LIONS, TIGERS AND BUGS, OH NO!

This entry is long overdue and will be a compilation of my “Battle of the Bugs”, or “What I Did Over the Summer”.

Things that bite in the night...  All of the various biting bugs were really glad that we arrived at our new home in Tennessee. New restaurant in town, yee haw, “let’s go taste some of that California blood.” And, boy did they ever. It didn’t take me long to realize that the mosquitoes were eating me alive. Yes, and sneaky buggers to boot! I didn’t hear them buzz or feel them bite… until the bumps. My legs looked like I had some sort of dreaded death inducing disease. New rule; as much as I hate insect repellent, I have one can in the garage, one can on the patio and some in my bathroom cabinet. Lined up… deodorant, anti-itch cream, insect repellent and anti-monkey butt. (I’ll get to the monkey butt later).

A word about spiders... I didn’t even think that the world had this many spiders. Holy arachnophobia! Keep in mind that our home had sat vacant for three months before our arrival and without any insect control chemical applied the spiders were literally coming out of the wood work. Although not too bad inside the house as I’ll bet there was still some residual spay still effectively working, the out of doors and the detached garage were overrun with spiders that looked like a tiny pea with long ol’ legs. 

Shortly after we arrived, I attacked (cleaned) the screened in patio.  I have never seen pollen up close and personal until I started cleaning the patio tiles; it was thick on the tile and caked the screens.  Shop vac in tow I went to town on the patio.  Little did I know that spiders lived under the vinyl siding on the house.  They were literally coming out of the woodwork.  I took on the stance of a sword fencing artist and sucked up every spider that dared to poke it's eight ugly legs in my path. 

Ewww

I hoped that I would not have nightmares of those spiders crawling out of the shop vac to get even with me.

More on spiders... I don’t know maybe it's a mid-spring nature thing, but shortly after we moved I was out walking one of the dogs in the driveway and spotted this huge, and I’ll shout it HUGE spider. I yelled for Brian to come and look and he comes out to see that the ruckus was. He looked and asked if I wanted him to kill it. Truth be known, I didn’t expect an execution, but since he was willing to come to my rescue, well heck yes, put it down! I have never seen the likes of what happened next… Brian found a flip-flop and tapped the spider and about 100 baby spiders started scrambling in every direction. Gross!!! Here’s a photo of the spider about 12 hours after it’s demise. 

Did I mention that Brian doesn’t like to kill anything, well except stinging type flying creatures...

Stinging type flying creatures...  Without a moments respite, I had my run in with the mud-daubers.   I knew we had them; I would see small nests everywhere.  Every time we went to Lowe's or Ace Hardware I would grab a can of "wasp & hornet" spray.  I pretty much kept a can in my tool belt.  Well, I really didn't wear a tool belt, but I always had a can handy.

One morning I decided to put a couple of bug bombs in the attic space above the detached garage.  I grabbed the cans on got on special at the Dollar General, newspapers (as instructed) and headed up the stairs to the man door.

Who knew? I was certainly unsuspecting; all I wanted to do was kill some bugs.

 I got about half way up the stairs and all of a sudden a mud-dauber was hovering right around my face.  I started swatting and then another and another!  I made the flash decision that I wasn't winning this battle since I was being stung and my swats were doing squat.  I turned to descend the stairs and as quickly as I wanted to get away from my adversaries I needed to be careful not to fall down the outside stairs.  Finally down the stairs and ran to the house screaming for Brian. 

I counted five assaults on my hands, arms and legs.  Once calmed down, I got pissed.  I took mud-daubers to the net and everything I read pointed out that they will not sting unless provoked.  Bull pucky I say!  Then husband Brian mentioned that I was trying to smack them around.  So, okay, they were provoked when I stomped up the stairs (rocked their world I guess) and I guess they did feel provoked when the human arms tried to knock them into the  next county. 

Not to be outdone, I wildly went through unpacked boxes to find my sweatpants and a hoodie.  Put my battle armour on, grabbed a full can of wasp spray and headed to the offending fortress.

Assuming it was somewhere under the stairs, imagine the horror of finding this community of nests.  After emptying an entire can of spray I thought I had won.  Come to find out, a few weeks later, Brian was going to go up the stairs to the attic and after about two steps the mud-daubers started flying around again.  I was stumped.  After careful surveillance I realized that nest I had been looking for was actually under the railing.  I did what needed to be done and on to the next adventure.

Coming next.... Snakes!

SKY'S STORY (PART THREE)

We had hoped that they were running together. Even when Abby was found we concentrated on the area Abby was found in.  I printed up more fliers with just Sky's photo and plastered it (illegally) on every other telephone pole on every street we went down.  We stopped every runner, we stopped and talked to every person working in their yards.   When we told our neighbors they also went in areas in the other directions.  Saturday turned out to be a bust and we finally gave up.  The plus is that she is chipped and I could only assume that shelters and vets automatically scan for chips.  This fact provided a little calm which we so needed at this point.  I could not take joy in finding Abby because, one she wasn't home and two, Sky was still missing.  We would go out searching and come home to wait.

We came home frustrated and Sunday morning I decided to print up half sheets and planned to tape them on mailboxes in the area where Abby was found as well as streets in completely opposite direction.  I went into already covered areas and again, taped the flier on to mailboxes.  We had people we talked to give us good suggestions... get the flier to local radio stations, newspapers, etc.  All well and good except it was a holiday weekend the the public was pretty much shut down until Tuesday.  I had one wonderful woman ask me to get her a full size flier and she would tape it to her car window and drive around and hopefully, someone would see it and call. 

