Sunday - Day Light Savings Time

Can I just express to you how much I am in love when there is more sun- rather than less sun. I feel like this is an awesome feat of nature. I wish we could have more sun all of the time, and I absolutely hate it when it gets dark early. In any case--- I'm up -- The sun is up. and I'm thinking about going to Hotlanta today. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods here I come! I've been really uncomfortable lately - strange I know but all the changes and not having my own car is making me feel really trapped and frustrated.

It's raining today. Thankfully our household goods god delivered yesterday while the weather was nice. Slowly unpackin boxes which is nice. We have the computers set up and should have the tv/ entertainment center up and running today.

So there's this street called brainard which I can't read with out thinking of zombies. Also it makes me think of the collaboration between the words brain and r'tard which is so inappropriate it makes me laugh. There's also a highway called the Bobby jones expressway. I always read it as the baby Jesus highway. So that's what I call it. Incidentally it says you can go east or west on the Bobby jones, but in reality you are going north or south. Tony always tells me to "take the bj north - which is east" and it drives me nuts. But right there in the google directions. It says go n on The bj e

We got the keys to our new place. Got the stuff out of the car and unloaded there. Also got the cats set up so we can sleep in blissful - cat free peace for the first time since Vegas. Movers will deliver our things on Tuesday. Internet is set up tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it.

Tonight we are eating at rae's coastal cafe which is located in a residential community like the club house. Themed with lots of tropical parephenailia and the menu is full of fresh fish and seafood. Really looking forward to it. The waitress said that I had to try the dressing on the salad because it wouldn't be the same on the side. She had another guest tell me
How good the salad was. It's definitely hard to find and in a residential area. Huge tropical fish tank. I was just given the best salad in augusta for the last 26 years according to the waitress.

I called Knology last night Which is the exclusive Internet/cable company for the area we live in. They were making polite small talk asking me what language my husband was a linguist for. I said Korean and Farsi. She said "korean and WHAT?!" as if i had just made up a word- or told her that peaches arent from georgia...and then "is that anything like Korean?" and I explained no- it was a Persian languauge. "oh" she said, " well I understand why we need Korean".

We found a place to live!!

We made it to augusta ga!!!!!!!!

We are driving through Alabama. Tony just picked up some beef jerky and both cats woke up as the smell and the bag rustle reminded them of something good. Since they have colds they know something up in the front smells good but they can't find it. Lucy went back to sleep but Linus is in my lap investigating my pretzles.

Stopped in houston for lunch, gas and an orcs codex from games workshop for Tony. Games workshop stores really creep me out. In any case- we are staying in new Orleans tonight and the cats are both restless. Lucy won't settle down... Although Linus calmed down a lot. So far Houston looks like every other big city except with cute houses. Although we haven't driven anywhere near the center of the city. We are having Thai food which is probably not a typical Texas fair but it looked good. This is the second restauraunt we have been to where we are the ONLY people eating. Odd.

Good morning san Antonio Texas. I heard someone in the elevator say "them be fighting words for Sharon" And I don't think they were making fun of a spaghetti western either. Breakfast comes free at the Drury hotel and includes buscuits and gravy.

Stopped in van horn tx. Snow is on the mountains and starting to melt. Lucy won't settle down for long.

Pictures

I had some time on the actual computer so here is a link to some pictures from my mobile me gallery of our pictures from the trip thus far.

Made it to el paso for the night. Onto dominguez Mexican restauraunt

Ok so we left Vegas and stopped over in Phoenix for the night. Amazing to be in the desert. Spent some time with no cell phone reception. Decided to bypass Albuquerque for el paso to avoid snow for two days. We officially need to do laundry. Took Lucy almost 2 hours to get settled in the car before she stopped yowling. It smells lime eau du cat litter. I feel really tired. And have been hvaing trouble with my phone not wanting to type or activate the camera app. Uggh. (laurel)

I love craps!!

Sinbad

(laurel) We just saw Sinbad walking through the lobby of ti. Pretty amusing. He had a paper a water bottle and a track suit on. He looked pretty annoyed with the people who stopped to take pictures with him.

