It pays to unpack

I got up just before 7:30. I threw out my Huntsville toothbrush and unwrapped a new one. I brushed and swished and rinsed my sinuses. I unpacked china and decorative dishware in the dining room. I just love the sound of champagne flutes ringing against each other.
I unpacked curtains in garage, and selected some to put in a give-away box. I texted with the dentist and she asked if she could call me later in the afternoon. I unrolled our ethernet cable to see how far it would reach: to the den, but not to the back bedrooms. I put on an interview with a doctor who says his patients health improves more when they minimize their exposure to wi-fi.
Chris came home for lunch, bringing two packages from the post office. He washed sweet potatoes and put them in the oven. I made and ate my breakfast. I unpacked the postal boxes and put the items in the pantry closet. I was able to find places in the pantry to put the under-the-shelf baskets. I laid outside for 20 minutes in my bathing suit.
I played several interviews with Judy Mikovits in the guest room while I unpacked boxes there and hung garb in the closet. In one of the boxes, I found jewelry, inlcuding my wedding ring which I thought I lost three years ago when we flew to America.
Chris came home from work. I had a piece of beef, salad (with dandelion from the yard) and a sweet potato for supper. I worked on the CD player, trying to figure out what was stuck. I called William and we agreed that if I couldn't fix it, I would send it to him.
Chris and I watched three episodes of Lucifer then retired to the bedroom. I think I fell asleep, but woke up in the night to turn off the router and my phone. Actually I woke up a number of times with my head ringing. I couldn't figure out what was causing it.

The checks are in the mail

I heard Chris getting ready, and Reveille, but went back to sleep. I got up just before 7:30. I decided to have a meditation morning. Everything took longer because I was kind of starting from scratch. I made coffee, but discovered that the stove is not suitable for simmering. It would be difficult to stack the two grates like I did in Huntsville since they are so much bigger and heavier. I swished with coconut oil, then brushed and swished with toothpowder. When I flossed, the string went under my crown. I looked it up on the internet, and it means the crown is too small and should be replaced with a bigger one. I sent a text to my dentist to see what she thinks. It makes me angry to think I have to go through all the pain and price again because she didn't get it right the first time.
I tried to play meditation music on desktop but the subwoofer wasn't putting out any sound except a faint hum of electricity. I checked the wires and they were all connected. I looked for music on my laptop but I didn't have any yet. So I put a CD in my laptop and played it. I drybrushed, exercised, meditated and tapped, but it wasn't comfortable so I cut it short. I took a shower and discovered that the shower rods are not smooth so the rings I bought don't slide over it. That means the ones I haven't unpacked yet won't work either.
I put the stereo system together in the den. The CD changer worked, but then I rearranged the CD's in the cartridge to put the one I wanted on the bottom, and apparently something got stuck because it wouldn't play after that. It was silent on 'play' but whined on 'stop'. I tried the tape player but the sound did not come through. I called William and we figured it out. He also told me how to take the top cover off of the CD changer, but I could not see what was causing the problem.
Chris came home for lunch. He didn't know the answer to either the CD changer or the subwoofer. I made and ate breakfast. I wrote some checks. I unpacked boxes of fabric and books from the garage. I looked for boxes marked 'shed' because that's where the charging cord for the mower was. But I only found one box and it did not have the cord in it.
At 2:30 I put on my bathing suit and laid out in the sun. There wasn't much sun left on the porch, but I got my 20 minutes. I came in, toweled off, and redressed. I went back to unpacking.
Chris came home from work while I was unpacking china and the linens from the sideboard. He made himself supper and played a game while listening to Michele game with her online friends. I decided to do the same. Then he helped me unpack some items. Nothing was broken, thank goodness. I found the covers for the shelves in the china cabinet, and put some decorative glassware in it. When I needed a break, I walked down to the post office to mail some checks. It took about 20 minutes, but I forgot to check my watch when I got back. I was distracted when the front door was locked. But Chris let me in.
We called it quits on Hamlet, which we did not finish yesterday. We watched one episode of Lucifer and then checked out the sprinklers in the front yard to see how they were doing. There was a big wet spot on the road. We think they need tweaking. Some parts of the yard are still dry. Then we watched a second episode. Afterward, I brushed and swished, then wrote my blog post for today.
* My pics didn't turn out today, so here is one from last week on the road to Tooele. *

More shelving

I woke up hearing Chris move around, just like yesterday. This time I got up before 7:30. I took the protein and H2 supplement. I used the sinus rinse and when I blew my nose, there was some blood on the tissue. I brushed and swished while texting with Beverly. I got dressed. I screwed the legs onto the rebounder for tomorrow. I opened a package marked 'fabric poles' which I thought were PVC, but they turned out to be the poles to my dressmaker dummy. I reassembled her. I also unpacked candles into the sideboard.
I wanted to print out my supplement regimen because that piece of paper did not come with the others for some reason. Now that the desktop is up and running, it should have been simple, but the desktop disavowed all knowledge of that file. Thankfully I had transferred it to the laptop so I was able to e-mail it back to the desk top and print it out on the back of something else (since the printer paper hasn't been unpacked yet).
I unpacked boxes of fabric in the garage using the drag and drop method since they were stacked so high. I assembled another shelving unit in the fabric closet and wondered if it would be enough.
Beverly called to emote over the quilting class today. Later, I made breakfast while Chris made lunch. He also put a beef roast in the oven for later. I brought in a small shelf unit from the garage and put it by the piano. I loaded it with sheet music and music books. I laid out in the sun for 20 minutes.
David came by to pick up more paper and boxes. We chatted on and off. He told me he'd talked to his wife or the PTSO about a sewing group and they were interested. I unpacked CD's in the den and three stereo units, although without William I am not sure how to hook them together. It's been so long since I have had room to set them up.
I went looking for some plastic shelves that I saw in a box somewhere. I looked through every box large enough to hold them, but with no luck. When Chris came home, I asked him and he said I told him to put them in the shed. So I went out there, and lo and behold, not just those shelves but a bunch of other ones too. I assembled one set in the den and moved the other two over to accommodate it.
The roast Chris pulled from the oven smelled so good! When I finished with the short plastic book shelves, I served myself a piece of the roast. It was very good and a little spicy. I picked some dandelion from the yard and made a salad with half of the salad greens that were left. I heard Chris talking in the living room and thought it was time for us to watch TV. But he was on a Zoom call with gaming friends. He introduced me and we had a nice chat before signing off. Chris and I watched a Netflix DVD with David Tennant and Patrick Steward in Hamlet. I thought they were going to update the language as well as the costumes and scenery, but no. It was very hard to follow. I'm kind of sorry I put it in my queue.
Then it was time for bed. Chris retired and I stayed up to post to my blog, and to do usual pre-bedtime stuff that I have been neglecting lately.
* What a tangled web of wires. William would know what to do. *

And now the desktop is up and running

I woke up hearing Chris moving around. I know it was before 6:30 because I heard Reveille played later just after Chris took his shower. I went back to sleep, and when I woke up, I was alone.
I got up at 7:30. I took the protein supplement and set the timer. I found a broom and swept the kitchen floor and I cleaned under the burner grates. They are heavy and not conducive to cleaning. I also looked for more plastic shelves to add to the ones in the pantry but I only found two and I need them for the sewing room.
I spent all morning trying to organize my supplements and superfoods. I can't believe it took so long. I made up a bunch of 'push' doses. Michele called because she was filling out an application, but I did not know the answer to her question.
I was finally making breakfast when Chris came home for lunch. I ate breakfast while he ate lunch. He dropped me off at the post office on his way back to work. I told him I could walk home. I would later regret that decision when I discovered that the package waiting for me contained 4 bottles of olive oil.
I continued to unpack and organize DVD's and other media. How is it we have so much? I fantasized about having a yard give-away. Chris picked me up about 2 and we went to the visitor center. It took a few minutes for me to get a three year pass, but it was a painless process. Now I can get on post by myself.
When Chris dropped me off at home, I put on a bathing suit and laid out in the sun. Being an hour after solar noon I was surprised how little of the porch was in the sun. But I laid out for 20 minutes anyway. I moved my tomato plant to where I thought it would get more sun. Then I changed back into regular clothes.
I unpacked all afternoon, sometimes in the living room, sometimes in the den. I found the DVD player. I was surprised to hear rain. It rained just a little, then everything dried up again.
I watched an upsetting video of a pregnant woman refusing medication because it might affect her child. A policeman held her down while the nurse injected her. From context it might have been a sedative. I thought it was illegal to perform a medical procedure on an adult without their consent. It appeared to be an American hospital.
I made a salad for supper. I heard Chris come home and then the doorbell rang. Johnnie and her son came by for some book boxes. They also took a lot of paper. There were plenty more they could have had. I found the cord to my embroidery machine. I turned the power on and sewed a few stitches. It seemed just fine.
After supper, I unpacked in the dining room. Then Chris and I put the desktop system together and got it working. The sound was a problem, but it got solved. The driver for the wi-fi card was a pain so he just hardwired it. I put some shelves together in the fabric room. I went looking for another set but never did find them. We watched three episodes of Lucifer. Hopefully we can connect up the DVD player and watch a movie tomorrow.
Afterward, I was going to take the 'push' supplements, but they seemed to have disappeared. So I took the 'catch' ones, then brushed and swished and wrote my blog post for today.

