Distracted and Distressed!

I'm hoping that after this week, we're over the hump as far as the home buying process goes. Those of you who have done this before may advise me otherwise. But please, if you know things probably will get worse after this point, just keep that to yourselves. I need a day or two with no drama :).

Pete has been banking with Star One Credit Union, who is affiliated with his employer. They are a California bank but he setup his account with them right after he got his job, 5 years ago. It's where the bulk of his savings is. So, logically, he went through them for the pre-approval of our mortgage. And he was pre-approved for the full amount of the mortgage, without even adding my income! So, we thought we were in the clear.

Then, we made an offer on 'the perfect house'. We started going through the next steps of getting the appraisal, etc. and the bank started calling Pete about repairs that they wanted to be done prior to closing. Now, there are a few minor things that we were going to take care of after closing, with a credit the sellers were going to give back to us, but we are not willing to put up money to take care of these things before the house is ours. Things like a torn screen door and superficial cracks in some mortar around a window and the chimney flu being stuck open; all of these little things, Star One demanded that we get repaired by a licensed contractor or they wouldn't finance the loan. That was another issue; Pete had planned to fix these issues himself. All the while, the clock is ticking to get the appraisal done, which they hadn't even started yet.

Star One also had problems with the debt ratio, which is crap. I won't go into too many details there. But trust me, debt is definitely not a problem. We know they were figuring in the ratio after the mortgage payment, taxes and insurance. But after working with a mortgage broker, we found out that Star One was factoring in about 3 times as much for insurance than is average for a home of this size and price.

One thing we did to increase our comfort level was to add my income to the loan application. I went to the branch where our designated loan officer was, to complete the paperwork and give them all of my financial documents. They were complete shits to me! Sorry, mom, or anyone else who might be offended by that statement, but there's really no other more accurate statement. The loan officer Pete had been working with belittled me to the point where I was told I had to explain every detail of my 'situation' including why my employer was located in Illinois, why I'm living in California, how long I lived in WV, down to the fact that Pete and I are applying for a mortgage together even though we are not married. SERIOUSLY?!! Come on, people, this IS California! Same-sex couples finance homes together all the time without being legally married and I bet they didn't deal with half the scrutiny I did. They probably didn't go to this bank and deal with Alex H. either!

One thing I've learned over the years about customer service is this: if you provide excellent customer service, you're not afraid for people to know who you are and be able to contact you or your supervisor if they aren't satisfied. Well, our loan 'asshole' and his direct supervisor, Maricella, neither one would give me last names or business cards so that I could contact them directly. I asked specifically for their cards. Maricella only wrote down on a blank sheet of paper, her first name and email address and Alex would only tell me that he could be reached if I called the bank and asked for 'Alex H.' Nice, huh?!

So, when Pete got home and I told him about my experience, he was livid. I told him that we had to write the bank a letter, from him, stating that he was aware and 'willing' to apply jointly for a mortgage with me. Bullshit, right? Well, he agreed. They treated me like I was a freaking criminal, instead of a prospective customer!

The next day, (yesterday) our realtor started calling Alex, to see where we were in regards to the appraisal. Even though Pete had ordered the appraisal three days prior to this point, Alex said that he hadn't ordered our appraisal because he wasn't sure that we would be approved for the loan. With all of the other road blocks they've put in our way, this time it's credit drama with me. I've successfully recovered from a terrible situation I got myself into almost 10 years ago. But apparently Star One did not want to finance us because my credit score is less than 740. They had other reasons, but Alex was plain out shitty to our realtor and called Pete, leaving an equally disgusting message that we were not approved for the mortgage, either with my income or without. They wouldn't even approve him!! Even after the pre-approval!

