A busy, busy week in El Paso!

The shower was wonderful! I will post more about it and pics later. They are still in my camera. There have been so many other things going on this week, that photos have really taken a back seat.

We have made lists and lists of our lists in preparation for the wedding. We are slowly working out way through them. We want the wedding to be special - lots of special details and little touches to make it all just right - for the guests as well as Joy Anna and Jeremy.

J & J got the keys to their apartment yesterday. The evening was interesting as the a/c didn't work, and the dishwasher sprayed water all over the kitchen cabinets. We ended up at Target and did some shopping for the house and for the wedding. More things off our list. Jeremy had planned to move things yesterday, but you know the best laid plans . . . he had to work 2 shifts yesterday. Needless to say, moving did not figure into the equation. After we moved out, somehow her stuff spread out into all 10 rooms in the house! Literally! She is working so much, and he is working so much, I am not sure how it is all going to get moved.

Today, I started condensing it into fewer rooms - I need to get the house cleaned and emptied, so I can give back the keys and get the deposit heading back to us.

I really miss Dean! I am so ready for him to get here! 12 more days. :)

El Paso

Started the long drive back to El Paso at 8 am this morning. This was the 2nd time I have made the trip back alone. Thankfully, I didn't have to deal with doggy drama, and I sped past Sonora - no black holes for me this trip.

I made great time - it was difficult not to stop and take pics or to visit any of the garage sales that dotted the roadside.

I made it to Van Horn at nearly 4. I stopped and visit my old friend, Derek Duncan, Cowboy Poet extraordinaire.  I missed hearing him perform, so he treated me to a private performance - not really private as we were in the lobby and there were several other people around. Still, I was the only one who was listening and enjoying. It was fun to chat about the old days at WHS and the fun things in the FFA. It was nice to catch up.

When I made it back to EP, I checked in at the Wises. I had planned to sleep on a blow up mattress at the house, but I have a crick in my neck, and decided I needed a real bed. I went out with the McCartney Clan and Joy Anna for some yummy Carlos & Nicky's.

Tomorrow is the wedding shower. Really looking forward to the fun!

Unpacking Memories

Hello, my name is Pam, and I am a sentimental pack rat. I am a very visual person. I guess no one would ever guess that, huh? I like to have things to see that remind me of the people I love, the places I have visited, the times that I cherish. I keep all kinds of things - baby socks, Joy Anna's Christmas passy, Eric's recipe for how to cook corn dogs.

There were 178 boxes loaded into the trailer. That didn't include the tubs, suitcases and other containers. Because of the way they packed us, many of the boxes of my collections were packed on top of other things that I needed to unpack. That had me unpacking boxes and boxes of memories.

Earlier in the week, I unpacked the boxes that had my kitchen collectibles. Wow, just sitting here, I am remembering another box I saw in the garage then needs to be unpacked with them. These are things that belonged to Nanny, Aunt Edna and other relatives. There are things I found on mission trips - I bought them because they were unusual or reminded me of someone I love. I have my great grandmother's washboard. I have a snuff bottle that belonged to one of Dean's great grandmothers. There is a great All Laundry Detergent bucket I found in Canton one day with Andrea. Lots of fun things up there.

Last night, it was the soda pop bottles. Memory overload! Papa drank Frostie. I remember his drinking a whole bottle in one guzzle. Nanny drank Tab. Aunt Nell found me an unopened bottle that she gave me for Christmas one year. Dean has 2 six packs of coke commemorating the Lady Techsters National Championships. The weekend Dale Earnhardt died, we had a group at our house fro Disciple Now (might have been Spark by then) someone had brought a 6 pack of Earnhardt cokes. We rescued the bottles from the trash and added them to the bottle collection. Had he not died, we would have probably left them in the trash. So many of them I picked up on mission trips. I would buy one, or someone in the church would know I was looking for a special bottle. They would show up with one they had found or had been sitting their barn. So much fun to go back and look at all of them. It wasn't so much fun washing them. Our breezeway in Longview wasn't finished like a room, so they were pretty dirty. We had planned to put them back after we finished the room, but we moved before we got the chance to do that.