Beatles

Waiting for Beatles " love" cirque du soleil show. I am so excited. We are next to a sweet woman from mass. And her son is also in the navy. We are listening to awesome music and there are huge sheer panels covered in clouds hanging dividing the sections of the stage. We have great seats. We spent about 45 mins playing roulette on the video machines and both walked away with our money back. I am having a grand time. (laurel)

Where's the Magical?

Vegas at ten am is weird the hotel looks exactly the same as it did 12 hours ago except the steak place is closed. The city lights certainly make The city more magical. I'm excited to go see what other places than TI have to offer. (laurel)

(Tony Sez) Vegas is amazing.

It's like Disneyland for adults. That sense of everyone having a good time is ever present and makes you feel excited at 10am.

Fur Coat

We are on our way to Vegas and shortly outside of Barstow. Seems that getting the cats groomed in los Angeles was kind of pointless because they are shedding all over the place. Maybe they can get brushed. I'm so covered in fur that PETA would throw red paint on me. We just passed some outlets. Tony made an excellent observation which is plainly-- who the he'll lives around here to go shop at these places ?? I'm looking forward to driving so I can put on my music I love my husband but hate the classic rock he listens to.

Good Bye LA

Getting ready to get out of here. Here being Los Angeles. Just got gas and are going to pick up the cats and we are on our way. Pretty exciting. Vegas here we come.

M-I-C-K-E-Y

Just saw the main street celebrate parade. Now we are in line for star tours. Loving the picture spots and the super excited kids. Flights to endor leaving shortly. I look so serious in this picture. I guess that's what I get for trying to compete with my husband in a shooting game. (Laurel)

Flautist

Tony just said "when you add flautist to 'fine' you get PAR-TAY" in response to me commenting that using an iPod at our wedding was "fine". I'm having a hard time believing him. We just had breakfast at a great crepe place at the farmers market. We are headed to Disneyland after we leave our friends k&h. So far the morning has been awesome.

Enjoying fireside chat with the husband, parents, and brother. We had a great dinner and are relaxing. Loving Los Angeles.

We have arrived in Los Angeles safely. We dropped the cats off at their kitty resort for the next several days and will soon rendezvous with the parental units. Looking forward to rest, relaxation, Disneyland and another party. Not necessarily in that order. So far lunch at the farm, at the grove with turkey lasagne and a BBQ chicken salad. Service was meh. Snotty waiter who was not impressed much. Sandwhiched between this guy pitching whatever to this poor woman who just doesn't seem to care about his fundraisers and a couple who are either awkward old friends or recently dating. Both sides are talking a lot. Makes it hard to concentrate. (by laurel)

(post from laurel)We have successfully made it to our first stop at the Madonna inn in san Luis obispo. The cats spent about 30 minutes exporing before they settled down in the back. Each has taken turns in our laps and so far they don't seem stressed out much. The vet had given them the anti nausea meds before we left. We are enjoying the beautiful scenerey and great weather. We both can feel how warm it is getting as we drive south.

My husband is finishing vacuuming the rest of the house. We have a gigantor pile of stuff in the trash and nothing else. Our house is empty.

(Not) Patient.

(post by laurel)
(Tony) "I'm anxious and I want them to f*ing get here"
(laurel) "I thought you were waiting patiently?"
(Tony) "I mean, I'm waiting patiently and I don't care when they get here."

This causes me to smirk.

Patiently?

(Post by laurel) I'm reading Anam Cara by John o'donohue. So far the movers aren't here yet but should be here soon. at ten. I mean forty five minutes after 10:45. Pizza is on its way. Donuts are sitting. Coffee is getting cold.

This quote strikes me "in order to keep our balance, we need to hold the interior and exterior, visible and invisible, known and unknown, temporal and eternal, ancient and new together. No one else can undertake this task for you". In short this is everything my libra-constant strive for balance-anxiety ridden nature fears. I have to do all THAT, and stay on my feet. I guess at least I have an outline of what to do.

 We are waiting. I would say patiently, but that just isn't true. At least for me.

 "Tony," I ask curiously, "are you waiting patiently?"

 He replies that he is in fact waiting patiently. Well, that's one of us.