Needless to say, Pete will be taking his money and our business elsewhere. After all of that drama, we were pretty strung out because the clock is ticking. We have 17 days in our contract contingency. We're almost a week in. And usually it takes several days to get a mortgage finalized. So, we went to our realtor's office and met with a mortgage broker who works with them. He was great! Tony took our information right there and was able to tell us about any possible issues he saw and found a bank he was sure would approve the mortgage. He said he worked with this particular bank all the time and would work with them to get things moving quickly. So, after almost a week of terrible treatment with Star One, we feel much better after spending 2 hours with our new mortgage broker. No, the rate isn't quite as good as what Pete was 'pre-approved' for, but Tony told us that with all the hassle Star One was putting us through, they probably never intended to finance us at the low rate they pre-approved anyway. Awesome, right?

Now that we're back on track with the mortgage, everything feels much better. But knowing Pete, I'm sure Star One, Maricella A. and Alex H. have not heard the last of us. And, after meeting with Tony, I cried for a few minutes and shook my fists dramatically in the air at Alex H. and Maricella A. Then, I made myself a drink, we watched Superbad and laughed our butts off.

Today is Friday. It's not my normal 'blog updating' day. But I thought this was an appropriate outlet for my frustrations about what we've been through this week. I had an appointment with the DMV to get my registration and driver's license switched over to California yesterday, but had to cancel to go meet with Tony. So, I'm going to try and get that taken care of today, even though I don't have an appointment. Tremendous luck with probably be needed. Either way, I have a backup appointment on July 28.

Hopefully when I update next week, things are still progressing nicely. We're supposed to go to the house over the weekend, or maybe even today, to meet with a contractor to look at some HVAC and wiring 'stuff' we're getting done after closing. At that time, I told Pete, I would be deciding where to place our furniture :). That's always a nice, happy thing to do! I may even take my tape measure!

Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend :)

As Always,
Easily Distracted

Anticipation or Anxiety, Part 2

Hello everyone! Well, even though I just posted last week before I came back to CA, kind of alot has happened since then :).

My flight back to Sunny, CA was both eventful and uneventful at the same time. We boarded the plane and ended up sitting on the ramp for almost 2 hours due to thunder and lightening in the area. That was the eventful part. The uneventful part was that I was lucky enough to have a later connection from Las Vegas to San Jose, so I didn't have to stay over and fly back the following morning. Of course, it wouldn't have been much of a hardship to HAVE to stay in Las Vegas for a night, would it? But you know, after a trip like that, ya just want to get home! So, instead of getting into San Jose at 9pm, it was 11pm. LONG day, but like I said, things could have been much worse.

We submitted an offer on a house on Friday morning! The owners countered; we accepted their counter and then they accepted the whole deal, I guess today. So, barring any complications with the inspections we're having done, looks like Pete and I are going to be homeowners in the next month! Very exciting. And very scary too! I'm so excited to have our own home. But I'm also scared out of my mind to have that much debt, knowing I wouldn't be able to do it on my own. That's where I have to trust a little bit more. I'm so used to being on my own, at least financially, that this 'together' thing is different! So, that's the big news of the hour. We went to see the house on Saturday and I absolutely love it. it's got a gardenia bush in the front that smells amazing and it's in a very nice, quiet neighborhood. I didn't post any additional pics on the Sunny Vista page, but that's the one! Seems like I'm having issues posting pictures and getting everything to line up. So, I left it, with the update that that's the one for us! I went ahead and removed all the others from the house hunting area.

This week, I also plan to get my car registered here and get my California driver's license. Exciting, but again, a little daunting. I officially will be a 'California girl' then :). So, I've been finding out about everything I have to have for that and I made an appointment to get it all taken care of Thursday afternoon. Perfect timing, since Thursday is payday! I have an appointment today to get a smog inspection/certificate for my car. I can't get it registered without that, so I figured I'll go ahead and take care of it.

So, here I am, taking care of business. Pete and the feline divas were very happy to have me home. Paris peed on my running shoes, to make sure I wouldn't be using them to leave anytime soon, but otherwise, they've settled down and things are back to normal. Hopefully we can do without the drama from them the next time I go back to WV.

