Sunny skies in AZ

I'm baaaaaack!  What a long couple of weeks and boy do I have a lot of things to share.  Where to start...

First, we are moved into our little apartment and most things are put away or organized but there is still so much that isn't yet.  We brought things we really didn't need but in our defense, it's difficult to transition the mindset of 'house' to 'apartment' so we have way too many dishes, glasses, my three tool boxes (yes... three of them and they are all mine) and even clothes that just won't fit into our sparse storage space.  So there are still many boxes and bins that are going to be tucked away into the closets and the outside storage closet. 

Ok, on to the trip out here.  When last I blogged, my car had been rear-ended and I was given a little rental car to tootle around town and run errands, do moving stuff or whatever in the week before the move.  The week went too fast, Sharon and Donald both showed up on the Thursday night and by Friday we were set to pack and load the truck.  We got the truck, had minor incident (don't ask b/c I promised not to tell), took that truck back and got another truck and then we were ready to pack and load the truck.  And boy did we ever.  That sucker was pretty much full... or so we thought.  Much like the contents in the overhead compartments will shift during flight, the contents of our truck shifted as well.... all toward the roll up door.  According to Donald (I wasn't there) it was interesting to see what he could catch and keep from falling out of the truck as he rolled up the door.  But I am getting ahead of myself... I did get my car back at 5:30pm on Friday night, then we all met up with friends and family at a local sports bar where we hung out, said our teary-eyed good byes (yes, it was me).  It was hard, especially dropping Christian off at his dad's house.  That hurt and still does and I still wonder if it was the right thing to do.

The drive down was fairly uneventful... it was soooo stinking long with a bit of snowy weather in Flagstaff but we got through it all well and arrived late Saturday night.  Those of you who know me can pretty much guess I wasn't exactly my 'perky' self when we arrived, either.  But Jack and Jeanette were here to greet us, let us in the apartment, had dropped off a few things of Donald's and generously wiped down the cabinets, counters, etc to get the apartment ready for us.

Donald and Jack brought in the bed and we all carried in a few of the things we couldn't fit back into the truck after everything shifted, Jack and Jeanette said their goodbyes and Donald and I collapsed on the bed.  Abby, by the way, was doing well, but it was a long trip for her, too, so she just collapsed on her bed as well.   The following morning Eric came up, helped us unload the truck and then he headed off for a potential 'date.'  Jack and Jeanette showed up a little bit later, Jack and Donald took the truck back to UHaul and I think we did more unpacking and moving boxes around but honestly I can't recall most of the details of Sunday.  We were all pretty darned exhausted.  (I do know the 'date' went ok but later found out my brother's 'psycho radar' was out of whack b/c he sure found another one.  Where does he find them?)

So to highlight this week, it's been quite an adjustment moving from a nice and comfortable house to a very small apartment, having to walk Abby any time she needs to go to the bathroom (she LOVES this part btw), listening to the sounds of communal life and the general adjustment of learning a new city.  The hardest part, though, has been not having Christian here with us.  It hurts, aches and I feel like such a bad parent and like a piece of my body has been taken away from me.  I know all the logic of WHY we made the decision to get jobs down here and move and WHY he is up there while we are down here and we still don't know if he will end up down here, so I've been pretty emotional while down here.  He will be here end of next week for Spring Break so I am counting the days when I can hold my son in my arms again, he can hug me and pick me up (yes, he does do that simply b/c he can) and we can hang out and be a family, even if for a week.  I miss him sooooooooooo much. 

Added excitement to the week: my car blew an intake gasket and I had to shell out some cash to have it fixed or it would have been junk if the motor had seized.  That wasn't fun but thanks to Jack, I got in touch with a few good mechanics and they fixed up my sweet little car good as can be cheaper and faster than the dealer would/could.

Ok, I think that's got you all pretty much caught up but if you think I missed anything or you need details, holler at me.. for those in CA, I'm closer now, so you don't have to yell so loud. :)

It's been tough but we're doing ok and things are working out in their own way.  Wish us luck we sell the house in CO soon and we can find a good deal on a good house here soon.  I'm really tired of walking Abby at 6 in the fricking morning and at night before we go to bed... it's already 'old.'