dial up forever

my parent's computer hates me. which is reasonable, considering i do nothing but bad-mouth it every chance i get. they have dial up internet out here, which feels absolutely primitive to me. i used to have dial-up when i lived in seattle and did just fine with it for years, but once i got used to high-speed i never even thought of going back. everything. out. here. is. so. slow.

easter was delightful. i would show you pictures, but then i'd have to sit at the computer for the next three days. pretty much everything you could imagine having we had, and seeing my family was great. they all knew i was coming back to visit, but a lot of them didn't know i was coming out here to stay, so that was fun to surprise them with. i think my mom didn't want to jinx herself; she didn't tell anyone my plan, and that's not like her.

i've hit some of the local thrift stores, and a few yarn stores too. at one i found these crazy racist dishtowels that have chinese characters on one side and things like "ungrateful chinaman say 'go to hell'" on the other side. they're pretty awful, but also insanely cute and funny. do you think it makes me an asshole to buy them? i'll take a photo of them so you can see them for yourself. i bought some new knitting needles and a little yarn too; i'm making justin a hat, and i think with what's left over jude will get one too. the color is a pretty variegated blue/green/grey, it will bring out both boys eyes. today i'm going to do some more knitting, drink even more coffee (there is always a pot of it going at my parent's house), maybe watch a movie and clean up a little. if i can get a higher connection rate later today (right now it's 45.2 KBPS) i'll post some photos.

i still feel like i'm on vacation more than anything. soon real life will intrude and i'll be busy looking for work and a place to live, but until then i'm going to watch all the tv i can and drink all the coffee i can as well.

anne, i'm definitely coming down to pdx. i wanted to send you an email, but gmail doesn't like me here either so i'm just going to hope you read this! seattle is great, and the island is beautiful, but i was (am) serious about moving farther south. don't you worry! i'm not changing my mind this time, i promise. portland has been my destination for a while, i just got sidetracked by colorado.

i've been watching huge amounts of spongebob at my folk's house. it rules!

it's raining! whoo! i got a pretty day yesterday, but today feels like home.

home again, home again, jiggety jig

washington is a million times more beautiful than i remember it being. i thought i was all misty about it because it's been a while since i was here last, but DAMN. it did not disappoint. plus, the air smells better here. that sounds dorky, and probably is, but that's the first thing i thought when i got off the plane.

today my pop and i ran some errands, he had a doctor's appointment and i needed a new set of knitting needles because i broke mine in the airport bar*. maybe i broke them. maybe the guy next to me did. in any case, they are broken and i have a baby blanket to work on! i also picked up another set of needles though, because i found a crazy yarn that will make a great hat for J. it's warm to think about hats, but this time when fall hits i'll be ready!

my parent's house is smaller than i remember, but in a good way. being here makes me realize where i get my nest-y tendencies. the room i grew up in is so tiny! all the rooms in all the houses/apartments i've ever lived in have been the smallest, and in my last house i slept in the closet because the room was just way too big. at heart, i am a rodent. sometimes a mole, sometimes a rat. either way, i like my spaces small and cozy.

i have some emails to send out and some stuff to do with mom to help her get ready for easter. in a lot of ways i miss colorado already, but there is nothing in the world like going home.

*absolut pears and soda is my new favorite drink. i think it would also be amazing with 7up.

my parent's house has become a shrine to baby. a big shrine!

touchdown! wa smells great, and seems shinier than i remember. so sparkly!

Dude, i just met the coolest guy in via airport lounge! He bought me drinks!

you can't check your bags until 3 hours before your flight! So i have an hour and half to kill.

i am fucking tired

like with a capital F. i still have a massive amount of stuff to do, because selling the rocket turned out to be a much bigger clusterfuck than i could have imagined. however, it was a pleasant clusterfuck, so whatever. if i had actually been packing and moving the four hours it took to deal with that, i'd have a lot less to do now. the long and short of it is that in order to have the rocket sold and belonging to corey, the nice young man who bought my car, we had to register it in our names, then get a notarized power of attorney so he could then re-register it in his own name. it got me out of the house, which was good because i am totally stir-crazy, but it took a lot longer than i had planned. if corey hadn't been so nice and fun to hang out with, my head would have exploded.

i promise this is my last post for a good long while about moving. i am tired of it in just about every way possible; physically, emotionally, mentally and mathematically. figuring out how to fit everything in my box is breaking my brain. i could not for the life of me figure out how i had so much more stuff, especially considering i am leaving behind two major pieces of furniture (the futon and the green table), but then i remembered i shipped all my books here last time. maybe i should have done that this time. that would have made this a lot easier. also, i keep running out of boxes.

it's going to suck to be aaron in about a month, when he has to help me unpack the box. i'm through soldiering on like a dumbass, next time i'm getting help, even if i have to twist arms to get it.

less than 24 hours! going home! first, going to bed.

if i even THINK about moving in the next year, please kill me. thank you.

i would rather get a brazilian wax than pack up anything else.

