One Way underway

After a whirlwind weekend, One Way left this morning with his ship. He will return Friday.

Him leaving has proved a logistics nightmare for all the paperwork we've had to go through on the house. So, last night, One Way purchased a printer, fax, scanner contraption to help deal with all the mess. I think we finally got everything signed off before he left. But if not, I'll have to pretend to be him :)

This will be a pretty boring week without him, but at least it is only for a little while. Plus, it makes me feel less guilty when I spend hours upon hours at the barn with Buttercup.

On an up note: My sister's husband returned for some R&R from Iraq on Sunday.

That house on Foxhall Road

Well ... negotiating for a house is tough business. We haggled and hoped, the owners balked and bristled. In the end, I think everyone came out on top. In other words, if everything goes through with the appraisal and home inspection, the Street family will be homeowners as of May 2!!!

It is a white home, with a wooden fenced in back yard. The front yard has a pear tree :) and there is a garage and off street parking. It is nestled in a quiet community that appears middle classed and family oriented. It is 16 miles from One Way's boat (which he'll bike most of because of the area's high traffic due to tourism). There is tile in the bathrooms and kitchen. Oh yeah, it is three bedroom and two bath. Built in 2001. There is a gas fire place. The rest of the home is carpet ... the area has the best schools in the county. Hmmm ... what's not to like?

Solving the world's problems before dawn

In the previous post, I told you that we got in the car at 3:45 a.m. yesterday to drive to Atlantic Beach NC. One Way slept for the first two hours of the trip, which gave me a lot of time to think.

Conclusion #1:
I'm a fan of The Universe on Discovery Channel, and yesterday morning boasted a very bright moon. This got me to thinking about the moon I saw the previous night: large and full against the horizon. The moon I saw in the morning was very bright and close to the horizon as well.

The Universe said in a program that the reason why the moon looks so large at moonrise is because we can understand its size in relation to a stationary object (i.e. tree line). And that once it is fully risen, it looks much smaller because it is alone in the sky.

But I have a different theory (of course!).

At sunset Thursday night and pre-sunrise Friday morning, the moon was at the same heighth in different ends of the horizon. But at sunset, the moon appeared very large and you could see the "dark oceans" in the face. And pre-sunrise, the moon was like a shining beacon.

My theory: since both phases of the moon were contrasted against a treeline, I conclude that the apparent size of the moon is determined by the brightness of the moon (which is dependent on if sunlight is present in the sky to dim it or not).

Take that Discovery Channel!

Conclusion #2:
I don't know about you, but I get pissed when people don't turn off their high beams before passing the other direction. It really irks me ...

So, I got to thinking. Why would this be so irksome especially since I'm travelling a four lane highway with a big median in the middle?

At 4 a.m. there are few drivers on the road and it feels very lonely. Human psychology in general does not like to feel "alone." So, to feel alone AND ignored is even worse.

Turning down your high beams lets me know that you see me. You acknowledge me. And at 4 a.m., that's all it takes to make me feel happy as One Way happily dozes in the back seat :)

One Way's conclusion:
After several hours of travelling, I told One Way of my theories. He replied that he had a thought.

"Earth is really vulnerable," he said.

I asked how and he replied: "We are just really alone in the universe."

I replied that it is testiment to how unique life is and it is proof of the existance of God. But, I also said, I'm sure there is other life out there.

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Ah the magic of a really long car trip through the lonely night up Highway 17.

Road Trip: Atlantic Beach

On Friday at 3:45 a.m., we left for Atlantic Beach NC to look at homes and -- hopefully -- find me a job.

The job hunt went well ... I will post results as soon as I hear.

House hunt went really well. We put in a bid, which was ultimately countered, and we just came to an agreement this morning.

If everything goes well, we will be homeowners on May 2.

Did I mention that yesterday was One Way's 25th birthday? Horrible birthday ... being in the car for 11 hours plus ... whew. But I bought him some thai food and we have an agreement on the house, which has made it better, I think.

Anyway, those of you in relationship know how fun an 11 hour car trip can be ... so let me recap the events in the car.

One Way: Something controversial
Street Mutt: Something to the contrary
One Way: Explains why
Street Mutt: Explains why
One Way: Grumpy grumpy, grouch grouch
Street Mutt: Nag nag, grump, bitch bitch

The names are interchangeable but you get the idea. However, for the little amount of sleep we did get and the amount of time we spent in the car, most of these exchanges were harmless and easily defused.

Anyway, wish us luck on the house!

ETD schedule

First, ETD stands for Estimated Time of Departure (I said this the other day to a girl and all I got was a blank stare ... so I figured I'd spell it out for y'all). I say estimated because who knows? I don't. Too many variables in life to know for sure.

OK ... here is our schedule leading up to our move:

March 21: (Also One Way's birthday) Drive up to Atlantic Beach NC at 4 a.m. Look at houses. Talk to editors (for me).
Sometime in April: Need to go back ... no date selected yet. Probably when we do the closing on a house ...
May 3: Move Buttercup up to her new barn
May 15: movers take our stuff
May 15-20: we will be annoying relatives until our stuff arrives :) ... still don't know what we are doing with the dogs and cat

Job update -

My job search up there has been kinda slow. One paper blamed a staff freeze on the "credit crunch." What I don't understand: so your newspaper can't take out a mortgage and that's why you aren't hiring? No, that's not it. More than likely, your newspaper has been having staff cuts for a while now since you haven't carved out a niche in the failing general news market ... don't blame it on the credit crunch. If anything, you need an extra reporter to cover the crunch.

