So I went for the interview at the job-I-was-meant-for. And I thought I totally nailed it. He never called me back. I even followed up with a "thank you" call. Unbelievable. He told me that I'd find out as soon as he knew. And it would be by the end of the day. Well now it's the end of day 2 and no call. How unprofessional.

Ian has a lead for a job that I'm going to follow tomorrow. It pays well and sounds like something I could do. We'll see. If so, I'm buying a new car. Seriously.

My list of "things I want" keeps growing as I spend more time in the house. And we have people who are owed money. So all of this is waiting. And we still can't do our taxes. Because people do not follow protocol. I could do a whole blog on people who do not follow the rules. It drives me nuts. Really.

I miss home. And I miss my family. And casey. And the girls at work. I'm really bored during the day when I'm not job-hunting. I've been cleaning the house like a mad-woman. Today I cleaned, did job stuff, grocery shopped, regular shopped, made dinner and put it into the crock pot, and baked a cake*. And I had slept in. And still had time to sit down with the mail and go through coupons and relax til Ian got home.

(*Side note: I was very proud of my cake. It was super-good.)

I've been sending Raven (my sister in law, who's 4) cards with stickers or temporary tattoos (she loves them) inside. It's my attempt at connection to home. =) I've sent two since I've been here. I pretty much want to send one every day. I'm trying to pace myself!!

I went to this cute little store today (and I mean LITTLE). You could barely turn around inside. And I came out with many treasures. It was like a consignment store for home decor. And only spent $30. And I really got a LOT for $30. I was proud.



My new grocery store:


Isn't their logo really scary? Don't fret, their cheese prices are too.





And look at all I can get at Cook Out for 99 cents:




This is our downtown Greensboro:



I have another random fact. We live in what is called the Piedmont Triad. We are a triad of 3 cities, which looks like an upside down triangle. High Point is the third city and is at the bottom (where they belong). The top left of the triangle is Winston-Salem. The top right of the triangle is Greensboro. We are located in Kernersville, in Forsyth County. In the middle of nowhere.
See the map:

Pink eye and being Jobless

So I woke up this morning and Ian wasn't next to me. So I was a little irritated that he didn't say goodbye. But, the previous evening, I had opened the wooden blinds and never closed them. I wanted to sleep in a little....So I got up to close them, turned around, and there's Earball. (Casey and I call Ian this...long story.) So he's standing in the doorway to our bedroom in a long sleeve tshirt and boxers. And looked like he was dying. And I said "you're home?". And he got closer and I could see that his eye was literally looking like it was going to fall out of his head. Literally. All pink and swollen and runny. Great. Freakin pink eye.

So I haul his ass to the doctor this morning; it was more like an urgent care center. But whatever. So they tell me there's two types of pink eye: viral and bacterial. I never knew this. He tested negative for strep, so that's good. Anyway, they think it's viral, so he seriously just has to let it go away. Now he has to go back to work and be treated like a monster for the next week and a half. Sorry earball. Don't get your eye runny stuff near me. I have a job to find.

So this afternoon, at 1pm...I went to a job fair. It was insanity. If you need a nice example of how bad the economy is, go to a job fair. They snaked a line down the HUGE (100 yards maybe?) foyer of this church and down another hallway (50 yards?). I probably waited for a half hour to get in; the line moved quickly. But when I got in there, I quickly realized that it was a blatant waste of my time. I was home by 2pm.

I came home, we went to the bank to add earball to the checking account. (He had to be in person and wasn't with me when I opened the account.) We then went to cookout. Oh my god. If you're coming to visit, you'll be going to Cookout with us. The best burgers I've ever had. And their milkshakes are to die for. And they have like 40 different flavors of shakes. So we had Cookout. And it was super-nummy. The Oreo shakes are amazing. Capital A-mazing. I can't even tell you. Mmm.

So we get home, and I want comfy clothes on. And Ian (aka earball) wants to take a nap. Cool. So I lay down and my phone rings. It's a guy who found my resume on Monster.com. Can you believe it? He wants to know how soon I can come in....and they need someone RIGHT away. And he even asked if I can come "now"!??!?!? I was like, "I'd be happy to meet you in the morning." So I have an 8AM interview tomorrow. For "office manager". And I'm super excited. =)I think it's a nice title for secretary, since he explained I'd be answering the phones and normal clerical duties.

Earball is still sleeping. Ranger definitely needs a buddy; he's been acting strangely sad since Casey left. And he totally loves Casey. I think maybe he's bored or missing home. We need another dog and it's going to be soon.

