So, we are now in Palm Springs for a month. Well, maybe. I may need to fly to DC to unload our pallets into a storage facility. I woke up this morning and thought about unpacking the car and calling about the pallet. Then, I decided to get some coffee and make a bagel. An hour later, caffeinated and with something in my stomach, I thought about the unpacking again. Sam is still in bed and Tom is still under it. I went ahead and unpacked everything out of the car and moved it into the garage. Sam’s dad took off this morning so there was no car in the garage. I could not leave our bedroom door open, because the cats were not allowed out into the rest of the house, with the birds wandering around. After all our stuff out of the car, I called the pallet place in Anchorage. Our pallet was not in DC yet, and I would get a phone call when it gets there. All I could get was that it had been through Ohio. OK, I’ll just wait to hear something. When I walked back inside, Sam was up and drinking coffee. Tom was still under the bed. We pulled everything inside and cluttered our room. It hasn’t even been a day yet, and already we had a mess. This can be cleaned up later.
We jetted off in the car to run some errands. First, to downtown. When we had come down in October, Alaska Airlines lost our bag. It was never recovered. The one item being lost that upset me over all others, was my pair of Keen Hybrid Shoes. Anyone who has ever owned a pair of Keens probably understands why this upset me so much. I never bothered to replace them over the winter, because, well, who really needs a shoe that is half sandal for the Alaskan winter? Well, I wanted to replace them now that we have a real spring and are moving closer to a hot summer. I had remembered some shoe stores in the downtown strip when we were here that may have the Keens. We found a store sans Keens, one that had gone out of business and finally the Birkenstock store. The latter had Keens. All were full price and the selection limited. No sale. REI is having a sale, so I will try again later. The one thing I did manage to accomplish was to sell Sam on the Keens. She wanted a pair now, too.
We drove across town to Target and Trader Joe’s. We needed kitty supplies, such as a new litter box and scratching post, as well as some toiletries at Target. After the the cats and bathroom were equipped again, we ran over to Bahama Mama frozen yogurt for some fro-yo. This place was awesome. Self-serve yogurt and toppings. They then weighed your concoction and charged by the ounce. Sam and I were just as interested in the fresh mango and kiwi to put on the yogurt as we were the frozen yogurt. We are coming back here. Next, over to Trader Joe’s to do a bit of grocery shopping with Sue. (All these stores are in the same shopping area). Oh, how I have missed Trader Joe’s since moving to Alaska. I shopped there all the time while I lived in Eugene and became an addict. The selection and price of sausage, juice, chips/dip, trail mix, coffee, among other things is unrivaled.
Upon the return to our new temporary home, we cleaned up the room and basically moved in. All the vacuum bags were unpacked into the dresser and closet. The cats were set up with their new necessities. I even hooked up the Wii in the front room. Tom is still under the bed. Lucy had strategically laid herself out on the bed right under the fan. She was not used to the heat. I brushed her with the new brush in an effort to help her lose some hair so she could cool down a bit. She grooms herself so well, it didn’t seem that too much hair was coming off. Tom was goaded out from under the bed eventually, and I tried the same thing on him. Managed to get some hair off of him before he took refuge under the bed again.
I looked up the nearest REI. There is not one in Palm Springs or the surrounding area. If I want to go to REI, I have to drive all the way back towards LA to Rancho Cucamonga. That is over an hour away. Well, I really want my Keen shoes. If I need two pair, it is worth it to go to REI, because I will get 20% off one pair and the second pair will be applied to my REI dividend. Sam has to study tomorrow, so I will make the drive.
I found an old iTunes gift card in our stack of gift cards that the two of us and accumulated and compiled before we left. Score! Stuck it on my iTunes so I could download episodes of Flash Forward and Lost since Sam’s parents don’t have cable. We watched an episode of Flash Forward after dinner before crashing in.
We had a lazy morning on Wednesday. Got up, had coffee. I made some of the mango chicken sausage for breakfast that we bought at Trader Joe’s. Sam started back into her studies. The birds were outside this morning, so the cats were once again free to roam the house. Lucy jumped on the opportunity. Tom finally decided he wanted out from under the bed after being there for about a full day. I made the decision that I was going to drive the hour plus to the Rancho Cucamonga REI for my Keens. If I was going to pick up a pair for Sam, too, I needed her size, style and color preference. We drove back to the Birkenstock store to let Sam try on a pair. Got her size and she liked the girly-style Whisper over the other Keen styles. She is great. This style is cheaper than the normal Keen Newports. I took off for the REI. Since this is really the highlight of the day, now would be a good time for another rant about must-have items. I already blogged about the Contigo in the Day 6 posting. The Keen shoes will be my second rant. If you don’t own a pair, go out and get a pair this spring. They are hybrid shoe/sandals; like sandals with all the support and comfort of a cross-training or tennis shoe. They keep your foot cool in warm weather and surprisingly warm when the weather is cooler. Obviously, I wouldn’t suggest wearing them in January in Alaska, but even up there, you could wear them more than just in the summer. They last forever (or, at least until an airline loses them with your bag), and are versatile enough to be worn on the beach or in the woods on a hike or out camping. These shoes are the bomb!
To recap must have items:1. Contigo Travel Mugs – Costco, $20 for a two-pack.
2. Keen Hybrid Shoes – REI, $95 for the Newport (mens and womens), $85 for the women-style Whisper. REI is having a sale until April 18, where members get 20% off one full price item. Of course, you could always get lucky and find a 2009 style on the sale rack.
The trip was a success. I found my size in the cool-sounding India Ink (dark blue) color on a pair of Newports. After a few calls back to Sam, some texting, and her using the REI website to visualize the color combinations, we settled on the bright green and gray for her. Two pairs of Keens, $175 with my discount, and some money for my REI 10% dividend coupon next year. On a side note, there was a Chick-fil-A right across the parking lot from the REI. I didn’t even know these things existed on the west coast! I thought about grabbing a chicken sandwich, but then thought it would be best to save the first Chick-fil-A stop on the move for a time where Sam and I could eat together.
Drove the hour plus back, which was a bit shorter, because the traffic wasn’t as bad going east. Definitely some clouds and some rain heading east to the desert. I noticed an email on my iPhone about a Dept. of Homeland Security Immigration Law job that I had applied for back in the winter. It said I had been rejected. Though, the title of the email only mentioned the job announcement number, so I had no idea what job I was being rejected for. Turned out it was the immigration attorney spot that would have placed me in Portland or Tacoma. Ah well. I never expected to find any good results applying through USA Jobs. Too many applicants and it always helps to have a foot in the door when applying for these jobs. I hope to have more success when we get to DC and I can start meeting people. And I am feeling cautiously optimistic about the Coast Guard JAG (or direct commission lawyer) position, too (though, the board doesn’t meet to make decisions on that until the end of April). It only took them three months to send me an email about it. At least I know that my application was received and was complete enough for someone to review. Based on the lack of response from DHS, I had no idea if anyone bothered to open the email I had sent.Sam tried on her new shoes when I returned. She liked them, except for one of the left straps rubbed against her foot as she walked in a way that would cause a blister. UGH! We may have to go back to exchange her pair for another. She will try them on again later to play with the straps, when she is not in the middle of studying. Both cats had made themselves at home. They were free to wander around the house and Lucy is now strutting like she owns the place. Tom is finally not darting under the bed every few minutes and seems more comfortable. Dinner. Caught up on Flash Forward. Bed.
Up Next: More Hanginaround
M.E.
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