Nana's Toy Box is Back in Business

Mark flew out to Virginia last Wednesday to finish up his time there and I have been busy putting our home together. OK, so tell me my priorities are skewed but I was determined to unpack and organize my craft and sewing rooms first. The dining room and master bedroom remain piled high with boxes and unpacked things waiting to be put away but I am happy to say the craft room and the sewing room are both done. Two rooms you ask? Well, it's like this. One room held both but sewing supplies spilled over into other rooms. We also had a separate shipping center that needed to be melded into my new space. The extra bedrooms in our new house are small, so it only made sense to use two of them for crafts and sewing. The spare room was stacked to the ceiling with boxes so as I unpacked them, it was easy to place them in the correct rooms. It was so wonderful hearing my sewing machine hum today and I was able to make some cloth doll diapers I had an order for. I also have a lady wanting to collaborate with me in her Hyena Store. She will use my Chinese dinner to help market her Chinese print smocks and I am happy to say, my inventory is all unpacked and organized so I can send her the dinner on time.

My craft room. Everything has a place!



My sewing room. Holds the computer I use for my embroidery machine and also holds my stock of fabric and inventory. I will put my cutting table in when its cleared off of things waiting to be put away!



I have a huge void in my life while apart from Mark but I'm trying to use my time productively. I've not ventured out much except to run to Joanns Fabric, the library, and the grocery store. I did have a dead battery issue with Marks truck, but after struggling to open the hood (note to self, do not park the front of the truck so close to the wall) and hooking it up to his battery charger, I was able to start the darn thing and run my errands. Rewarded myself with a Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks after the greasy ordeal, lol. Any excuse, right?
I am so in love with the area and have enjoyed the trips to the grocery store and examining and trying the large variety of food available here. I want to try everything! I found the most delicious bread and think it's a keeper. It's french bread but shaped and sliced like a regular loaf of bread and I eat it constantly. I know, I know, this is nothing new to those of you who live in cities, but I have lived in the rural south for 20+ years and I am so thrilled to have the many conveniences you all probably take for granted. Tomorrow I will start our bedroom and hopefully clean out a lot of the stuff we no longer want, need, or use.

Spring at our New Home

We are anxiously awaiting the movers arrival tomorrow; the delivery of our belongings! It will be like Christmas, I'm sure. The weather this weekend is HOT HOT HOT, in the 90's today. We spent yesterday driving to Petaluma to judge how long it will take to take Mark to the airport shuttle on Wednesday and it was about an hour ride...through Napa, beautiful wine country. It's a shame we're not wine drinkers because every winery has tour and tasting. We did agree that we will go to one during our tour here though. Mark's family drinks wine, so we hope they come and take advantage of the area. From Petaluma, we drove to the airport in San Fransisco to see if it was a trip I wanted to take by myself. We drove through the city and the temp was a good 20 degrees cooler on the coast. We came home via the Oakland bridge and even on Saturday the traffic bottlenecks on it. I said I would take him to either and he decided Petaluma would be easier, if not a longer day for him.
We went to the movies last night, something we seldom did before due to the distance. Here, the theater is only 10 minutes away! A wonderful date with the love of my life! We saw State of Play and both of us enjoyed the conspiracy movie.
The owner of our house apparently likes roses because there are at least a half dozen rose bushes in the yard. The flowers are huge and gorgeous! We're confused as to growing seasons here, the grass is brown in the summer and the nut trees in the yard (please, please, be pistachio trees!) are full of fruit that look like they are ending their cycle. I guess the agriculture will take some getting used to and I'm anxious to learn when things are planted and then harvested. The grapevines we saw yesterday looked like they were just sprouting, so who knows!