I have boxes and boxes upstairs to go through. I am thinking it might be a memory overload . . .

Soooo much to settle!

Have spent several days working on this one blog post . . .

Yes, I know the last blog post bemoaned the fact that we had nothing to settle. That has swung in the opposite direction. The movers arrived at 10 on Saturday. It didn't take long to start filling up the house. I know I like to keep stuff. I know I have a lot of stuff. I had given so much away, donated and sold so many things, I thought the amount of stuff had to be lower. Besides, we left Joy Anna and all of her stuff in El Paso. How did we fill up nearly half of the 18 wheeler trailer? We don't even have as much of Eric' stuff either.

While unpacking we realized just how that can happen - if you only put one or two things per box, you will need more boxes. Yes, that happened with several boxes. I do have a lot of kitchen stuff. I have quite a few pots and pans. I do think all of my metal pots and pans could have fit in one box. Certainly not spread out over three. Do you really need 12 pieces of paper per item to keep my metal pan from breaking? After emptying one box, I put the paper back in. Just the paper filled up the box.

We did make some good progress. Elizabeth, Steven and Rosie came over to hang out and help out. Steven and Dean went to the thrift store to pick up my entertainment center. It looks great in the living room. We rearranged the living room a few times before coming up with an arrangement that seems to work. Our furniture is huge! It takes over the living room. It makes it feel cozy, even thought it is 18x20 or something like that.

The girls are settling in fine. Pouncy had a rough day Saturday. I was not certain she was going to leave Steven with his legs intact. He dared to sit at the table!

We were so tired that night! After the Morgans left, we just piddled around, put sheets on the bed, and unpacked a very few more boxes. I soaked in the tub. I had hit the same toe I always hit on the driveway yesterday and ripped off part of the toe nail. I had to deal with that. Not my favorite thing to do! I don't think I drank enough water. I woke up twice last night with a horrible leg cramps - the kind I had when I was pregnant -where it hurts sooo bad! Woke up with a scream both times. Not fun.

Sunday we visited another church. They have 2 services and we chose the first. One lady came over to visit with us. I guess it is harder to know how is visiting at a larger church. We really did enjoy the service though.  After church, Dean and I rode the bike out to Aunt Beverly's and Uncle Homer's to celebrate Mother's Day. We had a nice lunch and fun playing apples to apples.

We came home to more boxes - LOTS more boxes. I am not sure we are ever going to going through them. We do have the laundry room all tidy. I have done 3 loads of laundry. I don't have places to put everything as we haven't finished our room/closet. At least, they clothes are clean and folded neatly on the top of the washer and dryer.

Today we went to DARS about Dean's hearing aids - it was a repeat of everything we did in El Paso. So ridiculous. He has to go back May 30. Then, hopefully, they will schedule him an appointment to be evaluated.

Today, more unpacking! I advertised on Craigslist and someone came and picked up a whole van load of boxes. I should have that many more by the time I go to El Paso on Saturday.

Hopefully, in a day or so I will have made enough progress to post pics. 

Settling in without anything to settle!

We are camping sort of. In the living room, we have a borrowed tv and a borrowed twin blow up mattress. In the kitchen we have enough staples to get by along with 4 place settings. We have one folding chair in the dining room. The bedroom boasts a mattress on the floor and the kennel for the dogs. Furniture and things are due to arrive on Saturday. Yesterday Directv came out to install the dish. Presumably, they could not install it on the side of the house, and our landlord said it couldn't go on the roof, so they had to install it on a pole. They charged me 70.00 for the pole. I don't know why they can't do the side of the house. They did it on the side of our house in Longview and in El Paso. The guy put it in a horrible place, too. You have to squeeze by it to get into the back yard. Not a good thing. I called today. They will not credit the 70 for the pole even though they told me it was free installation. They are coming out tomorrow to look at moving the pole to new location and to make sure that they really can not install it on the side of the house.

