what have we done?!

Gadzooks! what trauma! what tribulation! packing and moving is a bear. I can't believe we managed all that mess into boxes and got most of it (excluding a big yard sale, four car loads to goodwill, friends taking bits of furniture, a pile of junk for the bulk pick up, and completely filling ALL of the trash cans at our little bungalow court... the neighbors will curse us) stacked to the rafters in the back corner of the garage at mama a-go-go's house. Now I have to do a mess of maintenance work on Rodney (the car), tidy up our itinerary plan, and organize the stuff that is going with us.

Lots of things are in place but we're not done preparing yet. All the official address changes have been made, our temporary medical insurance is in place, and we seem to have worked out the kinks in all the electronic junk and their individual charging and battery needs. None the less, one of the most important items is a work in progress... our mental state. It has yet to come to terms with what we are doing. I am sleeping soooo much better after making a quick recovery from being gainfully employed, and after jumping the hurdle of packing and storing the stuff, crap, and junk. Even so, I am gripped with the lingering doubt of, "good heavens! what have we done?" I just have to believe the feeling will fade when we get on the road. (that and I must learn to shave with a razor again after years of electric convenience. Have to say it didn't go so smooth this morning. I packed away my old plug-in Norelco to eliminate one more electric gadget from our equipment.)

another step forward (in the chorus line)

so...yesterday we a-go-gos celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. traditionally speaking, we usually jump off the fountain where we wed and then get a big boy combo at Bob's but this year, we were feeling a little different. that and the fact that i was having a cranky hair morning and them gray skies outside were not helping in jumping inspiration.

besides, we had other plans...an afternoon appointment to meet the CMO of the nifty creative agency that may or may not be able to put a Kia Soul within our reach. so instead of hitting up the fountain we hightailed over to the San Fernando Valley for a Dagla's lunch (dear Dagla's, we am so going to miss you).
after stuffing ourselves silly on the best darn french fries in the land, we hopped on the 405 and traveled to El Segundo. well, that was after we stopped in at my brother's work to find he wasn't there (of course). and, since we were there, we picked up an assortment of these for the road trip and i splurged on what may be the very best iced latte i have ever downed.
traffic wasn't bad at all which is odd for the 405 and we made it to El Segundo in no time at all. after a brief surreal moment when we hopped into an elevator and found it wouldn't work for us, we managed to hitch a ride up to the seventh floor. the doors opened up and we were greeted by a hipster hall and funky purple lights. we cautiously moved forward and were rewarded by a people-sized cardboard stand-up sock monkey! people-sized! sock monkey! if we believed in signs, this would be one, right? the man of the hour arrived and encouraged me to go ahead and snap a shot of the monkey. i wanted to take it home but i guess that would be pushing it.
after a tour of the nifty studio space we sat down and chatted a little about our plans and such. it was kinda like a date. you know, finding out more about each other. after an hour or so we were on our way with homework. all we need to do now is write up our proposal in a more concrete kind of way and send it in. and if you feel you could help out by writing a testimonial or something, please let us know as soon as possible. we have another person to impress and impart on and we could use all the help we can get.

the countdown is on and we leave may 1st Kia Soul or not, the trip is going to happen but it will be quite different depending on the car we drive. and like i wrote on my facebook page i have all sorts of songs stuck in my head. songs about the Soul and us and our trip. from Vermillion Lies to Frankie Lymon and now A Chorus Line...I hope we get it! and yes...we did make it to the fountain and of course, we jumped!