Schtuff

Alrighty folks.
We've had a stressful few days trying to tie up loose ends that seem to be everywhere, but I think it's safe to say we've got almost everything in place.

(When I say we, you should know that I mostly mean Josh. He does all of the business and phone calls around these parts. I haven't really figured out what my job is yet, but I'm afraid to ask for fear that I'll be given one.)

We have a signed lease, so that's a big relief.

Josh made about a zillion phone calls today, because our van registration just expired and when we tried to renew our Idaho plates we were told we couldn't.
Despite the fact that we are homeowners there, apparently we either have to be working in the state, or have an Idaho driver's license to keep the plates. So now we're jumping through hoops to try to re-register in Michigan, which is made a lot harder when you don't have a printer, scanner, faxer, etc.

Not to mention, we don't even have the van.

We are looking into switching car-shipping companies to one that might actually get our van here.
Baby steps.
We got a quote and a date range from an actual person with a transport truck today, so that's promising. We have to wait until Monday to confirm.
If that falls through, Josh is considering flying out to North Carolina and driving it here himself.
 
Then Josh spent another hour or so on the phone setting up utilities and internet for the house.
I would say that on about 30% of the phone calls, he was transferred to another department that didn't really exist and made him wait another 15 minutes calling back.
My duty during the phone calls is to keep the children quiet. In our itty bitty hotel room.

In summary, moving is painful.

The good news is that Monterey is gorgeous.
Every time I step outside and see the ocean, I get all excited that we get to live here, even if it's for a short time.

I can't wait to show you the views from our rental house. Incredible!


Ooh, ooh-- we got new cell phones, which means that the average 5th grader no longer has a better phone than I do.

And guess where we're headed tomorrow??
Yep.
Disneyland.

Our house isn't available until May 1st, so it surely seemed silly to sit around here driving each other batty. I was pleasantly surprised that we were able to get hotel reservations on such short notice, but we did and off we go!
Josh had to beg some space from the people in his work area, because the Corolla can't fit all the stuff that he brought out along with all the things the kids and I had.
I spent the morning doing laundry and repacking suitcases into "Disney" and "Not Disney."

Then Josh went to work and said: "Hi, I'm Josh. I'm new here. Can I have a corner of your office to store these suitcases and these children's schoolbooks and this Hello, Kitty boombox? Gee, Thanks."

They probably think he's a little weird.

If only they knew his wife.

I believe our hotel has wifi, and it can't possibly be any slower than what we've got now. So I'll try to stay in touch while we're in the LA area.
Let the post-deployment vacation begin!