Away with the boxes...

I got up about 8 and hunted down the first supplement and took it. Then I went back to bed and did some vMy laptop had been sitting at the computer desk which is less than 10 feet from the router. Since my ears are ringing extra loudly, I decided to move my laptop to the back bedroom.
I unpacked some boxes in the diningroom, hoping to find supplements. I found the mid-afternoon ones. I unpacked the desktop computer. I listened to an interview on dangers of mercury in fillings.
We sat on the couch to join the Zoom group with the chaplain at 11. We waited and waited. I messages Johnnie and she said it was on Facebook, but we had trouble finding the right group. But I think we caught most of the sermon. Very traditional, but the song was modern and played on guitar. I went back to my laptop and watched Nick Ortner tap. Then I remembered it was breakfast time. So I went to the kitchen to pull out the breakfast box and I realized I was out of the three main ingredients. Well, one I had bought yesterday. There was a pinch of the second left, and the third I had to substitute with coconut flakes. I wrote down a list of what I used to put in my breakfast as best I could remember. Then I threw in some spices, etc. The bowl was not as full as usual, but I had bananas to make up for it.
I was in the back, reading e-mail, when the doorbell rang. Chris answered it and it was a man who came to pick up boxes and paper. He had a pickup truck and Chris helped him load the boxes. I chatted with him and he offered to help us if we needed anything. His family lives near Tooele so he drives there a lot.
After he left, taking an amazing amount of boxes, but not all of them, I unpacked in the dining room, flattening out papers that I pulled from the boxes because it compresses better that way. Chris was trying to work on e-mails for work. So I moved to the den and started unpacking boxes of books and putting them on shelves. There were many boxes of quilt books and magazines. Pretending to be a box of books was the one marked “Open First” which had supplements and superfoods in it. I was SO glad to see it. I called to Chris and he came back to see it.
After finishing his work, Chris came and helped me unpack. We cleared some space under the windows and I assembled some plastic shelves there. But still there were not enough shelves for all the books. And there were the boxes of videos, DVD's and CD's. So I asked Chris to put the white shelving unit in the hallway. He also put the small brown shelves on either side. We filled them past capacity with media. We piled 20 empty boxes by the front door. I messaged Johnnie to see how many she wanted.
I made a salad for supper and ate it while watching the Huntsville service. I also made egg salad and ate that too. Myra called, so I paused the service to talk to her. I enjoyed our chat. Afterward I listened to a talk by Dr. Vernon Coleman called “We are victims of the greatest crime in history.”
I made my magnesium drink and sat on the couch. When Chris was ready, he came over and pulled up Netflix. We watched several episodes of Lucifer. Maybe when we find and unpack our DVD player, we can watch movies instead.
* I took Faye's suggestion of using hangers for curtain rings. *

Hurray for pillows!

I got up around 8:30, and took the first supplement. I found a box of pillows which we put on the couch. Yay! When I signed into my laptop, it told me that the camera was on and that I could use the kill switch. I looked up 'kill switch' and found out that it was a small switch on the side of my laptop that I never noticed before. So I turned it off. It also said f.lux needed to update and that I should restart the computer. I could see it had rebooted overnight, but I let it reboot again. That became a problem because all the open windows were closed and the web addresses lost.
I wrote my blog post for yesterday. Then I tried to get my windows back, but it was too late. I went through my history files, deleting all but the latest copy of each thing going back to June, but I guess most of my open windows were older than that.
I started reading e-mail. Normally I try to keep unread e-mail under 200, but it was over 400 today. Then I realized I hadn't actually posted my blog entry, so I did that.
I ran out of prepared breakfasts, and did not find the box with the key ingredients yet. I didn't know if I should replace those ingredients, or wait to find them (if they can be found). I made as much breakfast as I could and ate it while reading e-mail. Then I started a loaf of bread for Chris. I unpacked two boxes in the diningroom. One of them was sewing room stuff. I wished I had a step counter for all the walking back and forth that I did. It would be high!
I put on shoes and we hunted down the cooler and put some freezer packs in it. Then Chris drove us in to Tooele. We stopped at a drug store where I bought shower rings and kombucha. Then we went to the nutrition store. I shopped there while Chris went to CAL to look for epoxy. Then we went to Macey's for groceries and filled the cooler. When we got back to base, we stopped at the shoppette for cheap wine. I noted that they had shower curtain rings, and for less than half the price. No health drinks though.
We came home, and unpacked all the groceries. I put the cold ones away and Chris started cooking something. Chris cut up a cabbage and I added some kimchi to it and left it to sit and ferment. I used the shower rings to put up a curtain in the hall bathroom. I unpacked another kitchen box and found the toaster oven and mixer bowls. I made egg salad for supper and tried some of the bean salad and fried chicken that Johnnie brought over yesterday. I read e-mail and articles, and messaged back and forth with Johnnie.
Chris and I walked to post office. We had to dodge the sprinklers to get in. When he opened the box, we found a yellow slip instead of a key to larger box. That means we can't get the package until Monday. We had to dodge the sprinklers on the way out, too, but this time I got wet.
When we got back, I unpacked the blanket and quilt for our bed from a box marked 'shoes'. There were a few pairs o shoes on top. I picked up the charcoal packs that were lying in the sun most of the day. I wiped all the cereal bowls and sandwich plates that were unpacked today. I made my magnesium drink and we watched two episodes of Lucifer. Then we made the bed with clean sheets and I posted to my blog.
* Plenty of paper and boxes, and still more to come. *

Happy 83rd birthday

The sprinklers woke me up at 6:15. But I went back to sleep. Reveille was not played today. I got up around 9 and took the first supplement. I brushed and swished. I read about hard water vs soft water. Soft water is better for skin and hair and irons and washing machines, but hard water is better for drinking and plants. Soft water has elevated sodium content and contaminates picked up from the pipes.
I took a shower. The tub in the master bath is particularly deep and there are no handholds, nor any shelves to put soap and shampoo. When I find a shower curtain for the other bathroom (which also has no hand holds), I will try that one. While I was showering, Chris was on a telecon. After the shower, I got dressed and finished unpacking a box of fabric and sewing stuff. There were two thread stands in the box and some of the spool pins were broken off. I took a pic for my file of damaged items. I continued to unpack sewing stuff. One of the tubs was smashed in. I took a pic of that, too.
Then I made and ate breakfast. I resumed unpacking. I messaged Johnnie about any community Facebook pages, and she directed me to Dugway24/7. I joined, then posted the paper and boxes as free. At 1 I laid outside for 20 minutes. Then I read e-mail until Kurt Skyped me. Soon Faye joined in, with Dad, and we wished him a Happy 83rd Birthday. I played with backgrounds, settling on a beach scene. Then Kurt suggested a gif file. I downloaded one, but when I tried to use it as a background, the motion went away.
After 2 and a half hours of chatting, we ended the call. Chris helped me move boxes and shelving units around in the fabric room, hoping to maximize storage and still have room for the cutting table. Walking back and forth to distribute items to where they needed to go, I thought this place is like a palace compared to where we used to live. It is spacious, but everything is so far apart. There needs to be a half bath near the kitchen.
Chris ran to the commissary to get more tortillas but they had just closed. So he used the last of the bread. I heated the last of the steak, and went through a box in the garage while it cooked. Then I made a salad to go with it, and sat down to eat. After supper, we walked to the post office. The front desk was closed, but there was a key in our box which opened a larger box and I picked up a package from Swansons. On the way back, we ran into Johnnie, the other quilter. We had a nice conversation and agreed to see each other's stashes sometime. Then we went home. Not long later, she came over with containers of food. I showed her my fabric closet which isn't big enough for all my quilting fabric. She said her fabric wouldn't fit in her closet either.
Chris and I watched three episodes of Lucifer. Usually we only watch two episodes, but it was so nice with Chris was rubbing my feet. I got very relaxes and we went to bed without blogging or the usual preparations. I woke up in the middle of the night unable to go back to sleep, so I turned off the wi-fi and went back to bed.

No. 5 was right - No Disassemble!

