Here's hoping!
As noted earlier, we are a one-car family this week, meaning I am acting as Michael's chauffeur, taking him to and from work on my way to and from work. On our way home, we were prevented from getting on the freeway, as apparently there was a bad accident. Fortunately, we were able to bypass it all and get on Pine Street - last time this happened (for a chemical spill), Michael was forced to go eastbound on I-10 and was in stop-and-go traffic for over an hour before he could turn around and come home! This is probably the 4th or 5th time since being married that I-10 has been closed at the downtown exit. We will certainly not miss this part of living in SETX - although, I'm not sure the traffic in NOVA will be any better!
In other news, we spent some time tonight packing the items that will be coming with me versus going with the movers. You know, all the important stuff - liquor, jewelry and spices. Is there anything else?!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Last Sunday
Today was our last Sunday at St. Mark's together. I may be able to make it next week, but Michael flies out early Sunday morning, so he definitely won't be there. During the announcements, Dean said a few nice words and had us stand up, which was a complete surprise to us. After service, several folks stopped us to say goodbye. We have grown to love our church community and will dearly miss it in NOVA. Praise God that his Spirit is everywhere, though, so we can trust in Him to bring us to a community there as well!
After a brief coffee break with one of Michael's bass buddies, Bob, we came home for lunch with the Sheffields. Justin, Renee and Rider came over to help us eat down our store of food. Well, Justin and Renee did - Rider was more interested in decorating the floor with the cooked carrots! ;-) Renee and I moved to Beaumont around the same time and she was one of my first friends here. It's crazy to think of how much we've both changed in the past seven years - marriage, schooling (her), kids (ditto) - and through it all we've had a blast together. Not to sound like a broken record (because I'm sure I will this week!) but we will miss them tremendously! I'm very sad to miss Liam's arrival, but looking forward to some cute Facebook posts!
I did manage to remember to take a few pictures this time around - prompted by a very cute Rider putting on his "cheeese" face.
After a brief coffee break with one of Michael's bass buddies, Bob, we came home for lunch with the Sheffields. Justin, Renee and Rider came over to help us eat down our store of food. Well, Justin and Renee did - Rider was more interested in decorating the floor with the cooked carrots! ;-) Renee and I moved to Beaumont around the same time and she was one of my first friends here. It's crazy to think of how much we've both changed in the past seven years - marriage, schooling (her), kids (ditto) - and through it all we've had a blast together. Not to sound like a broken record (because I'm sure I will this week!) but we will miss them tremendously! I'm very sad to miss Liam's arrival, but looking forward to some cute Facebook posts!
I did manage to remember to take a few pictures this time around - prompted by a very cute Rider putting on his "cheeese" face.
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| Why yes, I am a cutie! |
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| Rider decides to work on his pectorals. |
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| Daddy shows him how it's done. |
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| Go, Rider, go! |
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| Meh, carrying them around is more fun! |
First of the Lasts
So, we are starting our week of "lasts" here in Beaumont. It started on Friday, but to explain Friday, I'll have to start on Thursday . . .
Thursday evening Michael had a work dinner so I stayed at work late, trying to settle everything for handing my job duties over. I had finally arrived home and settled in to my "in-for-the-evening" attire when Michael called to tell me the dinner was over but he was going to head over to Steve's to hang out for one last time. Five minutes later he called back - apparently he had run over some sharp object on the freeway and was now stranded at a nearby gas station with a flat tire. Wait, not a flat tire - the tread of the tire had completely separated from the rim. Crazy! We are blessed that the Michael was able to get off the road safely and that the wheel itself was not damaged. After helping him with his first tire change ever (Really?! He is so lucky!), we drove back to the house and he took my car over to Steve's - I am happy to say that they watched a movie together and whenever there was a car on the screen, Steve managed to get a gibe in about "watching out for nails". ;-)
So, the next morning started my last Friday off in TX. Normally, I like to sleep in but Michael's car was being picked up by the vehicle movers and we didn't want him to have to deal with getting a new tire right after he moved to VA - so I was up, bright and early, to head to Discount Tire. Another blessing - the remaining tires all had full tread left, so we needed to replace only the one, plus, Michael had purchased road hazard when he bought the tires originally, so the tire and labor were completely free! I did pay a small amount to have road hazard added back to the new tire - too bad I didn't realize there are no Discount Tires in VA or any surrounding states! So we're praying for no more flats until we get back to Houston!