So far, things I love about NC:
1) Sunshine every day, all day. Literally. The temp can get chilly. But it's always sunny (or it has been) and I love that. It really helps your spirits.
2) Cookout. See rambling explanation above.
3) My new house.
4) The quiet of Kernersville. We live in the middle of nowhere. And it's nice. Very nice.
5) The people are so damn friendly. It's addicting.
6) The cute way everyone says "ya'll". I can feel it coming already.
7) The idea of having 2 cities so close to me: Winston-Salem and Greensboro. I was telling everyone I was moving to Greensboro, but we're way closer to Winston-Salem. We practically live IN Winston-Salem. But I'll take Kernersville, thankyouverymuch.
8) Ranger has a yard.
9) You can look like a slob in a hooded sweatshirt and jeans, and no one cares. Because this is college-town USA and everyone else pretty much is wearing jeans and a sweatshirt too. Yee-haw.
10) My new haircut: I'll have to post a pic. Eventually. It's so darn cute.

Wish me luck tomorrow. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Sick sick, home sick, sick of unpacking

I'm sick. Sick of the friendless-ness, sick of unpacking, and actually sick. My throat has hurt now for a week, but I'm too lazy/stubborn to find a doctor. I'm going with strep. Ian has it too and his is pretty bad. Mine WAS bad, and now its starting to get better. I think.

Rascal has found his way on top of the TV in the nook:



He's now constantly knocking down the glass votive cups in my new candle tray. It has little stones going around the glass votives, so every time he hits it, stones go everywhere. Oh, and the cats have determined that there are other cats in reflective glass of the fireplace. We're not sure how to get to them yet. =)

I've been browsing HGTV's bedrooms and bathrooms pictures. I need some inspiration.

This house is huge. And here, in NC- it's just a middle class house. Just an everyday, nothing fancy. At home, it is certainly NOT your middle-class-owned home and it's really irritating me. I feel successful in this house, because I never thought I'd own one like it. But here, its just different. I'm really not better than anyone else. Damn.

We've created a box for "donations" in order to try to get rid of some stuff. I hoped it would fill up more quickly....On the contrary, I'm finding myself wanting to buy things. I need stuff to put on my walls. Everything is very plain right now.
I can't wait until everything is better decorated.

Ranger went for his first walk today in the neighborhood. Not many of the homes here are landscaped. Like at all. So my walk made me feel really good about my own home. Ranger was super-excited to be on his new retractable leash. It made him really happy to be able to move around while I walked at my own (slow) pace with Ian.

That is all. I think I want some popcorn.

A million word update. Get comfy, and prepare to be entertained.

We're in NC, but how we got here.....I still am wondering. Really.

Wednesday Feb 11- We're supposed to pack the truck. Earlier in the month, I had gone to the police station to request "no parking" signs so we could put the moving truck in front of the house. This is common practice and is NOT out of the ordinary. Although the police officer could NOT have been more rude. Anyway, we step outside on "loading-the-truck" day and there are NO signs anywhere to be seen. Anywhere. Can't say I'm going to miss Bethlehem cops. Ever. So the 26 FOOT moving truck is stuck out in the middle of the street. Everyone who's spoiled-ass kid goes to Seton Academy (across the street) is driving all slow past the truck like they've never seen anyone moving before. Good Lord. We had great weather for truck-packing. And we stayed in Wind Gap with Ian's dad (Barrett) and Tara. They had a few people over and we had pizza. And slept. And all was good. Although, Ranger did decide to lose his guts all over the back seat of my car. Lovely.

Thursday Feb 12 - Thursday was closing on 636 6th Avenue. Aside from gail-force winds and a bunch of trees literally laying on peoples houses on 8th Ave, the morning was rather easy. We stopped at home to organize the animals. (We were in Wind Gap, remember?) The cats were NOT happy and I'm pretty sure Ranger was convinced we were abandoning him. Oh well because we weren't. He's normally really spoiled- suck it up. Stopped at Guardian (oh, I just can't stay away) because I realized I had a key to my desk that I never returned. Went to closing, all was fine. The buyer literally went to closing looking like she had just rolled out of bed. But whatever. Sold our house, now officially homeless til Friday AM. What could go wrong now?
Oh.....you couldn't even imagine. We had a nice drive down. Mom and Dad (haha- yes, they're divorced) rode down in the moving truck together. I suppose they each deserve a gift for that one. Ian drove his car and took the 3 cats. And they cried the ENTIRE trip. I drove my car, with Casey riding shotgun. Ranger was in our car. Since the truck goes a little slower than you can in a car, they would often not be in sight on the highway.....often stopping for gas at different times as well. We left around 12 or 1pm from PA. The trip is 8 hrs, and over 400 miles. It's literally 10:00 and 20 miles to go until Kernersville NC. We pass a Penske truck on the side of the road, which seems to be the same size as our moving truck. I call Dad on his cell just to be sure it wasn't him. Oh. It was. It was them. And you know what he said? Take a guess. Go on. Take a wild guess.

