Leaving on a Jet Plane, Don't Know When I'll Be Back Again

I absolutely loved that song growing up and every time I get ready for a trip I have to walk around singing it much to Mark's dismay.  I think I could have been an amazing singer or at least looked really good on stage...LOL!  And then I'm reminded that as teenagers Dana, Kathie (The other DMQs) and myself named ourselves  The Spinning Heads so we already had a band name just too bad none of us could carry a tune!  But damn we would have looked awesome on stage!!!!! 

The transfer of the boys to my folks went very smoothly.  They seem to be adjusting to their new home probably faster than I am adjusting to them being gone.   I keep looking out the windows and back door for them then realizing that they are gone which makes me cry all over again.  Donna Davis and I had to remove them from the carriers, carry them thru the metal detectors, then hold them while our hands were swabbed to test for bomb materials.  Now these kitties weren't drugged but I had put harnesses and leashes on them but it still was a crap shoot if they'd tried to bolt.  Lucky for us, they didn't even try just laid there and they never made a sound the entire trip even when we got delayed for over 2 hours.  They are such good boys and I know my folks will enjoy them.  We got the "little house" all set up for them and I wrote a manual about taking care of them for mom. 

My grandmother is not doing well so my daddy is back in Louisiana trying to get some stuff done.  They officially moved her into a nursing home last week but she was admitted back to the hospital yesterday.  She is talking out of her head and seeing things again so they had to admit her.  She's 92 years old so you'd expect some dissociation but this is much worse according to daddy.  I don't know what's worse your mind failing but your body strong or your body failing but your mind's strong?  Either way it's sad!

We are leaving on Sunday so I'm off to clean the house one last time, start packing my clothes and run all those 500 million errands that must be done by tomorrow.  I'll be back in a few weeks to fill ya in on how the move is going, how Miss Clarice did at the airport and how she's doing at the hotel.

Habt einen guten Tag (Have a good day)
Donna

We're off to Ninny and Pappa's house

Clarice is a little miffed that she's not going to see Ninny and Pappa so she just climbed right in the carrier to try and stow away.

I swear Hubert is smiling because Clarice doesn't get to go to Ninny and Pappa's house

And Gizmo just wants a couple more belly rubs before we head out.

I'm still just about in tears and fighting a headache which will come as no surprise to any one!!!! Stress, lack of sleep and not eating trigger them every time and gee, imagine my week ahead and you'll see that I'm due a real doozy of one!!!!!  I fly out this afternoon with Donna Davis, who is just the best friend ever because she's taking vacation days to go home to Arkansas with me to deliver the boys.  I'm still shocked that she wants to do this with me and actually she wanted us to road trip it but after I mentioned it was a 14 hour drive, she changed her mind.  I'll be in Arkansas until Wednesday night then home to finish up all those last minute details before we leave for Germany on Sunday.  Say a little prayer that I don't completely lose my mind this week.

Time is flying by too fast!

We leave a week from Sunday to begin our German adventure aka life resumes!  I've been struggling quite a bit this week as I realize just how much stuff there is still to get done and the decision to take the boys to Arkansas to live.  I know they will be loved, well cared for but still it breaks my heart.  They've been with us since they were babies and it just hurts to think I won't see them every day.  But the great news is that Ninny and Pappa will be spoiling them and telling us the tales.

I had to take Hubert to get his shots yesterday and to pick up Clarice's good health letter so she can be admitted into Germany.  Guess what?  The vet saw her July 30 but wouldn't issue the letter until she saw her again yesterday in person.  You've got to be kidding me?  So another trip home to drop off Hubert, grab Clarice and another $50 vet visit before she'd sign the damn papers.  Then off to Fed Ex to send it all to USDA along with another $36 check to get her certificate.  What a freaking ripoff!  So that's 2 sets of shots this year, 1 microchip, 4 vet visits and fed ex fees later before we even get to apply for the certificate.  Keep your fingers crossed that everything is filled out right and we get it back Monday!  I swear it's costing more for Clarice to go over than it is for me!

