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Here are some random thoughts that I typed up while on the road. We're both really tired and we have to get up very early in the morning for the RV return/our stuff getting here so no updates just yet, but this should serve as something to wet your whistle. I'm not proofreading, so please forgive any grammar or spelling errors that may have been due to RV craziness!

4:01 am PST 8/2/07 - Los Angeles

Yesterday was pretty boring overall without the internet or TV, but one really great thing happened. I had an absolutely incredible conversation with my mom. I don't remember the last time that we actually talked about things that mattered - beyond the "hows the weather?" type conversations. It was pretty awesome. Though my parents and I don't see eye to eye on every issue in the world, I feel so very thankful that they always allowed me to explore different hobbies and interests and always supported my natural curiosity towards life and encouraged. I never quite understood why until yesterday talking with my mom who never really joined or participated in things growing up. I feel like my parent brought me up right and one great bonus about moving Texas is that I'll get to see them a bit more often. If you're reading this mom - I love you!

When Anji got home with the RV yesterday we decided to eat, load it up for the most part and then go to bed. We ended up going to bed around 5:30 or 6:00. We woke up about 1:45 am and started the process to hit the road.

We've been on the road a little more than hour now and already there have been some very strong discoveries.

1 - RVs are extremely shaky/rattly. It isn't like on the movies where it's smooth sailing - at least not in this size RV (25ft).
2 - The cats in general aren't happy. They haven't really left their carrier yet, but the plus side is that they aren't hyperventilating (Paige) or puking (Nolan).
3 - You can really zoom on the freeway in the middle of the night. ;)

We let the cats out of the carrier and they were absolutely fine - until the RV started moving. Paige freaked out and insisted upon barricading himself back in the carrier and siting directly on top of Nolan. I really hope this isn't how the next two days are going to be. It's quite sad. In all likelihood, they'll calm down in an hour or two when it starts getting light outside, but in the meantime, I'm freaking out a bit.

On a completely unrelated, related note - Xanax is the greatest gift that sciencehas ever produced for man. I was feeling a lot of anxiety when I got in the RV and then the cats freaking out a bit didn't really help. So - I took one of my little oval happy pills and felt the "xanax switch" in record time. It's really pretty amazing. You feel a moment where it's like someone flips a switch inside your body and you are totally aware of it. There are moments where I even say - "This would have really freaked my freak, but right now - I couldn't care less." I don't take them often, but they have been a life saver on more than one occasion.

Anyway - back to the road.

3:52 PM - 8/2/07 - Somewhere in New Mexico

Well...nearly 12 hours have past by since I last opened up the laptop and attempted to blog something.

Let me start by saying that the novely has officially worn off!

Actually, it's not that bad, it's just tedious and stressful with the combination of having to be there at a certain time and the crazy cats. They have come out of the carrier now, but Paige insists on laying in the floorboard in front of Anji which of course is simply not an option. Nolan is laying under a chair sleeping - but neither of them have eaten, drank or litter boxed all day. Hopefully when we get to Albequerque in about an hour or so to stop and get some sleep they'll be better.

The adventurous aspect of the trip so was when we got pulled over just before Winslow, AZ for "following to closely" to another vehicle. Anji's swears that she wasn't and I was asleep with Paige so I have no reason not to believe her. The officer was very cordial and just issued a warning. He also pointed out that the tags are expired. The RV place is seriously going to rent and RV with expired tags? Unbelievable.

We also got to see some very impressive lightening earlier from an electrical storm in the horizon. It's been a very long time since I've seen lightening. Ah, going back to my roots!

I haven't taken a single picture thus far today because I've basically been on "kitty daddy duty" most of the day. Once we get to the RV place if I'm feeling adventurous, I'll at least snap a couple shots of the RV and place them up with this text.

We're going to try and damndest to get to Texas tomorrow as early as possible in order to get the keys to place and get in their Friday night. That will allow us to unload the RV, let the cats get used to the place and everything rather from getting in there minutes before the movers.

Depending on whether or not the RV park has wireless internet access. I may have to go and post this someplace like Starbucks or something at my earliest convenience.

Anyway - that's the update from now as we're cruising through New Mexico on our way to Willow Way!

I'm just waiting on Anji to get back from dropping off the RV/the movers getting here with our goods.

In the meantime, a few thoughts that I just emailed to Clay and Sara.

- Sleeping last night was on the floor - yet still very lovely.
- Obviously, the internet set up showed up early.
- Nolan is terrified of ceiling fans.
- Mr. Paige likes to surf down the banister for the stairs.

That's all for now!

I have a few minutes before I need to jump back into crazy mode so I figure I'd post an update.

Much to my surprise, I'm finding that I actually love Texas so far. The people are extremely friendly, prices of most things are quite a bit cheaper and there aren't tons of people in small spaces.

All major pluses for me!

On top of all of that I seem to not be having any anxiety issues - which is pretty amazing in and of itself!