That's about it for now! Thanks for reading :)

As Always,

Easily Distracted

HOT Holiday Weekend!!

Well, I hope this finds everyone happy and rested after the Independence Day weekend. In just the few weeks I spent living in California, I was VERY spoiled by the weather there. Don't get me wrong, I love hot, sunny weather but MAN, the humidity here! Of course, the temperatures were up all weekend, but it really did seem humid to me. Everyone around me talked about how it wasn't, though. And it looks like it's going to be hot all week, which is fine by me. I love the sunshine. I told Pete that California weather is perfect for me; sunny and mild!

I didn't even have to work much over the holiday, which was a pleasant surprise! I put in a couple of hours from home on Saturday, just to do some filing and checking emails, etc. but didn't come in to the office :).

Pete found us another house on Saturday and this one looks better than the others we've been interested in, so I'm excited! I've given him 'permission' to make an offer based on his comments and the pictures I've seen, so he's going to call the bank and check on his loan pre-approval today and possibly go see this house again this evening. Of course, if we make an offer, it's totally possible that we'll close on the house while I'm back here in WV next month, but I think we can work with the dates, so we'll see. I'll post pictures tonight, maybe.

So, what did I do over the holiday weekend? I enjoyed myself, that's for sure! I lounged by the pool Saturday and Sunday for a few hours. Had a girls night out with my sister and her friend BJ Saturday night, which was well-needed :). We had Mexican and Margaritas for dinner and then went to see Eclipse, which was really good. Sunday, I went with my sister and her friends to see Craig Morgan in concert at the park here in Fairmont. GREAT show! I wasn't expecting to enjoy it so much! And, of course, the people watching at these events is second to none :). Monday, I endured pooltime in the blazing heat for a couple of hours (that was about as long as we could stand it) with my sister and then I took her and my mom out for dinner for their birthdays. Fun was had by all. But the part I feel the best about is that when I got home from dinner, I cleaned house. I took trash out, vacuumed and took care of some clutter. Now that I don't have the kitties, I can clean knowing the cat hair probably will stay away. Trust me, it's a good feeling :).

After dealing with Pete's frustration over the feline divas last week, he calmed down some and things started to even out again. I'm sure Paris was freaked out about me being gone, but he said she seemed to be better. Then yesterday, he called to let me know that she's been using her travel carrier as a toilet, so that's awesome. He's convinced that she'll ruin whatever house we decide to buy, within weeks. So, I'm sure the welcoming committee will be enthusiastic when I get back to Sunny California, Friday night. I'm praying that after they know I'm coming back, maybe the next time I leave them they won't punish Pete so badly. We shall see.

So, this week should be busy. My goal is to keep my nose to the grindstone and do my work while I'm at work and ignore everything else. I've got dinner plans with my friend Carol, movie plans with my Daddy and that just about takes care of my 'free-time' in the evenings :). Then, I'll be heading West on a 4pm flight this Friday.

Easily Distracted really is 'On the move' now!

Take care!

As Always,
Easily Distracted ;)

Feels Like the First Time

Ok so that title is kinda stupid, but I heard that song on the radio on my way to work this morning and thought I'd steal it :).

'Feels like the first time' kinda describes the way I felt when I walked into the office yesterday morning. A little excited; a little nervous. But after I got here and fired up my laptop everything was as if I'd never left. Kinda. I mean, there are a few people who are acting weird, but I guess you'll have that.

My flight Wednesday was uneventful, without delays which was very nice. Except I started out by having to go through a fairly thorough inspection by one of the TSA agents. Not sure why but it didn't get me down. I kind of laughed about it most of the morning. Of course, if I'd been running late that might have changed, but whatever.

So, I'm here in my hometown of Fairmont, WV for the next week for work. They set me up with a nice, rugged, sort of beat-up, pick-up truck complete with the safety strobe, backup alarm and highway cones in the bed :). But it has wheels and pretty safely gets me from here to there, so I'm tickled with it!