Also - I miss our cats. They are boarded for two more days and then we drive to Santa barbara. Then los Angeles. We are working hard but there is still a lot to be done.

Munch Haven

(entry by Laurel) We had a fantastic evening in the Castro with our good friends last night. Being in san fransisco for the night is very surreal for me. I want to stay-- visit longer and dream of living here. To me san fransisco is an almost perfect blendy of the things I love about los Angeles and new york. I realize we are starting an adventure but it makes me feel like I have missed out on stuff here.

We are staying across the street from a restaurant called "Munch Haven" Really. Enough Said.

A cloud of joy

(entry by laurel) 1000 thread count sheets = a cloud of joy. I do not own such sheets - although I have some amazing 700 tc that I bought, and I cherish. I dream about them whilst still being awake. They're on the bed now. With a sleeping husband and two sleeping kittens. I am in the living room on the computer surrounded by bright lights and my thoughts.

How can one little Smart Move class with other Military wives make me feel this insecure and overwhelmed!? I realize that knowledge is power - and strongly believe the slogan from brain pop "The more you know, the more you know" but this just means I can't rest my mind. Will drink another glass of water and remind myself that I am sleeping on a cloud of joy. If that doesn't work. I'll just repeat this over and over and over and over.

no cure for no sleep

(entry by laurel) Cleaning seems like a never ending process. T has been getting over all of his immunizations so has cold-like symptoms and today I woke up feeling achy and sniffy. Great. Hope I don't get sick. Airborne and emergen-C for me. It's my best mocktail. I swear by those products. Luckily I have some home made chicken noodle soup in the fridge so I'm set for an afternoon of post kitchen relaxing.

I feel generally frustrated and not able to make much progress with anything.

Today I took the cats out for their first walk on the leash. I know, I know I'm that weird cat lady. But honestly I wanted them to get comfortable being on the harness and leash for our trip so they can travel with us safely.
Lucy did an excellent job, she actually explored some, although she was timid and didn't go far. She didn't fight the leash and seemed to understand that I was with her. She wasn't so much interested in the grass although she smelled a lot of the wall outside. How fun for me. I realized that I should have been wearing a sweater, because it was rather cold.
We've secured a place to stay in Phoenix, Los Angeles and well, Monterey before we leave. Hurrah!

I miss having cable television. I'm looking forward to a lot of things about Georgia... a new house, a new car, a new start. I think it will be a really great experience overall. Right now I just feel stuck in between. I'm going to watch Knocked Up and eat some soup.

Moving and Packing...

(entry by laurel) Wedding shenanigans are over - pics can be found here and here. Well-- shenanigans done except for the myriad of receptions we keep planning- one here in Monterey and one in Los Angeles for the folks down there.
So it's almost 2 weeks to the day before we move. I've gotten the military ID taken care of, and most of the paperwork with the name change since the marriage (ID, social security card, credit cards, bank stuff, the like). The military ID was fun. No, I'm sorry I don't have form #E57G-234 nor do I have POA (what on earth is that!?-- oh POWER OF ATTORNEY why didn't you say so?) - No, I don't know if my husband has gone to DEERS and filled out something online. What's DEERS. Thank you for your time...... Turns out he hadn't- and I still don't know what DEERS stands for - but it's where the ID office is. None the less I survived. Score: Military -1, Laurel - 0


Now starts the planning the road trip, and packing for the road trip and figuring out what the movers will and won't pack. What to pack to take with you across country for 14 days with two kittens........We're so far going to go Monterey -> Carpinteria -> Los Angeles -> Las Vegas -> Phoenix -> Austin -> New Orleans -> Augusta.

I've got the cats boarded for our extended time in Los Angeles and Vegas. I still need to book a hotel for us in the city of Sin. And find routes along the way. My brother suggested that I look at roadside attractions for weird stuff, which is awesome because that is exactly what I want to see while I'm traveling. I'm also going to heed his advice and take note of the places from Food Nework's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. That will be a lot of fun. We're visiting people along the way in almost every stop and I think that will make it a lot of fun.

So much to do and so little time. Where would you suggest visiting along that southern route?