This week went off without a hitch! Before the 15-hour drive to Kennesaw on Tuesday, I prepared all of my spring syllabi and made sure my students and colleagues knew I wouldn't be available this past week (the first week of classes at WSU).
Trent and I had an enjoyable drive to Georgia on Tuesday. I actually drove the first seven hours (Wichita through St. Louis) without stopping. My bladder didn't let me down on this trip. Woohoo! On Wednesday, we packed up the house with the help of our friend Mike. Trent had done a great deal of the packing before coming to Kansas, so we were able to work relatively efficiently.
On Thursday morning, we signed closing paperwork and said goodbye to our first house. We got on the road at 11 a.m. Eastern time and decided to take the northern route (the way we came) since there were snow storms predicted on either route we might take back to Wichita. We had snow in Kentucky, but other than that it was smooth sailing. In fact, we didn't even run into traffic in Chattanooga, Nashville, or St. Louis. We made it to Olathe at 11:30 central time, and we stayed over with Trent's mom.
Friday, we drove to Wichita and put almost all of our furniture into storage. We did bring two chairs and my piano into the apartment though. Yay, I've got my piano back! (And Trent has his big screen TV.)
No more ties to Georgia. No more mortgage payment (for now). We're here to stay, and it feels pretty darn good! Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement, everyone!
Getting physical
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Training sessions have been going really well these past few weeks. I
swim, lift, and run on my own (or with the masters swim team) during the
week, and o...
12 years ago
8 comments:
Yeah!!! Home at last. Thank God. We are happy that things went smoothly. It is amazing that you bypassed most of the severe winter weather happening last week. Last Wednesday Hays was a skating rink.
And what a bladder you have!!! Exercise pays off in unexpected ways. I once drove to KC from Hays without stopping. That was a rare event and probably won't happen again.
Welcome home Katie and Trent. Hope 2011 is a great year for you.
Thank you, Honor! And I'm glad to hear that you and Doug were okay after the fire in your building a week or so ago. That must have been pretty scary for you, but my mom said that you two were so tough that you both went to work that day. You're amazing, and I'm glad you both were safe! Love you!
Home(Less)---I am glad the travel,packing, closing and move all went smoothly. It is nice to be able to say goodbye to a space that gave you many good memories. Your first house will always have a sweetness. I am sure it is nice having one less residence to worry about though. You can take your time getting to know your community and figuring out where you want to settle down. Who knows you may decide to move even closer to KC---just kidding. But if you get the desire for some yard work feel free to let us know. We are happy to share the mowing and weed eating and even snow moving out here in the country, as I am sure are your folks. But for now you can both put all your attention on your new life back in Kansas. Is Trent thinking about what he wants to do career wise? Is he wanting to get out of landscaping? Well stay warm little Georgia transplants. Hope to see you in the spring.
Thanks for your kind words, Margaret. :-) Trent's keeping his options open job-wise ... he's also volunteering at the Humane Society (most likely every day) until he finds a job. He hopes to continue putting in a few hours a week there after he starts working too.
Stay warm up north. Although it's cold, at least the days are getting longer. :-)
What a strong caring heart Trent has to volunteer at the humane society. I don't think I could do it, unless it was a no-kill shelter then maybe. I just couldn't bear to go in and see the sign on the cage indicating that a perfectly wonderful animal's days were up. I suspect Trent will be great socializing the kitty cats. Maybe when you get a house you will adopt another dog, what a great running partner that could be. I think Sonic would have been a great dog for you, but I believe he is in a wonderful new home--at least that is my hope. It can make you physically ill if you think otherwise.
Regarding the longer days----yes that is what we keep reminding ourselves "The days or getting longer. The sun is getting stronger." Spring is less than two months away. The daffodils will be popping up before we know it.
Yes, Trent does have a strong heart. It's actually a kill shelter. He had to watch a video of animals being put down as part of his training, and, believe me, he was a bit broken up when he got home.
But I guess it is what it is. At least Trent is a good choice for working with the animals and making them as happy and sociable as possible while they're there -- whether they find a forever home or not.
He's looking forward to walking dogs and socializing the cats, but he's also willing to bathe animals and clean up the poop. He doesn't care. He might even be able to work on their website or copy that goes out (PR stuff), since his background is in writing/copyediting.
Anywho, it's supposed to be in the high forties here in W-town Thursday and Friday. Bring it, spring. Ha!
I hope Trent likes the work at the shelter. Maybe there is a future working with animals for Trent. Perhaps he could be a fundraiser for the shelter. He has a compassionate heart and I pray that his empathy will be recognized and rewarded.
Right on!!! Bring it Spring!! I want to get back on the nature trail. I don't take walks outside when it is cold.
Our apartment will be cleaned today by the disaster team in charge of clean up at Centennial Towers. Tonight the residents celebrate January birthdays at our monthly birthday party. This will be our first big social gathering since the fire. Yeah!!!!
Bring it Spring!!!!!
Trent will have many talents that the shelter will benefit from. I am sure they can use all the technical help he can offer. If they have a website that posts photos of the animals he might want to learn how to photograph animals. A good photo is a wonderful way to bring in adopters. Our friend Joni knows all the tricks. One thing she says not to do is stand over the dog, get down more on their face level, but not right in their face and have someone hold the leash if the dog is like Sonic and very active. Wayside Waifs does videos and I think that is what got Sonic adopted that and Honor's prayer for Sonic. Trent's compassionate heart may have to break many times in the course of his volunteering, but if he can remember that he is doing more than most and every animal saved is a wonderful tribute to him and all who work on the behalf of the homeless animals in the world. As unfair as it is, being given a calm pain free passing is kinder than a pet being abused or mistreated or fending for itself on the street. Last November Missourians passed Prop. B to make it tougher on Puppy Mills, for which Missouri is sadly known for, anyway the republican are now in power in Jefferson City and want to repeal the law. They are poor losers. Animals are agriculture as far as they are concerned and if you have to treat dog breeding with compassion then those bleeding heart liberals will want all livestock treated kindly, heaven forbid chickens weren't in cages that don't allow movement and never see the light of day. I recently learned and I guess I should have known this but never made the connection, but cows are kept in a state of pregnancy so they can be milked. That is how we get our milk, by continually keeping cows pregnant so they will lactate. I guess I thought there was some breed of cow that were milking cows. Wrong.
Dairy Cows:
* Forced to produce ten times more milk than they would in nature, most dairy cows endure an exhausting existence of continuous breeding and milk production. As a result, dairy cows frequently suffer from painful udder infections, lameness and other ailments.
* In the name of increased milk production and profit, many dairy cows are injected with Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH), a genetically engineered hormone known to cause birth defects in calves. The drug, which was approved by the FDA, was banned in Europe and Canada.
* Although they can live for more than 20 years in a healthy environment, dairy cows are sent to slaughter when their milk production declines at four or five years of age.
* Depleted of calcium after years of heavy milk production, worn- out dairy cows often slip and fall en route to slaughter, or are so badly injured, diseased or weak they are unable to walk. Every year, thousands of dairy cows become "downers," animals too sick or injured to even stand.
http://www.vegforlife.org/animals_how.htm
Ok, I am being a downer, but these really are things to think about and contributed to Honor's decision to become vegetarian. Good for you Honor for following your beliefs and sticking with them. Good for Trent for helping shelter animals.
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