Wagon Train

So, I made it to the Brandon. Well, officially it’s now called “The Flagstone” (motel) but everyone in town calls it the Brandon, so we do too. First off, I am pleased to announce that the animals and I arrive unscathed with the exception of one accident had by the infamous Coconut. We made an unscheduled stop in Scipio to take care of business. The cats both (but Karma in particular) yowled the entire way here. They apparently do NOT like the car. I gave them each 2 tranquilizers and they still screeched the whole way. Poor things. Actually, I should correct myself. They didn’t scream the entire way. It’s a five hour drive and they only technically hollered for the first four hours…..

Anyway, Moki & Kona have become quite the seasoned travelers, so they were fine until we arrived…when they were so anxious to get out of the truck they both tried to jump out the window in the front seat.

But now both of the dogs are crashed on the floor, and the cats have both taken up residence underneath the bed. Fine by me. We do have one escape artist (Karmie) so as far as I’m concerned ‘under the bed’ is far superior to ‘on highway 89’.

I start work tomorrow and I’m really excited. I’m sure it will be mostly an orientation day with HR and whatnot. The only concern I have is leaving the animals at the motel while I’m gone. When Jon gets here (flying to St. George on Friday after the moving truck gets packed) he can take them to work with him. But I’m not really comfortable taking the drooling mongrels to the office…not even sure yet if it’s kosher in my dept. so hopefully they all do ok on their own during the day for the time being.

That’s it for now. I’m off to breathe some fresh air and drink some clean water.

Moving Sucks

I could not be more excited to start the new adventure in Kanab.

We are just having a hard time getting there.

Jaime organized a moving company last minute. It was our fault, I mean we really didn't get on the ball. We found someone who said they could do it. As we grew closer to today, I started to wonder about the company, and more specifically if they could accomodate all of our stuff.

Thursday I talked to the girl, and she mentioned that they had a trailer. Not a truck, a trailer. A 21x9 trailer at that. Not enough for our stuff.

At this point it's too late, and the recommendation she gave us was to try rent a u-haul. In June. On a Saturday. Day of. Moving season.

Yeah right.

So we are not doing anything today. Jaime is taking a well deserved nap, and I am blogging.

All is not lost however. I just spoke with ABF U-Pack and they are awesome! They are dropping a semi truck thingie at our house on Tuesday sometime. They will then pick it up on Thursday. It will then be delivered to Kanab on the 10th. We hopefully will close on our house in the 9th! It is the fraction of the cost of the other companies, and quite frankly cheaper than even a damn u-haul.

So, all we need now is some good strong lads to help us do all the heavy lifting!! On both ends LOL

Jaime will be in Kanab tomorrow. She will drive down with the kids while I work from up here for a couple more days. Once the truck is packed I will depart for Saint George courtesy of Sky West. Then, just maybe I will be in the office again Thursday.

A Zillion Degrees

I’m still in Kanab as Jon rounds out his second week at Best Friends. I haven’t seen him this energized in months. While I think his job anchoring the news was very suitable for him, I don’t think it was all that interesting to him by the time he decided to move on. I have yet to begin my two weeks but at this point am scheduled to begin July 2nd. We are driving to SLC tomorrow and will be there through the week. Jon has a few meetings up there so he is going to work from home which will be nice since he can help me pack things up in the evenings. We have a mover scheduled to come on Saturday and haul it all down to Kanab. It will probably cost a small fortune, but we need the help and hopefully it will not be an expense we will need to shell out for again any time soon.

The girls are easing into life here in Kanab. They are still suffering anxiety when separated from us; me in particular. They are ok with Jon but they prefer me I think. I am, after all, the momma. We have been moving around from motels to rentals and whatnot and they just don’t get it. Kona had an anxiety episode at daycare the day we left, and she has been a little off since then but seems to be doing better. The other day I went out to my truck to get something out of the front seat. Understand, it is 8 zillion degrees outside, and probably 9 zillion inside the truck. They both hopped in the back seat and wouldn’t get out. I had to coerce them for about 5 minutes, and actually physically lift Kona out (bad leg) but that’s how confused they are. Poor babies. I think they will adjust in time, though. They are such great companions.

Ok, so that worked...

I have now been in Kanab exactly seven days. The first week has been hard without a doubt.

