L'aventure américaine

The apartment is very quiet now. There is no sound of chewing and no little paws on my lap nagging me to go out and play. It is very quiet. I just dropped Odie off for a trial run at the PetsHotel. The woman at the desk was very kind, offering him treats until he warmed up to her. She gushed about how cute he was, which I ate up like a bag of M&Ms. And as she looked over his paperwork, Odie started to sense that something was amiss, running up to me and whining. I wished him good luck and she took him to the playroom to introduce him to other dogs. I tried to stay hidden, so that Odie wouldn't see me and whine to be let out. I watched as the butt-sniffing commenced as well as the exploration of his newest environment. His tail was up, but he looked nervous. And I realized that I was sad to see him go and anxious that he be happy there. The woman came out and told me that my feelings were perfectly natural. She would call me if there was a problem, but Odie seemed ne...

While you may think that (gasp!) Odie is gone and/or has gotten a bath, neither is true. That is the name of park where I hiked today. I think that this might be the closest hike to my apartment, only about a 10 minute drive away. It was a gorgeous hike and I happened to do it when the sun was descending, causing long shadows to fall behind the seguaros. You may have surmised that I decided to forego the Nov. 23rd start date and commence work on Dec. 7th. Therefore, per some excellent advice, I plan on getting to know the area. Tomorrow... the Heard Museum. Wednesday, I'll stop getting to know the area and start to visit my family in New Mexico and Colorado for Thanksgiving. It will be a delightful, yet different Thanksgiving. And to fully buck tradition, I plan on going shopping on Black Friday. While I have condemned this day for years, I am in need of a television and am loath to spend too much money on it. So, this Friday, I will be out with the consuming masses pur...

I mentioned earlier that I had planned on studying cactus around the area. My education took a giant leap forward this weekend. I visited my great aunt and uncle who live in Green Valley, a town just south of Tucson (interesting because you have to be older than 55 to reside there). They were the perfect hosts and also believed that my cactus education was necessary. Especially after a hike with Odie in which we had to pull several different types of cholla (pronounced choya) from his paw. Odie loves a thorough education. So, they took me to the Desert Museum in Tucson. I saw gems, javalinas, the raptor show, mountain lions, sea otters and many, many types of cactus. I am not an expert, but I can answer questions about chollas, pricky-pears, hedgehog cactus and my favorite, the seguaro cactus. What's that? You wanted some trivia for the day? A seguaro cactus lives for over 200 years, but it's really impossible to tell how old they are. At fifteen years, they're on...

Here's the question: Some erroneous information from HR told me that I could get a temporary license in 48 hours. Long story and lots of bureaucracy later, it takes two weeks. I should get my permanent nursing licensing in two weeks too. Temporary license now becomes moot. So, I can work as a tech for two weeks and learn the layout of the floor, but not really be able to work as a nurse and go back to orientation after that. Or, I can wait two more weeks, visit friends and family in the area and go through nursing orientation like everyone else. What do you think?

It all started with a mouse. I had a mouse in my apartment and said jokingly, "I should get a cat." And Art Boy responded, "You should get a dog." And so I did. And he was great. Soon, I realized that he liked rawhide, so I bought him some rawhide. He was also so much happier in a dog bed we found after a visit to my parents' and an encounter with their dog bed, that we got him his very own dog bed. He also got an indestructible frisbee among other chew toys. I now had dog hair all over my car and my carpet and the dog was taking trips with me. I made my friends and family pet him and tell me how wonderful he was. It got worse when I knew that I had to move. He would be my only companion, so I had to get him safely to my new locale. Thus, my only option was to buy him a car harness and get sedatives so he could ride out to Phoenix comfortably. And now, as I unpack his chew toys, his dog dishes, his toothbrush, and his shampoo, I wonder at myself, bu...

Today Odie and I enjoyed our first hike. He was quite happy to be off the leash for once and we learned a couple of lessons together. Namely: unless we find a rock in the shape of a bowl (of which we did find one, but only one), I need to pack a dog dish for water for him. In addition, Odie learned not to investigate the bottom of a cactus bush. He escaped from one pretty pathetically with about 20 cactus needles in his paws. I have also surmised that I might be in a different climate here in Arizona. Evidently, the images of the cactus are pretty darn true and it was impressive to see them towering above me today. So, my new mission is to name these cacti. First off, our most famous and most impressive today: the Saguaro cactus. And the meanest cactus of the day, I believe, goes to the Buckhorn Cholla . Of which, I have no photos, but did spend 10 minutes in close inspection of the needles (as I pulled them out of Odie).

Today I saw my hospital. I did not go inside, but only saw the outside, since I just visited Human Resources and the Security Offices. But, I made the commute and I saw it. Good things: 1) There are several routes to take to get to work. One involves going through the Phoenix Mountain Preserve and passing a Trader Joe's. 2) The hospital looks like a space station.

I am back online now and very grateful to be so. I have had to marvel at the many travelers before me who have moved out West without cell phones and internet. In these first days in a new city on my own, I am very grateful to have instant contact with people. I am also grateful that there was a Best Buy very close so that I could buy a new modem. I bought that before I bought groceries. I've got priorities! I have found some great trails near my apartment that Odie and I have enjoyed. Not a lot of dog-walkers, which surprised me, and only foo-foo dogs at that. Odie and I snickered at them after they walked past. I am worried that Odie won't be happy here with their strict leash laws, but I think that I might be anthropomorphizing him. He seems awfully content currently with a chew toy and I think that he's even more excited about the balcony than I am! Colts game tonight and I luckily found one of my Colts shirts packed among some books. I plan on frequenting a s...