!! rock star !!

i bought a four pack of the diet rockstar, which is called "sugar free" because men don't do "diet," in an effort to actually get a lot of shit done today. i'm already feeling good about it.

i would be working on packing right now, but i'm waiting for someone to come by and buy the rocket, and i don't feel like being all sweaty and messy while i try to coax him into buying my busted vehicle. earlier this week (monday) i put an ad up on craigslist detailing exactly what's wrong with the car. i mean it. every little thing that is wrong is on there, as well all the good things about the rocket. i pointed out that it is not running right now, but that it should only take a few hundred dollars to get it up and going, and then it will go forever, as civics do. i placed the price at $300, and told them if they wanted it, they had to move it. so far i've received 32 emails about it. i thought this was going to be a lot harder to unload, and while it's been touch and go (people call and then don't come by, or tell me they'll be here at a certain time and then call an hour later saying this time they're really on their way!), i'm certain i can get rid of the rocket and make a little cash. hopefully in a few hours the rocket will be gone and i can go back to focusing on how much i hate packing.

one of my roommate's is taking me to the airport tomorrow, albeit crazy early. my flight leaves at 6:30 (p.m.) and she's dropping me off at 1:30 (p.m.). this is not a complaint; i'm glad to have a real ride and to not have to pay for a shuttle. i just wonder what i'm going to do for hours. have beers in an airport bar, i suppose. look for a book to read. it's a wonder barnes and noble hasn't moved into airports, they could make a killing. people buying books, magazines, music and coffee. all the things you need on a flight! has anyone spent a long time in DIA? do you have any suggestions?

***edit***the rocket has been sold! of course, he started like a champ this morning after i hooked up the battery. had i known this before the buyer showed up, i probably could have squeezed more money out of him, but that would have seriously affected my car karma. after all, the rocket likes to run, just not all the time. the buyer is going to have to fix it, and probably sooner rather than later. plus, it's out of my garage and my last physical tie to colorado has now been severed. cash money! in my pocket! all is good.

i think i pissed the cat off

she's been meowing non-stop since i woke up this morning to pee, she's been biting my heels and meowing some more, she dug a huge hole in the dirt in my jasmine plant, and did i mention the meowing? because it's not so much a "meow" as an "ungodly loud cat-like noise, repeated often and endlessly." i know part of it is that she doesn't feel good (we are pretty sure she has worms. rock!), and part of it is the line of boxes stretching from my room to all over the damn house. she knows something is up, and she does not like it.

i'm annoyed with her today, but i admit i'm going to miss the hell out of this cat. she's a sweetie pie most of the time, and how many cats do you know that like to sleep under the covers, spooned up against you? not many. i wonder if she'll remember me when i come back to visit?

dodged a bullet

my door-to-door box showed up yesterday, and i filled it with all the stuff i had in the basement. i had only scheduled to have the box for one day, because i was under the impression that i had to be here when it was picked up. after getting up this morning and assessing what still had to be done, i had a tiny nervous breakdown. i don't have a lot of stuff left to put in there, but i still have to get it into boxes first, and i don't think i have enough of those! dammit. so i called over there to try to wiggle my way into an additional day and found out that i don't have to be here for pickup, just for delivery! the point of this story is that they're picking up my box friday, and i have two more days to get shit done. whoo! two days is a lot.

it was hot yesterday, like it's going to be today, and i think i drank my body weight in water. moving is hard work. if i never move again it will be too soon. let's hope i find a place in portland that i love love love and never want to leave. all this moving around once a year was fine in college; i was younger then and my pop helped me. pop lives far away now, and i am entirely too stubborn to ask for any kind of help from anyone else. i hate helping people move, so i never ask anyone to help me. although i'm thinking i need to re-evaluate that stance. i mean, helping kids move really isn't that bad, and if it means someday they'll chip in too...man, i've been going about this all wrong.

okay, off to drink even more water, pack even more boxes, and move out of another state. if you want to come over and help, then okay. i will not stop you.

what i get to go home to

4 months, originally uploaded by Happy O'Neals.

chubby baby! look at his plump little arms and adorable belly. tell me you wouldn't pack up a moving box for a nibble of that.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

the moving box just showed up! so, you know, i'm moving. for real.

from now on, i will only live out of boxes and suitcases! easier to pick up and go. all i need is an air matress and a toothbrush!

packing is impossibly stupid. but you knew that already, didn't you?

bittersweet

my last night out was fun. a lot of fun. so much fun, in fact, that i was pretty much hungover all day yesterday. i finally felt human this morning, although my stomach is still a tiny bit angry at me. note to self: martini's get the job done, but they are a fickle mistress. seeing my friends and having drinks and going to all the bars in town i love was fun. i don't want to leave them behind. my friends, i mean. bars are great but universal. if i can get them out to visit me in portland, maybe they'll love it and stay. why can't i just take all the great part of colorado with me?! is that so much to ask?

look at my pretty corsage! it's true i basically hounded justin into buying it for me, but i loved it. it was fun to wear it around, and girls everywhere we went were all jealous. it was cute the way people reacted. part of me wanted it because it's girly flowers, the other part just wanted something fancy i could hold onto at the end of the night. having something to remember the night by, the way you do at the end of prom, was nice. is nice.

the moving box shows up tomorrow. i should be packing for it, disassembling my furniture, labeling boxes, wrapping up my five hundred virgin mary statues in bubble wrap, but instead i started knitting a new baby blanket and have been watching hours of tv. we only get two channels, both of them are lousy, and yet i sat through a whole hour of cops last night. my eyes have that heavy pressure behind them, like right before you realize you're going to cry, only i'm not crying. it gives me a headache. there's a lot i'm sad about leaving behind, more than i realized until just this week. that makes me both happy and sad, and also makes me want to curl up on the couch and watch some more tv and knit furiously at the celadon blanket, ignoring the inevitable.