Catching Z's

I am about as tired as a single, childless person can get.  The past few evenings have been late ones, where I haven't gotten to bed until after 2am...or if I do get to bed before then, I wake up multiple times during the night...and then still wake up to start work at 6am.

It really hit me today during a fireside that I went to...in which I fell asleep...more than once.

I think I need to just sleep for an entire day...and being that I am single and childless, I can totally get away with that.

I love the fishes...

Two Saturdays ago, I was driving home from a ward shindig when I passed a cop.  The cop, sensing my desire to meet him, turned on his flashing lights and flipped a U-Turn in hopes that I would see him and we could have a friendly chat...

Okay, my interpretation of the scenario might be a little off...

Turns out that my left headlight had burnt out and I was summarily told to fix it.

Monday afternoon, I purchased a new bulb for the aforementioned headlight, and had a friend change it out for me that evening!  Problem solved!  We also discovered a fair amount of water sloshing around in the headlight chamber (I don't know that they are actually called "chambers", but whatever), and it was suggested that I should keep a goldfish in there for fun....though something tells me that the fishy wouldn't last too long...I can't even keep them alive when they aren't  in unfriendly surroundings.

Fast forward a couple days...

I'm driving home one evening, and notice that my headlight is out again!  Now, those of you that know what happens to hot glass when it touches cold liquid have already deduced what my problem is...the Trusty Justy likes to blow things up, apparently.

Because of the water in my headlight chamber (yep, chamber) I cannot merely replace the bulb and be done with it.  Unfortunately, I also cannot just empty out the existing water and call it good either, since there are some pretty major cracks in the plastic and water has a tendency (clearly) to collect there.  So I get to replace the whole light...chamber...thing.

P.S.  Did you know that Justy headlights aren't the easiest thing to come by?

This is gonna cost a pretty penny.

Meanwhile, I keep getting pulled over for having a headlight out.  It's fun.  Makes me feel like a rebel.

Under the radar

I have always been pretty active within my singles wards.  I go to activities, participate in lessons, organize get-togethers, and have done a musical number or two.  Until my last ward anyway.  I did not get involved in my last ward...at all, and I was okay with it.  I figured that I needed a break from being the social figure that I had been in all my previous wards, and since I was not looking to date anyone, I didn't need to go to activities and mingle with the college freshmen.

When I met with my Bishop before I moved, he told me that I wasn't allowed to fly "under the radar" in my new ward.  So I decided I wouldn't.  I already knew that I wouldn't since I needed to make new friends and all.

I decided that I would be outgoing, go to activities again, participate when I could, and just get back to being the old me.  So far, so good.

I got a call last Sunday asking me to meet with the Bishop, and I figured that a calling was coming my way.  Totally great, just another way to get involved.

I entered the Bishop's office, sat down and we chit-chatted for a second before he told me that they'd like to extend me a calling, which I said would be great!  Then came the words, "We'd like to call you to be the First Counselor in the Relief Society Presidency...".

Excuse me, what?

I just moved here!  I've been in the area for just over 2 weeks!  I don't know anybody! How did this happen?

My actual response was something like, "Uh...really?"

I guess this is what comes of becoming friends with the RS President...

Bonus: We all get to speak next Sunday in Sacrament Meeting...on obedience

Touche Karma, touche.

Meeting People

Meeting people can be hard.

Especially if you have hermit-like tendencies and spent the better part of the last year trying to avoid interaction with human-kind. Okay, so I wasn't quite that bad...

For the last 5 years, I have always had Kelly with me in my corner, so if I decided to make other friends, that was fine, the more the merrier!  But if I didn't want to, that was okay too, because I had Kelly.

When I moved here, I didn't have a friend safety net.  I had to *gulp* actually go out of my way to meet people.

So my second Sunday in my ward, I did just that...I virtually ingratiated myself into a hilarious group of people, who as yet are none-the-wiser that I am a bit of a social-outcast/nerd....but a funny one...

My new friends invited me over to their house for Orange Julius' and chatting...little did I know that these people are serious night-owls....a fact that I learned right quick.  Anyway, there was a little group of us, maybe 5 girls and 2 guys, and we just chatted a bit and got to know one another...or rather I got a glimpse into who these funny Idaho people were, and they decided I was interesting enough to keep around for a bit.  Secure in the fact that  I hadn't thoroughly embarrassed myself and knowing that I had stayed up WAY too late (yeah, it was all of 11:00), I went home and went to bed.