While yesterday was fine for me in many aspects, I got an unsettling text from Pete mid-morning. I'd purchased some bean bag chairs for us to sit on when we watch tv and one arrived Wednesday evening. When I talked to Pete before bed Wednesday night, he was happy. Thursday morning, he texted me that I'd better get another bean bag chair because Paris ruined the one we'd just received. AWESOME.

So, right away I called him. He seemed ok. Said he'd just gotten up. It was only about 7am there. I asked what happened and he said Paris had peed on the new, twill bean bag chair. Then he started into how he was going to look for a second job so he could keep up with all the furniture we're going to have to replace if she kept peeing on stuff. He even said he was thinking about selling all of the furniture we have in storage because it was all bound to be ruined anyway. And he told me all of this in a normal, conversational voice which usually is not a good sign. So I started apologizing and said I didn't know what to do about Paris. I told him he could put the cats in the bathroom when he's not there, to be sure. But apparently when I say 'I don't know what to do' about anything, it sets him off. So, we weren't talking much and he asked if I had anything to say since neither of us were talking. I told him I was sorry and I didn't know what else to talk about because he sounded so mad. He said he wasn't mad; he'd just woken up but that I was making him very angry. So we hung up pretty fast after that.

I went about my day fairly normally. I was pretty exhausted yesterday so I left work at a reasonable time to go home and check out my apartment and go through my mail. I had a nice, relaxing evening. Watched New Moon for the hundredth time, in preparation for going to see Eclipse on Saturday. And mixed myself a nice, tasty beverage. Ahhhhh :).

I called Pete before bed to see if anything had gotten better and that may have been a bad idea. He was sleeping and you know how much fun it is to wake a sleeping bear. So I asked him how he was and he said he'd had a terrible day. The morning was awful and things hadn't gotten any better throughout the day. But he never wants to talk to me about what happens at work, so I dropped it. I asked if we still had two cats in the apartment and he said yes. He said Paris was hissing at him from 5 feet away now and seemed kind of upset about it. So I asked if he'd done anything to her, meaning to ask if he'd punished her for peeing on the chair. For anyone out there with cats, you know that doesn't do any good. Apparently that was the wrong thing to say because he got really upset and asked why I thought he was always 'doing things' to them. So I clarified and he said no, he hadn't done anything. So, I dunno. Our conversation was short, but I feel pretty helpless since I'm 3,000 miles away from him right now. There's not a damn thing I can do about anything happening there.

So, I'm determined to be happy today. And when Pete calls me this morning, I will cheer him up with my cheerfulness. I may suggest he marinade himself in catnip. Then Paris will surely love him. And I'm going to suggest he make sure he gets the 'ruined' chair out of sight. Maybe that's setting her off. It's definitely a concern if she's doing this now since we'll be moving again once we find a house.

Anyway, that's how my first day back in WV went :). My apartment greeted me with a fowl stench that came from the humidity and the fact that Pete had turned my air conditioning completely off before we left. So, this holiday weekend will find me cleaning my apartment, from ceiling to floor. Since there aren't any furry people walking around, I can get rid of some cat hair once and for all :).

There will be house hunting updates over the weekend. Lots of excitement there! Out of three houses we decided we liked, all three had offers before we could get ours in; one of them above asking price. So that's awesome. BUT, two of those offers may fall through, so Pete's going to go out with our agent on Saturday and look at a couple of places.

I'll post new pictures there as soon as I can. Thanks for reading!

As Always,
Easily Distracted

Anticipation or Anxiety?

I think Mondays will be my new Blogging day :). This marks the beginning of the third week of my 'working from home' venture and all is still going well!

