AAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

You've got to be freakin' kidding me!!!!

The house move is postponed AGAIN!!!!

Turns out the permit application was missing some information and the permit will not be ready by Sunday. Now the word is the house will move on Sunday Dec. 9th.

Crimeny. Give a girl a break already!!!

Snow (sort of)

Woke up to a dusting of snow this morning! Not a big deal to you folks in Utah but certainly a little thrill to me. Matt is in Los Angeles again for work so he missed it. But not to worry. With our luck it will snow on the day of the house move so he will get to "enjoy" it on that day.

Una debates going out into the white stuff. She ended up stepping out just to the edge of the snow and then decided it was better to be inside.

Someone else was more adventurous than Una. My guess is Quinten.

A few steps closer

Well, things are still moving forward on the house. While we were in Utah, the crew came up and rotated the house so that the back is now the front. This will make it easier for them when they set it in position in our yard. From what I understand, the ramp will be built on Friday and/or Saturday and the house will be on the road at 7am Sunday morning. We will have utility crews from the cable company and the power company out with us. Each crew will cost about $1300. That sucks. I really hoped we would be able to move the house on a weekday and not have to pay time and a half but, after all the delays, I am just glad it will be moved at all. The hemorrhaging bank account seems the least of my worries. In case you are wondering, the weather from now until well into next week, including moving day, is rain and snow showers. Joy.

Thanksgiving

Another Thanksgiving. Another whirlwind trip to Utah. We started off in Park City with Doug and Nancy. Then we headed to Roy for a night with Kim and Angie. After that it was off to Ogden for 2 nights with my parents. Then, back south to Salt Lake with Dar and Win and finally one last night in Park City. We had a wonderful time visiting with our families and, as always, we felt there just wasn't enough time. We spent Thanksgiving Day at Kim and Angie's house. They did a great job hosting. Angie had everything all ready to go by the time we got there Wednesday night so there wasn't much for us to help with. We just got to sit back and enjoy the day. Doug and Nancy arranged for a day of 4-wheeling. I'm kind of a chicken but I threw caution to the wind and was able to keep up with the pack. It was REALLY fun.

Kate, Nancy, Doug, Jason, Me, Matt

No, I didn't get a tan. I have dirt everywhere. My teeth, my ears, my eyebrows, my fingernails, are all filled with grains of grit. Yum.

I almost don't dare to type this

We have a moving day!!!! Our house mover's wife just called. In the midst of the funeral and whatnot she got word that the permit is ready and so we can move forward. The tentative plan is to build a ramp out of the property the house is on now the day after Thanksgiving. We won't be here for that - you knew it would shake down like this didn't you? Moving day will be Dec 2nd. Matt has plans to be working in Los Angeles then but will probably change his ticket. Everybody cross your fingers now!! I won't even bother to ask what else could go wrong. We have crossed so many hurdles already on this house move I don't want to tempt fate.

R.I.P. Wayne Grippin. Your wife is a quality individual. She is very professional, even in the face of tragedy.

Friq and Fraq no more *cry*

2 Nissans are better than one!

It's the end of an era. Friq and Fraq got Washington license plates this week. We didn't bother to get vanity plates this time because one of them (shhh, it's Fraq) is going to have to be sold so I can buy a vehicle suitable for mail delivery. Of course I won't be selling Fraq if I didn't pass my USPS driving test. I took the test up in Tacoma on Friday. It is really weird to be tested on something that had become somewhat instinctual - second nature if you will. I assume I will pass. I am not a bad driver - haven't had a ticket since Jan 1990 - so here's hoping the test went alright. I won't have results for about 3 weeks! Back to Friq and Fraq, we love these cars. I will really miss Fraq when we sell it.

Hot Cat

Some sappy sucker (me) bought Una a heated cat bed. Having a heated bed isn't enough for this princess. She must have her bed up against the space heater for maximum heating. What can I say? She's old. She has made me very, very happy over the last 14ish years. I can't help but indulge her.

Volcano Boys

Matt and James trying out their X-ray vision. Somewhere in those clouds is Mt. St. Helens

Some pics of the last few days

On Friday Bailee joined me on a trip to Portland to pick Matt up from the airport. I had a grand plan that we would do some shopping on Hawthorne street, graze on munchies from the Indian grocery and perhaps have an appetizer at the Vietnamese restaurant and then head over for some "fun" at Ikea before heading to the airport. After picking Matt up we would go out for a nice dinner. My plans were bigger than my time frame. I picked Bailee up from school but we were delayed in getting to Portland because I had to stop in Longview to pick up some copies of our revised footing plan. When we finally got to Portland it was nearly 4:30. As luck would have it James, who is on a road trip from Utah, arrived in Portland just before us so we met on Hawthorne street and did a little shopping at the bookstores and specialty markets. I am sure Bailee was bored to tears though she didn't show it! We left Hawthorne to go to Ikea (the part of the trip Bailee was most excited about) but I misjudged how long it would take to get there. By the time we arrived we only had 20 minutes before Matt's plane landed (Ikea is airport adjacent). But, as luck would have it, his plane was early so after 5 minutes in Ikea we got a call from him wondering where we were. Sorry Bailee! Maybe we can do Ikea up right next time. Bailee, James, Matt and I then went to dinner at the Blue Moose Cafe - where the pic above was taken.

On Saturday after breakfast at the local truck stop (surprisingly good!) we did some illegal wandering in Lewis & Clark State Park. We didn't know it but the park closed in October. We are not great rule followers. We left our car on the side of the road and went in on foot. So beautiful!

Here is a tree growing out of an old stump.

A shot of the canopy

Beautiful lichen growing on the side of a fallen tree.

Rock Bottom

After leaving message after message I've been getting more and more angry that our house mover hasn't called us back about the status of our permits and a moving day. I called him again this morning at 7:30. His wife answered. She told me he died on Wednesday. I can't imagine there are any more curve balls coming our way that can trump this. She was very kind, especially considering it just happened the day before yesterday. She asked for a few days to sort things out and get his moving crew regrouped and said she would call us back. I told her to take the time she needed. I mean what are construction deadlines in the face of death? It's a good thing I don't have high blood pressure.

I have plenty on my plate today to keep my mind off the house stuff. I have freelance work to do, I need to clean the shop in preparation for James' visit tonight, I have long overdue filing to get under control and I need that all done by 2:30 because I am picking Bailee up from school and she is joining me on a trip to Portland to pick Matt up from the airport. What's that old adage? Something about having the strength to deal with what is in my control and the patience to deal with what is out of my control? I am practicing that now.

Spooks

Bailee & Matt

Bailee & Michelle

I assisted with her wardrobe and make-up. I forgot what a mess that greasy Halloween makeup is. Greasy face paint combined with a giggling subject makes precision goth make-up just about impossible. Oh, and Bailee superglued those piercings onto her face. Clever (and crazy) girl! In case you forgot what Bailee looked like before her Halloween makeover you can revisit this post and check the bottom photo.