I love wi-fi

Cause I'd be unable to update this thing without it. Still in Michigan till Sunday at 6:25am-(yes that is really the time my flight leaves). I'm at my dad's house right now, actually...I'm at the library by my dad's house because he's on this anti-makeyourlifeeasierwithcableandinternet kick right now.

And to be really technical, because I can be and I'm bored out of my freakin mind, I don't actually LEAVE Michigan until like 10:30am on Sunday because I'm flying from here to Detroit and then from D-Town to Atlanta-(herein known as A-Town till I think of something better to call it).

K, so yeah. I'm bored, but alive. Been eating at my favorite joints-(all 3 of them)-was very very destraught that the Cookie Cutter is gone. Best bloody cookie shop EVER. But they're gone now.

Anywho, more updates whenever I wander over to the library again.

Peace out from M-Town.

Moving

Yep, it's time. Tomorrow I'll be heading out. Won't have internet access for 1-2 weeks so the blog won't be updated. See you all on the other side!

Schedule

I have a crazy schedule before I leave for Georgia.

Friday: Finish getting my stuff out of the apartment, do a final clean and turn the key in. Drop stuff off to Goodwill and take in the recycling. Go to the library and cancel my account, tie up all lose ends.

Saturday: Say good-bye to 2 families that have been an integral part of my life over the past 5 years.

Sunday: Say good-bye to another family.

Monday: Clean up the house I'm staying in, pack the car, and hit to road for my hometown.

Tuesday-Friday: Say good-bye to all of my friends in my hometown.

Saturday: Drive, with my dad, to the Soo. Check into the hotel, try to get some sleep.

Sunday: Fly to Georgia at way-to-early am. Get to Georgia early afternoon. Take the train uptown where I'll be picked up by my employer's. They will then drive me to the house where I will unpack, get settled, and sleep.

Monday: Start work.

Drawn

I've been reading a few adoption blogs in the past 2-3 months. Not religiously, but I'd check them about 2 times a month, just to see how everything was going. But lately it has changed. I now feel drawn to read these blogs every day. To seek out new adoption blogs on a daily basis. To read each new adoption blog I come across from beginning to end.

Maybe it's just that I have a lot of extra time on my hands this week.

Or maybe it's God working on my heart and mind for something bigger . . . Time will tell

Stupid Bank

Actually it's probably not the bank, or the people who work there. But still, it's irritating. Here's the dilemma:

I'm moving to Georgia SOON

The bank that I currently have my checking & savings accounts at doesn't have any branches anywhere close to where I'll be living

I need to open a new account at a new bank

I know what bank I will use-(it's 2 blocks from the house.)

I can't open the account until I am there, because I have to be there in person to open the account

I can't do a wire transfer to the account in Georgia until it is opened-(when I move there)

I have to be at the bank here in Michigan, IN PERSON, to authorize a wire transfer. Can't sign a form to have it done, can't authorize it over the phone, nope..have to be there in the flesh to do it.

Can't close the account here over the phone. Need to close it in person.

So, basically 30 minutes of standing around the bank to find out that I can't transfer the money to my new account because the account in Georgia isn't open yet, and I have to be in Michigan at the bank here to authorize the transfer. Soooooooooo....I found out that I have to carry a check with me from Michigan to Georgia. This wouldn't be a problem, but it's way more than I'm comfortable carrying with me. AND, I have to carry it with me for 10 days.....which means I have to keep very good track of it between packing, driving, flying, unpacking, and opening the new account in Georgia.

Seriously, is there not an easier way?????? According to the bank, there isn't.

Tomorrow's fun includes calling the utility/cable companies to turn off/switch over the utilities.

I'm Off

Off to fight with the bank that is. Will update later today if I make it out of there alive. Stupid bank people.

Looks

With the string of no-shows, the multiple interviews that my boss has done, the reactions of the interview-ees when boss tells them what is expected of them, and the demands of the interview-ees-(higher pay, gas milage reimbursement, set schedule), have made me look like a pretty darn good sitter.

Bummer that it took boss over 2 years to figure out that I'm NOT THAT BAD and that she's a nitpicking type A control freak perfectionist. Okay, she probably doesn't realize the part about her, but she's realizing the part about me. But I'm still smiling on the inside. There's a part of me that feels bad for her. Then there's a part of me that just wants to go "HA!!!!! Serves you right!" I won't do it, but it's fun to think about sometimes.

Remember that comment she made a few months back, the one that went something like this:

"Maybe I can finally have the kind of nanny I've always wanted."

Yeah, well I got the follow-up to that yesterday with this one:

"Maybe you're as good as it gets." *insert raised eyebrows and pursed lips from current nanny* "Not that you're a bad sitter or anything like that." Nice save there hon, nice save---NOT.

Okay, I'm off to enjoy the carrot cake I made yesterday--and gloat on the inside, because that's just the way I am.

