Stormy winds

There's a tropical storm twirling off the Atlantic coast, a few hundred miles from here. Even with the distance, we're feeling the effects. The day has been overcast, with fast-moving clouds, strong winds, and occassional spits of rain. A. got rained on the other day during a downpour when we were leaving Target, and once today when we were visiting a house. It's her first exposure to rain, and she really wasn't sure what to think of it.

We spent the day looking at rental houses. JJ's been sick since our flights out here, so he's had a miserable time. We looked at 5 houses, spread out all over the area and in a big range of rent prices. We found one that has a great monthly price but is fairly generic. Money-wise, it's a great bet, but the place isn't exciting. Then there's the Lake Katherine house, which is just as great in person as in the pictures. I'm trying to negotiate a reasonable price -- still more than we'd hoped to spend, but it's maintainable for a limited time. It's just a great house, and I'm really hoping we can get it.

That dreaded day

All things considered, it went well. A. was a little trooper, sleeping easily on the plane and making friends with all the other passengers. The cats freaked out to various degrees, and there was some drama because we had to remove them from their carriers at security and HAND CARRY THEM through the metal detector. Maneuvering all of the bags and life forms we had was very, very tricky and I never want to do it again.

Today was a recovery day, which is good because JJ's feeling pretty sick. A. and I drove around for me to get a feel for the area (and for her to get a nap). The cats are adjusting at their own rates (Gandalf is living under the bed, Chaos is all over the place and making friends with the dog), but they seem to be doing very well.

It hasn't quite hit me yet that we've moved because other than the cats, so far it's very much like a visit with my parents. I think tomorrow, when we visit rental houses, reality will start sinking in.

I'm just so glad the move-day is over forever.

Greetings from hot and humid Florida

Everyone survived. Humans' sanity mostly intact, have yet to check on the cats. More details after we've recovered.

Dread

The packers have come and gone (more on that later) and the movers have come and gone (more on that later, too). Now comes the day that I've dreaded for as long as we've thought about moving - for years - getting all of the lifeforms (two adults, three cats, and a baby) on a flight across the country.

Denial

Denial is the only reason I can imagine that we thought we were anywhere near ready. I'm in a more than mild state of panic right now. A. goes to bed in 60-90 minutes, so only quiet things after that. And the packers show up between 8 and 10am tomorrow.

Wrapping up

Still no major day-to-day changes. But they've got to start tomorrow, because we found out yesterday that instead of being packed and moved on the same day (Saturday), the packers are coming Friday and the movers on Saturday. So tomorrow we'll have to sort out what we're taking with us and what's going in the CRV, clean out the fridge, and make sure everything's in the right place so that it gets packed in an appropriate box.

We tested a dose of sedative on our very jumpy, formerly stray cat. It didn't seem to do a thing. This flight's going to be a blast, I can tell.

Residence-wise, we decided that we'd really like a 7-month lease in a house. I've been busily contacting various rental agents, but I'm having a bit of trouble finding a place that will go for 7 months. They all want a year. It seems silly to me -- the market is swamped with rentals, why not go for the sure thing for at least a while? Sure, you'll have to find another tenant sooner, but in the meantime you've got us, and there's no guarantee someone else will come along any time soon.

I'm surprise I'm not more worried, moving across the country with no firm place to live. This is the sort of thing that, pre-baby, would have kept me up at night.

Now is the perfect time to panic

We're a week away from finding ourselves in Florida. I'm certain there's more that we need to do than I've thought of. I've started a list -- multiple lists, actually; no one should be surprised by that. I started the list because I was sure there was more to do than I could remember at any given time, but instead, it's showing me that there really isn't.

That's assuming I've really thought of everything. It's hard to be sure that I have, because I don't have a lot of free moments to ponder the move and go over upcoming events in my head. A.'s been extremely demanding lately, reminding us of the time immediately after she was born. Not only is she demanding both of our attention during the day, but sleep is as bad as it's ever been.

We're trying all of the folk remedies for reflux, to little avail. She seems to be trending worse. Do we call our pediatric GI doc for help, even though we'll only be here another week? Or do we wait and try to establish a relationship with a doc in Florida?

I'd like to have a pH probe done; that watches acid levels for 24 hours and is the best way of proving reflux. If she does have reflux, I honestly don't know what else can be done for her. But if she doesn't, that's a significant finding and means we have to go down a completely different path. Her symptoms point to reflux, but it's not definitive.

I never imagined we'd still be dealing with this at 6 months. I haven't slept more than 2 hours at a time in weeks, more than 3 hours in a row in months, and more than 5 hours at a stretch in... I can't even remember how long. No wonder my days all have a fuzzy edge about them.