Early afternoon, Sunday, we got a lead.  One of the runners we talked to on Saturday was talking to her husband about the lost dog people, and he said that he saw a "shaggy" dog at the trash dumpsters.  This meant that Sky and Abby had never been together. Abby went east and Sky went west.

The trash dump is where we take our trash.  We have the choice of pick up or deliver. We deliver because it's free.  They have one attendant here to push a button and compact the trash in the dumpster. So after the call we high-tailed it over to the dump.  We didn't see Sky wandering around so we asked the attendant if we could post a flier.  What better place than the dump?  Everybody goes there.  Well, the local yokel tells me that this isn't his station as he's just filling in for the holiday so we couldn't give me permission to post. 

I am so fed up with this holiday.  So far this damn holiday has lasted me a lifetime.  Now I was concerned because the dump is next to Highway 70 Sparta Highway.  Speed limit 55mph.  However if she chose to "go on" in the same direction she could have gone down the Old Sparta Highway which runs parallel to 70, but is a two lane with homes on each side.  Out with the tape and the fliers.  After a few miles we decide to head back home again.  We got side tracked a lot.  We would see a street that we hadn't covered and turned on it to talk to anybody out and tape up fliers.  

So now it is late afternoon and we're going to call it a day and head home because we've been "on the road" since 8:00 a.m.  My phone rings and it's a lady, very excited, telling me to hurry,  "I think your dog is in our field!" She gives us her address and we rush over.  We pass the house, have to turn around and they met us at the truck.  "See her out there?  In the back of the field?"  Sure did!  Both Brian and I jumped out of the truck and started yelling her name.  It was like a Lassie movie... this little head pops up in the hay field and stares in our direction.  We yell her name again and then I see this little head bobbing up and down toward us.  The field was surrounded by barbed wire and Brian had to run quite a ways down the field to get over.  He picked her up and carried her back to the gate and to me.

Sky's finding field, way in the back.

I have to say that it was really a very weird sensation.  The first night our girls were gone, I had a dream.  I didn't dream about Abby, but I did dream about Sky.  Brian was carrying her to me and she was ragged but okay.    As they came closer, I thought about the dream and thought about how weird it was. Brian was carrying her in the same position as it happened in my dream.

The couple that called us said that she had been in their field the day before, but didn't see our flier until their morning walk on Sunday. They were worried that she would get lost again, because (one) the lady didn't have her cell phone on her and had to run into the house and, (two) she had to run to the mailbox that had the flier on it in order to call us. They were a great couple. The husband was a State Trooper and didn't chastise us for posting fliers illegally on telephone poles. Brian promised that we would drive around and remove the fliers.

After a short chat and many thanks to the couple who called us, we loaded Sky in the truck and headed home.  She was a mess and stank like stagnant ponds and woods.  She had a twig about half-inch in diameter and three inches long matted to the back of her right front legs.  Cut that out and looked for any ticks I could find and hosed her down and gave her a bath.  I sat in the driveway and brushed her and while I was brushing her belly she fell fast asleep.  She was exhausted and didn't even wake up when Brian came out to check on us. 

Poor baby, that's when I noticed that her paws were a mess.  The front paws were swollen twice their size and part of the pads were missing.  Sometimes when she walked both legs would just collapse.  She had a bite/sting on her nose and her muzzle was slightly swollen. 

About that time my phone rang and the lady on the other end said, "Hey you the lady with the lost dog?  She kinda calico lookin' with blue eyes?"  I said, "Yes, but we just found her and have her home now."  She said, "Oh my Lord, she was in my house last night, but I didn't see the flier until today.  I leave the door cracked for my doxie to go in and out and when I got home your dog was in my house!  My daughter said she saw the dog in our driveway about 3:00 p.m. today."   Bless Sky's heart, she was just trying to find a home to sleep in.

It's been a month now.  Sky has been checked out by the vet and has a clean bill of health.  It took her three weeks before she even showed an interest in playing Frisbee. I think she was truly depressed over the loss of Abby.  All she did was lie around and sigh. I would take her out for a walk and she stuck close to my knee and sometimes even hung behind.  She also refused to go near the woods.  I picked up some poop and was walking to the woods to toss it in and she stopped short about ten feet from the edge and dug the paws in.  I didn't realize it until I found I was dragging a leash and collar and no dog.  I turned around and she was just standing there looking at me, then the woods, then me.  I could swear she was shaking her head back and forth like NO WAY MOM.  I know she wasn't but still...

Sky, that calico lookin' dog with the blue eyes.

REALIZATION AND RECOVERY (PART TWO)

While we were waiting to pick up Abby, we had the task of nursing and loving on Sky.  I had thought that the only good thing about having to wait for Abby was spending much needed time nursing Sky back to health.   Nevertheless, I was up and getting ready at the crack of dawn, getting ready to go pick up Abby. 

At 9:30am I was ready to go but not understanding the apprehension I was feeling.  The shelter is off highway 127 and if you pass the turn up to the County Shelter you find yourself heading out of town.  However, once you make the turn you head up a hill. The road is paved but as you arrive at the shelter you find the road unkempt and erie. As we made the last turn before the "gate" that blocks the road up to the buildings I held my breath until we turned the curve and saw the gate was open. This was a big plus since we sat in front of that gate for many hours the day before mentally willing it to open.  As Brian parked the truck, I twisted my head in every direction looking for the kennel my baby was held hostage in. 