Pete got to come out with me and our realtor on Saturday and we looked at 9 houses! Yes, you read correctly; 9 :). We saw some crappy ones and we found two we really liked, so check my House hunting section and there's a tab for 'Harriet Ave.' That's our number 1 pick thus far. Two of the others were disqualified, which I detail in the househunting page :). We're pretty excited and we're looking through all the disclosures and home inspection documents for the house on Harriet Ave. The second one we liked is very new; only 4 years old. The problem with this one is that it has more of a condo feel. Not really a problem per say, but whatever. There's very little parking other than the garage, it's close to shopping and busy streets, which is good and bad and there's a very small backyard which we would have to plant grass in because it's currently dirt :). I'm more than happy to plant grass and play in the dirt. That's really no big deal for me. But the feel of the neighborhood we're not sure is right for us. The inside of that one is gorgeous though.

The big reason we love the house on Harriet is because of the yards. There's a nice front yard, with soft, green grass and flowers planted. And the backyard has some stone for patio furniture and grass along with a cherry and a plum tree.

Anyway, I'll let you read for yourselves on that; I mean if I put all the goods on this page, what would be the point of adding the Househunting page?!

The past couple of weeks have been good and not so good at times. It's been quite an adjustment. While I've been able to get lots of work done, I lack the interaction with my coworkers and bosses, which I really do miss. Everyone is so busy that I also have to be patient with them to get back to me and I'm not very good at that. In fact, I had myself worked up into a tissy the other night thinking everyone was avoiding me, which probably isn't the case. People are just busy and since I'm out of sight, I'm probably pretty easy to avoid if they don't have time to talk or answer questions. I know I've been guilty a time or two of not returning a call or an email from someone when I'm busy. So, I need to remember those things when I'm frustrated or waiting to hear back from someone.

This Thursday will be my first visit back in the office. I'm both excited and anxious at the same time. Looking forward to seeing everyone and at the same time a little nervous that in just three weeks maybe I won't fit in there anymore. Hopefully that doesn't happen. So, I'm going to put my best foot forward and walk in there like I haven't been gone at all :). I guess I've got both the anticipation and the anxiety. I'm sure this will get easier with time.

There's also the fact that I don't want to leave Pete for 10 days. I know, again, this will get easier. But this time I'm leaving and I'll be gone over the 4th of July, which is his favorite holiday. He'll be here alone. So I'm going to make him pinky swear that he'll do something fun. And we can have a Faux 4th Party when I get back :).

No more real drama on the feline diva front. Nikki is adjusting very well. She barks and cusses out the giant black squirrels who come to hang out on our porch. Pete's named them Wayne Brady and Dave Chappel. Pretty funny stuff :). And, Paris is coming along. She doesn't hide all day in her drawer, but she only uses the litter box sporadically. We thought we were home free when she used the new litter box the other night. I even sighed a sigh of relief when I saw her in there this morning. Only to see her trying to pee on my running shoes about half an hour later. Little bitch! One of the ladies at Petsmart tells us we have to be patient. So, I repeat this to Pete. She's also taken a liking to peeing in the bathtub. Gross, but much easier to clean up...

Best of all, the weather here is my favorite part. Warm and sunny. Pete and I visited the apartment complex pool Sunday afternoon. It was in the high 90's which might not seem too hot to some of you. But the sun is more direct here. After less than 2 hours outside, covered in spf 50 sunblock, both of us were worn out and pretty pink. We didn't burn but we couldn't have stayed out much longer.

So that's about it for this week. Sorry, no pictures to post here. Check the house hunting area and the house on Harriet :). Our second choice is on a street called Cypress. I'll post those pics too! Esther and Nadine are no longer posted because we've eliminated them.

Thanks for reading!

As Always,
Easily Distracted

Fairly Frazzled

Week one is done! Not that I really wanted to get week one over with, I just thought that sounded fun to say :). Anyway, I've been in sunny, Sunnyvale, California for a week now and things are going very well, all things considered!

It was definitely an adjustment working from home, but I'm loving every minute of it. Don't get me wrong, I love being around my coworkers and I miss that. It gets pretty isolated here. I may not talk to anyone but Pete in a normal day. But we're getting along great and enjoying our time together.