Everything is in the new apartment. While it may have seemed like I had a lot of stuff when it was in my parents' garage or my aunt and uncle's basement, in my new two bedroom apartment, it doesn't seem like too much at all. Aunt Jan and Uncle Carl came up for lunch today and helped unpack. Then we roped a friend of a friend into unloading all of the heavy stuff. Lastly, we happily returned the U-Haul. I was not sad to see it go and we toasted its departure several times this evening. In retrospect, it seems that no one really thought that we could pull it off by Saturday. Fortunately, Mom and I are a foolhardy and actually believed that I would be moved in by Saturday. And so I am. Tomorrow Mom flies home and Odie and I begin unpacking. Life in Phoenix commence! (This made me think of home with fondness and LOVE.)

This morning, I put on my lucky underwear, earrings that belonged to my grandmother, and actually took a shower. In terms of wardrobe karma, there wasn't much more that I could do. But, evidently it worked. Yesterday, our realtor drove us around Scottsdale, but we didn't find a perfect place. Today, when the realtor picked us up with her two year old daughter in tow (to keep Mom occupied), we had that last minute panic to really inspire us to find a place. I loved the first place that we visited, but was trying not to get my hopes up too high, since apartment hunting can be full of let-downs as the previous day had shown. However, the more we looked, the more I was sure that the first place was the place for me. And the clincher came when the realtor said that I could move in the next day. A flurry of paperwork started and by the end of the afternoon, their realtor had said that she would hand over the keys. So, at 6:30pm tonight, I got the new keys and emptied the trunk...

That's the first line to the song I made up a long time ago when a digital clock would turn to my favorite time: 11:11. It only happens twice a day! As most of you know, I do love this time and day (still planning the 11/11/11 party in a couple of years) and so I consider it a good omen that 11/11 is the date when I look for apartments. Mom and I have had a leisurely morning and have enjoyed resting our respective buttocks from the not-so-comfortable U-Haul seats. Odie is enjoying life without sedation, although I'm not sure what he thinks of the desert climate yet (he misses grass). And we're being picked up at 10am to visit some apartments. I feel nervous about this, but I've got 11/11, so that gives me a little more courage. After all, I'm hoping to find a place and move-in by Saturday. That's reasonable, right? So, I've included a picture of one our stellar parking jobs. We didn't really attempt to back up the truck on this trip and were conte...

Mom and I have arrived in Phoenix after 1700 miles and about 30 hours of driving the U-Haul. While driving the truck got easier, I am pretty sure that both Mom and I will be happy to turn in the truck and be done with it forever. And Odie did a fantastic job. His sedatives worked marvelously (ever seen a drunk dog?) and he was content to be strapped into Easy Rider harness. Or relatively content, that is. I am feeling braindead and "The Andy Griffith Show" is distracting me (you can tell how tired I am when THAT is distracting me), so more stories to come. For now, enjoy the pictures of our adventures.

I missed yesterday, so I guess that I'm a NaBloPoMo failure, but I'll continue truckin' on. And speaking of truckin' on, Mom and I will be U-Haul truckin' it today. Car trailer is hitched, U-Haul is nearly packed. I'm moving to Phoenix. Ai!

I pick up my 17 foot U-Haul with car trailer tomorrow. This can lead to only a couple of outcomes: 1) I destroy my car and my possessions and pay out the wazoo in U-Haul insurance. (This is NOT an option, really) 2) I realize that I missed my calling, give up nursing and become a semi driver. 3) I drive out there with Mom and very white knuckles. Nothing dangerous happens and we make a fairly routine trip. Here's hoping for #3. (Minus the white knuckles)

Saying goodbye is sad. But, the whole thing is helped when you have ice cream sundaes for lunch. Mom and I shared a Fudge Brownie Sundae and a Sea Salt Caramel Sundae yesterday. Best lunch ever.

I just tried to have a lesson with my mom about photo sharing on the internet. Wow. One does not realize how complicated the internet is until one tries to explain it to one's mother. Of course, I'm pretty sure that my cousin felt the same way today when she was explaining threading a bobbin and a needle on a sewing machine today. Both Mom and I take furious notes though and that's bound to help. Self-threading sewing machine versus simple photo sharing/uploading/downloading sight... Which one is more necessary? What do you think?

Today I got bobbins and needles and thread for my new sewing machine. My uncle found one and I am the lucky recipient. Tomorrow I get my first lesson. So, I have proven to be less than mediocre in the art of drawing, painting and pottery. I do not excel in sports. I cannot sing nor dance. And I am determined to find a skill in which I excel. Sewing... here I come.

I am currently on hold with Uhaul. I am also currently having my first experience with rental trucks. During my other moves, I have been smart enough to keep my belongings to a car-full. However, after living in Indiana for three years and accruing enough furniture to fill a house, I'm renting a moving truck. This gave me quite the sticker shock. However, after bargain hunting with Budget, Penske and Uhaul and looking inside each truck, I have finally made a reservation. Just an FYI, Uhaul price matches the others which are significantly cheaper. Hurrah for bargain hunting! Now, if someone would just add a backseat for a dog to one of these trucks, this decision would have been much easier. (As it is, Odie will now be one of those geeky dogs in a car harness... yeesh...)

I like to think of myself as an original. However, if you look back at my personal history, it would seem as though I were a copy-cat. Case in point: 1) My older brother is obviously a boy. When I was little, I wanted to be a boy. Wearing shirts was a cruel punishment when Mom told me bare chests weren't appropriate for little girls. 2) My older cousin got an abscess on her throat and had to have a tonsillectomy as an adult, which is extremely painful. So, I got an abscess on my throat and had a tonsillectomy as an adult, which was extremely painful. 3) My friend, Laura, is doing NaBloPoMo, in which you post on your blog everyday for a month. So, I'm doing it too. Or attempting it. She has a theme. I don't... I'm starting to break out of my copy-cat role already.