She was not in the "front" kennels, but I knew they had many more in the back, but was still disappointed not to see my sweet, scared pup.  So, we open the office door and the administrator comes out and we tell her we've come for our dog;  big black and white with a purple harness.  She got a very confused look on her face and told us that she didn't think she had a dog by that description.  My panic set in and told her she must be wrong, "Animal Control called me Saturday morning and assured me he picked up my dog and brought her here."  Matter of factly, she mentioned that she did have a dog escape over the weekend but would double check.  I stood at the counter with tears running down my face; this COULD NOT BE HAPPENING.  

She came back in with that same bewildered look and I could tell she was trying to figure out what to "tell these people" (us).  About that same time a woman came in to the office on other business and obviously saw the distress happening in that small reception room.  Right away she "picked up" on the issue and at her confused expression the Shelter Warden briefly explained what happened.

She took a deep breath, let out a sigh and mentioned that on Saturday night she saw a big black and white dog on the road.  We showed her the photo and she said she could not be sure, but would go back to the location and see what she could find.  That's when it hit me.  The dog she saw on the road had been run down.  I can't explain the desperation I felt, the desperation that Brian felt.  I sobbed and all he could do was hold me.

I walked out side the compound gates and yelled at the top of my lungs into those Tennessee hills, "ABBY, ABBY, ABBY".  It was so quiet I was hoping to hear that bark in the distance telling me she heard me and to wait.  Nothing.  We finally got in the truck and drove slowly down that dreaded road that I had been up so many times in the last couple of days.

We got to the highway and normally where we would turn right toward home, we turned left (which headed out of town).  We saw Karen crossing the street so we pulled over to see what we could find out.  She explained that she found a patch of black fur across the road but did not find anything.  Brian got out of the truck while I stayed behind and crossed the street.  He ventured down off the side of the road and that's where he found the remains of my sweet baby Abby.

She had been hit Saturday night and this was Wednesday.  I cannot tell you the awful condition she was in.  I was pacing behind the truck, sobbing because I knew in my heart she was gone.  Both Brian and Karen suggest that I NOT go look.  But wisely, Brian asked me if I wanted closure, "did you want to know for sure?" I don't know what it was, but for some reason I felt I owed it to Abby to tell her goodbye to her face, regardless of how empty it was.  It was awful, but I dont' regret it.  I don't think about it, I can't let myself.

Brian asked me what I wanted to do. All I could think of was that I had to get away, I needed to get off this road and go home.  She was gone and the pile of fur was not her.  We got in the truck and headed to the nearest place where Brian could wash his hands and again, he met Karen in the store.  She told him that if he wanted to get some bags and gloves she would help him retrieve her and the she assured him that the shelter would cremate her and give me her ashes.  So that's what they did.  My husband is a saint and Karen was my angel.

That was the first time Abby ever rode in the back of the truck.  When we got back to the shelter the shelter lady met us at the gate.  I watched her cradle that garbage bag as she carried Abby to the cooler.  It did give me some comfort that she wasn't on the side of the road and that I would get her back.

It is worth mentioning again that my husband is a saint and this stranger, Karen, was our angel.  I believe that it was Divine timing that Karen was on the road that night and saw Abby and looked hard enough to be able to tell that she was a big, black and white dog.  I believe it was Divine timing that she came into the shelter just at the precise moment that I was hysterical.  I believe it was a gift from on high that she helped us in the way she did.  Would I do the same? Probably not, but I would like to think I would. 

During the course of all that happened, we found out that she volunteers her time helping unclaimed, adoptable animals get on transports to rescue organizations. 85% of the dogs that come into that shelter never leave. She is also in the process of building a Sanctuary for the purpose of taking as many of the unwanted animals and rehabilitating them and keeping them until they find a home... or not.   She also owns "A Time 4 Paws Pet Hotel" where all proceeds from the Hotel go to a Time 4 Paws Sanctuary Fund.

When I told her that I would be willing to help in anyway I could, she gave me a card with her info. Since I had her info, I felt it was important to get her photos of my Abby so she would know her as she really was, not what she saw on the side of the road. 

In response to my email she wrote, "I'm so sorry you are in pain at this time. I know how hard it is. I truly believe in my heart she was trying to find her way back to you. That is why she broke out. The love and dedication these dogs give us is amazing. I am sorry for your loss.



I am thankful for you though that you can have closure unlike so many that go lost. It was truly a miracle that I so clearly saw her colors and marking in that dark nite. I didn't want to go to that party I was tired from a long day of yard saleing to make money for my sanctuary. But now I know the reason why the universe was telling me to go. And as distraught as I was that day going to see Andrea over some sick parvo pups, I was able to take my mind off of my own tragedy and help you, SO thank you as well. I have been overloaded helping everyone since this community is in the shape its in with animal care. I am glad I was able to help you in your time of need. I hope us getting your babies ashes will once again help with the pain. Best wishes. Karen McMeekin"

If is wasn't for this person, I would probably still be looking for my dog. I'm grateful that I know, but it does not give me comfort when I think about the last 24 hours of her life she spent frightened, alone and lost.  It breaks my heart.  I cannot imagine the desperation of losing a human child.  This must be tantamount to it because it hurts so much.  I just can't say, "she was just a dog", she was my companion that gave me unconditional love, that looked me in the eye and tried to tell me what she wanted, that demanded my love and attention.    I miss her so much.

