I Did NOT Fall Off the Face of the Earth...I Just Moved to California

Here I am, sitting at my cousin's computer (my very generous cousin, thank you!) taking a shot at what may be a very short or a very long entry. Misty (my cat) and Zoey (the resident cat) have just finished yet one more hissing contest to see who actually has the right to sit by the computer. Round #20 to Zoey.....Misty headed off to the litter box. (That will teach me.)

It has been a CrAzY couple of weeks. Misty and I (thank GOD for tranquilizers) flew out from Tampa to John Wayne airport two weeks ago. All in all it went well. Misty hates cat carriers but overall enjoyed the tranquilizers.

I started my new job with the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) the following Monday and I just had my first day off yesterday. Yes, that's almost two weeks of work straight but it was for a good cause. The AACN's annual educational conference was last week and it was held in Anaheim. It was very well attended (6700 critical care nurses) and it was a lot of hard work. It was really good to see it from the operations side as I had only experienced it from the participant side. It will give me some perspective as we spend the next 360 days preparing for our trip to Atlanta in May of 2007. It was also a great time to learn about my co-workers. I know more names now than I would have if I hadn't spent a week being able to look down at a name badge. That was very helpful. I also know that I now need to spend the next 360 days looking for the perfect pair of shoes that will allow me to be on my feet for 12 hours straight in a convention center. Whew....can't say enough about the wonders of ibuprofen.

The rest of my "stuff" is still in Florida....don't get me started about the whole car thing. It is still "waiting to be loaded" in St. Pete. It's been waiting to be loaded for a week. That stinks. Apparently, the first truck broke down. So the long and short of it is that I have a rental car for the near future. I don't know how long, I hope for only another week or so. Furniture stories to follow as they progress.

Yarn stories......The day I headed up to Anaheim, I stopped at the Yarn Lady and picked up a pattern and some lovely light blue Top Soft yarn. I spent some time working on guage swatches and was a few rows into the actual sweater when I had a nice conversation with my sister. The conversation went something like this.....

Me... "So I started a sweater for Mom. I found a nice pattern from Tahki Stacy Charles. It's adorable. It was on the cover of the Spring 2006 pattern book."

Heather..... "Is it the same one I made for Mom? I made one from that pattern book. It's in pink right? I made it in blue."

Me (a little sheepishly because I had actually seen the sweater in question for a brief moment as I was departing Sarasota)....."Yes, it is in pink on the cover. I didn't pick up the pink yarn either because they didn't have the FIJI yarn at the Yarn Lady. I picked up a nice blue yarn, really nice to work with."

Heather....."Yeah...I didn't use that yarn either. I picked up a yarn called Top Soft.....really nice. It looked good and it was nice to work with."

Me (now just a bit nauseous...reaching into my yarn bag)......"Oh my God. I can't believe we did this. I am holding light blue Top Soft in my hand. I am such a knucklehead. It must have been subliminal when I saw the pattern. This is too much."

Heather and I agree that it is a wierd little thing I did there. All I have to say is that I ripped the whole thing out and have started another project with the Top Soft and I'm not telling anyone what it is or who it is for.

I hope you all have a great Memorial Day holiday. I'll keep you posted.

California, Work, Moving, etc.

(This is where I will be working. I have an office with a window....it's one of those on the right, on the second floor)

Wow, time really does fly when you are having fun. Since I was here last I have been to California, found a place to live, finished up a week at work and arranged to have all my stuff moved out West. So, where to start......

California
I made a quick trip to Orange County to find a place to live. I did manage to find a nice place to live. I stressed about it...I mean, it's just a little bit more expensive than Sarasota to live.....$1500 for a 1 bedroom in Ca vs. $1200 for a 2 bedroom in Sarasota.....The other really goofy thing about OC is that many apartments don't come with a refrigerator.....what is up with that? As it turns out, I did find an apartment that does have all the appliances so I don't have to rent them. I am very grateful for that. There are many things about my new place that I really like.

1. The apartment is 1 1/2 miles from work. When gas is $3.36/gallon, that's a VERY good thing.
2. About 100 yards from the apartment are movie theaters, restaurants, Barnes and Noble, Pier One, TJ Max, a grocery store and drug store. That is also a VERY good thing.
3. If you want to see where I'm going to live you can go to http://www.sheaproperties.com/citylights

(This is where I am going to live. There are flowers and real grass......COOL!)

After I got that all settled, my cousin and I went to see our Aunt. We took a nice drive up the Pacific Coast Highway from Laguna Beach to my Aunt's house in Playa del Rey (near LAX.) It was beautiful....(Of course I didn't have my camera with me. What a goofball.)

The trip back from OC had just a bit of excitement. A woman on the flight had a medical emergency and when they asked for anyone with medical experience, I was the only one that moved. The woman was doing better when we arrived in Houston and I hope she was able to get home without difficulty.

Work

Last week was my "last week" at work. It was a bit different because all of a sudden everyone figured out that I was leaving and that I needed to do just one more thing for them before I went. Well, there comes a time when that is no longer possible. It is done now and everyone will go on.

There was a lovely get together at one of the Director's homes which I really enjoyed and appreciated. It was a good run and I had a good time working with the team to open the hospital. At the same time, I am really looking forward to my new job!

Moving

Things are finally coming together with the move. I am always learning something new. Yesterday, I learned how the whole auto transport business works. It's not at all what I thought at all. It's a little stressful trying to figure out the timing of everything but in the end, it will all work out. The furniture is leaving in June. I was able to get it out of storage so I could go through it. It is now residing in the garage so I can sort out the junk.