Aunt Beverly came over yesterday to see the house. She came back today and we hit a few stores. It was interesting shopping. We started with a nice Lunch at BJ's Brewhouse. It is fairly new here, so she hadn't been. We then went to a great consignment store. I was looking at different things they had there. Very high quality merchandise in a mix of contemporary, vintage and pieces that were too old to be called contemporary, but too new to be called vintage (at least stylish contemporary or vintage)

There are a few things I would like to have for the house. I need a place to keep my china. I would like a headboard for our room. I would like some great storage pieces. I don't want to spend a fortune.

There were several really cool pieces that were not in my price range. There were several more great pieces that don't fit with what we have - like way far out from the rest. I did find a nice little wooden entertainment center with doors. It was wood. Would have worked for a desk I saw on Pinterest. The price was fair at $150. I took a pic and sent it to Dean. We chatted back and forth about it for a few minutes while I browsed before I walked back over to it.  A lady had looked at it as I was walking back to it. Aunt Bev and I were chatting about it. When the lady realized I was going to purchase it, she ran (literally) to the counter to tell the clerk she wanted to purchase it. The clerk came over to remove the tag. I was pretty amazed that she had been so blatant about it. When I asked the clerk, she asked who had seen it first. I told her I had sent the pic to my husband 10 minutes earlier and we were talking about it. She hesitated. I told her to go ahead and let the lady have it. It must not have been meant to be for me.

We headed on to a different store. We missed the turn to one section of thrift stores, but ended up at a Salvation Army Store. This was unlike any I had been in before. It had nice furniture. I was really surprised. Again, I was upcycling things in my head. I found another entertainment center. This one was a more rustic white (not dark brown) also made of real wood. It was 9 dollars more. I kept looking at it. I sent Dean a pic. I read the signs and realized it should have been marked down 30%! I love a good bargain!  $47.70 off! This one had electricity running into it. I can plug in my computer equipment and keep it all together. I checked out pinterest. I had pinned one a couple of weeks ago. I will be looking for more ideas.

Tonight, the electricity went out. Now there is no Directv signal. Think it will be a good night to turn in early.

We have arrived! And oh the adventures along the way!

Yep, tonight I write my first blog post from Round Rock. I think I need a new blog title- I am not located smack dab in the middle of Texas. I will have to think on it.

To get to tonight I must do some back tracking  . . .

Last weekend was spent prepping to move - going through things, sorting, trashing, all those fun things.

Monday - knowing this was my last week in town, we had to do several things for the wedding. This included taking the dress to the alterations guy to have the bustle taken care of. Next week, it will go to the cleaners. Monday also brought a new family member in the shape of a Delilah. Joy Anna and Jeremy adopted her. It made for an interesting week, as she wanted to be the pack leader. Our girls were not so willing to give up that most coveted position.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were just more of the same - packing, sorting and refereeing the dogs. Except on Thursday when the dogs went to the groomer. That night, we also went to the wedding venue. It did not turn out like we expected. She has turned into not a nice person unfortunately. I wish I had checked the reviews before we went out there. I also wish I had taken better notes and had her sign the notes as well. Oh well, we live and learn. We will also write a review on every possible review site after the wedding!

Friday I spent the day setting up the garage sale. It was so very hot, but doing it in spurts helped. We had so much stuff! Wow! It took most of the day to haul it outside and set it up. By midnight when I crashed, I was worn out.

Saturday was the official garage sale - I had posted it would start at 6. By 5, the yard was full! First customers of the day - before the official opening and they want me to cut the price by 50%. I don't think so! Don't wake me up at 5 am and expect a discount! By 10, the city had removed our signs for lack of permit, so we decided to wrap it up. Everything that was over 10.00 was gone except for 2 things. It was time to clear out and clean up. Jeremy and I loaded down his truck and my van and headed to the Assistance League to donate for the thrift store. I only thought I was tired the night before! Saturday night, I was asleep by 9. Probably not the best plan when I had movers arriving the next morning - and no idea when they would get there. I confess to whining that night. I called Dean and told him I was too tired to go on. I just wanted to give up. I had had all of the that I could handle. 

Sunday, I was up before the chickens. Way before. By 3:30 I was sitting at Whataburger ordering a burger and a diet coke. I was hoping to tricking my body into thinking it was evening and I would be motivated to get busy to finish by the time the packers got there.

