Killing Fireflies ...

Well, we've arrived in Omaha. We're fine - animals are fine - but I can't say as much for the fireflies that splattered against our window at dusk this evening. Julia and both learned something today - the goo that was once a firefly continues to luminesce against a windshield after the insect has impacted, slowly fading into nothing as the seconds tick by. There you have it. Your National Geographic moment for the day. We're exhausted so this one will be a short one. Yes, we're taking loads of pics but I'm too tired to post them here now. But I promise I will - maybe not tomorrow either, since we have another long one planned for then as well. G'nite one and all ... I love you, Kevin and Jordan, and I miss you like the blazes! xoxoxo

Julia - étudiante officielle!

We have arrived! Well, we've arrived in Flint, that is. After a very late start, we drove like the dickens and made it into the US in the dark. Julia's been fingerprinted, photographed ("But I'm not wearing any mascara!"), and is now an official international student. The animals have fared rather well, all things considered. We learned that Molson doesn't tolerate the prescription meds meant to calm her - instead, she seemed to be hallucinating while rolling around in her cat carrier. She'll be back on the natural calming meds tomorrow for sure!

I'm exhausted, so I'll cut this one short tonight and expand in another posting another time. We're shooting for Omaha tomorrow with a much earlier start. Julia's already tucked in, Jack's curled up and eyeing me as I type, Molson's burrowed under one of the beds ... and TimBit? He's slowly washing himself perched at the head of the other queen-sized bed. He knows he's the king of our castle. We know it too.

False start ...

As I scurried around grabbing last minute things and placing them by the front door, ready to be crammed into the car, Julia texted to say she was on her way to the SAAQ ... and could I please join her in case she needed any help. I headed there, where the ownership of the Cobalt was transferred from her to the buyer. Then we headed to Julia's dad's, where Julia had stored her winter tires. Then we waited while the new owner dealt with her insurance, so she could actually drive the car away. Then it was time to start calculating ... by the time we would have loaded up the car and the animals, it would have been going on 1pm - much later than the 9am departure we had hoped for. So instead, we decided to leave tomorrow. Secretly, I'm kinda happy about that. Driving on an hour and a half of sleep is never a good thing.

The headless chicken that is me ...

I feel as though I've been running all day and gotten nowhere fast!

Went to the garage and had my winter tires taken off early this morning. Yes, I know it's summer but I figured that I would save on wear and tear on the all seasons since the winter ones wouldn't have lasted another winter anyhow. I dropped in on Sharon and Matthew for coffee and to some catch up after leaving the garage and then headed back my way for some errands - rations for the cats and then a stop at the bank. Came home to find that FedEx had shown up while I was gone and that now, I need to go to PAT to get the envelope. I'll do that on my way to Kevin and Myriam's, right after I drop off the larger suitcase at Julia's, who decided not to leave anything at the condo when we were in Cali in June! Then, I'll race back here and do some laundry, start medicating the cats, pack, and try to do some of the thousand of other things that still need doing.

Tomorrow, Julia has to get to the SAAQ with the young woman who is buying her car to get that paperwork sorted. And I get to see Jordan before he heads for work!

Curious to see what time we all finally hit the road ...

I went to see Kevin and Myriam one last time before I leave. I ended up crying all the way from Verdun to Anjou, where I forced myself to stop so Jordan wouldn't notice my red eyes when I went there.

"I'll be back", I keep repeating to myself. It's become a mantra of sorts. But fuck, if there's anything harder than leaving your children behind, I don't know what that thing is ...

Bye bye Corrie!

Sunday morning and I do what I do every Sunday morning when I'm home. I get up just before 8, let Jack out, and pop the kettle on. At 8, I turn the TV on and tune in to CBC for 2 1/2 hours of Coronation Street. (Yeah, yeah, I can just see all my kids rolling their eyes right about now!) Corrie ... or as K calls it - C-Street ... has been around since 1960 (yeah yeah, that's actually longer than Mom's been around, kids!) and has the distinction of being the world's longest running TV soap opera. I got hooked just before I had Kevin and apart from the years in Switzerland, I've been a fan and watcher since. Despite only waking up during the commercials (or the good parts, as he refers to them!), K seems to have quite a handle on the show as well. But I digress. Last time I'll ever watch Corrie in Repen. After the show was over, I popped in on Jordan to show him Molson's cut. He (and his cats) didn't seem very impressed but I'm still sure that Molson will appreciate not having all that fur when we hit the road.

Right now, I'm sitting here and debating on whether to tackle the dishwasher or the laundry first. Laundry - it'll take care of itself while I'm dealing with the dishes. Then the pharmacy, back to Mondou to exchange Molson's collar (yes, Julia - you were right!) and then home again to try to tackle the gazillion things left to do before we leave. And all the while with this pain that seems to have taken permanent residence in my back and this dull throb of a headache that's also decided to drop in for a visit.

Busy, busy, busy!!!

Yeah, I really overdid it today.

