Day 27 and No Internet…

Okay, it’s really only been 9 days, but it seems like a lot more. Time moves very slowly when you can’t check on your peeps at FaceBook, and log on to your email and manage your business accounts and do your online banking from home. You can’t even look up cool feathers you’ve found out in the yard or check on your favorite blogs, which to some people, are like reading the paper and part of your comfortable routine of life.

But it’s just a fact of life, when you depend on something, you, well, depend on it. And when it’s gone, you miss it very much. We even get our entertainment through NetFlix and the kids enjoy YouTube and other video feeds. We don’t have cable here and we sure don’t pick up any good TV stations. We’re remote, for sure.

But the maddening thing is that there is a network showing, right next door and it’s secured. I know it has to be the huge commercial farmer with his nearly million dollar operation (discovered thanks to the internet…) and I”m just too chicken to go over and ask if we can have the password to connect for a while. Until ours gets sorted out. What is the protocol for something like that? “Hi! We’re those chicks that just moved in next door and can we borrow a cup of internet?” Somehow that just doesn’t seem right for our first introduction, so I guess we will just wait and suffer yet a little longer.

They came out last Friday as scheduled, but for some reason couldn’t find a good spot on the roof for the dish. And they couldn’t attach it to the pole in the yard with the other two dishes on it, because that belongs to the other company that offers TV service. Of which, we’re not using. So then they had to put in a new post, but then another installer got into a wreck and was laid up, and then all the sudden the schedules were all changed and we have to wait. A week. For a post.

I’m finding out that one of the things about country living is that everything seems to take a lot longer to get done. No one really rushes out here. I suppose that when you make your living waiting for corn to grow, you don’t think in minutes or hours, but days. It’s nice, it’s a nice speed and all, until you need something done. Then you start to wonder at the madness that possessed you into thinking this would be good. I’m a little worried about the response time in an emergency… ha ha… is it something that is not included in the country speed of life? I hope so! Hopefully we will not find out anytime soon. I suspect that it is handled in a fairly timely manner because it’s something new and interesting, so that gives it a push up the priority ladder.

Well, gosh where to start? We moved in completely last Saturday. We made our last trip from the Moby out here to the farm. It was really emotional to me, and I was surprised a bit. I knew it was a good thing, overall, but it felt a little empty leaving the Moby behind, all empty and looking a little ravaged. I wish we could have been a little neater in our departure and for certain, we cleaned and swiped up, left the place empty of stuff, and ready for a new family. But with a lot of the trees gone, and plants, and just the “life” that we gave her, she looked like every other empty moby. Just sort of old and worn looking. I didn’t take any pictures, because I don’t want to remember her that way. I know my mind’s picture will stay fresh for a bit, but like all disappointing things, they fade with the coming of new and fresh memories.

I heard from my neighbor that shortly after we left with old Blue loaded like a good hillbilly station wagon can only be loaded, that the neighbors swooped down and stripped her of anything left. Someone even came with a car and dragged this HUGE rock off from the little island planter by the parking lot. Yes, with a car and a tow strap. I can tell you who, they left an incriminating white scratch mark in the blacktop all the way to their lot. Folks took all the little paver blocks that we left because we just didn’t have an ounce of energy left to try and get them. They dug up more of the plants that we left. They took stuff out of the little shed, and around the place that we left. Nothing much important, but still, they took it. And when I went back a few days later to drop off the title and pick up a few things from my neighbor, I was appalled to see how she looked. To top it all off, the manager had everything left weed wacked down. It was awful.

I just had to turn away and leave before I got very angry or upset. I’ve seen this happen to other mobiles, so I shouldn’t be surprised that it happened to ours. It’s a little sad to think that everyone there is just waiting for an opportunity to scavenge when someone is turned away, but then someone took the whole deck off ours just before we moved in and the water heater as well! And I suppose, in some odd little way, it’s nice that they wanted all my materials so much that it only took them a few hours to do the deed. And I just have to think about our wonderful blessing that is our new home.

That’s all I will write about living the old gal. I really can’t write anymore at this time.

Life here at the farm has been interesting and hard laboring, and delightful and awful at the same breath! With our last load out, we made it home but Blue had a nasty flat time when we went back out to get a pizza and chill that evening. I considered taking Gunnar up the road but decided against it. He is pretty much kaputz in the driving category. But that is another story. So we heated up ramen noodles and just hung out.

We are exhausted beyond measure. A month of really hard labor and yard work, painting and then moving nearly everything by ourselves, 25 loads worth in the station wagon… we’re busted. We had al title help and it was so welcomed and all, but in the end, the majority of the loads were done by we three gals. I’m very pleased that we could do it, and it was definitely something that made us feel accomplished and content, but it also just sucked a lot of energy and spirit in the end. I suppose it would have been easier to get the U-haul and do it all in one long day, but we had to spend a lot of time just getting the place ready, so it made sense at the time to load up every trip. I’m very glad it’s over with though.