Abby Wilkins
November 24, 2001 - July 3, 2010

WHAT HAPPENED TO MY DOGS? (PART ONE)

The evening of July 2, 2010, we loaded up the truck with tables and chairs and readied to take them over to Brian’s sisters house for huge family festivities that were taking place over the holiday weekend. We crated the dogs, closed the slider screen to the outside screened patio and took off.

I can’t remember what time we left, but it was early evening daylight. We didn’t even think about fireworks. I should have since I had heard distant firecrackers the day before. We arrived home about 9:30 p.m. and went to let the pups out of their crates and stood at the door shocked. Two of the crate doors were wide open. Dumfounded, I looked around and saw that the sliding screen door (which is broken and very hard to open) was opened just wide enough for dogs to fit through. I went into the screened in patio and saw that the screen on the door going to the back was no longer secured into the door. Running outside yelling “Abby… Sky…” over and over and hearing nothing back but the silence of the dark night.

The only thing we could do was get in the car and drive the streets of our “development” looking for our missing dogs. We drove slowly up and down streets knowing that our dogs knew the sound of Brian’s diesel truck; my dogs knew when Daddy was coming home minutes before I did because of the sound of his truck. We live in what is called a development, however just about each house is surrounded by thick woods. Moving here was our dream, that night, not so much.

We came home to a mostly sleepless night. Even though we had the hole in the screen I had Brian prop the screen door open and turn on the flood lights in the back just in case they found their way home during the night. I would wake up and look out the window overlooking the patio to see if my precious pups made it home. Nothing.

The first thing I did the next morning was to pull out the phone book to get locations of the shelters in the area. I found three numbers: Animal Control, County Animal Shelter and the City Humane Society. I called Animal Control since they opened at 7:00a.m. and he explained that A/C picks up reported stray animals and delivers them to the shelters depending on where they are picked up at. I gave them a description and my phone number and told them I would be bringing a flier by their office so they could get a good visual on my babies. We handed out fliers to every person we saw. Many people told of the fireworks of the night before. During the couse of several conversations, we found out that the people down the street from us had what was described as a “commercial display” shortly after dark.

We hit the road again in on the streets behind out house. When I got to the Animal Control office, the agent wasn’t there, but I stuffed a flier into the crack of his office door. I do live in civilization, but most of the homes are anywhere from 2 acres to 5+ acres so it’s not heavily populated. We also have state owned property behind our house. Woods so thick that the only time you can walk around is during the winter when all the foliage looses leaves and the brush goes bare. Looking was frustrating because what were once hallways of green beauty, turned into the ugly jungle that had my dogs.

After hours of looking we came home to wait. The first call was the animal control officer! He told me he had picked up Abby and had taken her to the County Shelter but they were closed for the weekend and I could not pick her up until Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. He told me that he did see Sky but told me where he found Abby so maybe I could look in that area. I was joyous that they found Abby but still frantic about Sky. So we hit the road posting new fliers with just Sky’s photo on it. This entry is about Abby and I will share my Silly Skylie’s story later.

Waiting for Tuesday, July 6, was like an eternity for us. We kept telling ourselves Abby was safe, but I was worried that she may have injured herself in her night in the woods. There are all kinds of critters that Abby would not know what kind of behaviors to expect. Abby was my hunter she loved chasing lizards, frogs and the first time she saw a deer she really, really needed to investigate that animal. I was worried about what kind of food she was being fed in the shelter. Corn makes her scratch so I expected to see most of her fur licked off her legs. She’s allergic to fleas/ticks and she was due for her next application of flea and tick treatment. She was a high maintenance dog and I knew I was in for vet bills when I got her home.

Tuesday morning we drove to the shelter at 10:00 a.m. I just didn’t “feel” right. The gate up the road was closed and pad locked. I would call and call and got the same message over and over again…. “Due to short staffing and the holiday weekend, the shelter would be closed until 10:00 a.m. Tuesday July 6.” I kept called Animal Control and they explained that they didn’t work for the shelter, they just dropped off the dogs. I pleaded, “what can I do, how can nobody be here”. What about these dogs? Do they have food/water?

My wonderful friend, Kathy Mills, also got on the phone trying to contact the shelter and animal control and every one she could think of. A/C suggested we contact the county offices to see what we could find out. Kat called the Mayor’s office and got the “well, I don’t know…” which wasn’t acceptable to my friend. She gave the gal on the phone “what for” and asked her how she would feel if her animals were being held hostage and how would she feel if she could not get any answers. Kat gave the Mayor’s office my name and phone number. I called about 1:00 myself and the gal knew who I was and assured me that she was trying to find out something and would call me the minute she heard anything.

About 2:00 that afternoon the Mayor’s office called me informed me that the one full time staff person was ill and the shelter would not open until the next day. She assured me I could pick up my dog at 10:00 a.m the following day. She assured me that all the animals are fed/watered daily by the part time kennel person they have on staff. Oh, I was mad and so worried about Abby’s condition. All this time, I did not know she was dead.

POOP SCOOPIN' (uses S*** word)

I'm having real issues with shit.  And, apparently I am not the only one that has issues.  Just think about the sayings there are about the word...