Today, I bit the bullet and purchased us some furniture. After a week of watching movies sitting or laying on the floor, I know for certain, I'm too old for that. So, I bought two bean bag chairs. Lightweight and easy to throw around, I thought they'd be perfect. A little college-dorm-roomy, yes, but hey, my butt won't be screaming at me to get off the floor, so judge not!

Pete and I met with a realtor last week and were pretty encouraged by our discussion. She gave us a few preliminary listings to check out and advised us to get out and explore some neighborhoods over the weekend, which we did. We actually ended up stumbling upon two open houses so we took a peek and fell in love with one of them. NO, don't worry, Mom, we didn't make any offers or write any checks for the first house we loved. We were calm and started weighing out pros and cons. I've added another page to my blog, so you can follow the Househunting Adventures of Carrie and Pete, up close and in detail! I'll even be posting pictures! And, I believe you can click the 'Househunting' link at the top of my blog to get there!

So, like I said, it's been a pretty good week. The kitties have 'seemingly' adjusted pretty well. Paris hasn't been in her drawer in a couple of days. They even seemed to be using the new, automatic litterbox I got them. Which leads me to my next entertaining (for you) story...

WARNING: THE NEXT PORTION OF THE SHOW MAY BE OFFENSIVE TO SENSITIVE READERS.

This next part of my entry for this week is about my two, furry, Princess-Diva cats and their new litterbox. Please stop reading if you think you might be sensitive to litter-related subjects.

I ordered a Scoop Free litterbox from Petco before we even left Fairmont. Pete's highly allergic to litter and cats, really, but he's building up a tolerance. Anyway, I wanted something that would be very little maintenance for him while I'm back in Fairmont for work. I was so excited and anxious to get it all set it up. I went ahead and took the old litterbox away and the cats checked things out a bit. When I noticed they hadn't used it after several hours and they were both pacing around looking longingly at my purses, Pete's shoes and any boxes we had laying around, I scrambled to get the old litterbox out! I mean seriously, I'd be PISSED (the pun is definitely intended!) if I caught one of them taking a leak in the new, Coach messenger bag Pete got me for Christmas.

So, at the advice of my older, wiser (aka wise-ass), sister, I put the old litterbox back in the bathroom with the new one so they could get used to the new one without feeling threatened. She scolded me a little and said I'd already put them through enough with the move. Let them have their old litterbox! So, I did. And slowly, they started getting more comfortable with everything. They weren't hiding as much and they'd sniff out their new 'potty' a bit. So, I thought I'd try again and I took the old litterbox out. Nikki was A-ok. She just started using the new one like everything was fine. But then when she figured out I'd put the old one in the spare bedroom closet, she OPENED THE CLOSET DOOR and I found her in there crapping in a CLEAN, empty litter box!! Yes, folks, my cat opened the closet door without thumbs. I'll let that sink in a minute...

Anyway, after that drama, Nikki went back to normal with the new 'potty'. And Pete said he'd seen Paris in there too, so I thought we were home free. Until this morning.

Paris had her 'Man, I gotta pee' face on. She was pacing around and I took her and showed her the new box. I didn't think much of it since Pete had seen her use it. Then I saw her scratching the floor around one of our boxes. I checked it out to find that she had pissed all over and inside the box with our Nintendo Wii games, remotes, accessories, etc.!!!

Now, about 5 hours later, I'm finally calmed down. Pete called shortly after this little event and raced home to stop me from dangling Paris off the balcony. He was actually way calmer than I was, even though the Wii has been his favorite thing since I got it for him last Christmas. He told me that everything in the box could be replaced, but Paris could not be. I thought for sure we'd both be evicted, but I'm not going to argue with him. I mean, there's really no other cat in the world like Paris. Even as difficult and prissy as she is, she makes GREAT material for funny stories :). So, after cleaning everything with Lysol and cleaning out the remotes and accessories with Q-tips, I feel like locking the Violator in the bathroom until she makes 'nice' with the new litter box. But, if anyone out there has any advice about this subject, please comment or email me. I'm thinking about taking off one of her toes for every item I had to clean off today. Please help me save Paris's toes.

