One Monh

It's been four weeks since moving to our new location; it's getting a tad better.

Sunday mornings have a typical routine spent running, driving to Publix to pick up the NY Times, and then driving to Starbucks to read the NY Times (for whatever reason, the NYTimes supplier of NW Florida does not deliver to any of the Starbucks in the region. Maybe he/she is protesting their 'no decaf after 12' policy). Then it's a quick lunch out, trip to the commissary (and sometimes back to Publix for produce and/or meat), nap, and if it was like yesterday, an afternoon of The Kardashians.

Not quite the home depot, bed bath and beyond of Old School, but eerily close. It would be fun to decorate a house, unpack a box, or shop.

There are certainly highs and lows to living here.

The lows: the newspaper. With each move, the local newspapers get smaller and smaller. And now more than ever, it's scary to read the locals' take on national issues. Some of the sound bytes, quotes, and letters to the editor are jaw dropping.

The highs: Thursday night I crashed the local running club's Thursday night run. As we were waiting for 5:30 to roll around, I was the only female amongst pierced and tattooed men, most of whom were shirtless. In otherwords, I'm thinking, "What am I doing HERE?! Where are the turtles?!"

(there really weren't any turtles to be spoken of.) People welcomed me, and nobody made fun of me when they asked my normal pace (10:30). One of the male members ended up running with me (good thing as I would have be lost with all the turns we made). It's hard for me to talk while running 5 miles at a 9:15/9:30 pace...so here's hoping I'm not dubbed the new snooty one. The pizza, talking, laughing and beer following the run was probably the best part.

Finally, after 4 weeks of not meeting anyone, I was meeting locals and socializing. Quite a high for the week! Now if only we can move into a house and get our house hold goods out of storage!

MMS seeking...Friend

Married Military Spouse* (age30) seeking female friend between the ages of 22 and 42. Friend must find humor in following local news story:

Man being arrested for driving lawn mower drunk

and shock/amazement in:

man shooting self in public location.

Friend should enjoy laughing, meeting up for caffeinated coffee or tea. Friend should enjoy going out for dinner, cooking with friends, meeting up for the occasional drink.

Seriously, it's been about 3 weeks since moving, and I've yet to meet a soul (save for the two yoga instructors at the local yoga studio and the ladies interviewing me at various hospitals).

I attended the base new comers meeting (it was mainly for the active duty), and put my name on the spouse contact list, but have yet to receive a call informing me of the spouse newcomers meeting.

For our first time, we're not part of a flying squadron, and holy heck, how do women meet people if they don't have kids or aren't part of a church?? Our first base had a spouse group, as did our second base. And at the second base we met people on day one or day two, going out to dinner on day three, and meeting up at a new friend's house a week or two later.

I hope the track club allows turtles to join..... :)

*just realized that married military spouse is somewhat redundant...oops!

*Muffled Cry*

"Um, I'm sorry. I just moved here....so please excuse me. But I don't understand....no decaf after 12 noon?"

This was my response to the Batista at the local Starbucks after he told me that it was a district policy to NOT brew decaffeinated coffee after 12 noon.

Time? 2pm. A brief run down of the day up to that point: drank 1/2 a cup of regular coffee (brewed at home), and made the poor decision to run 5 miles on the treadmill at the apartment complex (which is equivalent to running in a sauna). The 5 mile run was more like 3. There was no juice in the tank. Cool down....lunch...and an hour on the phone dealing with a certain phone/Internet/cable company that has a 'V' and a 'Z' in their name.

Finally, a 30+ minute drive to Starbucks. The goal: Write a letter to the above mentioned phone/Internet/cable company with a 'V' and a 'Z' in their name.

The request: a medium coffee, half regular, half decaf.

Barista: Oh....uh, yeah...we don't have any decaf. We don't brew decaf after 12 noon.

And he then went on to explain that it was a district policy to not brew decaf after 12noon.

Here's the problem...it's a coffee shop. They should have coffee...regular & decaf. I get that times are tough. If it was 0800 am and they weren't brewing decaf BEFORE 12 noon, I might understand the cost benefit of not having decaf early in the morning. I imagine most Starbucks customers want the caffeine, especially in the morning.

Happy to say that I did not shed a tear and go ape shit at the store. But yes, internally, screams...and a delicious, somewhat caffeinated cup of green tea. Seriously. WHERE on earth am I???

Goldilocks on the Move

The past few weeks have been nothing if not stressful.

Back in July there was the minor surgery, a quick trip to NYC for a last easy taste of the city, and part 1 of the move.

Our packers came, and spent the ENTIRE day packing boxes. And by entire day, I mean, not leaving until maybe 6:00pm. They packed everything, including the microwave we were planning on leaving for the renters and items in the pantry (olive oil, kahlua, you name it. it's packed. And hopefully not leaking through a box right now...).

Around 0800 the next morning we have a giant moving truck parked on the street in front of our home. The driver and crew weren't happy (a car was parked in the street and we were unable to get a hold of the owner of the car). To wake up the neighborhood (in hopes of finding the owner), the driver leaned on the horn. And kept leaning. And yes, kept leaning. The joys of dealing with movers.

The driver was straight up out of the bronx, and filled every stereotype (not going to list). The moment he stepped out of the cab, I thought "ETOHer" If I didn't know any better, he could have been a patient on my old floor going through DTs. Quite an interesting character. Certainly with a past and have considered if the man is a member of the witness protection program.

Our stuff is hopefully all in storage, and all in one piece. Granted, anything that had screws in it was unscrewed. Hopefully every piece of furniture that had four legs will come out of storage with all four legs (a piano bench with only three legs will be interesting). And the parts box will hopefully make it as well....with all the parts. (am I the only one that thinks a parts box is a dangerous idea? Let's think for a moment...what if the parts box doesn't make it?

Never mind. Let's NOT thing that. Think good thoughts...positive thoughts.

So we made it to our new town. It's hot, humid and I'm weary of stepping into the water or eating anything that came from it (thanks to certain government waivers and a certain corporation). The homes are on big lots. Few trees. No landscaping. Large homes, high ceilings, small bedrooms, and for the most part, a lot of above ground utilities. Unfortunately lots of foreclosures. It is difficult to find a neighborhood where all lawns are kept and boats are parked in the backyard vs the driveway. (An area we like, where people keep their yards maintained and the boats parked in the back behind the house, is well over $300,000 for a house). A little steep considering we're keeping our other place.

We may have found one house, on the cheap end, but it needs a lot of work and we are trying to literally steal this house; only because it needs so much work and because again, some of the homes are unkept (you would literally need a weed wacker to get to the front door of one neighboring house). We'll see what happens. Who knows what-or where- we'll end up.

Running News: Back in April I signed up for the MCM. Training got off to a late start due to the minor surgery. True training actually started here, in Florida. It's rough; I am only running early in the morning (not exactly how-or why- people on base actually run in the afternoon). The first long run, 8 miles was last week, I ran 6.75, took a 15 min break, and then, angry with myself for quitting, finished the last 1.25 miles out on the track (with no problem!).

This past Sunday, for the 9 miler, I got through 7. something miles when I had to walk for a bit before starting up the run again. A mixture of negative and positive splits....hopefully this is heat related. I just ordered a box of my favorite gu (lemon sublime) from the local running shop.

Workout so far this week:

Sunday was a 9 miler.

Monday was weights (my first time since probably November/December time frame)

Tuesday: today was a nice 4 miler near the water.

Tomorrow, hopefully more weights, another trip to starbucks, and maybe even another post :)