-- Shit on a shingle (I think that's a jail term for some kind of food item. But, I wouldn't know).
-- Shit hits the fan
-- Holy Shit Batman (it was censored, but I'm sure Robin said it.)
-- Scared the shit out of...
-- In a world of Shit
-- Shit, I forgot!

I'm sure there are more but today was "shit on a tree" for me!  Uh, I guess I had better explain.

My dilemma since we've arrived with the dogs in Tennessee is what to do with it.  We are not supposed to put it in the trash; the dump where we take out trash clearly states on the sign that we are not to bring animal waste. 

My sister-in-law Sandy said toss it in the woods; that's what people do with it. She reasoned with me that there are all sorts of critters in the woods and they all do the natural thing right there and they don't worry about where. Ugh, coming from the public dog world in California poop is collected, bagged and thrown away.  Old habits are hard to break, but I'm trying.

So, I buy the spring loaded model of this contraption designed for ease and style.  Only takes a few minutes and a little thought to figure out how to pick it up, but it's a little more tricky to get the groove of the toss and release in the woods.  We have five acres of woods next door that's privately owned, but not developed.  We also have woods at the back of our property that is too dense to walk about in until the leaves fall. Call me selfish, but I choose the woods next to us instead of us.   

As I said the swing back and release is crucial.  My first toss failed miserably and I dropped the "treasures" just a few feet away my side of it's intended target and had to perform the re-pick move.  Finally, the turds found a resting place, but I figured that like anything, practice makes perfect.  With four dogs I had to get better so I picked up fallen apples and practiced the toss and release... obviously the success is in the release. 

Feeling proficient, as well as the pups getting back to normal after a food change I was feeling pretty confident about the motions, but not comfortable with the disposal.  Those old pick/bag/dispose habits made the toss/forgettabout attitude hard to deal with. 

Bottom line is after I successfully played poop darts with a tree, the next time I made a trip into town to the Walmart I picked up 150 poop bags.  I know I'm not supposed to take them to the dump, but I need to work on my attitude before trying the woods thing again.

PAT'S MISADVENTURE

My GPS has made me pretty direction stupid and I just follow where she says to go. As well, I've come to the conclusion that she's mad at me because I have her running on 2008 software.  She got me good the other day. 

I was just going to the Tractor Supply to pick up dog food...

I wanted to try the back way route out of our neighborhood and keyed in the Kroger store because it's in the same shopping strip.  I didn't pay attention to the street nor the miles my "gal" told me it would be and took off.  I knew I was okay the first 3 or 4 turns and then "she" told me to turn right instead of left when I was probably three quarters of the way there. 

I start on the every day basic road and then I'm going through residential areas where the roads are twisting and turning, doing the roller coaster thing.  I always wondered what "through hill and dale" meant and I'm thinking I was pretty close to that.  Anyhoo, what was supposed to be a 4 mile and 15 minutes drive has turned out to be going on 45 minutes and I was clueless to where I was at.  I did have that false sense of security a GPS gives, but was seriously wondering about my "gal".  I finally realize that I'm in Lake Tansi, which is way south of my neighborhood Kroger store, but giving in to my "gal" the benefit of the doubt and my love of adventure I kept moving on.  However, when I got to this road...

I'm thinking maybe I better think of an alternative.  So, after several more miles of similar terrain I decide I would change my direction and head for home.  That's when I realized that my GPS was set on "shortest distance" and she was taking me as the crow files, but obviously not to my Kroger.

After changing from "shortest" to "fastest" she put me on a different road...

... and then I did start to see repeat streets and two hours later after finally finding my local Tractor Supply and Kroger I pulled into the driveway. 

Thanks for "listening".

HOTEL BETTY

Hotel Betty Big Horn is home and resting comfortably.  Since we aren't moving any of the furniture into the house until the carpet is installed, this is where we're sleeping at night.  Much better than a pallet on the floor for sure.  Speaking of carpet...  it wasn't supposed to arrive until June 18 and then an install date was to be determined.  Hooray! They called last night and the carpet has arrived and we will know today when it's actually going to be at our door step.

The big dogs are going through somewhat of a shock since I've been crating them about 11:00 p.m. or so, and they are sleeping in the "dog room".  I think I'll continue this practice once we officially move into the house.  Of course, Daddy's P Effn Princess Lucy gets to sleep with us in the big bed. 

This morning (as every morning), I wake early and feel guilty that the big girls are crated so I get up, walk to the house and take them out for pee, breakfast and poop.  I have learned that off leash is not a great idea and I'm especially glad that I had Lucy leashed today.  I opened the door to the camper and I saw a family of squirrels (about 5) under Brian's truck.  I thought it would be cute to see Lucy's reaction.  She spotted them and her Flexi turned into a yo yo.  This little Chiwennie wanted them BAD and in a split second the leash extended to it's end and rebounded much to the little dogs dismay.  We contined on, and little Lucy was very proud of herself that "she" chased one of the varmits up a tree.  The bad news is that she was so preoccupied that it took me forever to get her to focus on the potty time.

THE GRAND INTERNET EXPERIENCE

I'm finally back on Internet... finally!  What a comedy of errors this has been.  Admittedly, I waited until we arrived in Tennessee to schedule Directv and when I signed up I inquired about Internet bundling.  Boy, oh boy what a mistake this has been.