I was awakened by the sprinklers pounding on the back door at 6:15am. Each circle they make takes 3 or 4 minutes. I could see where the shed interrupted the sprinkler so that the other side of the shed had only patchy grass. But the back porch was soaked. I'd better remember that.
I brushed, swished, and used the nasal rinse kit. I wrote my blog post for yesterday. I forgot to post it right away because I got caught up ordering more health foods to replace those that might not have made the move. I worked in the kitchen, wiping items and putting them away. I opened two more boxes, and found highly relevant stuff this time, but still no toaster oven. I found more supplements, but not the expensive practitioner supplements. I cleared a space on the kitchen counter and made two weeks worth of supplements. I added the two that were running out to my order before submitting it.
As I ate, I listened to Del Bigtree talk about how antibodies offer immunity against bacteria, but T-cells offer immunity against viruses. I paused it to go lay in the sun for 20 minutes. But it turned to 40 minutes because the sun hid behind a cloud for 20 minutes. A man from Housing came by to introduce himself. He said this house has been empty for 3 years and to let him know if we see something off. Hmmm.
If my trombone were in a box, it could only fit in a wardrobe box, so I unpacked wardrobe boxes. Some were labeled L/R Clothing. Those were filled with coats. Some were labeled Fabric, and yes, they were full top to bottom with fabric. I unpacked my suitcase and a box of clothing. The clothing smelled a little musty, so I threw them in the dryer. But it was hard to open the door now that the washer and dryer are reversed. So I got a screwdriver and was determined to change the hinges from one side to the other. How hard could it be? After a bit, I pulled out the instructions. Halfway through, I realized they were instructions to a different dryer. I pitched them and got out the right booklet. I had to disassemble the whole door, move the hinges, and then reassemble it. Sigh. (Chris could have done it, but I can do it without swearing!) Then I turned on the dryer and let the laundry air out.
Chris came back to tell me Faye had called. She and Kurt were practicing with Skype for tomorrow, when we all Skype with Dad for his 83rd birthday. So I got on my laptop and talked to them. I noticed an option to change my background. I tried out the handful of choices, and there was the option to add a pic. So I took a pic of Faye and Dad with my phone and used it as my background so that it looked like I was there with them.
After the call, I heard Chris out back talking to his parents. So I went out there to participate. We had a lovely chat, and then I went back to unpacking. Chris helped me move laundry baskets of fabric into the fabric closet where I stored them on shelves by color.
When I emptied the fabric wardrobe boxes in the master bedroom, I looked for more of them. None in the fabric room or the guest room. And then, in the garage, I found one labeled L/R Crafts. There was a kite, a guitar, several tension rods, a foam roller, a rolling cart, and A TROMBONE! No crafts. I was so glad to see it! Chris pulled it out of the box and I hugged it.
For supper, I cut off half of the remaining steak and heated it in a Korea bowl on the stovetop. I also made a large salad. I ate the two together at the dining room table. I organized spices and put them in the cabinets. I put a few bottles of oil there, too. And then Chris said we could watch TV anytime. So I made my glass of magnesium water and we watched the last episode of Legends. I didn't know it was the last, so it came as a shock. A cliffhanger, of course. So then, having no backup plan, we re-watched the first two episodes of Lucifer. Afterward, I took the evening supplements, and used the nasal rinse. I brushed and swished and posted to my blog, then got ready for bed.
* Just one of many things that got damaged in the move. *

Unboxing the kitchen

After being so tired yesterday, I slept soundly. But at 6:30AM, I heard Reveille. Unlike at Redstone, where it is a distant melody that you might not hear if all the doors and windows are closed, this sounded like the trumpeter was right outside my window. Chris was already up. I dozed off, but eventually nature called and I had to get up. I wasn't wearing a nightgown because I couldn't find one last night. My suitcase was boxed in. So this morning I went through the hanging clothes that we unboxed looking for a blanket. (There was no blanket in there and we ended up using a quilt that was a little too small for the bad.) I pulled out a sundress and put it on, noting how the elastic had failed. BUT, I was covered. I went out to the livingroom where the two computer desks were back-to-back. Chris gave me a hug and I cried. There was something about seeing our familiar furniture in an unfamiliar place that made this move seem suddenly real.
I took the first supplement and tried to gather my wits to figure out what to do next. I noticed all the boxes had our name and an 11-digit code on them. I checked the trombone in the closet - all it had was an orange sticker with the number 19 on it. 19 is one of the numbers they were looking for yesterday that was labeled as “music box”. Maybe the other trombone is at the warehouse and they can't figure out who it belongs to.
I folded some laundry (Chris did a load last night) and put it in the empty dresser. I got out a clean pair of underwear and washed up. No showers until we find the curtain rings. I jotted notes for my blog. Then I started unpacking, although I don't remember where.
Chris said we should make the kitchen and master bedroom the priority. So we concentrated on the kitchen and unpacked lots of boxes. I unpacked more than he did because he kept having to stop for phone calls and telecons. By afternoon the entire kitchen and every flat surface around it would be covered in dishes and utensils. I said they should be rinsed so Chris started a load of plates and silverware in the dishwasher.
I stopped for breakfast at 10:30, got distracted and opened another box. I felt compelled to impose order on chaos. Several times I tried to rest, but the compulsion would get me back on my feet. It was almost 12:30 when we went to the commissary to replace the bottle of vinegar that broke in shipment. I don't know why the box wasn't even wet, much less soaked. We also got distilled water and a few other things. I looked at all their health drinks but every one of them had 'natural flavor' which is usually another name for msg. We saw Chris' boss there buying something for lunch. Soon after we got back, he and Chris were talking on the phone.
I found a roll of packing tape that was covered on both sides and contained shelf pins of all sizes and shapes. I went around to the shelving units to figure out which pins each one took. Then I went looking for shelves to fit the units. I did not find shelves for all the bookcases, however.
I was looking for shelves in the garage when Faye called and we had a nice conversation. It was a good break for me. She had the brilliant idea of using wire hangers to hang the shower curtain. So I did that. They don't slide along the bar well, but they do hold it in place. Chris and I unpacked the TV and a few other boxes in the livingroom hoping to find couch pillows. Nope. But in every room there are boxes that don't belong there. He set up the TV and got it hooked to a small laptop. I opened a bunch of boxes labeled 'lampshade' and condensed them into one box, along with their harps and bulbs.

I was hungry for steak, so Chris went to the commissary and got a sirloin and cooked it up. It was delicious, and I didn't eat it all so there is more for tomorrow. Sitting at the dining room table, I noticed that Chris was watching Michele online. She was gaming with a bunch of friends through Zoom or Skype or something.
I found a bathroom box and got very excited, but there were no shower rings in that box either. Sigh. But I did find shampoo and a bar of soap and my nasal rinse kit. I forgot what I did after that, but soon Chris was calling me to watch TV (as opposed to his laptop like we've been doing for the last week or so). We sat on the couch and watched two episodes of Legends. In the second episode, the three Fates took over the world and took away free will. People did their jobs and went home to watch Fate-sponsored TV, where all the shows were scripted to inspire obedience. The one Legend who knew what was going on, had to 'wake up' the others to the fact that their world was wrong. I wish someone would wake me up. This corona world feels so wrong to me.
So after the show, we relaxed and I fell asleep. I didn't get my blog done or turn off the wifi or any of the usual bedtime rituals.

Not our best move

I stayed up late last night waiting for Blogger to upload the pic. Then I went to bed, but had trouble falling asleep. But Chris slept well. He got up just before 6. He came and woke me up. Grrr. I washed up and got ready for the day. I took supplements and ate breakfast. We packed up everything left and filled coolers with the last of the food in the fridge. I washed the dishes and cleaned up a bit. Then Chris left the keys in a little bowl, and locked the door and shut it. Then we were on our way to Dugway.
We got here about 8:30. We unpacked the car. Chris locked my purse and sewing tote in the mechanical room so it wouldn't get lost in the move. A little after 9 a man came to install the internet. Another man came to fix some siding. As the first man finished up, the moving truck arrived. They asked if we wanted them to unpack boxes and I said yes, but not the ones in the garage and fabric room. So then they gave Chris the list of item numbers to check off as they unloaded the truck. I looked up the pic of the truck from Huntsville and we realized it was not the same truck. That meant our goods had been unloaded from the first truck and then re-loaded onto the second truck. And the upshot of that was that our furniture was the LAST thing to come off the truck, but we needed it to be first, so we could unpack boxes onto shelves and tables and such. Also, the boxes were in the way of where the furniture was supposed to go. So the house filled with boxes pretty quickly. I told the men that they didn't have to wear masks on our account and they seemed pretty happy to take them off.
The men took a lunch break at noon. So I had something to eat - can't remember it now.
They came back and resumed unloading. As Chris checked off numbers, he also made a list of items that did not have a number. We didn't know if the numbers fell off or had never been put on. I personally don't know why they took unnumbered items into the house. There should have been a separate pile.

