Pining for the Fjords

Don't start the journey in the middle!  Here is  Part 1  and here is Part 2 . Part of our planning for the move to California involved figuring out what to do with the dogs.  Obviously, we wouldn't be leaving them behind (I can see it now - house for sale, as is, 3 senior dogs included, non-negotiable), but given their size, age, and number, they wouldn't fit in just one car.  We pondered having Chris drive the truck back to Arizona on Friday, May 20th, and then we'd drive out the next day in a caravan with him and the girls in the truck (because we could pick them up and hoist them into the truck) and Harley and I in the Prius (he takes up the entire back seat, but he rides pretty comfy back there). As I happened to be discussing this with my buddy Kelley at work, she mentioned, "hey, why don't  you just rent an SUV and take everybody out all at once in one car?"  I thought it was a great idea - all the dogs could go in one vehicle (that was going...

Don't start the journey in the middle!  Here's Part 1 . When last we blogged (it's a group effort, really), Chris was living the bachelor lifestyle in a rental house in Glendora, California (well, a mid-30's bachelor lifestyle.  "Tonight, I made salmon and brussel sprouts for dinner!"), and I was back in Peoria, Arizona with the kiddos, packing everything we owned into a rental storage POD. Kaylee says watching Mom work is exhausting. I had a few days of cramming stuff in the POD and packing more boxes when Toni arrived for her annual trip to come see me; while I can't apologize enough for making her sleep on an air mattress (particularly once I took over said air mattress after she left and slept on it myself), it was a lovely break having her in town to distract me from the packing and moving madness for a few days. Getting ready to see the Queen tribute show at Casino Arizona. With the lovely Trisha and Murph who joined us fo...

Okay, everybody, now that the Kaua'i blogs are over, it's time for our latest adventures, including our move out west!  I know the Kaua'i blogs went on...and on...and on, but the timing ended up being pretty great, at least for me.  I could still meet my (self imposed) requirement of posting once each week, but I didn't have to try to create new posts in the madness of packing up a 2400 square foot house complete with two people and three gigantic, geriatric dogs, and moving everything 6 hours away to a 1000 square foot house (yes, really).  Plus, you guys got to look at gorgeous Hawaiian scenery while Chris and I were sweating our brains out lifting heavy furniture and seeing cardboard boxes in our sleep.  Win, win? Downtown Glendora, our new city of residence. Pretty cute, right? Moving on!  It's the main theme in our lives right now, as you'll see.  To give some backstory, for the last few months, Chris had been interviewing and speaking...

Want to read more?  Past blog posts:   Day 1 ,  Day 2, Part 1 ,  Day 2 Part 2 ,  Day 3 Part 1 ,  Day 3 Part 2 ,  Day 4 ,  Day 5 Part 1 , Day 5 Part 2 Our final morning was another early one for us; the alarm went off before it was light, and we took some quick showers before getting on the road and heading back to Lihue to catch our flight home to Phoenix.  The night before had been a somewhat rough one for me, as my stomach troubles from two nights earlier reappeared; thankfully, my issues were resolved with a quick bout of throwing up, and I once again felt fine when I awoke the next day.  As you may recall from a previous blog, we initially blamed my stomach problems on eating at Keoki’s, but since this was now a somewhat regular occurrence, we pondered the idea of a mild food allergy instead; I’ve never been allergic to anything at all, but perhaps I was eating something I never have at home that was triggering an issue....