By 9, packing chaos was in full swing. A driver from Dallas and 2 local packers and me. At 6, the house was packed. After they left, we headed out to the dog park. Dinner was fast food.

Bedtime was a welcome end to the day.

Monday. Goodness. Was that just yesterday? It started early. The driver had said 7:30. I think he showed up an hour early. The helpers were not far behind. By 7:30, they had already made a dent in the landing. I sat in my old rocker and worked on a graduation announcement. A little after 11, I went for tacos. After that, it was only a short time until the locals were ready to go.The driver pulled out around 2pm. Jeremy took the van to have the oil changed. We had been loading it through the day, so by 3pm, I was ready to pull out. I wasn't sure how far I would make it. I had looked online and considered Ozona. That would be 6 hours. I was thinking we could make it that far.

Joy Anna had planned to keep Pouncy. That didn't work after they got Delilah. The two of them didn't mix at all. So, we had to bring her with us. We have a soft sided kennel we have used for her before. When we moved from Longview, she and her kennel rode with Dean. He was able to unzip the kennel and let her wander. I wasn't sure I was up to that, but I put her kennel up front in the passenger seat for easy access. We had put the van seats on the moving truck. The dogs had about half the van to chill in. This was going to be a breeze - right? Before you agree to that I guess you should have some background info on the dogs. Razzle has always gotten car sick. Not every time, but enough for us to be wary. She even got sick going to Shannon's and that is only about 5 blocks away. Dazzle doesn't get sick, but she gets nervous and spazzes out. She whines and wants to be held. When we moved to El Paso, she rode nearly 90% of the way in Joy Anna's lap!  This has been much better since we got the van. They like to ride. They get excited and jump in without having to be picked up and forced into the back seat. They like to ride now, plenty of room . . .

And so, now you can answer . . .a breeze, right?




Wrong!

First off, saying good bye to my girl was not easy. Yes, I was ready to see Dean, but this was the first time we had really moved away. This is not like school. In a few weeks, she'll be married. This is the big move. When I go back for the time before the wedding, it will be just for a LONG visit. We said our goodbyes and tried not to cry and I pulled out - only to get a call when I was in the next block that I had forgotten a bag. Turn around, go back, say good byes again, get back on the road. I stopped for gas and stopped for a tea at Schlotsky's and headed east.

XM playing, dogs relaxing, Pouncy snoozing and we head down the highway. The odometer showed 50 when the craziness began. Dazzy started whining and proceeded to make her way over the drop down table between the two front seats and into my lap. I am pushing her back as hard as I can while driving 80 down the interstate. I didn't know a 35 pound dog could exert such force. Before I could find a place to pull over, she had seated herself firmly in my lap. I finally got her back in the back and moved things around in order to try and keep her there and off we went again.

Because the distances between gas stations is so far on I10, we usually make a point to stop and top it off in Van Horn. I really like the first station, but it is 10 cents per gallon higher. In effort to save money, I went on to the 2nd. This seemed like a good plan. No grass. No dirt. Only rocks and cement. Not a good plan, after all. Next stop the rest area. I only brought short leashes. They didn't want to be on them - they saw grass and I guess they thought it was the dog park I guess. They wanted off the leases and wanted to run! They were too busy playing to even think about taking care of business.

We headed on toward Round Rock. I debated driving on, but I decided to go ahead and stop. Why in the world I didn't let the 'drive on' part of the debate win, I have no idea.

9:58 - cat starts meowing - not an uncommon feat for most cats. Pouncy seldom meows, so I know I am in trouble. 

10:00 pm. Pull into the only hotel that has an opening and is pet friendly. $10.00 per pet? How much damage did they expect them to do?

10:05 Talk her into only charging me $20 instead of $30.

10:10 Open the door to let the dogs into the room.  Close the door except for the chain sticking out.

10:12 Open van door, pick up cat carrier
10:12 and a half - cat falls out of carrier and dashes under the large white pick up truck just as both dogs come charging out of the hotel door.
10:12 and three quarters - I am on my knees beside said large white pick up truck with two bouncing dogs trying to lick my face.