"The truck just died."

"Haha thats funny. No really, why did you stop?"

"No. Really It won't drive anymore. It wont go forward."

You can only imagine the explitives coming from my mouth at that particular moment.

If getting screwed out of relocation allowance (30 GRAND to be exact), Radon in the basement ($500), Electric work to be done ($350), New pipe in basement needed ($900), Almost entirely new roof needed ($2500), one buyer had lost his job so we already had lost one sale, had to borrow closing costs, doping up the dog for the trip, loading up my entire life and starting anew. This. After all of that. Now this. Could it get any worse?

So there we are. On the side of 220. Dog hadn't eaten. Cats hadn't pee'd. We were exhausted. And now it's going to be 45mins to 1 hour until the repair man comes. So we sit. And we wait. And again, I'm waiting for someone to wake me up. I kept saying to my mom "I just can't do this. I can't take anymore Mom."

Friday Feb 13 - The repair man comes after one hour. And after looking at the truck for at least 45 minutes, he's still not sure whats wrong with it. Dad tells us he'll stay with the truck. It's like midnight. We take the two cars to the "pet friendly" hotel we found online.

(Friday the 13th meant nothing to me until today. Until today.)

So we get all our crap, and we get in there. And we ring the bell.
Not just once. Or twice.

20 minutes. 20 minutes of ringing the bell, and this guy comes walking around the corner all calm like. WHAT THE *******************!?!?!?!? I'm ready to completely lose my cool. I'm usually very impatient, but I was doing really well today. "You're doing great. Don't blow it. You're doing great."

And you know how long it takes him to get us checked in? Half an hour. We stand there in silence for half an hour while he dinks around on the computer. I completely am ready to go over the 5 foot counter (so I've got the counter by an inch). He's getting strangled. Right now. Here it goes.

"If you don't find our reservation, we're going to have a serious problem on our hands."
(Whew, okay that was nicer than what you were thinking, but straight. Good job. Remain calm.)

He stands up. And you know what he says?
DO YOU FREAKING KNOW WHAT HE SAYS!?!?!?

"We don't allow pets here."



"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!?!?"
(This is where if there had been a bridge, I would have totally jumped. And I'm not even close to kidding.)

I said "The internet.....Orbits, Expedia, my realtor, the sellers realtor, all of them!!! Everything everywhere says you're pet friendly. Well guess what? Tonight you're pet friendly!!!!!"

Casey says to him "You didn't see anything right? You don't know anything right?"

He says "No it's fine. Don't let them out of their cages."

And I think.....no. "F" you buddy. These cats have been in here for 10+ hours. No. I'm letting them out.

So we get into our rooms and I still havent cried. Just wake me the hell up. I'm glad the gun is packed nicely in the broken-down moving van. Or I probably would have shot the guy. Really.

So my mom sticks her head out her hotel door and says "a plane is down in NY". So we watch this for hours. Two and a half to be exact. 48 people dead. So I think to myself, "Well, it could have been worse, right? I could have been on the plane. Now, just wait for Dad to come back and this will be all over." YEAH RIGHT! Did you think I'd let you off yet? Oh no. No. It's not over my friend.

Dad calls. They are TOWING the truck to MY NEW HOUSE. So we go. And it's 3:00 AM. And I'm picking my sleep-deprived father up at my new house. We wait. For like 15 minutes. And they show up. This was the BIGGEST tow truck I had ever seen in my life. Ever. With flames. And chrome. And that huge diesel roar that could easily wake up all your new neighbors at 3:30 in the morning. And he backs up 3 times to get the truck where he wants it. The loudest beeping you've ever heard. Ever. Especially when you can't remember the last time you slept.

So we drive my dad back to the hotel. And we sleep. Could it get any worse?

Why, yes. Yes it could.............. Apparently.

We wake up. And I've slept 4 hours. We leave our hotel while Casey and Mom and Dad are still sleeping. We didnt need them for closing; I needed them to rest. I needed SOMEONE to be ready to unload the truck after closing.

