21 more days to Packing D-Day

I have been organizing, throwing out and making the necessary trips to the local thrift shop and I think I'm ready to start packing! That was my thought this morning, so I started to pack mid afternoon. I now have 6 boxes done and my entire entertainment center and book shelf clean. It feels pretty good now that I at least have this much done.

I have 21 days left to get my belongings, well at least the things that I want to take, packed and ready for the POD. Its a guess as to how much I can fit into this "U-Haul" POD. I mean I've got the measurements that they gave me but until I actually see it it's just hard to tell. I plan to go to the local U-Haul place on Monday so maybe that will help :)

Truely, I can only think of how much everything hurts right now.....ow. I went through this 2 days ago when I cleaned out the kitchen pantry & cabinets and then also the bathroom cabinets too. It took me a whole day after that to feel normal again. This back surgery recoup is tricky to say the least. Anyway,  I gathered 6 bags of trash and they were a bit heavier than I expected or needed them to be so in pain is what I am. But the real revelation was what I came across as I cleaned and I also found it hard to believe that I actually had that much "junk" that I wasn't using! What was I thinking holding on to 5 lotion bottles that only had a 1/4 of an inch of lotion left? And "scrunchies" bahahahaha, yep I said scrunchies. I still felt the need to hang onto several and in a variety of colors to match all my outfits. Oh dear, It was definitely time to do this.

I found a few other things in my cleaning frenzy that made me laugh as well but definitely not mentionable :) take my word.

I will have to work on the art room next but I really hesitate doing this because then everything that I adore working on or with will be packed away. Its inevitable though, it has to be done and I'll be there before I know it. I hope I still believe that sentence once the tape is on the last box of crafts/ paints and material.

The great thing about this traveling adventure is that I will have some wonderful pictures and some fabulous quality time with my oldest daughter

Lets see what I have in my pictures "bag of tricks" to post and then I'm off to bed. My back is finally starting to relax and I'm going to take advantage of this glorious feeling.

Here's to a good nights rest and some beautiful dreamz,

Michelle

A Beautiful Sunday..... to remember

This is the day America changed ....forever.....for... always. The day that my comfort zone was disturbed, that day that I will always remember and never forget. Its engraved in my soul like a hot iron... branding life. I know where I was, I know what I was doing at that very moment, as well as almost every human being in the United States of America.

I was in shock, and for the first time in my life I really started to understand what it might be like to live in another country where fighting of this intensity went on daily. I watched, as did many others, the planes crash into the twin towers that day not wanting to believe. And I  just couldnt understand how this could happen to US, the United States of America.

I was working with one of my clients and his cell phone rang, he said a few things to the person on the other end of the phone and then hung up. He said, Michelle, turn on your tv to CNN, my friend just said that we should and that it was important. I turned it on and there we watched the first tower with a hole in the upper side of the building, smoke violently rolling out of the gaping hole.

We said nothing to each other, trying to make sense of what was happening and I guess digesting the possibilities. My mind was the optimistic one thinking that somehow a plane just flew too low and the instrumentation miscalculated something, somehow. We both sat there, honestly, sat there and said nothing to one another. Until we then viewed the 2nd plane slam into the next tower and the conversation flood gates broke loose....

We were now both speaking at the same time with thoughts of our own begging to make sense of what we were now seeing. Really, is this really happening? And then as the time passed another report, now of the pentagon being hit. My mind is now wondering where my children are and how I can get them home as quick as possible. I didnt know what to do first.

I began receiving calls from other clients that I would see that day reporting on what they had seen and their take on what we were experiencing and suddenly interjected into that was the next report of Alaquippa. Things became very still in the air, as if we were in the eye of the storm. I dont think I've ever experienced the sound of air silence before. You never really realize that so much is going on around you until all that is going on.. stops.

I then received a call from another client saying that she just saw and heard 2 fighter jets fly by her house in the opposite direction of Cleveland Air. Our thoughts were that they must be chasing someone. By this time the activity with the towers were being reported with the possibilities of terrorism, so seeing fighter jets fly by was alarming. Not more than 10mins later the jets flew back towards Cleveland and I really wanted to see my kids, now.

I still can't believe it, I don't think I will ever, really, understand how this happened to our beautiful America. How, Why...and why didnt we see it coming. America, the land of the free and the brave lulled into a false sense of security by what? By whom? Im not political in the slightest but this day made me think about the why's and the who's.

This is what I was doing on 9-11.......Where were you?

God Bless America ,

Michelle

A Very Good Morning

Good morning to everyone in bloggerland, Im trying to write as my kitten chews on my feet..silly cat. She seems content to lay under my feet and clean her beautiful fur as I write as long as I dont put my feet back on the ground!

I woke up lazily this morning which is always a great feeling. My Sophia (my kitten) was very cuddly and decided that staying in bed was a great idea so we did. I didnt get up until 10am! Not the usual for me, im usually up by 7, mostly because Sophia is an early riser. Kittens just dont understand beauty sleep, they are in play mode 24/7.

Ive finished my purse and am still working on my elf-Mahdreen. I am going to put her body together and take some pictures today. I had a bit of a set back with my car the last few days so its been the attention grabber. Hmm, I seem to be calling in all the fix it energy this week :)

I decided to take my car into the shop to have the A/C looked at, need to know the price before I decide if Im going to replace it. So I take it to a local shop, the owner is someone Ive known from one of the CC's that Ive worked at. He has a guy look at it and tells me that Im looking at over 1000.00, ugghhhh! Not what I wanted to hear at this point. I know that I have to have it fixed before I move. I cant very well drive across the states in a car that doesnt have a/c, especially with a passenger and my cat. Im not happy about any of this and on top of that he tells me that I need a new tire! I just bought them 2 yrs ago!!! I tell him and he says, well the hole is on the side so I cant plug it. He puts on my spare(cause im not going to buy a tire from him cause Im po'd about the price of the a/c) which now days is a donut sized tire only meant to get you to the shop to get another tire! double grrrrrrr. So I tell him to just do the oil change and I'll pick up the car.

I arrive at the shop and exchange pleasantries with the owner and he then gives me a bill for 97 dollars! now Im fuming, what the heck did I just pay for. I was so mad I couldnt even see straight. $97 dollars? really, for an oil change? He said, well we have to charge for checking the a/c. Honestly, really? So I pay the $97 and take my car and the donut and go home to cry for awhile.

So the next day I decide that I have to look for tire prices and get this tire situation under control cause I cant even begin to work on organizing stuff for the move without transportation. I finally take it to a place next door to my complex, sounds citified doesnt it? but its not, just happens to be an NTB a block away for some reason. The area is very wooded and then sprinkled with civilization in places that just dont seem right, haha. So I have my tire replaced for $79 and Im still looking into the a/c.

I said all that to say.......I have really been trying to get back into the art room where my sanity resides and I think today is the perfect day to do it.