The shipping crate went out Wednesday and should arrive on Tuesday at Mark's office.  That is unless it gets delayed in customs because they don't like the look of it....not to mention that I have some food in the boxes.  It's nothing that can't be taken into the country because I doubled and triple checked that list before I packed it.  There are no firearms, liquor, drugs or cigarettes which are all strictly forbidden!!!!!!  But there are pecans, peanut butter, chocolate chips and corn meal which are all requirements in any US kitchen.  LOL!

Well the telephone guy just left from switching us back to AT&T since we are cancelling cable and Internet we lost the "bundle" price so it didn't make sense to keep just telephone with Comcast.  Luckily for us the phone number stayed the same just a flip of the switch and he was done.  Wish everything was that easy on this move.

Well off to balance the 4 checking accounts now, try to get a couple closed and the other 500 million things on my list today.  I will say not having a car now really bites!  I didn't think that I'd miss it at all but dang, there is only so much I can get done at home on the telephone.  Besides a gal needs to go shopping every now and then!

Hope everyone has a nice weekend and I'll catch up with ya next week!
Donna

In Two Weeks at this time, I'll be living in Germany

Wow!  It just doesn't seem real until I start looking around the house for something and realize that it's already packed.  We finished packing the shipping crate last night so it's off to the airport this morning.  Mark had been saying 5 boxes, 2 suitcases and 1 cat is all we were taking but he figured out that it was cheaper to ship a crate over instead of paying airline baggage fees for the 5 boxes.  Now don't get me wrong it was still only 6 14 inch cube boxes, 2 smaller flat boxes of his boss's and his work type books but I was able to sneak in my awesome antique pot  rack.  I bought it from a gal on Craigs List for $25 and it's just so cool and will be perfect over there since cupboard space is very limited.  Mark said it looked like a torture device but I think it was one of my greatest finds.  So what else is in my boxes you ask....

Family size tea bags-we southerners must have our iced tea
Corn Meal and my Granny's iron cornbread skillet-again it's a southern thing
Peanut Butter-remember they eat Nutella
Washcloths because they don't have any over there...yucky!
Sheets and Quilt for our bed which we don't have
A few antique baskets to hold smalls
Cross Stitch Supplies including all my threads, Blackbird Designs and linen
Power Converters
Telephone
Tie Hangers
All my A Primitive Place magazines along with prim and flea market find books
Any Misc Decor Items that I wasn't currently using or just couldn't bear to leave
and so, so much more

As you can see it's quite a diverse, eclectic collection of nothing but it filled the shipping crate full! 

We have finally decided that my folks are taking the boys.  This has been a very emotional decision but I know this is the best scenario for them right now.  My folks are both very allergic to cats but they know that my boys are my kids so they are willing to endure some discomfort to take care of them.  Mom has promised to put on rubber gloves and go pet them every day but I reminded her it was really a respirator that she would need to do that with.  Donna Davis is flying there next Monday with me so we can get them established before Mark and I leave that Sunday.  My folks have a great "little house" in the backyard and we'll install a kitty door for them so they can get out of the weather.  They will probably adjust faster than I will to the changes.  Mark and I have worn old tshirts all weekend long so we can make bedding for them and they'll still have our scent.  It's just breaking my heart to leave them but I know they will be well cared for.

Speaking of Donna Davis, we went to see Magic Mike yesterday afternoon.  I loved every minute of it and would see it again in a heartbeat but if sex, nudity or anything like that bothers you then Don't Go See The Movie!  We were looking around the place as the lights went up and there were 2 husbands there with wives and they looked very uncomfortable.  It's really a girlfriend movie not a date movie. 

Ok off to clean the upstairs really good since I'm gonna be gone 2 nights next week I really only have this week to finish up all my stuff.

Just 24 hours later!

Mark's parents called late last night to tell us that they just can't take the boys.  It's been a very emotional night with little sleep.  Mark is just furious because he asks for nothing from his folks and when he finally does reach out, he's smacked down. He feels like he's just alone in the world in spite of my constant reassuring him that he's never alone since he has me and my love for the rest of my life.  It breaks my heart to see him suffering like this!