Last night Anji figured out how to work the sprinkler system so the watering of the yard has begun. We're in the process of trying to find lawn care. We had a very nice lady come by last night to evaluate the lawn and give us a quote, but not only was it about $6 more a week than another company we found, she also tried to get me to go to church on Sunday and has a "Jesus Fish" on her business card. I'm not uniformly opposed to that, but I'm not sure I'm looking for a lawn care/religion combo.

I called to cancel my Vonage account yesterday. It took over an hour and they are complete jerks because they made me pay a disconnect fee because I was two days outside of the 30 day window. With local phone service now offering comparable rates for similar service I can no longer endorse Vonage.

We went to the Dollar Tree yesterday to get one of those stylish rainbow magic dusters and some chip clips and I came across a copy of Maureen Dowd's Bushworld
which I had to buy since it was amusingly located behind a couple of copies of Charles Barkley's book and the Bible.

We have broken Nolan of his ceiling fan terror, but when woke up this morning he had a small chunk of fur missing above his left eye. Apparently the little guy is stress shedding. :(

Anyway, I'm off for now - I'm finishing up the kitchen today, getting the wash room ready for the delivery of the washer and dryer and I'm hoping we can set up the entertainment center at some point today!

I’m unpacking all of our non-hanging clothes which is the LAST thing I want to be doing, but it needs to be done I guess. The office is more or less put together but there are a lot of things in the floor that I need to find a home for.

I also need to unpack all the books and CD/DVDs so that I can get the rest of the boxes in the garage in order to have the moving company pick them up before the Jeep arrives on Saturday. Of course, finding bookshelves will have to wait until the jeep arrives so it’s going to be an interesting chain of events when I start that. We are using those white CD/DVD shelves in the garage because it was going to be too much of a hassle to hang them here and they wouldn’t look good on the khaki colored walls anyway, so we’re using the 3rd bedroom – which is pretty small anyway – as a library which is something Anji has always wanted. So the search for decent, yet not prohibitively expensive book shelves begins!

I know there is a cloud of controversy over Barry Bonds. I know the guy comes across in the media like a total ass. I know about the asterisks, I know about the BALCO and I know about the head size. However, I also know about the poster I had on my wall as a kid. The stuffed Giants Bonds bear that I was too old for. The fantasy title he helped bring me in 2003. I know about the sweet swing, the 500 stolen bases and opportunity to have witness 5 of Barry's 756 HRs in person. Barry Bonds is a player that I've always enjoyed watching play the game. I've never seen a better all around player or hitter in the game. He's my favorite non-Braves position player and I'm happy to have seen him hit # 756 and hold the record for the next 6 or so years until ARod likely breaks it.

Congrats Barry and thanks for the memories!

The last image from the apartment. A dump truck directly outside my bedroom window!

Anji the trucker driving along in the RV. 10 & 2 is for sissies!

Nolan hiding under the chair in the RV.

Paige chilling out in the over cab bed during the RV trip.

The first shot from the house! The boys love hanging out on the stairs!

We'll be posting more pictures as soon as the house is presentable. :)

We got a ridiculous amount of stuff accomplished this weekend.

We purchased our dining room table and a chair for the living room. Got the grill. Found Anji's book shelves for her library upstairs. Found some curtains so I can actually see the TV in the living room.

In short (because that's all the time I have), it's all coming together!

Here are a couple of pictures. One is of our home office (in progress - The Rent poster in the middle of the Sondheim wall is just a place holder until we get our new frame. At that point it's either going to be the original SITPWG or I might find a Forum or Company I like) - the other is of some wine that we bought as an ode to Clay and Sara!

I think I've mentioned that I we are having a library room and a game room/loft. Well, I was working in both of those rooms today and took a few more "in progress" pictures.

The decor for the game room is mostly my sports memorbilia. Here is the Braves wall:

There are a few autographed items by players such as John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux etc in that room and we came across this really great picture of my grandmother and I when I had on a Braves jersey and she was wearing one of my Braves caps. I also found an old legal pad that she had signed her name on. Anji and I put our heads together and came up with this really cool ode to my grandmother who past away 3 years ago.

We are also putting together a library room for Anji as it's something she's always wanted. Now, let me preface this by saying that I am NOT good at putting furniture together. I willed myself into putting the first of the 4 bookcases together and I'm quite proud of the results. I went ahead and displayed the Harry Potter series and Anji's complete collection of the Nancy Drew books that were given to her by her mom and I think it looks pretty cool. Below are 3 different pictures of that.

This is a poem type thing that my brother-in-law wrote about our current "leader" of the country. We both thought it was pretty amazing and he's given us permission to post it up here. Check it out.

----
Bushistan
By: Brian A.

Where the bookstores have only one book, and they all say it's a Good one; where storied generals bestride unmarked graves of unknown slaves, and they say the South should have won.

Where history begins in press releases
and ends in an Arlington lawn;
while the flags outnumber the flyers,
the lies outsize the liars,
and the Sun is chilled
by the affected patriot's fawn.