We go to closing. And nothing is ready. Our finance company had not finished the HUD statement, which is the main paper needed for closing. So we wait. The sellers paid $100+ for their realtor to have power of attorney and they sign papers and they leave. Now we're still waiting. The closing attorney tells us he just found out that the closing papers just got to the underwriters desk. Just this morning. Are you kidding? So it's fine. We'll just have to wait. An hour or so. It's fine.

So we go back to the hotel, and beg for an extension. I have nowhere to put my family until we close. They let me stay until 3 without extra payment. Good.

So we decide we're going to get lunch while we wait. We're on our way to lunch and the closing attorney calls. And puts me on conference call with a crapload of people from the mortgage company. I pull over and start pacing in front of some mexican grocery store. I had received gift money. Which was to be used for closing in PA. Now part of it I was using for my down payment. And they needed proof as to where this money came from. A copy of the check. And a letter stating it was in fact a gift. And they questioned me and were concerned how long this would take. (I considered backing up into traffic. This actually crossed my mind. And quickly my reasoning put that idea to rest. But I thoroughly considered it for about 30 seconds.)

My adrenaline kicked in. And there's a point where you reach complete "survival" mode. I need to do this now or I will not have a home. I must provide a home. I am a good wife and I will do this. So do you know how long it took me to go to Staples, get the letter and check and send it? 10 minutes. At this particular second, I feel like super-wonder-freakin-fabulous-woman-with-all-the-power-in-the-world. TAKE THAT mortgage people and question my resourcefulness!!!!???!!! HA! TAKE THAT!!!!! So I call my attorney and tell him I had just sent everything over. And he goes "thats incredible!". And I said, "Well I also told my mortgage lady that I'm currently homeless and she should move her ass." There was complete silence for a moment...."Well done!" he says. I am now very proud and I provide a nice lunch for my family. My dad says "I am so proud of you for how quickly, efficiently, and professionally you handled that situation. You remained rather calm, and I admire that." Wow, what an amazing compliment from someone so very important. I can't say I've ever had a prouder moment.

All through lunch, we talked about how usually I just fly off the handle and how well I handled the Friday the 13th Fiasco. Now, we just have to close and unload the truck.

We closed. We lost $600 in the deal, but whatever. We closed.

And we emptied the motionless truck. And I'm now in my home. And it's beautiful. And it made it all worth it. It's beautiful.

Will upload hilarious video of the moving truck backing up and being loud at 3am very soon. And pictures too. I now have a cramp in my hand.

So hello from beautiful NC. It's really as beautiful as you imagine. Enjoy the snow! =)

All packed up and no place to go

So packing is really not fun. We still have to pack the office, and "take apart" our back bedroom. And the garage and laundry. And our bed is really cool, but really big- and it needs to come apart to get down the stairs. So we still have to do that too.

The roof repairs were done yesterday. We're not even getting an entirely new roof and it's still, like $2500. Unbelievable. And the guys drink Busch. And are creepy. There's a lot of hammering/banging. Can they go now?

I'm trying to keep myself going, energetically. All of this just drains your energy. Packing does it on it's own, but add the mental stress to that and you're wiped out by like 3pm on a weekend day. So I'm back to being completely addicted to caffeine...which is fine- I'll just deal with it when we get to NC.

The idea of us leaving behind our family pretty much makes me sick to my stomach. There's going to be tears....and separation issues. But I really don't have much of a choice. This is the next step in our journey, and it's always for a reason.

Only 2 days left of work and we're super-busy with RFPs. I wish we weren't so I could slack off a bit for my last 2 days. But I have to give them all I've got. They'll be a person down come Wednesday. I already started taking picture frames down at my desk. It was a little awkward.

PA is where I've "belonged" for the past 23 years. Now, I have to pick everything up and move it to NC. And be jobless. And find a new place to "belong". I'm really outgoing, but I hate meeting new people. You know they're casting their "first impressions". And they're trying to get a read on how "nice" you are and how you may fit into their lives (or not). It makes me nervous being judged in such a way, as I try to find the positives in all people I meet. And I "want" them all to be my friends. And I understand that this is my own way of judgment. I just feel that perhaps my way is a little....softer.

