Driving from Tucson to Wisconsin is a daunting task. Especially since Matt worries too much about me driving and insists on doing all the driving himself. I feel bad that I can't help, but he has been amazing at getting us this far.
Day One:
We overslept. Of course. But we did end up getting on the road by 7:30. Not too bad. I had called a vet earlier in the week to see what they suggested for taking cats on a long ride like this, and she said just to give them children's benadryl. If something stronger was needed, we would have to bring them in and I figured that benadryl knocks most people out, so we should be fine. Well, we weren't. The cats wouldn't take it. I'm taking foaming at the mouth spitting it out. Too late to go to the vet so we just put them in their kennels with a towel over them and took off. Later in the day we found Manny with a bloody nose because he had been scraping it on the side of the kennel. So Lola got put in the metal cage and Manny into the soft case.
Ally, however, did great, which was a relief. Of course, we had to watch Monsters, Inc. about 27 times. Unfortunately, due to the late start, we didn't quite make it to Denver as planned. Not to mention the fact that Matt was rocking in his seat and making me very nervous near the end. So we stopped in Raton, NM.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Pre-Moving Day
Well, Sunday began with most of the things loaded into the truck. There were a few things still left in the house and then of course wicked crazy cleaning to finish. I already had Ally's room done and the bathroom, but we still had the bedroom to finish and the front room to shampoo and the dreaded kitchen.
Sometimes when there are lots of things to do, I find the best strategy is to take a nap. OK, not the best strategy, but when I'm feeling overwhelmed it's what I do. Matt woke me up at about 5:30 and told me that my friend Julie was coming over at 6:00 to help clean. Normally, we might be too proud to accept help, but we really needed it because everytime we left the room to clean, Ally would cry for attention. Julie came over to help and took Ally over to her house to play with her kids and we got the kitchen all finished. Not to mention that while we were in the kitchen, Danny walks in and asks, "what can I clean?" (This is the same guy who orchestrated the packing of the Penske truck). We didn't call him, he just showed up to make sure we weren't up all night cleaning and then too tired to drive. So he helped Matt shampoo the carpet and we got the house finished.
We have been very blessed with great friends in Tucson, and we will miss them all.
Sometimes when there are lots of things to do, I find the best strategy is to take a nap. OK, not the best strategy, but when I'm feeling overwhelmed it's what I do. Matt woke me up at about 5:30 and told me that my friend Julie was coming over at 6:00 to help clean. Normally, we might be too proud to accept help, but we really needed it because everytime we left the room to clean, Ally would cry for attention. Julie came over to help and took Ally over to her house to play with her kids and we got the kitchen all finished. Not to mention that while we were in the kitchen, Danny walks in and asks, "what can I clean?" (This is the same guy who orchestrated the packing of the Penske truck). We didn't call him, he just showed up to make sure we weren't up all night cleaning and then too tired to drive. So he helped Matt shampoo the carpet and we got the house finished.
We have been very blessed with great friends in Tucson, and we will miss them all.
Pre-Pre-Moving Day
Saturday morning our friends arrived at 8 am to begin loading the truck. One of our good friends used to work for a moving company and his help and direction were greatly appeciated...I don't think that we could have fit all our stuff on the truck otherwise. But minus a lawnmower and a few laundry hampers, we were able to get all things together. Of course, not without a few hiccups:
1. Matt had turned in a jacket to have the zipper fixed earlier in the week and was told it would be ready on Saturday. He went to pick it up and found it sitting in the same condition he left it in. They told him they didn't have time to buy a zipper. So, Matt heads over to Walmart to buy a zipper for them. They manage to get the jacket done in time and then end up charging him more than what they had quoted. Even though he bought the zipper! So he told them he wasn't going to pay for it, and grabbed the jacket to leave. The woman came around the corner and grabbed him by the arm and told him he wasn't leaving. So he paid with the credit card and then called and cancelled the payment.
2. After leaving the drycleaners, he called me to tell me about it. Followed by "Hold on. I think I'm getting pulled over." And then five minutes later he calls me back, "I got a ticket."