Home Sweet Home

We are in our new home; no household goods since the movers are...let me put on my surprised face...delayed until Monday. We got in Tuesday night to discover our surprise house was pretty decent and we'll do well here for the next two years. The houses are right on top of each other and our backyard is the size of a postage stamp but it's enough for the dogs and they are quite content. Peanut, the cat, also uses the new doggie door and lays around in the sun as well. We have spent the last few days exploring the area, marking my map for all the things I need, and I have to say, I have become pretty good at finding our way around. We are so not used to having anything close by, the once a month trip "into town" (Salisbury, MD) was an hour and a half trip and then our choices were still limited. Everything is within 15-20 minutes away and I love the fact that there is a Joann's Fabrics, Michael's Craft store, a fairly large mall, Staples, etc close by. We have a Joann's Superstore about 45 minutes away and it won't be bad to make that trip once in awhile. I got a CA drivers license my first day and they issue a temporary paper one and mail the real deal, eventually, I guess! I also got a library card and am thrilled it's a nice library and only a few blocks away. A nice change for sure! We bought a new couch so we're no longer sitting on the floor, and our new frig arrived today so we shopped for sandwich fixin's and frozen dinners we can cook in the microwave until our pots and pans arrive! Will be nice to eat in tonight. We've picked up some basics at Walmart, a 5 minute ride down the highway. We explored a wonderful quilt shop today and I enjoyed talking to the ladies. They immediately asked me to join a quilt guild and I insisted I was not a quilter, just a sewer who likes to piece fabric together, they laughed and said...uh huh. Seems to be a common theme amongst quilters! We got a tour of Mark's new station and it's certainly bigger than his old. I think he will be quite happy there! He borrowed a TV from one of the crew and he is less stir crazy now. I'm fine with a book or playing on the laptop but he sure does miss his TV and X Box! HA! The cable guy came today so we have more than 4 channels and real computer connections! I haven't started looking for a job yet, but Mark leaves on Wednesday to go back to VA for a month and I will explore the job opportunities after he leaves. I will be heading back to VA for his change of command and we're driving back across the country a 2nd time so starting a job and requesting 2 weeks off doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I'll use the time to set up house, explore the area some more, and prepare for my husband to join me permanently in a month. I am certain we will enjoy the next two years! Life is good...

We Are Home!

Well, we made it. 5 days, 3000+ miles, tired and sore, but we are home. We finished up AZ in the morning, entered Southern California and spent the day traveling north. The views were spectacular, as they have been on most of our trip.
Since we found our house online, we really had no idea of what or where we were moving but the town looks good so far and our house will be doable for the next year or two! The yard needs some work but it is small and the pups loved exploring every inch of it. There is some kind of nut tree in the back yard and considering the massive orchards of pistachio and almond trees we passed(not to mention the many roadside farm stands selling the same!), I'm hoping it is one of the two! We found our that our household goods have been delayed (let me put on my surprised face) and might not be here until Monday. Won't give Mark a lot of time to assemble things but we'll make do. We always do! We found Walmart last night and got a coffee pot and a few odds and ends to tie us over, loved having it only 3 miles up the highway. I might add, the Jelly Belly Factory is right next to the Walmart which is hidden away, out of sight, and by itself! The library is right down the road and looked fairly decent. It will be nice to have a good library near me again! We plan on checking out Mark's new station today, exploring the area, and maybe finding a new couch! Mark bought us each a map of the area and I have already scribbled on mine. I am afraid I will get lost getting out of the neighborhood! LOL.

What A breathtaking day

We definitely had beauty overload today as we drove through New Mexico. Every time we thought we had seen the most beautiful thing, we saw more. The whole eastern part of the state belongs to various Native American Nations and the view is almost overwhelming. Albuquerque was a great city to drive through, the buildings blend into the landscape; even the Lowes and Walmart were southwestern architecture. The highways are trimmed in turquoise color and the symbolism of the southwest is etched everywhere. A definite add to the "I could retire here" list!



Arizona was flat, filled with nothing but tumbleweed for miles and then we entered the mountain ranges! A mere 7335 feet elevation, patches of snow still covered parts of the area. Too far to visit the Grand Canyon, but one day we will!