The next day, I got ready to start a workout video...which meant that I put on my cutest workout outfit, did my hair just so, and made sure my makeup was perfectly in place....NOT.  My workout clothes are mismatched (black pants, green top, brown shoes), my hair was pulled back and I had clips keeping my bangs out of my face...at odd angles, and makeup did not grace this face.  I had just started the beginning yoga routine, when I heard a knock at the door.

I paused.  Did someone just knock on my door?  No one knows me, maybe it was for the neighbors.... I'll ignore it.   But wait...maybe it's the FedEx guy, I am waiting for something to arrive...

So I checked out the window to see if there was a FedEx truck out there.  No FedEx truck.  However, I did recognize the car belonging to one of the guys I had met the night before.  I looked down to survey the mess that was currently me... there was no way it would be a quick fix... so I decided to open the door, looking like something off People of Walmart.

This particular guy has since learned to inform me ahead of time when he is in the vicinity...and asks if I'm decent when I open the door...it's much safer for all involved that way.

The Moving Story Part 2: Idaho

As we left Utah, my car was in the lead...and I managed to get a number of miles ahead of my parents (I might have a lead foot).  Because of this, there were quite a few "where are you?" phone calls from my dad.  As we got about an hour from our destination, I called the leasing company to arrange for someone to meet us at the apartment for the final hand-off of rent for keys (I will note that this was what I was instructed to do in the e-mail correspondence I had been having with these guys over the course of the previous month).  When I got on the line with a very confused guy who thought I was trying to merely view the apartment, and had a hard time getting him to understand that I was physically moving in, I had hoped that speaking with someone else would be a good thing.  However, they proceeded to tell me that I had to come into their office to do the hand-off.

Did I mention that I didn't know the area?  I DO know that I failed to mention that the guy I was buying the washer/dryer from had to be at work at 2:30, and was taking off a little time to help us load it up and take care of it.  I was in a bit of a time crunch.  I anticipated that we would not be rolling into Idaho Falls until 2:45 at the earliest...I was supposed to be at my new apartment at 3:00 to meet the movers, but I still had to get the washer/dryer and NOW I had to go to the leasing office to boot....not only go to it, but figure out where it was.

I was having fun.

Trust me....I was.

We got the the washer/dryer guys apartment (well, my dad and I did...we kinda lost my mom somewhere), and they were super duper nice, offered to help load it up and even let me use their bathroom... so I left the money (with an additional $20 for helping so much) with my dad while I went in search of the leasing office....and called the movers to let them know we'd need them around 3:45 instead of 3:00...luckily they said that worked just fine for them.

Once at the leasing office, I got a call from my dad saying that he and my mom were having a hard time figuring out where to go...and could I direct them (because Idaho likes to use 2 or 3 different names to describe one road...), but as I've stated before...I did not know the area...so they were on their own...kinda....I gave them maps before we left, so that was something.  Anyway, the guy at the leasing office, realizing that I hadn't physically seen the apartment before (Did I leave that out?  Yeah... it's true), decided it would be "kind" to put me on my guard and explain that it had been a hard unit to rent out.  But I was here, I had all my stuff, and I didn't care if it was a hole...I was moving in.

I left the office and headed toward my new digs (luckily, I had spent some quality time looking at Google maps of the area over the previous month, because I got lost too).  But I managed to make it to the place...before my parents, who I had to direct once I kinda knew where things were.  We were just grateful to be done driving for a bit...EXCEPT that I had gotten a message from washer/dryer guy letting me know that my dad had short-changed him... gah!  I now needed to run the rest of the money (which had remained in my dad's pocket) over to this guy.  But first, I STILL hadn't physically seen the inside of this apartment that I was now going to be calling "home"...

Oh the apartment.

Ants.  Lots of them.  Tiny, scurrying, evil little ants....everywhere.  Mostly outside, but a bit inside too.  First order of business was going to be to eradicate the buggers.  Well, maybe not the first order of business, but it was pretty high up there.  Walking in, it was easy to tell why the place had been so hard to rent out.  It looked sad, worn and unloved.  Cuts in the doors and floors, holes in doors, broken appliances, no hot running water in the shower (didn't actually find this one out until I wanted to take a shower...yeah...), ugly piping all over the place, and just some all over craziness.  Filling out the initial move-in damage sheet was a blast.  We even had a visit from one of my new neighbors...who asked if we were "church goin' folk"...I kid you not!  We ended up having to borrow a pair of pliers from him later, so I was glad he stopped by.