So minus a lawnmower, the cost of a zipper, and of course, the up-coming cost of Defensive Driving, we're doing alright.
1. Matt had turned in a jacket to have the zipper fixed earlier in the week and was told it would be ready on Saturday. He went to pick it up and found it sitting in the same condition he left it in. They told him they didn't have time to buy a zipper. So, Matt heads over to Walmart to buy a zipper for them. They manage to get the jacket done in time and then end up charging him more than what they had quoted. Even though he bought the zipper! So he told them he wasn't going to pay for it, and grabbed the jacket to leave. The woman came around the corner and grabbed him by the arm and told him he wasn't leaving. So he paid with the credit card and then called and cancelled the payment.
2. After leaving the drycleaners, he called me to tell me about it. Followed by "Hold on. I think I'm getting pulled over." And then five minutes later he calls me back, "I got a ticket."
So minus a lawnmower, the cost of a zipper, and of course, the up-coming cost of Defensive Driving, we're doing alright.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Valentine's Day
1. What is his name? Matthew Morris Buffington
2. How long have you been together? 2 years and 4 months
3. How long did you date? 2 weeks
4. Who eats more? Me. I'm sure you have all heard our first date story where I ate all of my steak and half of his. That's when I knew this could work.
5. Who said I love you first? I technically did. But he was sooo hinting at it by making all these comments about how you know you love someone.
6. Who has more speeding tickets? Matt. And he has gotten plenty of warnings since we've been together as well.
7. Who is smarter? I'm just a big nerd.
8. Who is more sensitive? Guilty. I cry at least once a week. Matt hasn't cried since he was 9.
9. When there is a fight who usually wins? ME! He lets me win though.
10. Who does the laundry? We tag-team.
11. Who does the dishes? Always me. He says he did enough dishes for 11 people growing up (although from what I hear Scott ended up doing most of the dishes because he was always in trouble). So we worked out a deal early on that he always takes the trash out and I always do the dishes.
12. Who sleeps on the right? I'm always right, even when I'm left.
13. Who pays the bills? I usually do.
14. Who mows the lawn? What lawn? The dirt and cactus Arizonans call lawn? Every now and then Matt goes a weed-wacking. Or he pays our neighbor to do it.
15. Who cooks dinner? If it gets cooked at all, I cook it.
16. Who drives when you are together? Matt always does. I didn't mind until about a month ago when I had to drive to Phoenix for an interview and I actually got really nervous and anxious driving on the freeway and then I realized it was because I hadn't driven on the freeway in about two years, so he really needs to let me drive sometimes. Or else this trip to Wisconsin is going to be even longer!
17. Who is more stubborn? Me. Me. Me.
18. Who kissed who first? I believed I pounced on him.
19. Who asked who out first? Matt did. He asked Nettie for my phone number and I was talking to my dad when he called for the first time. The first thing he said was "This is Matt" and I thought "Who is this guy bothering me?" and then he finished, "from scripture study at Nettie's" and then I knew exactly who it was. The hot guy in the white hat.
20. Who proposed? Matt did the actual asking with a ring I didn't knew he had, but I had already told him I wanted to marry him.
21. Who has more siblings? Matt has 6 brothers and 2 sisters
22. Who wears the pants? I think I wear the pants, but that doesn't mean Matt wears a skirt. He just likes to let me think I'm the boss.
Here are some pictures of Ally & I with our Valentine's Days gifts from Matt:
2. How long have you been together? 2 years and 4 months
3. How long did you date? 2 weeks
4. Who eats more? Me. I'm sure you have all heard our first date story where I ate all of my steak and half of his. That's when I knew this could work.
5. Who said I love you first? I technically did. But he was sooo hinting at it by making all these comments about how you know you love someone.