This last week, we’ve been making progress for sure. Nearly everything is done being painted. Maggie has some window trim and her floor to paint, but she’s not ready to do that right now. She’s moved in a bunch of her stuff and has a pretty cool galcave up there. Jessy has been bunking with her because her room is still not finished. Its getting there, but still, has a while to go. The big office needs trim painted as well, but Jessy has decided she’s not that ready to do it. Soon. I’ve got my office all done, and then spent many hours learning to lay down laminate wood flooring. I got it all beautiful and then started to move my stuff in, when a part of it separated! Waaa! I guess it shifted somehow and there was just enough give that it came apart right down the middle. So sad. I’m sure it’s fixable, but it means moving everything out and starting over and I just don’t have the spirit to do it right now. I will in a day or three.

Over all, the place is very tolerable and we have worked hard to get the kitchen and bathroom all put together and have the offices fairly assembled. We’re almost to the point that all the important boxes have been unpacked and the later on boxes are all neatly in our cold storage room! We have a living room of sorts, it’s mostly just the couch and two dog crate end tables. Going from a 800 square foot mobile home to a 2,000 square foot farm house means we are sorely lacking in furniture. But that will be fun to do some creative garage sale hunting over the summer to find just the right things to bulk up the place a bit.

I was going to go to the Hillsdale Auction this Saturday and get my starter chickens, but in the end, I decided it was just too much to try and pack into the day. Our dear friends Jeff and his parents were coming out in the afternoon to visit and then of course, we were due to be installed for internet. And then to top it off, I had to go and slip and fall in the bathroom! (Note to self… bath mats are a GOOD thing…) I really did mess my old body up, but thankfully, did not break anything. I just feel about 200 years old right now and walk like I’m in agony! Thank goodness it is Mother’s Day today and my dear daughters are treating me very nicely. Motrin and naps are helping as well. And yes, we did get a good bath mat for in front of the shower. Don’t need to recreate that exciting adventure anytime soon.

We were so excited to get online and I went and downloaded my mail, which was actually 745 emails… that we exceeded our allotment of download space in 3 hours. Crazy. Of course, I don’t normally get that much mail, but it had been over a week and I do get a good deal of it. We do run our businesses off the thing, so of course, we use it. I hope we can get the hang of it, but the girls are a little sad that endless streaming videos as they work will not be the norm anymore. Maggie learned that it’s free time from 2 am to 7 am, so I am afraid that she is cooking up a scheme to go to bed at like 6 pm and set an alarm for 2 am! Haha… well, hey, I guess if that is what she wants to do, I’ll let her experiment with it for awhile.

Right now, aside from just a few little things, we have all voted that we need to get the company routines back in order and get our spending down to a nice comfy level. The last couple weeks for certain have been crazy and disconboobalated, so everyone is craving a little “normal” time. I’m fine with that. It’s supposed to rain most of the week anyway, so it will be good to just stay inside, work on our business and get ready for the nicer weather. I’m pretty sure we’re going to adopt the one project at a time policy and try and accomplish a bit on it every day. Seems to work nicely for us. Right now, we’re working on getting Jessy’s room ready so she can move in.

She and Maggie have been working hard and have all the walls scraped. They need to be sanded a bit, just to make sure they are as smooth as possible. Tuesday we are going to get a gallon of the textured primer so she can get started with that. They are going to knock down her ceiling in a little alcove where her bed will go. It’s drywall and all warped and damaged, so it needs to go. And then try and get all the mess and one layer of yucky carpet out. Needless to say, it’s quite an adventure in there and I hope that by the next week’s end, she’ll be a little closer to moving in. She doesn’t mind bunking with Maggie, but she’s very ready for her own room!

Well, that’s about it at the moment. Still feeling a little out of sorts from falling, but that will pass. Anxious to get back in a little bit of daily life, and that means my morning routines with checking email and blogs and then getting to my client’s requests and then into a project or two. And then time later on to do some fun country stuff.

I tell you, if you’ve ever dreamed of moving to the country and getting a little homestead and a few acres, it is SO worth it… make it happen. I know it’s only been a week or so, but I just lay in bed in the morning and watch out my window at the little homestead that is ours. Watching the sun move across the dewy grass and the birds at the feeders and just can no believe that we are FINALLY living the dream life we have wanted. Every day is an adventure, and a discovery of new things. Everyatime I go out walking, I find new and exciting things… it’s absolutely wonderful. I can’t wait for this next week to start. I believe it will be the first week of normal for us. No trips back for stuff at the Moby, no installations, no deposits, no waiting for this or that. We have food, we have internet, it’s not too cold at night, and we’re doing okay. No, we’re doing fabulous!!! We’ve had a few days that were tough and a bummer or two of a day, but they are so far outdistanced by the wonderful and delightful days! We have the rest of our lives to make this place absolutely wonderful. Our friends that have stopped by and visited are stunned by just a month’s effort. So we know that the next couple months will really make the place shine! Everything we do is just one step forward and closer to our dream home.

So if you’re thinking about doing this… then make it happen. Don’t just dream, work hard towards it. You will love it!!!

Sherri

(I’ll try and get some pictures together soon!)

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About Mobymom

the banjo player for Deepwater Bluegrass, and the editor of BuckeyeBluegrass.com as well as the main graphic designer of the Westvon Publishing empire. She is a renaissance woman of many talents and has two lovely daughters and a rehab mobile home homestead to raise.

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