And Now for the Rest of The Story

We got into Nampa late Thursday, February 21st and got stuck in the lovely 5 o'clock rush hour. We ended up leaving around 2 p.m. from Sun Valley because it took us from the time we woke up Thursday morning, which was around 6:00 a.m., until 2 to get the rest of our junk packed up and into the U-Haul. Also, we were cleaning the condo as we were packing so we could get our deposit back from our land lady. So here I am trying to maneuver our U-Haul through all this traffic with all those Boise idiots (I am still claiming out-of-towner status until I get Canyon County License plates) and trying to keep tabs on Mike's car so that we don't get separated. Well the traffic finally let up after Meridian and we sailed into to Nampa. We got to the apartment about 6:30 p.m. and I called my friend Sarah and her husband to come and help us unload everything. They showed up a few minutes later and with their help we had the U-Haul unloaded in one hour. By that time Mike and I were spent and we went to bed around 9 p.m. and didn't wake up until 10 a.m. the next morning.

When I woke up the next morning I was sicker than a dog with that lovely cold everyone has been getting. I had a nasty sore throat, my body was all achy (especially from moving all our junk into the new apartment), and I just didn't fell good. So I laid in bed all day, sleeping off and on, and shoving as much cold medicine into me as I could take. So needless to say we didn't get much unpacked on Friday. Also, it had snowed that morning but by the time we went to drop off the U-Haul it had quit and by the afternoon the snow had melted away.

So when Saturday rolled around, Mike and I started unloading the boxes and tried to find a place for everything. Then we went out shopping and bought some essential items for the apartment. We will have to post pictures when we get it all put together. The only downside to living in Nampa is that every once in awhile it smells like manure. The sugar beet factory produces ethanol as a by product of processing the sugar beets and it gives off this methane smell. I guess we got too used to Sun Valley and that clean mountain air.

And then I need to tell you about our neighbors. When we were unloading the U-Haul, the people who live next door to us came and said hi. They are an older couple and the one gal is kinda crazy. As we were unloading our U-Haul, I hear this hi pitched squeal from around the corner, "HI, HOW'S IT GOING? ARE YOU ARE NEW NEIGHBORS? I AM SO EXCITED!" I thought she was some crazy homeless lady. Then her husband comes around the corner to say hi to us. The gal, I can't remember her name, asked me if I liked yard sales. I said "Not Really." She then proceeded to tell me that she was going to take me out on weekends to all the yard sales and I would love it. I think I am going to try and avoid her on the weekends. She's really sweet but a little too friendly. Then on the other side of us we have hippies. It's a boyfriend and girlfriend and their names are Anna Marie and Daniel. The girl has really large dreadlocks and they play their guitars pretty good and sing very bad, but they are really nice people.

On Sunday we went into Meridian to Ashley Furniture to order our sofa, love seat, and coffee table we had picked out the week before. They should be delivered in about 2 weeks so for now we have nowhere to sit in our front room. We bought a large bean bag from Fred Meyers but it's not very comfortable for two people to sit on and not as big as the picture on the outside of the bag indicated. Usually one of us sits on it and the other has to kinda of lean up against it.

Then on Monday, February 25th I started my new job. It takes about 30 minutes to drive from the apartment to the law firm but the traffic isn't too bad at 9:30 a.m. so it's not that stressful. Driving home it takes me about 35 - 45 minutes because of the lovely 5 o'clock rush hour. Some days the traffic isn't so bad and others I literally crawl home in my car. Again, not so bad. Mike was off during my first week of work but he got the apartment set up and boxes unpacked while I was at work.

So my job right now entails helping the front receptionist with answering the phones when she goes to lunch or takes breaks and helping the messanger do jobs and deliveries outside the office. In the following weeks I will start to help the secretaries and paralegals with jobs but for now it is answering phones and such. I have my own little half cubicle down the hall from the front reception area (it doesn't have the high walls of a normal cubicle, just a half wall) and then there is a gal that shares the other half with me but she is retiring in a month so I might be all alone for awhile. So I am doing good in my new job so far. It's tough to go from knowing a job you have done for the past three years like the back of your hand to having to learn a completely new job, but I it shouldn't take me too long to get the hang of it.

Mike has started working this week back at the Pawn Shop. I think he likes it but might be looking for something else down the road. Like I told him I really don't care what he does as long as he is happy and we get the bills paid.

So that is all that is going on for now and we will keep everyone updated as things happen.

Carolyn