Some jobs you start, and it takes a while before you are getting in there and really working. It took me about 6 hours.

So far I have done many things, but most importantly I have helped to organize an adoption for 37 animals from 2 centers that are closing. The short story is that if we didn't help, and get this together they would have died.

It's exactly what we came here to do and it is a good feeling. It's pretty amazing to be able to do a job where you help, and you also feel pretty damn good about yourself too.

I want you guys to check out our network at Best Friends. It is, I think, the kind of thing people have been trying to do on the web for the last couple of years. Find that next thing, I think of it as web 3.0

http://network.bestfriends.org

You can find people in your area, find any particular issue you care about, and find out things you can do to help.

Yet another reason why Best Friends ROCKS!

We obviously still have a lot to do in terms of moving, and getting Jaime down here full-time and working, but we will get it done. Hopefully we will be in our new home by the middle of next month, and then we expect regular visits!!

Hello?

Testing, testing, 1-2

Buying & Selling

Things are moving along with the selling of the house. Made an offer on a new (well, not new but new to us) place in Kanab. It's a little older but has been remodeled inside. It's huge and in a great in-town location. Should know by 5PM tomorrow if the sellers accepted the offer. If I wasn't already so old & grey, I would be really excited by all this hype. But honesly, I'm just tired. So I guess I'll just go soak my bunions.

The Good News

No, I'm not pregnant.

But, this is a post that is long overdue. I vow to begin anew and keep up with this thing, as it seems now more relevant than ever. First off, the good news: we have accepted positions with Best Friends Animal Society based in Kanab, Utah. We have sold our house and are moving down south. It is a HUGE change for us both but we are so excited to take on new challenges in a new arena. I guess we don’t do things half assed. Get married, go on kick-ass honeymoon (I’ll still be posting further journal entries from that, btw) sell a house, buy a new house, quit long-held career positions and switch gears all together. Yeah, it’s a lot to stomach.

Based on this stress related scale, combined we are well over 300. Yet we’re hanging in there, and the bottom line is that the change is all for good. We wanted and needed change, and boy did we get it. Things have been going so smoothly through the transition (as smoothly as can be expected) and although we have shed many tears over leaving our local friends and family, we will only be a half day’s drive away, and hope that folks will utilize our new awesome location when visiting Southern Utah and its recreational possibilities.

Second. I’ve re-named the blog. While you may or may not know that I haven’t entirely taken Dunn on paper I don’t mind being referred to as one. Plus it’s kinda kitschy for this purpose.

Third. Jon will be adding posts. So if there’s anything off colour or offensive, don’t necessarily blame me out of the gate. Of course, your comments, as always, are welcome. :)

I’m in Salt Lake finishing out my notice and then hopefully getting the house closed. We have a house we are thinking of offering on next week in Kanab, so wish us luck that things continue to transition smoothly.

To Placate The Restless

The first post from the honeymoon. Sorry it's taken so long but we've had a few things going on. Writing out thank you cards and getting the house put back together, among other things. Thank you to all the family and friends who made the trek. We had the greatest wedding EVER. (And I have the beverage invoice to prove it if you have any doubts!!) xoxo P.S. - pics to follow....



Monday, March 26, 2007 4:35 Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Well, the wedding went off beautifully. I mean absolutely flawless. I can’t even begin to describe how well everything went down. Everything was perfect.

All of the family made it in for the event, and we saw them all off yesterday morning. It’s about 4:35 in Rarotonga right now, and again, everything is amazing. Jon is sleeping. We finally lied down to watch a movie and both of us crashed and burned. I only slept for about an hour, and he’s still out. I don’t remember the end of the movie.

I just stepped inside from our porch. It is incredible. Right on the water. It’s a little windy today, but the sun is shining on the crystal blue lagoon, and again, we are awestruck with the beauty of this place.

