Whew!!

The past week has been a whirlwind...and yesterday we finally got internet. A week without internet, now THAT is tough on your system.

Lets see, arrived in San Diego on Thursday...went to On the Border for lunch after the airport, then got to work, packing up.

Friday, some errand running...getting the car an oil change, a Walmart run, then finished packing and loading the Penske truck and were heading out by 4 pm. We drove (in the worst of San Diego commuter traffic) and stopped just past Yuma, AZ. Colby did very good, watching traffic and for a while, we thought we had a 'travel' cat...we were wrong. Stayed at a nice Microtel. Decided we were not going to set a schedule, and wake up when we wake up.

Saturday, woke up and headed out @9am. Colby started to show his colors and we gave up and gave him one of those 'settle' down pills, OH MY!! He got grumpy...like biting me and Cierra..grumpy. After the pill, he was able to sleep..it was nice. And when he woke up in the evening...he was much more mellow. We are hauling a trailer with Chris's car, so we can only go about 50mph. So its a comfortable 'lolly lag' across AZ and New Mexico..but we stop after El Paso for the night. At a 8 hotel..I can't remember the rest of the name, but it was horrible. because we are travelling with a pet, they put is in a smoking room. DISGUSTING!!!

Sunday, head out toward Fort Worth! Because of our great experience at the previous Microtel, we change our reservations from Best Western to Microtel in Euless (near the airport) and it is NICE..best customer service at the counter also. The drive with Colby is very much like Saturday...you can really tell he is getting sick of the car. Once we get to the hotel, he 'goes nuts', enjoys having space to run. I get my own room here, love the kids, but I need my own space also. The kids set up their laptops in the room...and start emailing realtors and responding to ads for home rentals.

Monday..I make some phone calls from the newspaper ads and set up a house viewing in Arlington. This will be the first of about 7 house we look at...hmmmmm.

Okay, ad says 1600 sq foot home, near lake and golf course...what we saw was..gross. No other word for it. the outside siding on the side of the house is rotting. The master bath was ugly and small and the kitchen had a dead cockroach in the middle of the floor. And the neighbors, literally had trash in their front yard and alongside the house. Right, we are going to put my little "Miss Orange County" dd in a house like that. We scooted out of there quickly. We drove by another house in Arlington, then cancelled the tour with the fellow. Just knew by the outside that it was not for them.

Actually, dd grew up in a 'hick' town in central CA...but spent 4 years in the OC for college and the past year in North San Diego married to her Marine...so, she has So. Cal tastes.

We then headed North...to North Fort Worth. and LOVED the first house... 2000 sq foot, 4 bedrooms, the layout is perfect the amenities, including a kitchen with an island...just loved it. And it set a standard for the other 4 houses... Only one house, that was similar came close, but it was for $200. So they were torn...one they LOVE for a little higher (that is not as 'clean') or the 2nd place..not loved as much, cleaner, for a little less. So, dd calls the owner of the LOVE house and asks for the key code so we can take a 2nd look and make sure it is LOVE and not relief after the 'gross' house...ya know. She tells him about the other house and that it is less...and that is tempting to the kids. To make a long story short (Ha!)...he brings the price down and it is love not relief, so we move in on Tuesday.

Now to put it in perspective, in San Diego, they were paying $15 less per month for a one bedroom apartment...here they are getting a 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 living room, laundry room, garage, backyard...huge kitchen with an island...they are very happy. And so is Colby, he has been going 'insane' with all the running he can do and the exploring.

So, Tuesday, we move in. Now it is just us 3. and with my back I am worthless to move heavy furniture. Luckily, there are only 3 or 4 pieces that I cannot help with. We do it in shifts..unload truck, put away stuff. So it actually goes pretty smooth. I do kitchen, dd does master closet (these kids are clothes collectors, so it is pretty full) then she does master bath. Chris sets up washer/dryer and sets up the office...

Weds and Thurs...SHOPPING, organizing and cleaning.

We got to Ikea, to pick up the stuff in my room. A twin bed and a desk area. I have my own little scrap corner in Fort Worth!!

At first, dd is not 'into' it.. but eventually even she starts calling it the scrap room!! Yay, Yay, Yay. And I worked on the project I brought.

So here we are, Friday morning, pretty much settled in. Yesterday we picked up a Christmas tree at Walmart...so we have the last of the furniture to build, (hey, Marine-income budget, so buildable furniture) and a tree to decorate. We are all looking forward to a
'home' day.

And on Sunday, I plan to leave for Houston to visit my sisters...
Hope I can do it, cuz yesterday, while driving on the 114...I had a mild anxiety attack. I'm sure not used to crazy freeway systems, yesterday alone we went to the 35W S to 820 E...then back over
820W to 35W N to 170E to 114E (where I had my li'l episode) (had to stop at a Michael's to settle down)...dd took over to the 121 N to get to an Ikea. Its been like that EVERYday! I'm used to one North to South freeway I5, merging to one East West Freeway 580...this was tooo much for me!!

And so is this long post...I'll come back later and do a shorter post about little miss OC adjusting to Texas...ha!!!!!