By now, I was beginning to wonder where our movers were since it was now after 4:00.  Having the movers on both ends be late was not my favorite thing, but at this point I didn't even care, as long as I didn't have to do all the heavy lifting.  They showed up about 15 minutes later and began unloading

I quickly made a list of a few things I needed immediately, like ant killer, something to fix the oven with, outlet covers, and a new vacuum, to name a few and headed out to pay washer/dryer guy and pick up the needed supplies, leaving my mom to direct traffic (luckily I am a bit OCD and had color coded boxes to the rooms they would go into...see, the crazy is helpful sometimes).

I think I'll just wind down this incredibly loooong story now.  I've been here for 3 weeks now and I love it.  I got the hot water fixed (after having to bathe in the kitchen sink for 4 days...not fun), the ants are dead, the place isn't as ugly now that there is furniture in it, I love my little town, I have made some fun new friends, and things have been great!  So despite the grand adventure that was moving day, everything has gone smoothly and I love being here.

The Moving Story Part 1: Utah

I am not 100% sure why I decided to move on a Friday.  It would have been far more logical to move the next day, when I wouldn't have to request work off, but move on a Friday I did...not that it has any real bearing on the story...it's just a minor detail.

My parents were kind enough to come help me with the move, I hired movers to do all the heavy lifting on both ends, but didn't feel comfortable driving a U-Haul by my lonesome...or at all...I really don't like driving large vehicles...I mean, really, I drive a Justy...

So anyway, I packed my schedule (and my belongings) a bit tight for the day, here is what the schedule for the day was supposed to look like:

8:00- Pick up the U-Haul
9:00- Movers arrive and pack up the truck
11:00ish (but no later than noon)- Set out for Idaho
2:00ish- Arrive in Idaho and pick up the washer/dryer from the nice guy from Craigslist who was holding them for me...but who had not as yet given me his address from whence to pick it up from
3:00- Arrive at my new apartment; meet the leasing agent at the apartment to pay initial rent and get the keys, movers arrive and unload the truck
5:00- Return the U-Haul

I very much like my time schedules, I like when they go according to plan...BUT I am flexible and can deal with it when things blow up...and did things blow up....

So when my parents got to my apartment, my dad and I headed to the U-Haul place to pick up the truck.  I've used this particular location before and they are really helpful, so that was nice.  Little did I know that I would be standing in the gas-station-converted-to-U-Haul-outpost for an hour....turns out that ALL of U-Haul was having difficulties...their entire site was down.  As the time was drawing near to 9:00, I started to panic a little bit because my movers were supposed to be arriving at my apartment any moment...and I wasn't even there!  Then I received a phone call...

From the moving company.  Apparently the batch of movers I was getting had been out late the night before, and were having a bit of a slow morning, so they were going to be late.  How late? I asked.  The lady projected that they would be there around 10 or 10:30.  I managed to inform her that that was a little unacceptable due to the fact that I needed to be loaded and heading out of the state by noon (I didn't feel the need to inform her that I was still without a truck for them to load into).  She promised that they would be there soon and that they could have everything done by noon.

Meanwhile, things remained slow at U-Haul.  Finally we made some headway, but it required me to pay in cash (which luckily I had on hand....but for other areas of the move).  We got the truck back to my apartment and waited for the movers...who surprisingly showed up at 9:30.  The movers were pretty frustrating to work with initially, I'll be honest...I was not terribly pleased.  On top of the fact that I had to keep some of the electronics connected (wireless printer, laptop, router) until the washer/dryer guy got back to me with his address...which he was taking his sweet time with).

I won't get into all the details of the runs to the store for rope, runs to the bank for additional cash, my belongings being dropped (and nearly dropped...as was the case with my TV), and the movers incessantly asking me why I didn't want to use furniture pads on all my precious furniture, or how the moving company in Idaho called to ask if they could come early to get us unloaded (they didn't realize I was coming from out of state...and that I gave a time-frame for a reason).  The washer/dryer guy sent me a text in the final hour with his address, and I was able to print out some new maps for us to follow since I did not know the area AT ALL.  Finally, we managed to get everything loaded into the U-Haul and the 2 cars we were taking up with us.  We also managed to locate the tiny piece of paper containing my payment confirmation codes for the movers that had inconveniently been placed in one of the vehicles.

Miraculously, we left Layton right at noon, and after gassing up the cars, we headed toward Idaho...and a couple more problems...