Seriously

Does nobody in the government have a moral compass anymore????

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26095810?GT1=43001

Sick...or not...

So yesterday Goober fell ill, was running a low grade temperature, had a headache, runny nose, and sore throat. We were laying on the couch watching a movie when she asked if she could have a candy bar. Um.....no. I gave her some other options--milk, water, gatorade, juice, popcicle, grapes, banana, etc. Nope, she wanted a candy bar. I put my foot down and told her no candy bar. Then comes this gem from her mouth:

"Well I'm sick so you have to get me whatever I want and do whatever I want ALL DAY!!!"

Her highly convincing arguement didn't work. And today? She's perfectly fine.

Responsibility

Responsible people apparently don't live in this city. Case in point:

Babysitter Candidate #1: Interview with boss went well, training went well, she was excited, I thought she was great, Goober was thrilled.......then she no showed, no called, & turned her phone off on her solo day.

Babysitter Candidate #2: Interview with boss went well, training went well, day before her solo day she called and decided she couldn't meet the time commitment required.

Babysitter Candidate #3: Never showed up to interview with boss.

Babysitter Candidate #4: Interview went well, hasn't showed up for training today. She was due here an hour ago.

Yep, responsible people apparently don't live in this city. 24 days till I move, 9 days till Goober and her mom leave for a trip. So that makes 8 days to find, train, and do a dry run with a new sitter. It's gonna be stressful-(haha, like it hasn't been already). Wish us luck.

Nightmare

Every once and awhile, usually when I'm under a great amount of stress, I have a horrific nightmare that shakes me to my core. They are so realistic that I wake up and wonder if it really happened or if it was just a dream. I've even gone as far as reading the local newspaper online to determine if it really happened. Last night was one of those nights. I will warn you, the following is a bit graphic so read at your own risk. Remember, this was just a nightmare--it DID NOT really happen.

************************************************************************************

The family was home. Me, my mom, my dad, my sister, and my brother-in-law. My brother-in-law was acting strangely. I couldn't pin point it, but he was somber and sulky. If you knew my brother-in-law, you would know that he is always energetic, talkative, and has 2 speeds: full speed & off.

He and my sister were fighting, not an unusual occurrence in real life. They fight all the time. My sister was being passive aggressive, my brother-in-law was being combative. My sister walked out the front door to get away from him. My brother-in-law followed her.

At this point my brother-in-law & my sister are outside. My dad was sleeping upstairs because he worked 3rd shift the night before, my mom was resting in her recliner, and I was doing Sudoku on the couch.

*WARNING* The next part is scary *WARNING*

Next thing I know, the house is on fire. It's burning fast, because it's an old wooden house and the wood is dried out. I yell "MOM THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE!!!!" We run upstairs because the the whole front bottom 1/2 of the house is engulfed in flames and all the exits on the 1st floor are blocked.

Upstairs we open the door to the 2nd floor deck, only the deck isn't there. It had collapsed from dry rot the week before. The fire is moving up the stairs, my mom and I are hovering in the door frame, door open, with nowhere to go. I can feel the heat behind me. We jump into the rubble of the deck.

*WARNING* Graphic content follows *WARNING*

Once the fire is put out by the fire department, the sheriff takes my mom and I inside the house. They need us to identify a body. The body is my dad's, still in bed, sleeping in his usual arm flopped over the side of the bed, 1/2 sleeping on his stomach with 3 pillows under his head and one under his chest. His body is a black charred lump, but he looks peaceful, like he never woke up as he was burned to dead. He passed away from the smoke inhalation before he was burned to death. Small piece of comfort considering the way he went. Then the sheriff tells us there another body we need to identify. I'm confused, there shouldn't be another body.

We follow the sheriff downstairs to the front hallway. There is a lump under a white sheet. They draw back the sheet, it's my sister. They theorize that she ran back into the house after her husband set the house on fire. Her body is badly charred, except for the big toe on her left foot. The big toe on her left foot isn't burned at all.

After the shock of seeing 2 dead bodies, my mom shrugs and says "That's life" then walks outside, gets in her truck and drives away to her cabin 8 hours away while I am left to pick up the pieces and process it all by myself.

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I hate nightmares like this. I've had worse nightmares for sure, but they come so infrequently that when they do happen, they really shake up me. I just don't know what to make of it all, or how to process it. I know I shouldn't think about it, but it's hard when you have a nightmare like that.

Anybody out there have freakish nightmares that scary the bejeeber's out of you?

Moving Progress

It was a looooooooooooong weekend of packing, cleaning, & loading boxes into the truck. All that work paid off. One more truck load and this place will be emptied out!!!!!

This place feels so empty now. It's really kind of, weird. It was a lot of work, but it was definately worth it.

All that's left to do now is pack up the kitchen, pack the suitcase, and clean this place top to bottom.

Now, I'm officially getting excited about this move :)