Once I got the TV taken care of, they forwarded me to "All-Connect", I think in India. They told me that Frontier would be my provider and that installation would be June 8 and that Frontier would be calling me in 48 hours.  I never got the call so when I called back Directv the guy told me that the order was pending and they were looking for a signal.  WTF!  A Frontier office is on the road to downtown, so I stopped by to see if they had anything listed in their computers.  They assured me that I was wrong because they don't partner with Directv, they partner with Dish and they would not be my internet provider if DTV initiated the deal.  End of conversation!


So, I called back Directv and he assured me that his computer screen is telling him that Frontier would be my provider, but the installation was scheduled on June 14 and it's all in their hands.  I said, "Okay, give me a reference number and phone number to call for this Frontier that says no way will they be my provider".  He gave it to me and asked if they could be of any further help.  I told him that he wasn't any help at all, so no.


I proceeded to called Frontier at the number I was given and the gal on the other end kept insisting that if I made my arrangements with DTV that they would NOT be my provider.  End of story again, but not so much.  I said, "Listen, humor me.  Just key in this reference number just to see if anything comes up".   She gave me this moanful waste of time sigh, but agreed.  Then she started asking me my name, etc and said that, yes, they had an installation scheduled for June 14.  I win! 


That evening I get a recorded call that my internet connection tech would be at my place between 8:00 and 10:00 on June 8.  At this point I am doubtful of everything and wasn't expecting a tech to show, but amazing enough he showed up the next morning.  I wonder what will happen on the scheduled June 14 date?  I'm still curious to find out how I will be billed.  How can Directv bundle my internet with a provider that claims they don't work with them? 


All of my old email addresses are still working, but my new email is wilkings1952@frontier.com.  And that's another thing; they can't get my name correct.  At first it showed up as Tah Wilkson and I call them to correct that and they did correct the last name, but then the tech set my email up he set it up as Wilkings not Wilkins and they never corrected the first name... so I guess I'm still not finished with this saga.

GOOD BYE HOUSE (rough draft)

Wow, I have much to catch up on.  In the last week I've had plenty of funny stories to tell, but I am so dazed and confused I'm sure it will take me eons for my brain to catch up with where I'm at.

On the day before thre truck was supposed to be picked up we were so tired that there was a lot of stuff that should have gone on it, but we were so tired that we kept saying, "we can put this in the fifth wheel".  Well, guess what?  The fifth wheel wasn't big enough to stash everything that we left off the truck.  And, as we started loading it, Brian realized that we may be going over weight for the hitch we had.  So then it was, "we can put this in my little trailer and truck".  Still, there were several items that we just had to leave behind. 

Our scheduled May 24 launch day got pushed to May 25 and as it turned out we didn't actually pull out until 3:30 p.m..  We just kept finding that last little thing we had to do to finalize our California departure.  I won't go into what I call Brian's "anal-isms", but tasks like making sure the trash bags outside were neat, vacuuming one last time and that sort of thing. 

Here's the travel monster...

I cried as we boarded the 91 freeway, destination Tennessee.  Maybe more on our trip tomorrow.

ALMOST READY!

Tonight is Sunday, May 23, 2010; our last Sunday in California.  Sounds pretty dramatic, and it is.  Brian and I have lived in Southern California all of our lives and have raised our children here.  My family is still here and for the last few weeks I have been severely feeling the effects what distance is going to make.  We have said most of our good byes and it's been one of the hardest river's I have had to cross.

But, enough of doom and gloom....  tomorrow we will be loading the rest of our stuff in the fifth wheel and plan to tie up loose ends.  We have decided to park my little trailer and truck in our neighbor's RV parking (thank you Linda) and we hope that our son can take a road trip and drive it back to us.  If not, after we get moved in and somewhat settled, Brian will fly back and drive it himself.  This way we won't have to drive two trucks and pull two trailers.

IT'S A DONE DEAL NOW!

Our stuff left.  Not much more than I can say except there's no turning back now.  You would think we would be done, but nooooo.  Now we have to decide what we can load into the fifth wheel.  Many times over the last five days, we would pickup something and say, "Oh, we can put this in the fifth wheel".  Well, now the fiver is going to be pretty dang full.  The problem is that we won't know it until we bring it home from storage and start loading and that won't happen until Friday.  So, now there's three piles (1) for sure to go (2) can leave it behind if we have to (3) just nevermind and get it to charity.

(more to follow as I have time today)

MOVING DAY FOUR & FIVE

DAY 4 --
(Sunday) was about the same as day three.  My son Jim came over to help (thank you Jim).  They got the piece I was most worried about for Brian, the big treadmill... sucker's heavy.  And, I don't mean the kind of cosmos "heavy"  that those of us from the 60's and 70's grew up saying.  Good grief, where did that come from?  

Anyhoo, I think I've discovered that packing the loose ends are the hardest.  Walking around trying to find stuff that will just fit in the almost full box in order to close it up and not smush in the cross country ride is not as easy as it would seem.  Each and every one of the last boxes might have a coat or stuffed animal as the final offering.  Brian is finding that the loose ends in the garage is a conumdrum.  He's saved the odd shaped pieces for last and has to think just a little harder to puzzle them in, but he's doing it.  So very glad that we've had five days to load the stuff-mobile.

The trip to Lowe's this day was for plywood and 2x4's and what he called "one bys" so he could build crates for our embroidery machines.  I was very worried about the receiving condition of what's going to be our bread and butter after the cross country trip in a freight carrier trailer.  Brian did an excellent job on the crate building and now I am pretty worry free. As we get mobile this morning, I'll take a pic and put in the "moving" album. Ah but I need to finish off that pot of coffee first.