6. Who has more speeding tickets? Matt. And he has gotten plenty of warnings since we've been together as well.
7. Who is smarter? I'm just a big nerd.
8. Who is more sensitive? Guilty. I cry at least once a week. Matt hasn't cried since he was 9.
9. When there is a fight who usually wins? ME! He lets me win though.
10. Who does the laundry? We tag-team.
11. Who does the dishes? Always me. He says he did enough dishes for 11 people growing up (although from what I hear Scott ended up doing most of the dishes because he was always in trouble). So we worked out a deal early on that he always takes the trash out and I always do the dishes.
12. Who sleeps on the right? I'm always right, even when I'm left.
13. Who pays the bills? I usually do.
14. Who mows the lawn? What lawn? The dirt and cactus Arizonans call lawn? Every now and then Matt goes a weed-wacking. Or he pays our neighbor to do it.
15. Who cooks dinner? If it gets cooked at all, I cook it.
16. Who drives when you are together? Matt always does. I didn't mind until about a month ago when I had to drive to Phoenix for an interview and I actually got really nervous and anxious driving on the freeway and then I realized it was because I hadn't driven on the freeway in about two years, so he really needs to let me drive sometimes. Or else this trip to Wisconsin is going to be even longer!
17. Who is more stubborn? Me. Me. Me.
18. Who kissed who first? I believed I pounced on him.
19. Who asked who out first? Matt did. He asked Nettie for my phone number and I was talking to my dad when he called for the first time. The first thing he said was "This is Matt" and I thought "Who is this guy bothering me?" and then he finished, "from scripture study at Nettie's" and then I knew exactly who it was. The hot guy in the white hat.
20. Who proposed? Matt did the actual asking with a ring I didn't knew he had, but I had already told him I wanted to marry him.
21. Who has more siblings? Matt has 6 brothers and 2 sisters
22. Who wears the pants? I think I wear the pants, but that doesn't mean Matt wears a skirt. He just likes to let me think I'm the boss.
Here are some pictures of Ally & I with our Valentine's Days gifts from Matt:
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Hot Chocolate
Good thing Ally likes hot chocolate because the high today in Madison is 1 degree. I can't believe we'll be out of here in a 1 1/2 weeks. I am not looking forward to the drive, or to the cold, or to the thesis defense for that matter, but I AM looking forward to my mom coming to visit, to meeting my Uncle Paul's partner Jay, and to starting the new job. Also we are going to drive through Denver and stay with my brother Matthew and his wife Debbie and to see my good friend Laura MaChorak Milroy, who is now DR. Laura MaChorak Milroy to you!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Don't mind me....
Do you ever miss the college roommate days? Sometimes I think it would be nice to have my roommate come home to my books scattered everywhere and ask, "you studying?" To which I could reply, "No, idiot, I'm walking my dog." Instead I come home to people that I actually like. A lot. And you can't really take out your frustrations on them and expect them to still be there the next day. Well, unless you count the time we lived in Crown apartments and our roommates hated us so much, they decided to live at home. As in they were actually PAYING not to live with us.
I miss having girlfriends to cry to in the middle of the night (Matt just wishes I would stop). I miss being thrown out in the snow in nothing but my bra (Thanks Alana). I miss writing dis-respect on everyone's dorm whiteboard and making the hall mom cry. I miss being able to go to the gym whenever I wanted and run until all these missings went away. Or just to go to PowerPump with Debbie so we could enjoy the view of Jesse. I miss good friends who would do anything for you without you even asking. But if there ever were a person more willing to drop anything and everything for me, it's Matt.
I miss having girlfriends to cry to in the middle of the night (Matt just wishes I would stop). I miss being thrown out in the snow in nothing but my bra (Thanks Alana). I miss writing dis-respect on everyone's dorm whiteboard and making the hall mom cry. I miss being able to go to the gym whenever I wanted and run until all these missings went away. Or just to go to PowerPump with Debbie so we could enjoy the view of Jesse. I miss good friends who would do anything for you without you even asking. But if there ever were a person more willing to drop anything and everything for me, it's Matt.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
New House
I decided to take a time out from giving myself a stomach ulcer to show a few pictures of the house we will be renting in Madison. I suppose now I must get back to frantically trying to make sense of this DNA CGH array data and go eat a box of TUMS.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Ally loves Manny
Ally loves all things soft: stuffed animals, silky blankets, and of course, the cats. Lola pretty much just tries to stay away from her, but Manny seems to tolerate her "hugs" a little bit better. The only other news in our home is that Ally is walking much more frequently (she paces back and forth in the front room all day), and she "let" us paint her toenails. Well, not really. We had to put her in her highchair and do a sneak attack from underneath and even then it was tricky. You can see them better if you enlarge her ROCK STAR face picture.