Anyway, at some point they started putting fabric boxes in the garage because the fabric room was filling up. So I started opening boxes in the fabric room and loading it onto shelves in a large hall closet. When the men finished unloading, they assembled the beds. I listened to them discuss the ins and outs, but they finally got them together. Then they all went around looking for the numbers that hadn't been checked off and trying to match them with the long list of items that were unnumbered. That was when I realized I had only seen one trombone: the junior model. Chris said neither trombone was on the numbered list and that the professional model was not on the truck, but it might be in his trunk. Before the guys left, Chris said I should verify that my embroidery machine works. So I unpacked it only to find that the power cord was not with it. After the guys left, he was going to get my purse out, and then check his trunk. But his key would not unlock the mechanical room. He made phone calls and soon someone came to the door, but none of his keys would open it. That guy went to security and finally came back and opened the door. Whew! Then Chris went to check the trunk of his car, but there was no trombone. Since the packers did not list it on the manifest, we have no recourse. Chris blamed himself for not making sure the trombones were on the list. I could not believe that so many things were unnumbered, more that were unmarked from the list. There was a broken kids night stand that wasn't ours. Plenty of our stuff was broken, scratched , crushed, etc. Most stacks of boxes were lopsided because of it. And random parts kept showing up. And the men, who were very nice, never did unpack any boxes. Maybe they ran out of time.
Chris and I looked for shower rings to hang a curtain that I bought at WalMart, but we couldn't find any. We went through several boxes before we found sheets for the bed, but there was no blanket. We walked over to his friend's house to borrow some rings, but no one answered. Chris unpacked some boxes in the kitchen to make room. I was tired and just watched. The box marked “Open First”, which had a selection of supplements and special foods that I needed quick access to, was not to be seen. Unless they packed it in a larger box, it was lost.
Finally we sat on the couch and watched two epsodes of Legends. I was exhausted and emotionally worn out. I wrote to my blog and got ready for bed.

Preparing for the big day

I woke up before 6 with a charlie horse. I could not pull my foot up so I had to get up and stand on it, which worked pretty quickly. I went back to bed, but Chris got up and started his day. At 6:15, I got up and took the first supplement. I brushed and swished. I read an article with embedded videos showing evidence that masks don't help stop the spread of viral infections because the particles are too small and people don't handle masks correctly.
I took a shower and got dressed. Meanwhile, Chris got a call from the internet provider saying they couldn't come today, but would like to come tomorrow instead. Chris told them that if they came promptly at 9, it would probably be ok. I was hoping to know where the wi-fi was before deciding where to place furniture. But there won't be any time for that now.
In looking up doctors in the area, I came across the local Home Depot. It's a little further out than most of Tooele, but it is good to know where it is.
I made and ate breakfast a little earlier than usual. Linda called and we had a really nice chat. When Chris started one of his telecons, I took the phone outside. A grey and white dog with blue eyes came over and licked my ear. I patted him on the head and he left. After the call, I read e-mail, and looked at the floor plan for the house. I was trying to imagine my furniture in it. At solar noon, I laid outside in a bathing suit for 20 minutes. Then I redressed and finished a video on how the seasonal death statistics are no worse than other years. There was a large late-season spike in places where the hospitals were cleared to make way for anticipated patients. But not in places that didn't do that.
I did some tapping and worked up the courage to drive in town to WalMart. (It takes a lot of energy to face a store that big.) The intersection where I had to turn left had a blinking yellow light. But visibility of on-coming traffic was blocked by cars in a left-turn lane. I didn't like that, and neither did the people waiting in back of me. Finally I found a small hole in traffic to squeak through. Finally I arrived at WalMart. Masks were mandatory and there were two ladies assigned to the front door to make sure everyone had a mask. So I pulled mine out and put it on. But after I took a cart, I pulled the mask off my nose so I could breathe. Then I walked around the store hunting for items on my list. I did not find them all. Especially surprising was the lack of distilled water. And they were out of hydrogen peroxide. I walked into the garden center and was pleased to find tomato plants. I chose one and went to the checkout up front. When I got outside, I took the mask completely off. I wasn't sure where I had parked the car, but there was only one with an Alabama license plate.
When I got back, it was after 5:30. Chris had already eaten, so I quickly made a salad, ate it, and then ate an egg. Then we packed up as much as we could minus what we'll need first thing in the morning. We packed it in the car and I drove us to Dugway, noting that there is only one turn to make (if you don't count all the twists and curves in the road over the mountain.)
We went to the post office, and then our new place, and unloaded most of what was in the car. I set up the Berkey and filled it with water. The hot water was cloudy and the cold water was clear. Only the hot water is softened, so why is it cloudy? Then we left, but decided to get the plants from Chris' office and took them to the house. Then I remembered to take out a sewing measuring tape to measure the walls in the main rooms. The place seemed huge. Of course, when it is full of boxes tomorrow, I may change my mind.
We stopped at the gas station on post, then headed back to Tooele Army Depot. The sun was getting low in the sky and we passed several deer. Chris did the driving. When we got back to the lodge, we talked a little bit about furniture placement, but then watched one episode of Legends and got ready for bed.
* This is a pic from the nutrition store recently *

Calling the family

I got up at 7:30 to shut off the alarm. I started reading e-mail and one had an offer to buy a bottle of olive oil for $1 to entice me to join an olive oil club. I looked up how to find real olive oils. I changed windows and watched the Huntsville church service. It was nice to see my church family again, even if remotely.
I called Dad, knowing it was two hours later where he was. We had a nice chat. After I hung up, I called Faye but she didn't answer, so I made and ate breakfast. Then Faye called me back. We had a nice chat, too. After her, I called William. While we were talking, I laid out in sun and got 10 minutes on both sides. When I hung up with William, I called Kurt.
I tried to identify olive oils in a pic I took at Lucky's, but the detail was not good enough to make them out. I read an article that said to buy olive oil from single family farms in California. I looked up some recommended oils, but could not find where they were sold and did not want to order glass bottles online. I looked up the local Walmart. Chris refused to go and I ended up not going myself.
For supper I made egg salad and a leaf salad. I listened to Dr. Zach Bush talk about how we would not be alive if not for viruses. Afterward Chris and I went for a walk. I stopped along the way to check out stones that might be geodes, but he said they were too small. When we got back, I tried to draw our furniture on a paper diagram of the house. That made me aware of several things I did not pick up on earlier: the master bathroom is on a corner of the house, so it will be cold in the winter. The master bedroom wall is shared by the den and will probably be where the wi-fi hookup is. I don't want to be sleeping next to that. There is a den and a living room, but we only have enough furniture for one of those rooms. Chris helped me determine the cardinal directions so I could plan for the sun shining through the windows. I don't want glare on the TV screen when we are watching in the evening. Also, I hunted down a measuring tape. It's only 5 feet long, but it might help me measure rooms tomorrow.
We watched two episodes of Legends. While watching, I chewed on a flossing stick to keep my root canaled tooth from impacting the tooth below it. When those teeth hit, it's like two marbles coming together. Could it be a galvanic shock from dissimilar metals in my mouth? After the second episode, I posted to my blog and got ready for bed.
* These are the oils available. Can you identify them? *

Getting out and about

I got up at 7:30 when my alarm went off. I started the usual morning routine. Chris gave me a massage without coconut oil, which was not as good, but he didn't want to get the sheets oily. He didn't plan to do any more laundry here, just waiting until Tuesday when we move into the house.
He showered, then I showered and got dressed. I checked e-mail. I watched some funny and some informative Facebook videos. Around noon I had breakfast. I washed dishes, and made a batch of banana oatmeal cookies. The cookie sheet was not very clean so I had to scrub it first. The egg had been rescued from the pot Chris cooked yesterday so it was ever so slightly solid around the edges. But it worked and I threw in raisins, pecans, and ground cacao nibs.
After they came out of the oven, I put on my bathing suit and went outside to lay in the sun. The lady next door came out and offered me cookies. I thanked her but said I just made some. She went to the laundry area and I laid on the picnic bench. But when I saw her coming back from the laundry facility, I got up to talk to her and she invited me inside. We had a nice conversation and she introduced me to her little ones. She told me about their bad moving experience.
I looked online for ATMs associated with our bank, but there were none. I read a local facebook page which the lady next door told me about. There was quite the discussion of masks. People on both sides made their arguments, but only those on the side of not wearing masks gave links to graphs and charts and studies.
I decided to go into down, so I took a pic of a map of the town. I went to GNC first and picked up some astaxanthin. The store had a sign on the door about wearing masks, but the clerk did not say anything to me. I social-distanced as much as I could. I asked about alcohol, and she recommended a nutrition store down the street. I tried the dollar store in the same shopping center, and was able to get it. But I still checked out the nutrition store. It was marvelous! Not as big as Ruth's, but carried a lot of the brands I usually buy. She gave me business cards for two massage therapists and a chiropractor. I bought some Beetcology juice and avocado oil. I put my purchases in the car, then walked to Jo-Anns. It wasn't as big as the one in Huntsville, but they seemed to have all the usual sewing stuff. I asked about quilting groups, but they didn't know of any.
When I got home, I drank the Beetology, and made supper: egg salad with sour cream instead of mayo, and a vegetable salad. I ate as I watched another video on how the Covid numbers don't add up to a pandemic. Cases are up, but death rates are down. After eating, I went back to the bedroom to get my walking shoes and decided to lay down for just a moment. I fell asleep. When I woke up, it was dark outside. I left the bedroom and found Chris at his laptop. He said he had come back earlier to ask if I wanted to walk and found me asleep. So instead, we watched an episode of Legends. Then it was time to blog and go back to bed.