The movers picked up the car soon after I came back home, so Michael picked me up for lunch. We went out with St. Mark's' organ and choirmaster. We have so enjoyed being part of the music program at St. Mark's and will miss it and Jerome in VA. I've told Michael a church with a bell choir is a must in VA - preferably one with an open position! We ate at Honey B Ham, which I didn't even know existed, but was quite tasty.
Friday afternoon, after dropping Michael back off at work, I visited a few body shops for quotes on getting my bumpers repaired (from the July 3rd incident). As I suspected, it won't be cheap. Fortunately, I picked up the accident report and the lady who hit me was found completely at fault and given a citation, so hopefully there will be no problems with her insurance paying out (and yes, we are very thankful she had insurance). An appraiser for her company came out after I got home to take pictures and write up the damage so I should hear back on Monday.
We also had an appraiser come out to look at the house on Friday. He asked me a series of questions: "To the best of your knowledge has the property ever experienced:
"Flooding?" - "No."
"Mold?" - "No."
"Fire?" - "No."
"Termite Damage?" - "No."
"Violent Deaths?" - What?!! "No!" At least, I hope not!
That evening, after dinner, Michael and I spent some time going through our closets, deciding what we really wanted to take to VA and what we can trash or donate. I found my box of childhood ephemera so took a little trip down memory lane. I'd really like to find a way to better store that material for easy viewing - maybe a scrapbook? But not everything would fit, hence the box to toss it in. Hmm, I'll have to stew on it some more.
So, too bad for my restful Friday! I made up for it by lazing around today, though! Poor Michael, he was still all gung-ho to get work done around the house. I supported him by staying out of his way! ;-P This evening, we met up with some dear friends at Tokyo for a good-bye dinner. No pictures, though, because, apparently, that is not Naomi's thing, even when she purposefully puts the camera in her purse! Oh well, we still had a great time. We're going to miss all the good friends we've made here!
So, the next morning started my last Friday off in TX. Normally, I like to sleep in but Michael's car was being picked up by the vehicle movers and we didn't want him to have to deal with getting a new tire right after he moved to VA - so I was up, bright and early, to head to Discount Tire. Another blessing - the remaining tires all had full tread left, so we needed to replace only the one, plus, Michael had purchased road hazard when he bought the tires originally, so the tire and labor were completely free! I did pay a small amount to have road hazard added back to the new tire - too bad I didn't realize there are no Discount Tires in VA or any surrounding states! So we're praying for no more flats until we get back to Houston!
The movers picked up the car soon after I came back home, so Michael picked me up for lunch. We went out with St. Mark's' organ and choirmaster. We have so enjoyed being part of the music program at St. Mark's and will miss it and Jerome in VA. I've told Michael a church with a bell choir is a must in VA - preferably one with an open position! We ate at Honey B Ham, which I didn't even know existed, but was quite tasty.
Friday afternoon, after dropping Michael back off at work, I visited a few body shops for quotes on getting my bumpers repaired (from the July 3rd incident). As I suspected, it won't be cheap. Fortunately, I picked up the accident report and the lady who hit me was found completely at fault and given a citation, so hopefully there will be no problems with her insurance paying out (and yes, we are very thankful she had insurance). An appraiser for her company came out after I got home to take pictures and write up the damage so I should hear back on Monday.
We also had an appraiser come out to look at the house on Friday. He asked me a series of questions: "To the best of your knowledge has the property ever experienced:
"Flooding?" - "No."
"Mold?" - "No."
"Fire?" - "No."
"Termite Damage?" - "No."
"Violent Deaths?" - What?!! "No!" At least, I hope not!
That evening, after dinner, Michael and I spent some time going through our closets, deciding what we really wanted to take to VA and what we can trash or donate. I found my box of childhood ephemera so took a little trip down memory lane. I'd really like to find a way to better store that material for easy viewing - maybe a scrapbook? But not everything would fit, hence the box to toss it in. Hmm, I'll have to stew on it some more.
So, too bad for my restful Friday! I made up for it by lazing around today, though! Poor Michael, he was still all gung-ho to get work done around the house. I supported him by staying out of his way! ;-P This evening, we met up with some dear friends at Tokyo for a good-bye dinner. No pictures, though, because, apparently, that is not Naomi's thing, even when she purposefully puts the camera in her purse! Oh well, we still had a great time. We're going to miss all the good friends we've made here!
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Success!