10:13 - dogs back into room with door securely latched while I am trying find the cat food in the van while keeping a watch on the truck and praying no one comes driving fast through the parking lot.

10:14 Find the food, break my nail while trying to open the top.
10:14 and a half   Dogs start barking
10:14 and three quarters - again I am on my knees beside said pickup truck trying to coax one very irate cat out from under it. On her best day, Pouncy is still  not a very nice cat. I was wishing for a pair of welding gloves at that moment. If I have to pull her out, there could be major damage to my hand - a lot worse that a broken nail.

10:15 waiting patiently

10:16 She is almost within grabbing distance
10:16 and a half. I realize if I get her out, she is only going to claw all of me by the time I can get to the door and get it open. As bad as I hate putting her back in the carrier, it is my only option.
10:16 and three quarters the carrier is back beside me.

10:17 waiting and trying to be patient while the dogs are barking

10:18 Grab her, pray the breakaway collar doesn't break away when I grab, stuff her into the carrier and get into the room. Success and the longest 20 minutes of my day!

By this time, I am starving. The only place open is Sonic. I have no choice but to go there. I can't leave the zoo in the room while I am gone. I make Pouncy a litter box and put out food in water. She has settle dead center under the king sized bed. I take the girls with me and find some grass for them to take care of business. The grass is wet. They refuse to get on it. Way, way too long in the desert!

After a quick trip to sonic, it is back to try in the grass again. Nope. Not happening.

Pouncy still hadn't moved by this time. I am envisioning having to leave her in room 264. They'll never be able to rent it again. Will I have to pay 71.00 a night for the rest of her life? Plus an additional 10.00 per night pet fee? I have never seen so many stray cats in one small area - I must have passed thirty between the hotel and Sonic. Is there something here that calls to them - makes them want to stay in Sonora?

I tried to log into the hotel's internet. No luck. Not enough phone service to access the internet that way either. Poor reception to talk. Welcome to the black hole of Sonora where the only almost reliable form of communication is text!

 Now it is most definitely bed time! Only there is no kennel for the dogs. It was under everything else in the van. I am going to break a major rule and let them sleep with me. It probably wouldn't have mattered anyway. When the thunder and lightning started at 4:45 they were not happy campers. I am sure the people on either side of us were not happy either. I just hope they wanted to wake up at 4:45.

There was no going back to sleep for me. I tried. Up and at 'em.  This time, when we tried the grass it was even worse. They love to be sprayed with the water hose. The rain will do just fine. This time they were too busy playing in the rain to attempt any business.

I put everything back into the van except the cat and the car carrier and a tiny bit of food. Again it is coax and pray the collar holds when I grab her. I really don't want to have to leave her in the room. Finally I got her. The collar snapped lose, but I managed to stuff her in the carrier just in time. Thankfully, she was not destined to live forever in Sonora!


The drive to Round Rock was long! I only stopped for one quick time. I had filled up before I left Sonora. Dean decided to meet us at the house. He stopped for a litter box. We arrived about one minute before he did. I had the girls out. Again, the wet grass was not appealing to them. Dean arrived and they were so happy to see him! The played for about 5 minutes and then went and got back in the van like they were ready to go again. We had to coax them into the house. They do not like it. It is hollow and echos. Their nails click on the floor and there are crazy shadows. If anyone goes upstairs to the loft they whine and bark. Hopefully, after the house has furniture they will be better. Right now, they just go hang out in their kennel. It is safe. Pouncy went exploring and then hid behind the blow up mattress. She stayed there for hours. After we bought a rug, the noise level dropped and the girls were able to chill out some. They still prefer their kennel. Razzle tends to run the edges of the room, where the shadows are more consistent. They can't figure out the sound of the train and the accompanying howling dogs. The back yard is too wet and muddy. The cat won't use the cat door to go outside. It is going to take some getting used to.

I am really glad to be here. Once our things get her on Saturday, I think they will all be more comfortable. I know I will be.

If you got through all of this, I am impressed. We are entering a new phase - gonna be exciting!

Recent photos

A few pics from my last trip to and from Austin