We weren't really impressed with the scenery of Texas, but we have to admit, Texas knows how to do steak! We ate the most delicious meal at a steakhouse last night and we felt bad complaining about TX being nothing but cattle ranches!
We have laughed our way across America, my photography skills being the butt of many jokes. My intent was to take a picture of each state welcome sign and I have messed up everyone! If I managed to get the whole name in, it was too far away to see!

60% to our New Home

We left Little Rock, Arkansas this morning and traveled through Oklahoma in torrential downpours all day. The rain slowed to a slow drizzle while we walked the OK City Memorial. The experience was very touching and I am still in awe of the impact it left. The field of empty chairs was chilling and we walked the fences and saw the many gifts of memorials left by visitors. We swore we could see across the entire state of Texas, nothing but cows and fields for miles and miles. Flat, flat land! The wind fields were incredible and I can't imagine anyone (listen up Delaware) would oppose the gentle turning of the giant windmills. What an incredible source of power! We're trying to acclimate our bodies to the time changes and hope by the time we reach CA we are used to the 3 hour time difference. Tomorrow we drive across New Mexico and stop in Flagstaff, AZ for the night. We're looking forward to seeing the new sights!

The massive windfields

The field of empty chairs. Each chair is in memory of a victim, the 19 children have smaller chairs...overpowering

The Reflection Pool

The gate we walked through to enter the memorial. There is a gate on the other side of the plaza. Three times are marked on the gates. 9:01--the moment before the bombing, 9:02--the time of the bombing and 9:03--when America was changed forever...

The Journey Begins

Loading day was long, we were tired, crabby, and hungry as we watched the loading crew argue with the driver and our stuff sat in the same spot for what seemed like forever. The driver wanted to puzzle piece every box and piece of furniture and spent an hour finding just the right spot for each tier. The boys finally quit at 5PM and we pondered how much the moving company was going to pay us to load the rest of our stuff in the truck! Mark called the dispatcher and they promised to send another crew and that we would be loaded TODAY. Three hours later another crew finally showed and they loaded the last of our belongings at 1145 PM. It had to set a record for the slowest loading of a household! Now, I know we have a lot of 'stuff' but this was ridiculous! Okay, they had a good 6 inches to spare when they were done.

Mark thought we should just have a yard sale and say forget it as we watched our stuff sitting in the front yard and the road, unmoved, for hours.

We got some sleep, woke early, and we were on the road at 9AM. Peanut cried for a long while and then settled down in his carrier. The pups knew a road trip was coming when collars were put on and Roscoe immediately went to the car. They rode great, cooperated at stops, did their 'duty' when given the chance and loaded right back up. Not sure if they will be so enthusiastic on days 4 and 5! I guess I put my bag of stuffing too close to Bandit, the ferrets, cage because we found his cage filled with stuffing when we made our first stop.
The pups just enjoying the ride, they were awesome the first day!

Best Western, a pet friendly motel in Knoxville, TN, was a welcome sight after a long day in the car. We weren't sure about dragging the animals through the lobby and up the elevator but no one gasped and the dogs were just happy to be out of the car! Peanut and the pups have explored every corner of the room and are thrilled to be walking around as we wait for pizza to be delivered. We look forward to seeing our beautiful country....until next time...


Relaxation time after a 10 hour drive.

The Journey Has Begun

The packers arrived this morning, 7 of them to pack up our household. I'm sure they cringed when they saw all our stuff, but boy do they have this down to a science! The poor girl in my craft room said she can't see her progress, but believe me, I can. I am quite emotional today, torn between excitement over the new adventure and incredible sadness at leaving my friends and the home we have built over the past four years. We spent a wonderful and relaxing weekend in Cape Cod with Nancy, dragging one of my best friends, Jenna, with us and it was so great having our last time together at the Cape. Of course, my computer is already packed and that's where the photo's are from the trip but will post them when we settle in our new home. We spent the weekend laughing and just enjoying being together.