Ok now on to the next step in finding a place for the boys.  I'm really at my wit's end trying to think of someone else to love and care for them.  I refuse to take them to the Humane Society even if it is no kill.  They are 11 years old, declawed and totally devoted to each other.  It would kill them and us if one got adopted and they got split up.  They are best buddies and have been since we adopted them 11 years ago.  The second picture of them looks like they are fighting but trust me they were asleep!  They crack me up because it was 108 degrees on Saturday afternoon when that picture was taken but they insisted on laying close enough to barely touch all afternoon on the deck.  They have a cool room in the basement complete with cat tree but they rather lay on the deck....not me...get me some shade and cooler temps any time.  They have a door into their basement teenage hangout, eat upstairs on the deck and best of all no litter box because they do their business outside.    They are outside kitties and have been for about 10 years now so moving them to Germany really isn't an option.  We're on a 3rd floor apartment building in a down town area so not safe for them.  What am I gonna do?????  Any ideas will be greatly appreciated!

I'm off to pack a little more, work on some paperwork and hopefully just maybe get a couple of stitches in before I dissolve into tears again.

Happy 4th to everyone!
Donna

Guilty pleasures

I have to admit I have quite a few but since I'm not currently working outside the home (trust me I work a lot inside the home) I have discovered truly mindless tv. I'm addicted to Bait Car and if you haven't seen it before you should check it out. It shows just how stupid people are and why some really shouldn't be allowed to reproduce! OMG, just how dumb can people be....a lot of these crooks actually say I watch Bait Car on tv! Idiots!!!!! And they film a lot in Atlanta which doesn't surprise me at all.


Mark and I took Clarice to the vet yesterday for her rabies shot again this year. It seems that if animal gets shots before they are microchipped they have to be shot again in order to travel to Germany. Poor little girl was a Devil to the vet and her assistances. Thank goodness Mark was there this time so he could witness it himself. I've been telling him that she acted like that but he thought I was stretching the truth but now he knows the truth. It's embrassing to see her act that way and it breaks my heart that they have to manhandle her. So they are going to fill out all the required paperwork this week and then she'll be all ready to travel.  She's has to have her shot at least 22 days before we arrive in Germany and we get there on July 23rd so I just squeezed it in under the wire. 

Now onto the saga of Hubert and Gizmo and our move.  The boys are 12 years old, outside cats and really don't like to be kept inside....they'll come in to eat then they cry and howl like mad until you let them back outside.  They have in previous moves been forced to live in apartments and even a furry friends resort and spa but they sure weren't happy guys.  And just so you know the resort and spa cost more per month than our hotel....the things we do for our children.  Anyway, after much debate we agreed that the best thing for the boys was to leave them in the states and after much more debate we asked Mark's folks to grandcat sit for us in Arkansas.  They live out of town with lots of places to explore, Jack loves cats and it'll give Kay something to love on because since they lost thier little yorkie, Samatha they need a furry friend.  I predict that the boys won't even remember us when we go visit at Christmas.  Now we just have to figure out how we get them there in the next 20 days!

And we spent the entire day yesterday and I do mean all day designing the kitchen so Ikea can quote it and get us on the delivery schedule.  They have a great website and if I could have used the US one it wouldn't have taken so long but I had to use the German one.   Have I mentioned that I don't speak German?  So I had the kitchen planner on both sites up and going along with both websites and google translate plus a spreadsheet to track everything.  What a freakin nightmare!  We started around 9:30am and I finished it at 11:00pm but still need to double check myself before I send it in today.  I called the Ikea customer service to see if I could order here in the US but have it "delivered" in Germany and that was a big no!  Actually the lady said yes but you have to pay frieght costs to Germany and unless you plan on being buried in it the costs were way too high!!!!  I liked her a lot inspite of her saying No to me.

Ok gang so now we have a date, July 22nd so I'm off to pack some more stuff, double check my kitchen and the countless other million things I need to get done in the next 20 days.  Just keep breathing in and out and reminding myself that we will get thru all this!!!!