Choosing a dentist to finish the job

I had a hard time falling asleep because my face was sore. But at some point it happened, and I woke up this morning a little later than usual. I still tried to go back to sleep, but called that quits about just before 8. I was pleased to see that my face was back to normal. I started taking supplements and swishing. I packaged a sample for mailing to the lab. I looked at dental sites and their facebook pages, trying to come to a decision. I worked my way up to breakfast, then continued to research. All of the dental offices had FB pages, and some of them had pics of staff with boxes of doughnuts, or cookies, or a cake, etc. Hmmm.
Finally I called one and the best they could do was an appointment in the second week of August. I wanted to go to the post office and GNC and maybe a drug store, but I couldn't quite work up the gumption to do it. Chris agreed to go if I only went to the post office, so that is what we did. Although it was on Main Street, it was on the left and I had to go to the next light and make a U-turn. There were a few parallel parking spaces out front, so I pulled into one, and Chris took the package into the building. When he came back, I drove us straight back to the temp quarters.
I put on a tank top and laid outside where it was very windy. I thought about it being perfect for kites, what with the wind and open spaces. The Housing people yesterday had mentioned that the kids on post might like to do something like that. I liked to make kites, but mine are sewn, so probably not the best for kids to make.
The router connection was down or really slow so I played Solitaire until it came back up. I rinsed cans and packages that we'd bought at the store yesterday or the day before. I read some of the documents that Housing gave us. I was surprised how many were about animal and insect bites. I checked a few more e-mails, then made egg salad for supper, followed by a leafy green salad. There was no salad spinner or colander, so I drained the leaves in the metal coffee filter, and spun them dry by spinning myself around. It worked ok. I added olives and basil and turmeric. I ate it at my laptop.
I finished watching the interview with Mr. Praeger and looked at his website PraegerU. I went for a half hour walk, heading north and coming back. I wondered why there were still cars around the buildings at 7 pm on a Friday.
When I got back, I listened to a Ben Greenfield podcast on anti-aging. He mentioned melatonin and said there was no toxic limit, but that it doesn't survive gastric juices well. So I put coconut oil on the inside of my arm and opened a melatonin capsule and rubbed it in. It was kind of like sand paper. I took some magnesium and we watched two episodes of Legends. I noticed my left nostril was bleeding and I wondered if it had anything to do with the root canal. I squired some Xlear up each nostril, waited, and put ozone cream up just the left one. I brushed and then also used the cream on my gum where the root canal was. I sat down to write my blog post, and pray for sleep.
* It's a pretty pic, but it does not do the mountain justice *

The dreaded root canal

I had a hard time getting to sleep and staying asleep. My digestive system was uncomfortable and I wondered if the fish was to blame. Chris got up at 5:45, and I tried to go back to sleep but gave up about 6:45. Chris wanted to leave at 8, so I did a very short version of supplements and breakfast. I had filled out a patient form for the endodontist and I sent it this morning. I boiled some water for a sinus rinse. I also checked a few e-mails, deleted others, and listened to an interview about using budesonide for Covid-19. It's not as cheap as hydroxychloroquine but has a good safety profile. I opened the box of X-lear and discovered that I didn't need to add any water. But a few sprays was not as cleansing as my usual rinse. I could hear men in the parking lot cutting dead branches from the trees and grinding them up. I hoped they were not blocking our exit from the parking lot. But Chris walked down to the rental office and said they were not.
It was a little after 8 when we headed to Dugway with Chris driving. He wanted to discuss my health issues. Every symptom I came up with, he dismissed as psychological. When I mentioned tests I'd done last November, he said the results were meaningless. He was trying to say that I had no health issues. By the time we got to Dugway, I was in tears.
It was 9 by the time we checked with Housing and went to the house. A bunch of people were standing outside waiting for us, all with masks on. After a bit of conversation, we went through the house, looking for anything amiss and asking any questions we could think of. Some of the ladies were in training so they didn't say much. The appliances in the kitchen looked new, but they said something about everyone getting a new stove at some point in the near future. Chris asked for a specific form, and when they didn't have it on hand, he gave them a spiel about tracking the time it takes to fill out such forms so as to request more man power. We looked at the shed and the lawn. We are responsible for mowing outside the fence. Also, there is a water softener. The cold water is not softened so don't let the sprinklers rain on the car because the minerals won't come off. The lady said plants were ok with it, but later Chris told me that it could be a problem for some of the plants.
Then we went to the Housing office. I guess Chris signed forms and such, but I stayed outside so I wouldn't have to wear a mask. When he came out, he gave me a house key and garage door opener. Then we got in the car and went to his office. I watered my plants which were sitting there in the shade, but would be in full sun all afternoon. Again, I stayed outside while he went in and did whatever. Then we went to the post office. I was able to pick up a number of packages. When I came out, he was sitting in the passenger seat. So I drove us back to Dugway. I did not enjoy the hairpin turns in the mountain pass, but the straight parts were ok, if boring.
We got back around noon. I jotted notes for my blog, and had some seed crackers and a banana with cinnamon. I read e-mail until 3. Then we got ready and I drove us into Tooele to the endodontist.
Using the map I memorized from the internet, I drove us down mainstreet and missed the turn because the road turned into a highway and back again. I turned around at the next light and headed back. We passed it looking to the right, but it turned out to be on the left. Since we had left early, we were in the office on time. We had to wear masks in the building, but once the lady took me back, I could take it off.
She talked to me and took an x-ray. I did a lot of tapping. Later the doctor came and showed me the x-ray, said if it was his tooth he would keep it. So I gave him the go-ahead. He leaned me back and put something between my right teeth to keep my mouth open. Then he gave me a series of injections. She gave me nitrous. I got very relaxed, and yet something inside me was yelling 'No!'. He worked with another patient, then came back to me when my mouth was numb. He started in drilling. I am not sure what else he did because my mind was wandering. I was trying to think the most positive thoughts I could come up with. I heard him say the tooth was necrotic, but I did not smell anything when he drilled it out. The canula began to hurt my nose so I had them take it off. The lack of gas did not seem to bother me. At one point he used the GentleWave machine to ozonate the channels. Then there was more stuff, and the dam came out.
When he finished the procedure, he wrote me prescriptions for anti-biotics, and pain. The pain pills were nothing that I didn't already have for my back. He said the procedure went well and none of the things he warned me about happened. The assistant took me out front to pay. I was given the numbers of three dentists who could finish the job of filling the hole in the crown. Chris, who sat in the waiting room, put his phone down and helped me walk downstairs. He drove us back to the base.
The guard did not take our temps this time. I don't know why and I wondered if mine might be elevated. Chris said I looked normal, but when I looked at myself in the mirror, I could see that the left side did not match the right. I read e-mail for a bit, then swished with silver. I laid down to keep the silver on that tooth. Later I got up and took a walk. Then I swished with salt water while playing Solitaire and reading e-mail. I started listening to an interview with Dennis Prager. I took another packet of Vitamin C. At 8:15 Chris called up Legends on Netflix. I made a magnesium drink and sipped it as we watched. After two episodes, more of the anesthesia wore off, but the corner of my mouth was not behaving properly. I brushed my teeth gingerly and swished while writing my blog.