To close, I want to thank everyone for their encouragement during this time of change. Everyone has been so great sending me notes on Facebook and commenting on my blog. I love doing this and will continue as long as people are reading. Like I said earlier, I'm going to be expanding this blog to include our House Hunting stories and also a page for Wedding planning. I haven't added that one because I want to talk with my family about some of our ideas before publishing everything to the internet :). Take a look at the pics I posted of the first house we toured and loved!

As Always,
Easily Distracted

Setting up Shop

I can't believe it's been two weeks since my last post! And at that point, I couldn't believe that I only had two weeks before making my big move :). So here's me in a state of disbelief!

Obviously alot has happened over the past two weeks. I got my boxes packed, organized my work 'stuff', said some 'See ya later's' (since this is definitely not goodbye for anyone) and Pete and I hit the road. He flew into Pittsburgh last Wednesday evening, I went to pick him up, he made a science project out of packing my car and we said PEACE OUT. Not really, hehe :). Man, I wish I would've taken a picture. The arrangement of boxes was definitely a work of art. But don't tell him I said that; I rather enjoyed teasing him about taking an hour to throw a few boxes in the car.

More than 30 hours of driving later, we arrived safe and sound, with everyone intact, in Sunnyvale, California. Don't worry, of course I have more to say about the trip :).

If you recall, much of my anxiety over moving was how my furry children would do. Well, smack my ass and call my crazy, they did fine! We had a pretty sweet setup, if I can give Pete some credit. Again, don't tell him. We don't need him getting a giant ego over this. We put the diva-kitties in their travel carriers with their harnesses and leashes. And we tied the leashes to the cargo hooks in the back of my Xterra. They travelled all the way in the back, right by the back hatch, so I could get to them somewhat easily when we stopped. We left their bags open a little so they could get to the litter box, but with their leashes on they couldn't go too far. To the left: Ms. Nikki, sleeping on top of one of my boxes.

They were pretty freaked out for the first several hours. Everytime we stopped they were terrified, scrunched up in the back of their carriers anytime they heard a loud noise. They wouldn't eat or drink which started to worry me. Then, sometime after about 9 hours on the road, it was dark and Pete saw two little ears poking up over our boxes and luggage! Paris sprung herself and Nikki followed shortly. They found comfy spots on top of everything and laid there, so they could see out the windshield. I'm sure you had to be there, but it was pretty funny. And everyday after that, they did not stay cooped up in their carriers. In fact, Paris kept popping her head right up through the top zipper, even if we zipped them up as tight as we could! This picture to the right is of Paris. She loves Pete. He's her person. So once they were out of their carriers, Paris wanted to be close to wherever Pete was. If he was driving, she'd be stretched out just so she could put her paw on him somewhere. If he was in the passenger seat, she'd sprawl herself across our Wii BandHero drumset and rest her head on his seat. And this picture was just too much to resist. Damn cat!

On Friday night, we ran into some pretty scary thunderstorms, which was not fun. Going through Nebraska, it was so flat, you could see for miles and miles, but there was ZERO shelter and may not be any exits from the interstate for miles and miles either. There were severe weather and tornado warnings on the radio every few minutes, warning listeners of storms capable of producing golf ball-sized hail. NICE! So, long story shorter, we had to pull off under an overpass to escape from the hail, wind and hard rain. Then came the flash flood warnings! The picture here is of part of one of the nasty storms. That's rain, not a tornado, but I was freaking out a little. I'd never seen rain like that. That night, we made it all the way to Cheyenne, Wyoming.