DAY 5:
Outside of finishing up the loading we will be waitng to hear that we actually got the offer for our house.  Our original offer backed out and we had more people come look on Friday.  Our agent told us that their agent called her with a "verbal" intent to offer. 

More to share at the end of the day...

The neighbor across the street is going to take our old refrigerator that we were going to have to call someone to haul off.  She's going to take Tracie's old bedroom set that we never, ever wanted to move again.  Those items we're giving for free, but I'm selling her my kitchen dinette for $25.00.  One nights dinner on the road taken care of.

Brian finished the crates we needed done today.  I guess they had to be done since today's the last day.

I DON'T THINK WE CAN GET ANY MORE EXHAUSTED!  We are as done as we're going to get.
Cripe! I am falling asleep at my computer as I write this.  I'm going to bed and I finish up tomorrow morning.

MOVING DAY THREE

Moving day #3 is now under out belts.  Our daughter Tracie and BFJosh came out to help today.  Seemed like a slow day, but Josh saved the day by helping with some heavy cherry wood bedroom furniture and a miniature baby grand digital piano, not to mention tons of boxes.  We still have a lot boxes in the garage and Brian has to build crates for our embroidery machines.  It's been nice to have this much time to load the truck and be able to think and puzzle in the pieces.  I'm still packing but almost done.

Moving Day Two

I wasn't sure I could get this pooped.  Pics are under the link in Day 1 if you're interested in seeing progress on the stuff-mobile.  It's like a bigger than life jig saw puzzle. This utility cabinet contains glass tops for a dresser and two night stands, two glass hutch sliding doors, glass tops for two end tables, 2 end tables (minus the legs, they are in a box somewhere) and boxes on the side for stability.

Not to mention that the offer we had on the house fell through and we are showing it again. Showed it once yesterday and once today.  We have to stop what we're doing, put the dogs in the dog runs and promise them treats if they don't bark and tidy up a house in transition.  Argh!

Our kids will be coming tomorrow to help and they will be surprised that we got so much loaded already. 

DAY ONE: TRUCK ARRIVES

The ABF U-Pack trailer arrived this morning, day one of the real deal.  The long anticipated day has arrived.  Took a run to Lowe's to pick up some more boxes and a 4x4 to put under the wheels, ran over to Harbor Freight to pick up some tie downs, moving blankets and tarps to line the floor and walls of the trailer.

Opened up the back of the trailer and just stood there and looked.  How in the world are we going to fit all our stuff, our worldly possessions into 19 of the 29 feet of space on this stuff-mobile.  We're old and we have A LOT of stuff.  Of  course after three loads to the dump and a lot of that stuff was yard sale material, but bheeeehhh, no yard sales for me.   No time and certainly no energy.  We are also going to pawn off what we can to our kids and we aren't taking any appliances. 

So, after several minutes of staring into that empty trailer and the same amount of time cogitating on the loading diagram in our heads Brian began to load some "shop" stuff into the stuff-mobile.  We learned a lot from moving Brian's Mom last summer and and disassembled every table and anything that has a screw or bolt in it.  So far we have used 5 feet of space and it's amazing what Brian has in it.

Today's daily photos.  (right click on the link and choosse "open in new window") Just a few pics on our progress.  We shall see what tomorrow will bring.  But for right now I'm exausted.

THE JURY DUTY SAGA

Okay, I'm bad. But I haven't always been bad.  Granted I always made a face when I got that ugly green and white summons telling me that I needed to spend a day down at the County Court House.  I never asked to postpone it, always went and arrived early.  I almost got chosen once, but asked to get excused and my request was  granted.

In my defense, our heads have been wrapped around moving since February, so when I got my Jury summons scheduled for March 2010, I thought the timing truly sucked.  My intensions were honorable, but somehow (for the first time in my life) I forgot all about jury duty day until about a week after the "J" day.

After about five minues of thought, I told my self "the heck with it", by the time they send me another notice I will probably be moved and it will be a non-issue.  Oh no... I get the "FAILURE TO APPEAR" notice that wasn't as nice as the first request.  Something along the lines of, "be there or be square", uh well, maybe not so nice.  On the kitchen counter it went while I took some time to deliberate what I was going to do.  Once again, you guessed it, I forgot about it until it was late again.

In the meantime, Brian got his anual jury summons. His intensions were to get an extension and then for sure we would be moved by the end of his extension period.  You know what they say about great minds thinking the same.  He also forget his until the day after he was supposed to call. 

We talked about it and over talked about it.  I decided to tell them that I had been in the process of moving and the notices had been lost in the shuffle.  I sent them an email with my new address and hoped for the best.  Today I got an email back letting me know that my name had been removed from this year's list and that I need to remember to put in a change of address at the DMV. 

Brian sent his info via snail mail and he is still in limbo.  I hope this doesn't come back and bite us in the butt.

AWESOME DAY AT THE DMV (4/29/10)

We were in a dilemia.  The California registration was due for the fifth wheel.  They were actually due on 4/30 to the tune of $200.   We asked AAA if they would give us an extension and nada no way.  We asked if they gave refunds for vehicles that moved out of state and, yes, they have a form, but refunds are rare. He said we could get a one way permit, but the registration cannot be expired. So, we struggled with what we were going to do for a few days.

I woke up on Wednesday morrning (4/29) and decided that I did not want to pay $200 to the State of California.  I know, I've lived in California all my life and I should owe it something, right?   NOT!   NO!   Ha ha ha ha ha!