A Serious One
I feel compelled to write on a more serious note today for a number of reasons. First, I use this blog to communicate goings on with family and friends, but I also write as sort of a penance for not keeping up with my journal writing. I want my children to have something to read of their mother and father when they are grown, but I am horrible at writing in my journal. So much that I don't even attempt it because I don't know where to begin. I didn't write anything of the first two years of my marriage to Matt and I don't know how long before that either. How do you catch up on years and years of events?
So today, I write on the passing of the Prophet of my church, Gordon B. Hinckley. It is amazing to me how heartbreaking the loss of someone I didn't even know has been. I welled up with tears the moment I heard, but was comforted by the sweet reunion he must have had with his lifelong sweetheart. Today, his funeral was broadcast on television and I cried all over again. What a self-less, kind, and loving individual. Perhaps my grief was heightened in that I was reminded of my own grandmother's funeral. She was the most self-less person that I have ever personally met and I missed her all over again. I remembered how devestating it was for us when they closed the casket and how my heart broke again. As I listed to the speakers and the choir singing, I remembered the kind words that my father spoke at Grandma's funeral service. I assume they asked him to speak because they knew that genetically he was the least likely to cry uncontrollably during his talk. But even this strong man, whom I had never seen cry before, became tearful as he spoke of the kindness of this woman. He concluded by saying that she has always treated him as a son, not a son-in-law, and whenever he left from a visit, she would hug him and cry because she would genuinely miss him. And he said, "Now we are crying as we say good-bye because we genuinely miss her." And we do.
I am grateful for the faith that I have and the hope that our family will be reunited again soon enough. And I am grateful for Gordon B. Hinckley and all that he has done in the service of his people. (And I complain when I have to go out with the missionaries on occasion!)
I was impressed too with a note that one of his grandson's left for him:
We will
Be grateful.
Be smart.
Be clean.
Be true.
Be humble.
Be prayerful.
Be-cause we love you.
And another quote that I should live by more fully:
"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just like people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is just like an old time rail journey ... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."
So today, I write on the passing of the Prophet of my church, Gordon B. Hinckley. It is amazing to me how heartbreaking the loss of someone I didn't even know has been. I welled up with tears the moment I heard, but was comforted by the sweet reunion he must have had with his lifelong sweetheart. Today, his funeral was broadcast on television and I cried all over again. What a self-less, kind, and loving individual. Perhaps my grief was heightened in that I was reminded of my own grandmother's funeral. She was the most self-less person that I have ever personally met and I missed her all over again. I remembered how devestating it was for us when they closed the casket and how my heart broke again. As I listed to the speakers and the choir singing, I remembered the kind words that my father spoke at Grandma's funeral service. I assume they asked him to speak because they knew that genetically he was the least likely to cry uncontrollably during his talk. But even this strong man, whom I had never seen cry before, became tearful as he spoke of the kindness of this woman. He concluded by saying that she has always treated him as a son, not a son-in-law, and whenever he left from a visit, she would hug him and cry because she would genuinely miss him. And he said, "Now we are crying as we say good-bye because we genuinely miss her." And we do.
I am grateful for the faith that I have and the hope that our family will be reunited again soon enough. And I am grateful for Gordon B. Hinckley and all that he has done in the service of his people. (And I complain when I have to go out with the missionaries on occasion!)
I was impressed too with a note that one of his grandson's left for him:
We will
Be grateful.
Be smart.
Be clean.
Be true.
Be humble.
Be prayerful.
Be-cause we love you.
And another quote that I should live by more fully:
"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just like people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is just like an old time rail journey ... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."
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