We left SLC for Los Angeles last night around 7pm MST. We then went through the international terminal at LAX (translate: complete nightmare) but we got checked in and boarded our flight with Air New Zealand around 11:30 PST. We then flew for approximately 8.5 hours, and arrived in Papeete, Tahiti. I was able to sleep on the plane for about 4 hours although I continued to wake up several times through the trip so it was not restful to say the least. When we arrived in Tahiti, we deplaned once again for about an hour, and then re-boarded for Rarotonga. That flight was about an hour and 45 minutes. It was less than full so I was able to commandeer an entire row in the center and lie down for a good nap. Jon was more anxious to sit by the window and witness our spectacular landing, which I did wake up in time for. Evidently the airstrip in Rarotonga is exceptionally short. As a result, our pilot ‘missed’ on the first approach. Something about an air gust throwing us off. I’ve never in my 30+ years experienced a ‘missed’ landing, but Jon said he has had it happen a few times to him. Anyway, we flew past the airstrip, circled around, and successfully landed the second time. We were near the back of the plane but were practically the first ones off; almost running down the jet way to get our luggage. A man was singing to the new passengers and playing a stringed instrument (similar to a ukulele?) and that was a nice welcome. We grabbed our bags, dashed through customs, and our ride was waiting to take us to our villa. Oh, and he adorned us with fresh flower leis. That was a nice touch.

Once we got settled in we went for a short walk in the lagoon, a dip in our private pool and then took a jaunt down the road (on foot) to pick up a few groceries. Upon returning we decided to go forth and rent a car for the duration, and made arrangements with Budget Rentals and then picked up our small Daihatsu compact. We headed to the center or town, Rauva, applied for a driver’s license (we are now both fully licensed drivers in the Cook Islands) and grabbed a quick cheeseburger at a burger stand. There are chickens running around freely, picking up our crumbs, so that lent for some amusement. We later headed to the food market and liquor store and came back home. After having a snack and another Foster’s Lager (or was that a Steinlager?) we passed out in front of the TV watching the Borat Movie. We are trying to hold out until tonight to fall asleep for good so we can acclimatize to the time difference and not be on a weird waking schedule.

Tomorrow morning we have spa appointments at a nearby resort and for now we are off to bbq burgers by the private pool. Cheers.

In Case You Missed It

Ok, I thought the Governor's Mansion was a big deal. But this is the big time. I got (indirectly) mentioned in Ethan's blog, slcspin.com.

What he says is true. Rhonda Kamper, Henry the Chihuahua's mom and other supporters organized a rally this weekend in front of the Governor's Mansion. Yep, the day we are getting married there. Reminds me of an Alanis Morisette song or something since Jon and I met volunteering for NMHPU.

Of course, our allies and fellow pet lovers came through in yet another demonstration of how loyal we are to one another, let alone the animals. The rally was kindly rescheduled to take place earlier in the day. Ain’t life grand?!

Wednesday

All of the out of towners’ welcome gift bags are ready. All of the sheets and towels have been laundered. The house cleaners came. The dogs are groomed. The guest counts have been tallied. The musical selections have been chosen. The work at my office has been left for better or worse. The airport itineraries and shuttles are scheduled. The tuxedos are ready to be picked up. My hair is colored. My dress is here. It’s show time folks. Let’s party.

Right after I take a much neeeded nap.

List This

If I never make another list of things to do for the rest of my life, I feel confident that I will have experienced my fair share and then some.

If I never make another list of things to do for Jon, he will love me forever.

wha, huh?

It's 5:08 a.m. I went to "sleep" at 12:15-ish. This is ridicious. I spent the entire evening working on lists for this and lists for that plus getting the house semi organized so the cleaners can come today. I also spent some time hunting for some important documents that I have somehow hidden from myself in all the chaos. I have looked EVERYWHERE and they are nowhere to be found. I haven't seen them in about 6 weeks so lord knows where they are. Here's a little silent prayer that I can find them....eeegads.

One Possible Problem

The absolute only possible foreseeable problem with the Cook Islands is that I can't take my animals. Can't think of any other negatives.

Oh, and at some point I have to return home from them.

Shit.

The Heat is On

Long day. More last minute details. Schmetails. Daylight Savings blows. Diet blows. I'm tired. And grumpy. Pooped is a nice descriptive word.

Met with DJ today, chose some song lists. Also paid off reception vendor. Got INS straightened out (the green card is still not here... another blog for another day but at least the boy can get back into the country). Reviewed string quartet selections. Mocked up ceremony program. Worked 8 hours. Buggar.

Semi-coherent cognititive sentiment: Not sure who is bigger clown-- Sean Hannity or Rocky Anderson.