I can't wait to do my taxes.
We have a wish list, debts, and I'm not working.
The debts and not working aren't very fun.....so the following is our wish list, for your reading pleasure:

• Kitchen cart islandy thing (we have no island, but a very large kitchen).
• New TVs for our bedroom and the living room.
• King size bed, as Ranger takes up way too much space and my back has been hurting.
• New couch, since ours was broken by a friend of ours. Story: Ian worked with a guy who was also a bouncer at a club in Allentown. He came to our apartment one night and sat in the middle of the couch. The couch is only supported by the ends and there was no support in the center. Therefore, it's frame broke in half and now is supported by books. Because I like it. And we havent had money to get a new one. And I like it. And it was only $200.
• Another dog: Ranger needs a buddy. Perhaps it will stop him from trying to play with the cats. We plan on getting a rescue, of course. No puppy mill products.
  
• Saving for our trip (family reunion) to Sedona AZ this summer. I'm excited. Plus, we'll be able to catch up with family.
  
• New patio set for the back porch. Our other one stayed with the current house and was cruddy. And a grill for that matter, same deal. And a fire bowl.
• Proper comfy video-game-playing, movie-watching furniture for the family room/man area. The new house has upped the classiness level and the futons have got to go.
• Sanity.
• North Carolina friends.

My nose will not stop running. We have to go to the laundromat this morning. My best friend Casey, my mom and my dad are coming to NC with us to unpack the truck. So I need clean bedding for all of them. And everything I own is covered in dog and/or cat hair.

Then, Lauren and Brad (Brad is my cousin) are coming to the Valley and we're going to lunch. (They live in the Hatfield area.)

And then more packing.

Tonight we're joining Kyle and Christen for Office Space because Christen has never seen it and thats just ridiculous. And it gives us a reason to sit around. And see Office Space. Again. :)

So I appreciate everyone reading my blog. My thoughts are just coming out of my head and I'm just typing. No rhyme or reason, and I know it jumps around a lot. But thats how all of this has been and I'm not a good writer.

I had a terrible dream last night. So therefore, I'm awake and Ian is not.

I'm a little scared of the newness. Change is difficult, but very healthy. Everyone has been really supportive. Lisa at work has "relocated" before from Ohio to PA. She explained it this way: "One day you'll wake up and it'll all be done." Her words pretty much have been keeping me going. This has been the longest 2 weeks of my life.

I need a job. I'm really worried about this. And the economy is the main culprit. I'm very sure of myself and my abilities. But if there isn't an opportunity to share them with anyone, I can't get a job. I guess it all works itself out.

Okay enough rambling. Ciao.

GO STEELERS!!!!!!!

My home is now a house.

My current home is now pretty much just a house. I've accepted that we're moving, and that it's time for change. The world is changing, our nation is changing. Why not jump on the bandwagon? I just hope that it's better change than what I've been seeing around me lately. Since the house is "SOLD" it's just that to me....a house. My "home" is waiting for me in NC and I can't wait to be there.

I have the living room all neatly packed into boxes. They're marked as to what they are and where they go. Is it odd that I don't like our things sitting in boxes? They have a purpose, even if they're just there to look pretty. But now they can't serve their purpose and that bothers me. (Am I odd? Or just exceptionally materialistic?)

The cats (there's 3...Lucas, Felix, and Rascal) aren't really happy with everything out of place. They're slinking very low to the ground....like something's going to jump out of one of those boxes and take all "9". Although, I moved one of my super-awesome black swivel-y chairs the other day to reveal 1 or 2 twisty ties. How they ever got there? No idea. But Rascal quickly ran over and grabbed one, as they're his favorite thing ever. (...Maybe this is how they got there in the first place?) Anyway, he's been prancing around with it in his mouth and awfully proud of his new treasure. I'm glad someone has an appreciation for my lack of under-furniture cleanliness.

Ranger has been looking at me strangely, like I'm about to disown him. So I just keep giving him extra treats. What's a girl to do? :-)

So I'm totally in love with Ikea and always have been. The nearest Ikea is like 250 miles from Kernersville. Boooooooooo.

We had to have a plumber in to fix a pipe in our basement. It needed to be done prior to closing and cost $900. (UGH!) His helper guy apparently turned our outdoor spigot on the other day and water didnt come out right away, so he assumed it was turned off. GUESS AGAIN fella! Apparently it finally defrosted and was running into my yard for 2 HOURS!!!! The city came and turned it off because a neighbor called.............*insert cricket sounds here*..............HELLO?!?! Couldn't the neighbor just TURN IT OFF? At least they called, I guess. So I'm asking the plumber to pay the 2 hour water bill. I'm trying to save every penny right now, you know? And to think I gave him a tip......