Friday, April 29, 2011

We Have Arrived!!!

I know I'm a week late in posting this but I just now got a wifi router so I could use internet on my laptop. We left earlier than expected on April 21st, partly because neither of us could sleep and partly because we only had 2 hours between when we finished loading the car and when we were supposed to be up and ready to go. We'd planned to leave at 4am but instead left my sister & BIL's apartment at 2am and left the gas station after topping off our tank at 2:30am.

We had a short stop in Boulder City because Mike forgot he's an adult (he knows I'm kidding) and didn't go to the bathroom before we left. Our first gas stop of the day was a little before Kingman, AZ and it was a freezing cold, windy welcome. We had to dig out sweatshirts because we didn't even consider that the weather might be like 55 degrees there. We stopped about 3 more times for gas and to take our furbaby Ruby out to stretch her legs.

We got to Amarillo, TX a little later than we expected at almost 7:30pm. We checked into the motel, showered, then got something to eat and were in bed by 9:30pm central time. We woke up at about 1:15am and decided rather than waiting for the complimentary breakfast at 6am that we'd just head out again. It was cool and sprinkling rain but by the time we got gas and got out of Amarillo it had stopped. Then, when we hit the Oklahoma border we hit about 100 miles of dense fog.

Mike decided to drive most of the way that day though we got to Vinidy, OK and he needed a break because he was tired, so I took over for about an hour before we hit Missouri and then I could barely keep my eyes open. We decided to stop for lunch hoping it would wake us up, and it did. Mike finished driving the rest of the way and we arrived in Smithton at my brother's house just in time for the tornado warnings. Poor Ruby didn't know what to think because she got chained up in the yard first then put in my brother's utility room while we went to the storm shelter where we stayed for about 2 hours.

I do have to say that Ruby did much better than we expected. Normally, when we took her in the car before she whined the entire time but she just sat there staring out the window at the scenery and didn't whine unless she had to go to the bathroom.

We are relieved to be here and that the move is finally over. Now the job hunt for Mike begins and he already has a phone interview set up for the 3rd of May with SMS Children's Hospital. Hopefully, he'll get a few more set up once we update the address on his applications with a few places.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

A Week and a Half To Go!!!

First, I have to vent a little. I understand why family doesn't want us to go and that they aren't going to be shy about letting us know their feelings on it. I think Mike's mom was trying to manipulate us into staying by FINALLY giving us a little bit of information on his real dad's family when we went for a visit two weeks ago. Mike hadn't seen his real dad since he was 3 years old though he talked to him twice since then (he's almost 28 now).

I think she was hoping that if we found his dad's family, we wouldn't leave since we'd just met them and had so much time to catch up on with them. I hate to point out the obvious, but family is family whether they are near or far. Family is supposed to want their loved ones to be happy even if that means they aren't in the same city. I will say this plainly: Mike and I are not happy in Las Vegas and have not been happy living here for a very long time. Why should we live somewhere we are miserable just to make our family happy?

Second, though Mike wasn't sure about it, I contacted his cousin, Mari, and we arranged to surprise that side of the family at her daughter's birthday party. Mike knew he had a half-sister, Christina, but also discovered he has another sister, Judy, while we were there. There was some disappointment though because Mike was kind of hoping he'd get to get in contact with his dad, and his cousin and one of his many aunts told us his dad had died from a heart attack in July last year. It was a little overwhelming to say the least because they are all fluent in English and Spanish and expected him to be, too, but he only speaks English. That and the fact that there were about 50 family members there, and we still can't remember all their names.

I told his sister at the party that I was happy he finally got to know that side because I know he really wanted to find them but he's the kind that unless the information is volunteered by his mom, he's not going to risk possibly making her angry by asking. The other thing was that he seemed so much a part of them while his other dad's family obviously loves him but he always seems separate from them whenever they get together.

Third and last, we are getting our room organized and ready to move. I haven't been working as much as I should, but we've been saving everything I earn for our move for extra spending money. We are going to be so busy getting ready to move, looking for a job for Mike, and me working to be sure we have enough money to make the move over the next week I don't know when we are going to sleep. Plus, we have plans with his aunt and cousins as well as his Rideout sisters this Saturday...it's beginning to become so real.

Don't know when I'm going to have a chance to update this again, so keep us in your prayers that we have a safe trip across the country. We are hoping that this move will provide us with new opportunities that we aren't able to get in Vegas. We are hoping that this move will also help us get back on our feet and maybe give us a jump on starting our family.