A modified meditation morning

I got to bed late. Chris' alarm went off at 6 and he got up. I stayed in bed until 7, took the first supplement and went back to bed. At 7:30 I decided to have as much of my usual coffee morning as possible. I played meditation music on my laptop, but Chris' phone calls were louder. I did exercises and tapping. I cleaned a little in the kitchen afterward, but since we just got here Monday, nothing else needed cleaning. I took a shower and got dressed. I made and ate breakfast. I read e-mail, and posted on Facebook. I laid out in the sun at solar noon to boost my vitamin D.
I looked at maps of Tooele, trying to get up the courage to drive into town. I looked up 'organic food in Tooele', but all the search results were in Salt Lake City. Sigh. I responded to messages on Facebook until Chris was finished with work. Then we went into Tooele. I drove us to Macey's, which is a grocery store with more options than Luckey's, and I found organic coconut milk and lots of other things. We went up and down most of the aisles looking at the selections. The only thing we did not find was hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol. They were out.
When we got home, we unloaded the groceries and put some in the fridge. I noticed a message from Patrick so I called him back. Chris and I each made our own supper. I listened to more of the church service from Sunday, getting through the sermon to the next hymn. Then we went for a walk. When we got back, we watched two episodes of Legends. One was a cross-over and was very confusing to me.
I sat down to write my blog and then remembered that I was supposed to fill out patient forms online for the procedure tomorrow. I filled some of it out, then went back to writing my blog because we have to get up early.
* A shot of products in Macey's *

In Search Of ... a dentist

I woke up with insect bites under my arm where my bra strap should have been. I wondered how or when it happened. I took the charcoal binders first, then brushed and swished. I washed up and put a hot cloth on the bites, then put on ozone cream and got dressed. Chris looked up solar noon for me and it is around 1:30pm.
I looked up dental websites in Tooele, trying to find someone on the same page as myself. Chris was on several group calls, having been told to quarantine himself for 2 weeks. I would think having his own office at work would be enough, but no, he is supposed to work from home.
Chris took me back to the visitor's center where a younger man made me a picture ID with no problems. To go back to Housing, I had to show it to the gate guards. They took our temps, just like yesterday. What would have happened if I'd been having a hot flash?
I went back to searching dental websites. It was frustrating because so many did not have a website, and were probably part of a practice that wasn't specified. At solar noon, I went outside, got a towel from the car, and laid on a picnic table bench for 30 minutes or so. When I came back in, I resumed my search. Then it was time for the afternoon supplements, but I couldn't find them. I searched every box in the kitchen. I completely unpacked my suitcase. And then I remembered that a week's worth of supplements was packed inside the outer pocket of my suitcase. I transferred them to my usual pillminder, and took the one for this afternoon.
Then I called a dentist that uses GentleWave tech. She said they only have a satellite office in Tooele (Two-ella), and no openings for today or Thursday, but she put me on the waiting list. I thought we might be moving on Thursday because I heard the house is ready now, but the transportation company said they couldn't schedule until Tuesday of next week. Afterward, I called the other dentist that uses lasers. They said lasers were better than GentleWave technology. The previous dentist said just the opposite. I was hoping to find someone who did both - sigh. Anyway, she didn't have any openings this week either, and made it sound like it would take more than one appointment anyway. I called another office, and they had no special tech, but gave me another place to try. That place had no special tech but referred me to another place in Salt Lake City. Sigh. I called anyway, and yes they had the tech. But I didn't want to drive to SLC.
Thinking hard, I decided that if I had to go to SLC to get the job done, it was better to go there from here in Tooele than from Dugway. I was most impressed by the background of the doctor from Greater Endodontics, so I called them back to make an appointment. But I got a different assistant, and she made me an appointment at their satellite office in Tooele for Thursday!
I sent them the x-ray that Dr. McCrary took two weeks ago. Then I walked for half an hour, just around here, looking at weeds. I wondered if they were edible, but since the grass is so uniformly grassy, I thought someone must be spraying it with weed killer. When I got back, I ate fish for supper, plus a can of vegetable soup and seed crackers. I listened to Ron Paul while Chris talked on the phone. When Chris was finished, I made list. Then we went to a grocery store. We set the GPS for Macey's, but we saw Lucky's first and stopped there. They didn't have a lot of organic stuff, but we got a few things. We brought them back to the apt, unloaded them and put most in fridge. I ate half of a lemon, and tried a bottle of Suja. It was tolerable. Chris made himself supper. I listened watched part of the Huntsville church service.
Chris put a Netflix disc in the player and we sat on the couch to watch The Once and Future King. It was alright, but very long. I fell asleep on the couch. When it was over, Chris got ready for bed and laid down. I finally roused myself from the couch long enough to do the same, and finish typing my blog. Finally I get to sleep in the same bed twice.
* Whatever direction you look in, this is pretty much what you see. *

Dugway (or thereabouts)

We got up really early because the sun did and I couldn't go back to sleep. I made breakfast and Chris took a shower. I read some e-mail, and then we packed up our stuff on a dolly and took it to the car. Chris packed the car and we found a gas station, then headed out.
I had a headache. I suspected dehydration, but was afraid to drink much because the rest areas were closed and the exits were very far apart. We stopped at Little America to fuel up and use the restroom. Chris bought himself a pre-made sandwich and I got a jar of marinated mushrooms. Then we resumed our book on CD and drove on. I took pics sporadically. The terrain is so different. I clicked one of the Morton Salt Factory in Salt Lake City. It was around that time Chris got a call saying the truck with all our belongings had arrived. We had to tell them to put it in temp storage.
We finally arrived at Dugway. The sun was hot and we had to sit in the car and wait for them to make me some kind of pass. Then we went to Chris' office and unloaded the plants and watered them. Then we went into his office and waited for his boss to finish a conference call. Chris introduced me and we talked. Then we went to the post office and Chris showed me how to use the code to open the box. There was a “Welcome to Utah” card from MaryAnn, and two packages.
Then we went to Housing to check on the house. We had a hard time finding it, and I noted how all the places that were not irrigated looked fried by the sun. The lady in the Housing office said she wasn't sure if the house was ready and she called someone, but they didn't answer. So she promised to get back to us. We went by the house and saw the outside. It looked ready to me.
I requested to stop at the commissary, even though we had to have masks in there. I wanted to see what they had of what I usually buy. Not much. I made a mental note to buy chocolate, pickles, bone broth and coconut milk in Toole. Since there was no room at the Dugway hotel, we had to go to Toole anyway.

When we got to Tooele Army Depot, they said I needed a visitor's pass. We went into the little building. The guy was going to take my picture and make a pass, but after much ado the computer would not cooperate, so he made a paper one and said to come back tomorrow for a proper one. Yes, it was running a Microsoft OS.
We went to the Sunset Inn Hotel on base. We were assigned a two-bedroom apartment with full kitchen. We unpacked the car. The top had come off of the sesame oil, so it made quite a mess. When I emptied the coolers, one was full of blackberry residue. Chris started cooking the fish which has been at the bottom of the cooler since we left Alabama. We took a walk to find the laundry facility. Chris did two loads of laundry. I used the sanitizing wand on my pillow.
I answered a couple of e-mails and laid down while the fish cooked. Then it was too late to eat, but I didn't realize that because the sun it still going strong at 8 local. So I ate a piece of the fish, which did not taste so good. I wrote my blog post and downloaded all the pics, which took a lot longer than it should have. God bless Microsoft.
My laptop said it was 9:41 but the sun was still up. Arrgh! I read e-mail for a while longer, then I sat with Chris and we watched one episode of Legends. He went to get the laundry and I finished up my blog post so we could go to bed.
* This is the one rest stop that was open. *

The Ponderosa

I did a few stretches before going to bed last night and I felt fine. However, when I woke up this morning, my back hurt and I wondered if I would be able to get out of bed. Very slowly and carefully, I did manage to get upright. I had to walk gingerly to the bathroom. And from there it started to ease up. I did my supplement routine while Chris read e-mail, then took a shower and got dressed. I got online and ordered another shower filter, which should arrive about the same time that we get into our house. I packed my supplements for the day in a little white box which I put in my purse. Chris went to get the hotel breakfast. I made my breakfast. After eating, we gathered our stuff together and loaded the dolly. We took our stuff out to the car, only dropping two items, and packed the car so we could get on the road.
First we stopped at a gas station, then started the next 400+ miles of our journey. We listened to the book on CD. The rest areas we passed were closed, so we took an exit and went to a gas station. But it was so busy that I walked to the hotel next door and used their restroom. The reception was bad so I turned off my phone. As we drove, the terrain changed. Trees gave way to wide open spaces. It was like we were driving on The Ponderosa. We didn't see Little Joe or Adam, though. We finished the book on CD, started another one not long before we arrived.
We pulled into Laramie about 3:15, but it was 2:15 local. I waited at the car for Chris to come back with a dolly. I saw a large black bird walking around the parking lot, unafraid. When he arrived, we loaded dolly and I held stuff in place while he pulled it up to our room. It occurred to me that Amazon was going to send the shower filter I ordered to Huntsville. I tried to correct the address. But there was no way to change the address once the order went through, so I canceled it and re-ordered. I tried to add astaxanthin to the order, but Amazon said it could not ship it to the Utah address. Sigh. Chris called the little hotel on Dugway and they said they were full up for the next week. Double sigh.
I was so tired, that I laid down and tried to sleep. But sleep would not come. So I got up and checked some e-mail, then suggested we go for a walk. Chris came to a stopping place on his laptop, and we headed out. I had no particular destination in mind. We passed a movie theatre and a bunch of restaurants. We ended up stopping at a steak place. We had a choice of eating inside or outside. I thought outside under the pergola would be nice. However, towards the end of the meal, it started to rain. I stood next to the building to stay dry while Chris finished his fries. Then we went inside and paid. The best (not) part was running back to the hotel and getting soaked.
We watched three episodes of Legends. Because of the time zone, it was still daylight and my body was confused. Chris told me that the difference between daylight and dark is greater here, which means that extra daylight in the summer means extra darkness in the winter. That is a very depressing turn of events.
Chris went to bed and I stayed up to blog.
* Chris pointed out this bridge, but I don't remember what he said about it. *