TBD

Brain is Fried

Fried is brain. Brain fried is. Is brain fried? Fried brain is.

Brandy & Jeff's Christmas party last year. Fun times! I think we had to leave because one member in our party fell asleep on a downstairs couch, others were slurping down Jagerbombs, and then a huge snow blizzard hit. On the way home we did a 180 in the middle of 1300 south. It was great!

Ouch

I found this pic in an old album. I'm not sure what's going on. I might have just sucked a lemon. Or broken a little toe.

Woe is Toe

Update. Toe is indeed broken. Will attempt to scan image so rest of world can enjoy seeing my fractured bone. As most people know, there is not much that can be done to treat a broken baby toe. They taped it to the next toe (official medical term "buddy bandaging") and sent me on my way. Not even any good drugs. The doctor must think that someone who is capable of breaking such a useless bone should not be entrusted with barbiturates. DOH

March 1, 2007

Is it just me or does blogger completely blow as of late? I can't ever get into my account, so it's a wonder I ever post anymore.
The bridesmaids dresses arrived yesterday. Good news and bad news. The bad news is, I took a major digger on the sidewalk in front of the bridal shop (ice patch). Classic. Ate major asphalt and skinned my knee pretty good. It's not that deep a shade of purple, but it sure felt like it would turn blue and disintegrate. Boo. The good news? The dresses are more beautiful than I could have imagined. Majorly pleased. Stoked.

So tonight I go out to the tanning salon. I know, cancer, melanoma, wrinkles, blah blah blah. But let's be honest (and I am crediting my mother with this quote) "Tan fat looks better than white fat. It's unfortunately true. End of discussion. So I get home and slip on something in the doorway to the bathroom (invisible banana peel?) and go spread eagle with both feet crashing into opposite door frames. Picture YMCA meets Saturday night fever, only without the polyester and testosterone. So the baby toe on each foot smashes into opposite door frames as I do the involuntary splits. I lurch forward in effort to save my feet from the impact, and wind up crashing on top of the same knee as last night. I swear to Buddha I am not chemically impaired. Just about as graceful as Chris Farley on crack. I think the pinky toe on my right foot is broken. It's swelling up nicely. I have been ordered to go elevate it and put frozen vegetables on it (we don't pressently have any ice packs). So yeah.

Dumb.

February 23, 2007

Okay, so I have been a total slack ass as of late, but there has been so much going on. Wedding fever over here, the Trolley shootings (total bummer) and last but not least, my office move. The Trolley thing is just awful. So awful that I'm not going to comment. If you want to know about it, click here (KSL).

But today? Today was the big day; the big move. What a mess. I have been weeding out files and papers and so forth from my office little by little over the last several weeks. I threw away two large garbage bags full of CRAP, and brought home about as much, and I STILL think I had more boxes of shit than anyone else. I threw away many of my extraneous personal items, so believe it or not most of the stuff was actual work stuff. Yes, contrary to popular belief, I do actually work when I'm at work.

New office. Very nice Parleys Way locale. Mountain views, large windows. I am with the small lot in the basement offices, tucked away behind row upon row of shelves of city directories and storage files. At first I was a little irked to be shoved away in the basement, but upon further consideration, I think I actually made out better than many of the jokers upstairs. It's fairly large, quiet, right by the bathroom (which I only have to share with one other gal) and I still have an entire wall of window. Still, I couldn't help but feel just a teensy bit like the character Milton in the Mike Judge flick, "Office Space". If you've never seen it, you must go now, immediately and buy, rent, borrow, whatever. Do it. Especially if you work or have ever worked in an office environment. You will laugh your ass off, I guarantee it. So I'll just be mumbling to myself in the basement preparing my new coversheet to the TPS reports. I don't have a red stapler, but something can be arranged. My stapler is actually black, but it IS a Swingline…(the last two sentences will only make sense if you've seen the movie)….

Bridal portraits tomorrow. Early nail appt., then hair & makeup, then the shoot. Definitely not a typical excursion for me. I am by far more comfortable BEHIND the camera, but I think I can manage. I can't believe we are only a month out. Can we go to the Cook Islands already?

So after a full week of work, full day of moving, I am beat and I'm off to chill with the dogs and cats. Ciao.