Where an open heart is the Mark of the Beast, and an open mind a confession; Where bats are deafened by the voices shrieking from the radio 24/7.
They call it the "heartland," don't you know.

Where the pawns play checkers,
and jokers cast the die;
yours is not to reason why,
or risk your mansion in the sky,
and be cast down by Jeebus et al,
to the fiery depths where Gandhi and Bobby K.
writhe in thrall to this day.

So vote the way God directs,
elect his loyal subjects,
as Reverend Radio identifies,
and your infallible gut confirms.
Or maybe that's just your tapeworm.

Where kin is king and the Other disdained, reason restrained, compassion feigned, and mirrors depict the One True Face, the One True Faith, the pinnacle of the human race.
Where Jesus is Lord of speeches,
and blesses the bullets in their breeches, but only via satellite, in darkened light from an undisclosed location.
God's country is no place for a pacifist Jew; he's gotta hide in Jehova's Witness Protection, and help decide elections so Dick Cheney won't dissect him.

Where the patriots betray and the righteous obey, and the truth holds no dominion; and teflon flags fly above the shredded rags of a reality outside of opinion.
So now you've seen Bushistan,
wasteland among wastelands.
All you can to show you care
matters not,
there's no one there.

For the longest time, I had a killer craving for cherry chip cake with rainbow frosting, but apparently the cake mix is unavailable in So. California. I even tried to order the cake mix online and could never find it. To me, the cake tastes like birthday.

Yesterday, when I got home from work, Stephen met me at the door with a foil-covered cake pan- and underneath the foil was a cherry chip cake with rainbow frosting.

I love my husband ;-)

I was going through some boxes of sports memorabilia to use to decorate my "game room" and came across my Michael Vick jersey from a few years ago. I'm trying to think of something amusing to do with it and figured I'd open it up for suggestions.

As of right now, I'm planning on lining the little box with it.

What pops to your mind as a fitting "tribute" for this bastard's jersey?

Since we've been in Texas, I've put Mr. Paige on an exercise routine. I make him run up and down the stairs chasing his laser pointer. (the red dot - not the actual instrument: Video coming soon!)

The result? He's lost a lb! 17 1/2 lbs of cat - no more...Oh, no. Mr. Paige is now 16 1/2 lbs!

He's the Kirstie Alley of felines!

We fully expected things to be a bit more conservative and religious in Texas, but I don't understand this load praising stuff...

I got Anji to agree to posing for a few shots this morning before leaving for work. This is to spotlight the Texas plates! ;)

She could've been a Barker Beauty!

You can see her amusement level is dropping...

That's my girl!

We are finally experiencing our first big Texas storm...it's loud and contains thunder, lightening and hail and I should probably shut down the computer - but I wanted to give you guys some pictures first - including a couple attempts at being "arty".

Oh how I've missed southern weather!

In our first act of getting involved in our community, Anji and I went over to the Public Library on Saturday to sign a petition expressing our opposition to the city selling interests in the public library to an interest group in Maryland who was coming in at a higher bid than the Library itself could offer.

In a vote at our City Council meeting on Tuesday, outsourcing was rejected! Yay, a victory. Here is an article on the subject from the library journal.

I just finished reading the novel BABY PROOF by Emily Giffin.

Here is the synopsis from Publishers Weekly, via Amazon.com:
s a successful editor at a Manhattan publishing house, Claudia Parr counts herself fortunate to meet and marry Ben, a man who claims to be a nonbreeding career-firster like she is. The couple's early married years go smoothly, but then Ben's biological clock starts to tick. A baby's a deal breaker for Claudia, so she moves out and bunks with her college roommate Jess (a 35-year-old blonde goddess stuck in a series of dead-end relationships) while the wheels of divorce crank into action. Even after the divorce is finalized and Claudia embarks on a steamy love affair with her colleague Richard, she begins to doubt her decision when she suspects Ben has found a smart, young and beautiful woman willing to bear his children. Standard fare as far as chick lit goes, but there are strong subplots involving Claudia's sisters (one is coping with infertility, the other with a cheating spouse) and the childless-by-choice plot line produces above-average tension.

My thoughts are that it was an enjoyable enough book. It was formulaic and a bit predictable, but I still enjoy the "circle of friends" stories about how your friends and family can be a support group for you in times of need (if you choose to have family and friends).

It is another in the long line of "SEX AND THE CITY" rip offs that try to get around that by being aware and forthcoming about ripping off SATC, but it's still pretty shameless. I did find myself oddly invested in the lives of the people in the story and found it tough to put it down, but I wouldn't at all credit that to being due to the quality of writing - which frankly seemed almost too conversation at times.

Even though I absolutely despise the term, this book is decidedly "chick lit". Anji checked it out of the library on Saturday and I commandeered it. Your stereotypical guy's guy wouldn't be into it at all and if you're scholarly in any way - skip it. If you like to read fluff that is the literary consistency equivalent of spray cheese, then you'll likely enjoy it just fine.