Half way there

I woke up early. I finally got up to pee and put on vitamin patches, then tried to go back to sleep. At 7:30 we got up for good. I brushed my teeth and started the breakfast routine. I washed up and got dressed while he went down and got a bagged breakfast, and brought up the dolly. I emptied water from one cooler and replaced with ice. Chris did the heavier cooler. I ate breakfast, and kimchi, and some soggy strawberries. Then I packed my suitcase and jotted notes for my blog. Checking e-mail, I read about dangers of wearing a mask.
As we checked out, I told the clerk that our room wasn't totally clean. There were crumbs on the desk and hair stuck to the wall. We left the hotel, stopped at a gas station and got on the road by 9:30. We drove 460+ miles all told. We listened to a different book on CD, and got to the middle of disc 5. We stopped at a rest area that had an automatic handwashing station. You just hold your hands in the right place and soap comes out, then warm water. Finally your hands are air-dried. It was interesting. I walked around the rest area to stretch my legs before we continued on our trip.
We passed through Paducah, but he didn't stop. We passed quilt shops along the way, but he didn't stop. I pulled out duck eggs, seed crackers and a square of chocolate when I got hungry. I also had a banana that he brought me from the hotel breakfast.
We had considered stopping in Lincoln Nebraska, but because I was ok, we went on to York, arriving between 3:30 and 4. I stayed in the car while he went in to get us a room. Then he parked the car in the lot and brought out a dolly for us to load our baggage and heat-sensitive items. When we got to the room, I put stuff in the fridge, noting that it wasn't very cold. I ate the mushy not-so-frozen strawberries. I went out to the car to give the plants a little water. I was afraid they would be hot in the car, but it wasn't so bad.
I went back to the room to get ice for the coolers. When I opened the ice bucket, there was a half empty bag of some snack. Chris said I should tell the clerk so I walked up to the front desk and waited my turn. Finally he asked me what I wanted. I showed him the bucket with bag inside. He apologized and promised to tell the cleaning staff. He took out the bag and handed back the bucket. Since the ice wasn't for consumption, I took it back. I also asked to sign up for the pool. The clerk handed me the pool key, which was an electronic card, saying only the person who has it can get in. I wasn't quite ready to swim, but decided to go ahead. I stopped to fill the ice bucket. I drained the water from the small cooler and poured ice inside. I asked Chris to do the larger one. Then I changed into my suit and put my clothes on over it. I went to the pool, which was conveniently right across the hall. I figured I didn't need to watch my stuff so I put my key cards down on a table and got a towel from the stack. I walked down the steps into the pool. The water was so warm that it didn't feel like a pool. I swam back and forth. I noticed a sign on the wall that said there was no life guard so do not swim alone. Ha! Then I just floated in the silence. The water in my ears kept me from hearing a man and his two little boys come in. When I stood up, there they were. The man said the boys were just checking out the pool. (How did they get in?). They looked around, then left. I kept swimming and floating. I hadn't brought my watch and there was no clock on the wall. But eventually I got tired, so I got out and toweled off. Then I went back to our room. I asked Chris to turn in the pool key so the next people could use it while I took off my suit and showered the chlorine off. My scalp, which didn't itch when the bites itched, had started itching today. I had hoped the chlorine would help, but it seemed to make it worse. Chris was back long before I finished and got dressed.
I called Faye because she had left a message on my phonne, and we talked until Chris was ready to watch TV. Then he and I laid on the bed and watched two episodes of Legends. He went to bed and I stayed up to blog.

One down, three to go

When we woke up, my throat did not hurt any more. I made breakfast and took supplements. I washed up and discovered two new bites. I put ozone cream on all my bites as a preventative measure.
We left the hotel, went to our house one last time. I watered the plants. Chris packed the car with the plants and things we left in the tub (like my sewing machine kit, and his coffee pot). We threw out the shower curtain from the master bath because it had mildew, wich never washes off. I cleaned out the fridge and put freezer packs in the coolers, then put in the most important food from the fridge and freezer. Some things got thrown out. I took the leftover kimchi from the gallon bucket and put it in a small jar. One simply does NOT throw out year old kimchi! There was not enough room in the coolers for the freezer packs, so I put some in a plastic bag and threw in the kimchi and banana cookies (two different things). He also took out any remaining trash. The towels went in a box along with a night light that was left in the bathroom. We took one last look around for anything that might have been missed. But we left the partial rolls of toilet paper in each bathroom.
We left the house about 10:30 and went to Housing to turn in our keys. After that, we went to WOW to turn in the router. It was drop-off only, so Chris called them to make sure there was nothing else we had to do. However, it took so long to reach them that he had me hold the phone while he drove towards Ardmore. After 20 minutes, he got to talk to a live person and she took his info and said everything was ok.
He waited until we reached the interstate to start the book on CD. I had a little CD player hooked to my car stereo. I chose a short book, only 3CD's long and we listened to that as we drove. We went through Paducah, but only stopped at a gas station to use the restroom and buy backup batteries for the CD player. Chris' phone was also plugged into the car stereo but it did not get power so almost ran completely out. Luckily I had a back up phone battery in my purse and was able to recharge his phone - which was running the GPS. Thanks, Faye.
When that book was over, I pulled out another book on CD. But it was not nearly as good. There was a lot of unnecessary drama. As we drove, I pulled out the duck eggs, then the carrots and seed crackers. We looked in the gift bag of food that Julia gave us. I ate some of the chocolate and Chris ate a bunch of the vegetable chips. We kept going until we reached the far side of St. Louis. Then we stopped at the first IHG hotel. Chris got us a room and a dolly. We loaded the suitcases, laptops and temperature sensitive items to the dolly to transport them to the room. When getting out of the car, I noticed that my right leg and hip hurt. I tried different stretches to work it out, but the discomfort remained. Yikes. I thought we made really good progress driving 450 miles in one day, which is 25% of the trip.
We each ate a banana cookie. Then I took off my shirt and draped a towel over me so I could eat some of the kimchi. My goal was to eat half of the jar, but I guess you just can't binge eat kimchi! Chris tried to do a change-of-address online, but the site didn't work properly. He tried using another browser, but it would not cooperate. He was not a happy camper! I jotted notes for my blog and deleted a bunch of e-mail I might have read under other circumstances.
I drank a cup of magnesium water and took evening supplements. Then we laid on the bed and watched two episodes of Legends. Afterward, I took the last supplement and posted to my blog so we could retire.
* A bridge we went under on the way to St. Louis. Wouldn't it look great on a quilt? *

First they came for our chairs..

I counted the boxes in each room except the master bedroom. I only counted about half in the fabric room because it was so full that I couldn't get around.
I slept through out the night pretty well I think. Chris' alarm went off at 6 and he got up to take a shower. I got up later to take the first supplement, then shower and get dressed. I had to rearrange my suitcase since it was helter-skelter and it needed to be zipped so Chris could put it in the car. I counted the boxes in our bedroom. But that count included boxes we never unpacked and bins. I wiped down the bathroom sinks and mirrors. I made and ate breakfast. I washed a water pitcher so they would pack it. I flattened some boxes that the men put on the recycling bin. Two I saved for later just in case. The food box got a little wet because there was water on the counter. I emptied the box and reinforced it with tape. I vacuumed the rooms with carpet.
The big truck pulled up about 8:30, but the movers were not here yet. Chris invited the driver to come in, but he preferred to sit in his truck. He said the movers left Birmingham at 6, so how long does it take to get to Huntsville? I got on my laptop and jotted notes, then read e-mail, listening to Chris rage over some Microsoft update that closed his tabs. I looked around in the garage and saw the quilt I made for our bed in Korea. I dabbed the bites with ozone cream even though they weren't bothering me. Some of them look inflamed and I want to head off any scratching.
The movers showed up about 9:20. They said they had to take the long way in order to come in the back gate, which was the only gate they were allowed to come in. They had to wait in line, and register the truck and people.
I went through my e-mail, watching the boxes go out and listening to the furniture get wrapped in plastic. At 11 Chris took lunch orders and went to Burger King for lunch. I continued to listen to a podcast. When it was over, I looked for my next supplement. Chris said my supplements might be in the bathroom. But the bathroom door was locked and no one was in there. Chris wanted a nail, so I suggested the one holding up the mirror on the wall. But it didn't work. One of the men asked for a coathanger. They'd all been packed but then I remembered throwing an old flyswatter handle in the trash. I got it out and he unlocked the door pretty quickly.
At 12:15 I laid out in the sun for a few minutes, using the lawn chair that hadn't been packed yet and setting it on the patio, not out in the grass. At 1:50 they took all the chairs except the ones we were sitting on. I listened to a podcast of EMF mitigation, then went to the post office to turn in the keys. The clerk was wearing the mask I had given him. He processed the form, and gave me cash back. I went home. I I told Chris we could sit on folding chairs and let the men wrap and pack the dining chairs. So Chris got folding chairs from the shed. I ate some kimchi (couldn't finish it all) and seed crackers. We read more e-mail, noting that they were not going to finish on time. Julia came over with a bag of snacks for our trip. That was so sweet of her! She asked a question about the fabric room and we went back there. I noticed the curtain was still up, so she helped me take down curtains, rods and Command strips. Then they came for the table. Julia went home to get her vacuum while Chris and I cleared our stuff from the table. She did the back bedrooms and cleaned those windows, God bless her. I tried to sweep in the masterbedroom but they still hadn't done the bed, and the mattress was leaning up against the wall. I swept baseboards wherever I could find them. Actually we didn't have to clean since we were resigned to paying the cleaning fee, but without a table and chair, I couldn't amuse myself with my computer. (Chris sat on the floor and used his laptop). So she and I cleaned. And the men packed and loaded. And I found things here and there that they missed. I emptied the vacuum cleaner cup twice. I swept the garage with a broom. And then they came for the sweeper. She and I talked as the foreman finished up paperwork. Her husband came out to say goodbye. They assured us they would take the trash out next Wednesday.
The men left about 6:30. Chris didn't want supper, so I ate what I could find from the fridge. Then we packed a few things into the car and went to the hotel. I was exhausted. I made some tea and put magnesium in it. After a bit, we started watching TV early. By the end of it, I was too tired to move. Chris got me up and we went to bed without blogging. I woke up at 2am, drenched in sweat and with an uncomfortable sensation in my throat. I got up to gargle with salt water and put on some vitamin patches. Then I went to bed and laid awake for hours.
* We filled this truck with boxes and furniture stored in 1400 sq ft. *
** I later regretted leaving my supplements and essential oils to be packed because they stayed in hot storage for a week I also wished I had my teapot and a rectangular suitcase. **