Brought Jack in to the groomers in the morning. Because Julia hadn't been overly pleased with his last visit there, I allowed her to school them on what she wanted done. We left him there and headed out to run some errands. Shopping centre for odds and ends, Mondou to pick up a collar for Molson and a leash for the cats, and into town at La Vie En Rose for some stuff that Julia needed. I dropped Julia off and headed to the groomers to pick up the pup. Although surprised at how short they'd gone, I think he looks great, that the short do will help a lot for the trip, and K agrees with me. Jack and I swung by to show Jordan and Julia and after some nonstop laughter, they both exclaimed about how horrible he looks. I still disagree. Jack also seems to love it - he was scampering around everywhere and just seems ... freer, I think.

Jack is a happy puppy!

Jack and I came home, leaving the kids to get ready for Julia's going away party with her dad's family. I sat here and thought about Julia's suggestion that I have Molson shaved for the trip; calling the groomer, I found that they could fit her in if I came straight away. Off we went! While we waited, I brought Jack to the dog park, figuring that he's race around and get it out of his system. Instead, he spent the whole time peeing and sniffing, sniffing and peeing. At least he was nice didn't try to mount the Australian sheep dog or the Samoyed who were also there! We picked up Molson and headed home. TimBit does NOT know what to make of Jack and Molson and their new cuts. And now, amazingly, my short haired cat has the longest fur in the house!

The darker portions are where her markings are - not the result of a bad clip job! And the glasses are there for perspective - she's always been incredibly tiny but it seems moreso now that she's almost hairless!

I spent the evening nursing my back and watching 48 Hours and Dateline. Murder can be SO entertaining!

Verhovyna ...

Postponed due to Julia's surgery last week, we finally made it to Verhovyna this afternoon. While I can't remember exactly how long it's been since I saw Oksana, I know it can easily be summed up as "too long". We spent all afternoon catching up and then Julia and I were treated to Oksana's mom's delicious borscht and perohy. It was a wonderfully nostalgic visit - Verhovyna always reminds me of my old country place and Oksana's mom is a wonderful glimpse of what life might be like if my own mom were still here. Such an enjoyable day!

Chef Erika ...

After wrenching my back on Sunday, this is my fourth day of pain and another day that has passed without me doing much of what still needs to be done. Jordan and Erika invited me for dinner and I was not about to miss out on that, so I loaded up on pain pills, slathered on the Tiger Balm and headed over there. Dinner was delicious and so was dessert - Erika really outdid herself! Later, Jordan lay down on the couch and asked me to play in his hair, just he has done since he was a little boy. It was a lovely evening.

Later, after I came home, I cried.

Hmmm ... I seem to be doing a lot of that lately.

Lainey's Travelling Zoo ...

Myriam texted today to ask me over. After dinner, I convinced coaxed charmed cajoled crammed TimBit into the cat carrier and loaded Jack into the car and drove over to Kevin and Myriam's. I was happy that TimBit seem glad to see Kevin again and I think that Kevin was glad to see his childhood cat for what is most prolly the last time ever. After the visit, I loaded my beasts back into the car and made plans to return again on my own. Despite knowing that I'll see them again before I leave, I teared up several times on the drive home. After getting everyone into the house again, I had myself a bit of a cry. It's a silly thing to be sad, really ... I mean, I won't really be gone; I'll be back - I've still got the boys here and then there's still the house that's here as well.

It's silly to be sad ... the boys are adults and perfectly able to fend for themselves and have been for some time now.

It's silly to be sad. It's silly and I know it's silly. But I've never left any of my kids behind and my heart feels as though it's breaking and I'm not even gone yet.

It's silly. *sigh*

* ... sniff ... *

The Final Countdown ...

I think this is what they call the homestretch. It's Tuesday morning and we plan to leave next Tuesday morning. I've still got SO much to do, none of which is getting done given that I put my back out on Sunday and it's STILL hurting like a sunnunabitch! I'm stressed about what still needs doing, I'm stressed about what won't get done, I'm stressed about the road trip, and I'm stressed about all this stressing. I typically internalize a lot but there's so much of it this time that it's overflowing.

Recently, I was telling K about the last time I moved away from Canada. The company was there to take care of ALL the paperwork (visas, customs stuff, etc) and I did nothing related to the actual move but pack clothing and make coffee for the movers (on both sides of the pond). Then there was the transition company, who facilitated everything here in Quebec and were also in Switzerland to anticipate and alleviate every possible bump in the road and then smooth over the ones that managed to make their way into our lives. This time ... there is me. Not that I don't think that I'm up to the task, just that there is so much to do! But like K keep telling me, don't sweat the small stuff and just get here!

A lot of it is simple math. The contents of the home that I have now (3 storeys, 4 bedrooms, 3 washrooms, a basement, garage, backyard shed) will never fit into the home I'm headed to (condo with 3 bedrooms, 2 washrooms). Nor should it. This is a new life and not everything from the old life should be dragged along with me. As I look around, there isn't one stick of furniture to which I feel an emotional tie, nothing that I feel the need to bring to California. There is some art, some tchotchke, some books and dish ware. In the end, some of the things I hold most dear to my heart will be in the car with me - my daughter Julia, and my animals. And in the end, two of the things I hold most dear to my heart will remain behind - my sons, Kevin and Jordan.

I am ... CALIFORNIA!

Poor K ... after living there 5+ years, he scores a 64%. I visit 3 times and get an 83. Tsk tsk tsk.

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The road trip ...

There is A LOT of white to cover between the two red spots!

Among other things ...

From Here To There ...