at my Open House.
    One husband and wife, who were formerly from Sacramento have an older brother who's been divorced a few years, but refuses to date.  They explained what he likes to do.  He's a contractor, mountaineer, talker, and hunter.  He's apparently tall, blond, and built.  Hum, that's the description of the man that I wanted when my junior high school teacher asked me what I wanted in a man.  I told them to have him call me.  I added, "He has to have enough balls to ask me out.  I can be intimidating to men when they get to know me.  The man's got to call me, otherwise it's never going to work.  I also just want to be friends right now."
    What a wonderful day of love from my friends!  I know that I'll stay connected with them via Facebook, their college kids, and visits.  I'm feeling better about leaving.  My tears are dry.

Project Move: Day 9 Sanity Checks and Closing Memberships

    My moving "To Do" list is almost all checked off now.  I actually did start taping boxes up and packing today, but not before I made sure that all my start up services were a go.  Fortunately, that little feeling that something was amiss was correct.  It wasn't DirectTV that had an issue, it was Comcast who is in charge of my landline and Internet.  I definitely needed to fix that issue---my city and state address were input for Arkansas!  That's a little off.  It's all fixed now which is good.  I hate being without the Internet.  "I am Borg.  I must connect!" lol
    Next came cancelling my local memberships.  I started with the hard membership, Sundance Meadows/Vail Lake.  Apparently, the contract that I had signed was for life and when I die my kids are responsible for the maintenance fees of my membership which is $500/year.  There was no cancellation clause in the contract for the buyer!  How stupid of me to have signed such a document. 
    The manager explained that the best way to get out of the membership is to sell it to someone else.  Once I realized how horrific this situation is for any buyer, I opted to find a way to cancel and not trap someone else into such a predicament.  After reading the contract that was about 12 years old, I calculated my attorney fees for reviewing it and challenging the legality of it---$600 or 2 hours of work. 
    Then I called the manager again and explained that I had diligently paid my membership for all these years and haven't used it in years.  I will be moving and don't want to default by not paying and accrue late fees, which is one way of voiding the contract with the presumption that the seller will end the contract and not legally pursue me for fees.  I couldn't assume that this seller would roll over with such a despicable contract. 
    I told the manager that I want her to get me a "buy out" of the contract that is reasonable or else I will have my attorney get involved.  She quickly called me back and explained that the accounting department will allow me to be free of my membership for $500.  She added, "That's the cheapest offer that I've ever seen.  Normally it's $1200."  So I had her send me the official paperwork.
    At least my Pure Fitness membership was easy to cancel.  I will miss that gym.  I loved working out there.  The manager even remembered that I was the former owner of Elite Fitness Spas for Women.  When they had purchased our memberships, I became a member of Pure Fitness for $0 for life. 
    This of course, did not go over well with the owner, so he paid me a visit to renegotiate my membership fees.  He is a former pro football player for the Chargers, devout Jew, attorney, and gracious.  We had a lovely time negotiating my membership so his business and I would stay healthy and an even lovelier time commiserating about gym employee issues!

Project Move: Day 8 Start and Stop Services

      It is amazing to me that I spent the whole day getting ready to move, and I still haven't packed one box! Once I scheduled my mover and got a move out and deliver date defined, I was able to start up and cancel utility services. That entails gas and electric, Internet, TV, and land line phone.

      Fortunately, I called SMUD, the Sacramento Utility service first. Once they set my gas and electric account up, they immediately directed my phone call to "All Connect" in Arkansas. "All Connect" is the trick! They researched if ATT Universe was available in my area for me. It wasn't, so they set me up with Comcast and DirectTV and applied every discount coupon available!!!

      The bummer was disconnecting my services. SDG&E was not problem to disconnect. I called the number on my bill, was efficiently directed to the customer service representative who handles these matters, and scheduled my service disconnect within 5 minutes.

      5 minutes from calling to disconnecting service was not the case for ATT, however. The website is way to complex and hard to figure out which hyperlink is the gateway to cancelling my service. Sure they had a tag, "Moving? Call ...." That would have been easy, if it wasn't a sadistic tease.  The phone number was not appropriate for my area.  I used my cell for to see if it was more appropriate.  It wasn't. 
    I scanned the website more closely and after about 10 minutes of trying to chat or search for "Cancelling Service,"  I finally found an ATT webpage with "cancel" on it.  The cancel section wasn't very helpful.  It redirected me to login and start over.  Yeah right!  Then I scrolled the page and found another tab that said "Cancel Service."  As I hovered my mouse over the tab that opens the content of a summarized section, a phone number blinked. The problem was that it blinked so fast that I didn't get the phone number copied.  My mind couldn't capture the image in my head, so I couldn't write it down. How sadistic of ATT!!!
   Finally, I noticed a remote button called "Open All" above all the tabs.  This was the successful link to cancel my service---a usable phone number!  I still had to talk with a person, but most companies make you talk to them to cancel your service, so I expected that.  However, ATT made the hold time so long that I actually made a call to Schwab on my cell to arrange a visit about funding my new trust.
   Lunch was welcome, since I was brain dead from making so many decisions about this and that service feature.  While eating and surfing the internet, I worked on my kids' FAFSA.  SFSU still hadn't received Drew's which befuddled me, so I just downloaded and printed a "Dependent Verification" Form which I knew he'd need, filled it out, and sent it off to him with a note to go to his financial aid office. 
     Doing an IRS transfer into my kids' FAFSA became a learning experience.  Last year it was so simple, but this year wasn't.  My electronic tax returns were entered onto the system on Monday, so my accountant and I thought that I could do a data transfer to FAFSA.  No, I have to wait two weeks for the IRS to release my electronic tax return to my FAFSA online forms.  I guess instantaneous availability of electronic information is 2 weeks to the government!
    Once I realized that I'd done all that I could to finish the kids' FAFSAs, I set off to Office Depot to get a paper shredder to shred my monetary account papers and use them for packing material for my doll collection and other fragile items.  Then I headed off to Schwab to have them lead my frazzled mind through changing my regular account to be in my new trust's name---fund my trust.  While I was there, I also had them order more checks with my new Sacramento address on them.  I did the same for my regular Bank of America accounts.  My trust is officially funded!
    The final action item of the day was the most pleasant.  I dropped off my surfboard at Rosa's, since her daughters both want to surf.  Now they have a great beginner board with a rose and butterfly on it, and Protect Fins to keep from getting sliced by the sharpness of regular fins.  It was great having one on one time with Rosa, too.  We laughed, reminisced, and cried together.  I'm going to miss her seriously intelligent view of life!  :(