That second night was the most exciting/stressful of our trip, and we drove through crappy rain and wind most of the third day, but the scenery on day 4 was nothing short of breathtaking. The mountains in the distance when we stopped in Reno, Nevada and the Sierra Nevada Mountains coming into California were every bit as spectacular as the best photos you see. Unfortunately, Pete doesn't know how to work my I-phone and I was driving for that part, so I only got this one picture of our drive through the pretty parts :(. This one is in the parking lot of the hotel we stayed in Saturday night, just East of Reno, NV. Finally, we saw clear, blue skies!

In the end, we arrived in Sunnyvale, somewhere around 12:30pm on Sunday. We hit the grocery store, unloaded some boxes and finally were able to relax a little. My cats were freaked out, but still not as bad as I expected. Paris has been hiding out in my desk drawer. She found a way behind the desk to jump into the drawer, so if I can't find her, she's usually in there. This picture is Paris in her drawer and Nikki peeking in to see if there's room for her. Nikki found a cabinet she's particularly fond of. I couldn't find her yesterday morning and was starting to panic. I yelled out her name and she came out of the the bottom shelf of one of the kitchen cabinets, yawning and looking at me like 'What?!' Crazy cats and their hiding spots. I wish they were as interested in the new, automatic litter box I bought!!

We also were able to spend a little well-needed time, resting by the salt water pool in our apartment complex Sunday afternoon, which was heavenly. And let me tell you, the sun here is WAY different than the sun in West-by-God-Virginia. I usually use SPF 30 on my face and 15 everywhere else and using 30 all over here still got me a little pink. So, I bought a two-pack of 45 yesterday :). And yes, I did say 'salt water pool'.

The swimming pool here is filled with salt water, instead of chlorinated water. I'd heard of the YMCA doing that for their swimming lessons because people are more buoyant in salt water, so it's easier for them to float without being as afraid. But I've never experienced it. Pete had told me the pool seemed saltier than a normal one, and by Gosh he was right! I jumped in and it tasted like ocean water. And, in 4 1/2 feet of water, I couldn't touch to bottom, which felt weird. No, peeps, I'm not that short. Talk about buoyant! So, I looked up online this afternoon the benefits of salt water vs. chlorine. Apparently salt water pools are used in lots of cases because in the end, they're less expensive to maintain. Finally! ONE thing in this state that's less expensive! And, apparently it's 'greener' and the PH balances don't fluctuate as much as in chlorinated pools. So there's your lesson for today!

After taking yesterday off to get my home office all setup, I was back at it this morning, at the VERY early hour of 4:30am! Part of the 'deal' for me to work from California was that I needed to be up and working during our normal work hours in Fairmont, which start at 7:30am Eastern Standard Time. Translation: I roll out of our air matress bed at 4:30am. Of course, this isn't a 'Do or die' rule, but especially on my first day, I wanted to get started strong. And, starting that early means I'm done by 1 or 2pm, which means a nice afternoon for You Know Who :). This is a picture of my nicely appointed office 'area'.

This afternoon finds me very content, having had a very productive first day of working from home. I may have even gotten more done than I do when I'm in the office. No one is here. Of course, I do like being social and I love talking with everyone. My work 'peep's are the bestest. But with the quiet here, I can do what I need to do quickly. I even got in some laundry and went to the grocery store! So, don't hate me, but this is pretty cool so far. And, on the 30th, I'll hop on a jet plane and head East for 10 days in the office.

So, that leaves me here, updating my blog with the story of our trip West. We made it over 30 hours in the car, using 98.124 Gallons of gas, for a total of $272.03. And the best part is Pete and I still like each other! Can I get a WOOP WOOOP?!

Before I go, I need anyone reading this to give me some feedback. Pete and I are starting to talk 'weddings'. I thought about starting a new blog for my wedding planning stories. What do you think? Or should I stick with the Easily Distracted route and tell all my stories with this blog? Email me or leave me comments! I like to know people are out there!

Thanks for reading,

Easily Distracted