So armed with a good attitude, I got up, got ready, gathered my paperwork and prepared myself with just the littlest of white fibs.  Drove over to the Norco office and found a parking place right up front, got out of my truck and (boing) remembered that I had to come back in the house to get my keys and left my purse and paperwork at home.  Oh great, good attitude was waining.  Okay, suck it up and go home.

Try again, drove to Norco... got a great parking place...  line for the info window was only 8 people long; got my number... five minutes was called to window 1.  I told them that my fees were due and I was moving "tomorrow".  "No problem," she tells me, gave her $18.00 and instructed to go to window 19.  Window 19 took my paperwork and gave me a one trip permit that is not dated.  I was in and out of the DMV (without an appointment) in 15 minutes!

Now, when we get to Tennessee I can pay my $37 and saved myself a chunk of change.

TENTATIVE TRAVEL ROUTE

I had a long talk with Google Maps last night and we figured out a tentative travel plan.  The actual departure date is still iffy but any time between 5/17 and 5/24.  Since we're pulling two trailers we have to take into consideration cost of two campsites as opposed to the cost of 1 room.  Motel 6's ususally allow dogs and don't charge an extra fee or ask too many questions we'll stick to them.

Day 1:  Riverside, CA to Bellemont, AZ -- 422 miles = approx. 7 hours.  The Motel 6 has truck parking and allows dogs, so I pick staying in a room.

Day 2:  Bellemont, AZ to Santa Rosa, NM -- 450 miles = approx 7.5 hours.  The Motel 6 has truck parking and allows dogs, so I pick staying in a room.

Day 3:  Santa Rosa, NM to Okemah, OK -- 504 miles = approx 8.5 hours.  Okemah Lake seems nice and camping rates seem reasonable.  Okemah, OK - Woody Guthrie's Home Town.

Day 4:  Okekmah, OK to Millington, TN -- 418 miles = approx 7 hours.  There's the Meeman-Shelby State Park that also looks nice and reasonably priced.  Meeman-Shelby State Park.

Day 5:  Millington, TN to Crossville, TN -- 336 miles = approx 6.5 to 7 hours to "home".

TO MISS OR NOT TO MISS... (Updated daily depending on mood)

THINGS I WILL MISS…

• I will fiercely miss my children and family.
• I hate leaving the friends I’ve made over the years
• I do like my street and my old house
• I will miss the ocean

• I will miss good Mexican food
• I will miss my Bunco Babes

• Being local to dog sports and activities (hanging with my friend Chris)
• Not doing the things I wanted to do before we left and didn’t
• Affordable health insurance
• Almost 365 days a year of sunshine
• Most people tell me I will miss palm trees.  I think I will miss looking at a snow capped mountains framed by palm trees.  Yes, I will.

THINGS I WILL NOT MISS…

• Riverside as a whole 
• SoCal freeways and traffic 
• My job unless I have to get another one, then I will miss the one I left behind. 
• The SoCal smog 
• Out of control graffiti 
• California fees and taxes 
• Getting up at 5:00 a.m. for work.

 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO…

•  The adventure of traveling across county (as long as it all runs like clockwork) 
• My kids & friends coming to visit (this is me pouring on guilt)
• Visiting my family on the east side of the country.
• Meeting new people 
• New country side to explore 
• Moving into our retirement home 
• The four seasons and no smog 
• Maybe seeing the Atlantic Ocean 
• A moonbow in Kentucky 
• The world’s longest yard sale 

Ah, the joys of packing...

I'm deciding that the very worst part of our exciting new adventure is the packing. So far, just a box every other day or so. Cleaning out the closets and trying to decide what to keep, what to toss and what to give away.

Right now I'm looking at a box of games; probably 15 years old, but all in good shape except for the dust on the boxes. They were unpacked from the Moreno Valley move and put on the shelf in the office closet and now back out. I was going to throw them out, then I thought I would take them to work to see if any of my co-worker's kids might light them, then maybe they just need to be tossed. Maybe keep just a few of the smaller boxes. This so sucks.  I think this will exemplify my packing experience... if you've seen one box you've seen them all.  Ugh.  (Update:  I've gave away three.)

I'm also looking at my trophy shelf.  It's a very small shelf but many Hannah  & Brian earned in toss/fetch discdog before she shut down.  I have one frisbee that Abby earned and one with Sky.  I've struggled for days trying to decide if I want to pack them and I just answered my question.  Yes, I have very fond memories of the California comps and all the people involved.  Yes, I will pack them.

Thank God, we don't keep a lot of clutter in the house.  Now the garage, that is another story all together.

Where to start???

Our next home....

The end result is to get from point A (Riverside, CA) to point B (Crossville, TN) with the least amount of drama. That's what this blog is about. Just a quick synopsis...

Our "B" destination wasn't supposed to be a reality until we retired. The plan was to wait until Brian and I turned 62 and we were going to pack it up and move to the retirement home we purchased in 2007.

Unfortunately, (maybe not) Brian worked for Fleetwood and this Fortune 500 company went belly up in March 2009 and Brian kept his job until February 2010. Long story, short, in one short month we should be moving into that retirement home and starting a new life and a new business.

Pat's last day of work is this Friday, April 23, 2010. I think this whole adventure will sink in and then we won't know won't hit us. I hope you follow our travels and I hope Brian and I don't kill each other before this is all over!