Project Move: Day 7 DMV, Safe Deposit Box, Lighten My Load

    A huge milestone escaped me today.  I wanted to decide upon a mover.  My third quote had serious computer issues and kept missing his deadlines until it was too late for me to call my best moving quote in hand.  The third quote didn't even send me the e-mail quote and it's late in the evening.  All words, no results.  I was kind and patient and now have lost a day.  No more.  This project will proceed tomorrow, and I will have a move out and move in date.
    At least I closed my Encinitas P.O. Box and my La Costa safe deposit box.  I also got my tax payments and DMV registration for one of my cars ready to be mailed and added a change of address notation.  I hate it when I move and the DMV can't find me in order to pay my vehicle registration.  I'll have to change the address for my other car in the next few days just so I don't forget about it.  My mail forwarding only works for 6 months and the DMV will be contacting me again probably in 8 months.  The fines were not pretty when I realized my tags were expired due to my mistake of not notifying the DMV of an address change for each car.
    I did get a response from Craigslist, so I've basically gotten someone to pay me $200 cash to take my master bedroom set from my former marriage away.  :-)  I'll just have to make sure that I have my cousins with me packing on Saturday, so I'm not alone when they come and get that furniture.  I'll have to remember to get a new stash of bear (pepper) spray from Sports Authority before then.
  

Project Move Day 6 Mission "Get an Address" Accomplished

    What a relief to finally have a Sacramento address!  My household has a place to which to be moved, so I booked a flight to go back to San Diego and to my cat.  I also booked one more trip to the condo to imagine how my furniture will fit in this new condo and to show my dad my new artsy haunt.
    Dad first whisked me off for a drive through Sierra Oaks.  Though I had just driven down our old running course on Saturday, Dad had to drive along it with me in the car.  We had run together along these tree-covered streets so many times.  It's funny that we both have to drive our running loops whenever we return.
    We arrived at our old house to feast in the memories.  The Monkey Tree, a 47-year-old mock-orange bush, that our kids climbed was still there.  My dad's front landscape design that he painstakingly installed was well maintained.  The front brick walk where as little kids we lined up to take our Sunday School pictures with our white gloves and tiny purses had stood the test of time.
    As we looped around the block for another drive-by of our former home, we turned down Crocker Road, the road of many a high-ranking politician and gangsters.  Feasting our eyes on the old and new mansions is always a pleasure.  Then we came back around the block and saw the sons of one of Dad's friends that still lived in his home, so we pulled in to say, "Hello!"
    Apparently, his friend had died yesterday after a long battle with heart disease and leukemia.  He had a happy life, and his death was expected by his sons, just not by my dad.  We went inside to reminisce and catch up.  Upon leaving Dad remarked, "I can't tell you how many cups of coffee that I've had in that kitchen."  Then that door closed.
    We had a delicious lunch after that where Dad observed me in an autocratic mode while checking my phone messages.  I got annoyed with the property manager for not asking me the right questions to gather information to run my credit report.  I left him a succinct, professional voice mail message with my birth date and phone number.   The manager called me back as soon as my credit report verified that I always pay my loans and obligations.  I was officially approved!!!
   So we all dashed over to the property a little earlier than our original appointment time.  Dad loved it and couldn't believe how low the rent was.  He loved all the artistic painting, too.  I studied the rooms and figured out that I should get rid of my master bedroom furniture which was my ex husband and my first bedroom set.  It doesn't match the decor, and I need to start anew!
   Finally, Dad drove me to the airport.  The wind was so strong that I could barely open my car door!  My plane was even delayed due to the wind.  At the security check I realized that I had made a grave error.  I didn't go through my purse and take out my weapons. 
   My pepper spray popped up into sight when I placed my purse in an inspection bin.  I just handed it to the security guard.  I knew that it was illegal to carry that on a plane.  He kindly said, "Here, you can have the empty case and the whistle."
    While I waited for my items, my purse kept being inspected.  Another security guard came over and said as he dug through my purse, "Is this your purse?"
    "Yes."  Then I saw my favorite screw driver which was like a Russian doll---it had littler and littler screw drivers inside the handle.  "Oh, know!  My screwdriver!"  I said in pain that I'd have to give it to the guard.  The guard opened the handle and saw all the little screw drivers.  "Isn't that cool!"
    "Yes.  You can have it back," and he continued looking through my purse.
    I was amazed, because my screwdriver was yet another weapon in my purse.  It was a good-sized shank!  He must have known that I was no threat.
    While waiting for my delayed flight, I called San Diegan friends to see if any would pick me up at the airport.  I got lucky!  My friend with whom I travelled to Alaska was jazzed to do so.  I took her out to dinner afterwards.  It was so nice to have one on one time with her before I leave!