We have found a house - at least, we think so. After looking at 30+ homes over two days, we made an offer on Friday and it was accepted. Whew! I'll post more details after it's all finalized, but we are very thankful to have found a place that seems nice. At first we were looking inside the beltway, but nothing in our price range really met our expectations - too much HGTV, I guess! Moving just outside the beltway made a huge improvement and we saw several homes we liked. The one we settled on is just 2 miles from Michael's office and he can get there without getting on the freeway. It'll still probably take him 10-15 minutes, but far better than the hour+ commutes many people have!
I'm now back in SETX, but Michael is staying in NOVA until next Wednesday to transition with his predecessor. Thankfully, I have this coming weekend to look forward to, so hopefully I won't be too lonely . . .
I'm now back in SETX, but Michael is staying in NOVA until next Wednesday to transition with his predecessor. Thankfully, I have this coming weekend to look forward to, so hopefully I won't be too lonely . . .
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Starting a Trend
Last year, 3 days before heading off for our grand NYC/Mass. trip, I was in a pretty serious accident. I ended up having to take muscle relaxants and heavy duty painkillers for the entire trip. While I didn't let it stop our fun, it certainly was not my idea of the way to kick off a grand tour! Anyway, back to today . . . Michael and I are leaving on Thursday for a whirlwind house hunting trip in NOVA. (Oh, did I not tell you we are moving? Well, we are. To D.C. In a month. Eeek!) A trip where I need to be on the top of my game, as we'll probably be in and out of 30+ houses in the span of 2-3 days. So what happens while I'm on my way home? A lady (ON HER CELL PHONE. GRR!) rear-ends me while I'm stopped at a light, pushing me into the truck in front of me. Fortunately, he did not have a trailer hitch, otherwise my car would have sustained a lot more damage, maybe even been totaled. Coincidentally, the car in front of the truck was a State Trooper! Poor guy, he wasn't actually on duty yet, he was just on his way to his job in Orange, but we pressed him into service. I could tell he wasn't too happy about it. The truck owner decided he didn't have any damage and didn't want to wait around, so the state trooper allowed him to leave. The lady who hit me was very quick to apologize, take blame and give me her insurance information - but she DID NOT want the trooper to issue her a citation. I can't blame her, I wouldn't want a citation either, but even though the trooper offered to give us a blue form, which just details the incident for insurance purposes and leaves it to the insurance companies to assign blame, I dragged my feet. I knew with the damage to my car, both bumpers would have to be replaced and I didn't want there to be any chance that my insurance company (and me, considering our deductible) would have to eat that cost.
Fortunately, since it was a low-speed hit (I was stopped and she was going maybe 5 mph), I didn't feel like I really had any whiplash. Just to be safe, I called my good friend, Sue, who is a nurse (and whose husband we were supposed to bowl with tonight). She said that even though I didn't feel it right away, I probably would later, and I should go ahead and take the muscle relaxants and painkillers I had left over from last year's accident. I was concerned about how loopy the relaxants made me last time, though, so she recommended splitting the pill in half and taking half before bowling and half before bed. They are such small pills, though, it was hard to cut one, and I ended up with one 1/3 piece and one 2/3 piece. I took the 1/3 piece before bowling and even with that small amount I was three sheets to the wind! I hadn't planned on bowling anyway, since I didn't want to risk aggravating any sore muscles, but Larry thought I was pretty punchy. Guess I get a little mouthy when I'm all loosened up! ;-P
Hopefully, the day off tomorrow will be sufficient to rest my body for the DC trip, but suffice to say, I don't think I'll be making any cross-country trip plans for next July!!
Fortunately, since it was a low-speed hit (I was stopped and she was going maybe 5 mph), I didn't feel like I really had any whiplash. Just to be safe, I called my good friend, Sue, who is a nurse (and whose husband we were supposed to bowl with tonight). She said that even though I didn't feel it right away, I probably would later, and I should go ahead and take the muscle relaxants and painkillers I had left over from last year's accident. I was concerned about how loopy the relaxants made me last time, though, so she recommended splitting the pill in half and taking half before bowling and half before bed. They are such small pills, though, it was hard to cut one, and I ended up with one 1/3 piece and one 2/3 piece. I took the 1/3 piece before bowling and even with that small amount I was three sheets to the wind! I hadn't planned on bowling anyway, since I didn't want to risk aggravating any sore muscles, but Larry thought I was pretty punchy. Guess I get a little mouthy when I'm all loosened up! ;-P
Hopefully, the day off tomorrow will be sufficient to rest my body for the DC trip, but suffice to say, I don't think I'll be making any cross-country trip plans for next July!!
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