(side note: if you are that editor and you are now reading this, please don't take that as ... well ... please just hire me)

The good news: Got a call today from an editor looking for a military reporter. Sweet. Maybe things are looking up?

Meet the Streets, part five

Meet One Way. He's my husband. I sent him 20 questions via e-mail, and here are his responses:

1. What is your favorite childhood memory? Why?
Beating up Jason and Josh, bc I liked to make them mad.

2. Who was your childhood sweetheart? Why?
All the ladies, bc im the ladies man.

3. Who was your childhood hero? Why?
Captain Planet, bc he takes pollution down to zero.

4. Who is your hero now? Why?
Captain Planet, of course! I already told you why.

5. What is your dream vacation?
Would like to go to fly fishing for Tarpon and bonefish in the Keys until I got tired of it. Then after that play golf all over the world until I got tired of that. All while spending every other bit of my time with my wife. Although I think we could go fly fishing together. And maybe golfing if she would take the time to learn to play.

6. In ten years, what will you be doing?
Trying to figure out how im going to pay for 10 horses. And wondering why I haven't gotten to go on my dream vacation.

7. In thirty years?
Thinking how I could get rid of 10 horses so that I can go on my dream vacation.

8. Are you an animal, mineral or plant? How do you know?
Animal. Bc I am an organism characterized by voluntary movement.

10. What do you wish you were really good at, but aren't? Why?
Remembering everything that I read or heard. Bc Street Mutt does and I am pretty jealous of that ability

11. What do you want to be when you "grow up"?
Tiger Woods

12. Who is the one person in the world would you not want to piss off? Why?
An axe murderer. Bc I love being alive.

13. Describe yourself in one sentence.
Bad ass mother (explitive deleted)

14. What is it about music that you like?
Stay out of my personal affairs.

15. What is the one thing you'd never be caught doing?
Walking a cat

16. What is something that you've never told me?
That I used to be black.

17. What is your greatest fear?
That I will somehow be one of the victims in the movie A House of A 1000 Corpses

18. What is your greatest accomplishment?
I once shot even par on 18 holes.

19. Describe your wife in one sentence.
Smoking hot

20. If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
A bear, all they do is sleep, fish, hunt and eat all the time.

Ana speaks

One Way and I were having one of those let’s-just-watch-TV nights the other night. He got up and decided to be productive by washing dishes. I stayed in the living room.

After about three minutes of him in the kitchen, Ana went in there and started barking. So, I got up to see what the fuss is all about.

There he was, at the sink, looking back at her. She was standing and staring at him. She whined and then barked several times.

“What is it?” One Way asked. “Is there someone in the yard?”

So, he looked out the back door. Nothing. So he went back to the sink. She barks again, more urgently this time.

Now, remember my posting last month? If Ana, a pit bull, ever thought about harming a human, I’d euthanize her on the spot. So, I started thinking about that and that she’s gone crazy and something has snapped in her head … she’s in the red zone and is going to kill my husband (at least it’s not me, right?).

The other thought in my head: Jimmy’s stuck in a well? But we don’t know of any Jimmys or any wells in the neighborhood.

While my thoughts were racing, One Way walked toward her, and she looked at him, looped around and sat at his heel. That’s when I understood.

“She needs to go outside … now,” I said.

So, I took her out to the front yard and Ana happily took the biggest dump in her life.

What a damn good dog! Ana knew that to go outside, she had to be at one of our heels. And because One Way was up already, she chose him (I told him that she associates him with poo, haha).

Ana has to be the best dog I’ve ever owned – and, yes, I am basing this off of the poo incident. If that had been Kit? She would have a) held it in until she died of a busted colon or b) shat in some distant room to let it fester until it was discovered.

Meet the Streets, part four

Meet Kit. She actually has been with me pre-One Way. So, she is the step child of the relationship.

Kit is a 6-year-old border collie mix. I rescued her from the Hilton Head Humane Association in my sophomore year of college (about a year and a half before One Way and I met).

In summary, she's a spazz. She was abused/neglected and when I first got her she was terrified of men (go figure). Since One Way has come into our lives, she has gotten much better, but sometimes she relapses.

Unlike Ana, who was an absolute dream to train, Kit is a bit of a problem child. She is vey (very) eager to please but sometimes her brain just shuts down. And, unlike Ana again, she isn't content with just exercise ... she needs a job, like herding sheep. Unfortunately, our animal farm is fresh out of sheep. So, we try to do our best with keeping her occupied.

Kit is also a jealous little bug. If you want to pet Ana or Missy, you have to pet Kit.

She's a good little girl. I think we're going to try agility with her eventually. Because of Ana's breed's reputation, she took priority last year. This year, I plan to focus more on Kit. She deserves to be fulfilled.

Kit loves going for trail rides with me and Buttercup -- a pasttime that we started when I first rescued her. However, my current barn does not allow dogs and that activity has been suspended for the last year. She also loves just being around me and One Way, whether it's running or something else (she loves her car rides).

Has anyone else noticed that One Way is surrounded by beautiful women? What a lucky man ...