Never underestimate the fabric

Last night I rubbed ozone cream on my bites before going to bed, and I slept through the night. We got up at 6. I was in the middle of a dream when the alarm went off. It slipped away pretty quickly. I took the first supplement, then showered and got dressed. Because nothing was where it used to be, it took extra time.
I rubbed ozone cream on the bites again. I went to the garage and folded up the inversion table. My back started to hurt. I rolled up a rug from the bathroom. Chris helped me vacuum the other one. I emptied the dirt from the seed starter tray and replanted the only sprout left. I watered the plants in pots, knowing that some of them will not be making the trip. We threw out the plastic bin from the back porch because it had cracked badly and was falling apart. The empty plastic pots inside will have to go. Jennifer has a place to turn them in at, but I don't want to drive back out to the church. I rubbed a mixture of coconut oil and baking soda on the bites just to empty that dish so I could wash it for packing. I rearranged things on the kitchen counter to make it obvious which things should get packed.
About 7:30 I got started on breakfast. Also had some kimchi. I read e-mail and saw one from my friend Joyce. She recommended a Benadryl bite stick and cortizone cream. We had some hydrocortizone cream somewhere, but where is it now? The bite stick sounded like a good idea. Chris' bite doesn't itch much. I'm so happy for him.... I reminded him that the boards under our bed broke when we moved in. He said it was too late to replace them now. He didn't have the dimensions or a vehicle to transport them with.
The moving men were supposed to come at 8, or at least be in line to pass through the gate. But since they did not arrive until 9:30, I am guessing they were not waiting at the gate at 8. I continued to read e-mail, jumping up now and then as I thought of something I should do to 'help'. I hope it really is helping. I rubbed more aloe on the bites because I still have a piece of aloe branch sitting by my laptop. I emptied some jars from the fridge so they could be washed and packed. I jotted notes for my blog, hoping they will be useful for the next move. The movers are writing an 11 digit code on every box. If I had thought of it soon enough, I could have printed it out on labels to save them time.
I listened to podcasts as I watched the guys pack. I answered questions as they came up. I meditated (though it was hard with all the ripping tape and crunching paper noises). I rebounded one last time. I listened to podcasts and cleared e-mail. I wish I'd kept my supplements with me instead of having to run to the bedroom to get each one, dodging boxes and men.
At 11 Chris went to Burger King to buy them lunch. Watching them pack, I thought of all the effort it will take to unpack it all. The guy packing the fabric room ran out of size 3 boxes, of which they'd brought over 100. I finished watching the July 5 church service. I did online searches for Dugway recycling, notes about the area, etc. I finished off the blackberries and nearly ate an inch worm that was crawling in there. (I'll bet he was wondering why this summer was so cold). I drove to the post office and checked the house mail, but there was nothing, not even junk mail.
The men packed up a little after 4. The foreman said they were 95% done. He said four people will be coming tomorrow, instead of 3, to finish the packing and then to load the 53 foot truck that is coming. (Where will they park it?) Y'all pray it doesn't rain, please. I wonder if the guy who changed the three-day packout to a two-day packout underestimated the fabric. Chris and I went into the sewing room to look for my embroidery machine so we could write it down as a high value item. He saw blue stickers on the boxes and thought they were from a previous move so he began removing them. Once he realized they were current, he put them back, though not necessarily where they came from. Yikes.
Chris and I took a walk around the neighborhood. My legs began to itch something fierce. I wiped the baking soda off of my legs when I got home. For supper I ate pickles and a can of veg soup. For dessert I had frozen strawberries and three squares of dark chocolate.
I gathered all the used potting soil in two large containers. I put the chosen plants aside, and put the rest in my trunk. I drove them to the 'dump' where I have rescued plants, and left them for others to find. I kept the pots and some of the soil and returned home. I put the soil where it could dry out because one of the men agreed to pack it if it was completely dry. I pulled up the shepherds hooks and put them all together. I vacuumed the master bedroom, and used a dust broom on the wooden floors.
We watched two episodes of The Legends. I drank a cup of magnesium water, and hunted down my evening supplement. Chris went to bed and I stayed up to blog, but no more inversions until our stuff arrives in Utah. Now I will sleep in our bed for the last time in Huntsville.

Boxing Day

I had a bad night: Chris stayed up until 1 playing a game. I couldn't sleep due to that and the itching and thoughts running through my head. After he came to bed, I got up to put argan oil on the bites. They were noticably bigger. I also tried vinegar again, which helped for a while. I tried lavender oil, too, and charcoal.
I got up at 6am to start supplements, but on a restricted schedule to make things easier. I packed supplements in boxes according to how soon I would need them. I packed special foods like flax in a box that I hope to open first when we move into the house. I put up tape on the hall bath announcing not to pack items found there. Then I removed everything that should be packed, into the other bathroom. Chris was also using the bed as a no-pack zone, so we removed everything from the headboard that should be packed. I locked my purse in the trunk of my car.
I made breakfast from the box that I packed last night. It seemed to have everything in it except the teapot, which I won't need if I am not using cold bone broth from the fridge. I emptied that container today and decided not to open another one because they don't close well. I read e-mail while eating breakfast and using the PEMF pad, possibly for the last time before being packed. I also sanitized my keyboard before packing the sanitizing wand. I packed up my sewing area and dropped the leaves on the table. I dusted here and there as surfaces were exposed. I vacuumed as well. I unplugged all the peripherals on the desk computer and laid them out for packing.
I went outside and cleaned the dried grass off of the lawn mower and trimmer attachment. I swept the porch. I started raking clumps of dried grass until I realized that whatever bit me yesterday might be in the grass. I went in and laid down for awhile. I was tired but couldn't quite go to sleep. I got up, and set up my laptop at dining room table. That's what Chris was doing, so I joined him. My legs itched something fierce. I rubbed aloe on my bug bites, then went to the post office, but there was no mail. I read e-mail for awhile and put on more aloe. After the men left at four, we went to Goodwill to drop off a couple of boxes. When we got back, I rubbed more aloe on because it seems to make the bites crust over. Then each one gets a tiny amber crystal in the middle. And I can't resist flicking it off.
For supper I ate a duck egg and the rest of the chia pudding. I also ate some strawberries and blackberries. I went for a walk and picked a handful of blackberries for the road. When I got back, I was able to delete a few more e-mails. Eventually I cleaned up dust and dirt under the kitchen table. I threw out a bunch of recycling and bubble wrap in the laundry room. When Chris was ready to watch TV (which had been packed up), I made a mug of magnesium water and sipped it as we watched two episodes of Legends on his laptop, sitting amid the boxes in the livingroom. Chris got an itch under his arm. I checked it out, and he has the same kind of bite. I swear I could happily scratch myself bloody when it gets bad.
The men got a lot done (kitchen, livingroom and sewing area, hall closet, and parts of the master bedroom and sewing room) and they only worked from 10:30 to 4.

They plan to come at 8 tomorrow morning to finish the job.
Now Chris is in bed and I am going to invert for perhaps the last time in Huntsville, then go to bed.
* If anyone knows what bit me, please share. *