Ready to go!

My last day in Tallahassee… I read the news and finished a book (The Nest/ a New York family drama), didn’t leave the hotel, hoping stillness would keep my knee from stiffening up.  I did hop across Gaines Street for coffee this morning (so much better than the hotel’s!) and in the evening for a salad to go from Gaines Street Pies.

There were frustrations: trying to access the bank online, which I did without problem yesterday, yet today I was blocked. Grrrr! Same with Social Security. Stab, Stab! Try, try! Reject, reject! Obviously, I should stop, and eventually I did. At least I know my questions.  I’ll ask them tomorrow.

The woman who cleans my hotel room told me about her 17-year-old daughter, who is mentally ill, who set fire to their house, who loves to draw, who cannot look her in the eye, who sucks all the attention away from her 9-year-old brother.  My problems shrivel before hers. 

And tomorrow: Sacramento, my new home! Trouble has beset me, yes, but I smile in anticipation. Yay!

 Empty house

Hello, normal ones!

Hello, normal ones!

Today was nothing but numbers. My brain is fried, but after many hours (yes, number nerds, it takes me a long time!) I’m beginning to grasp the pensions and the mortgage, the usernames and the passwords, a little better. I have to look at the stuff over and over before I get friendly with these crucial numbers.

I also enjoyed a  lovely goodbye coffee and a lunch with friends. Just now another friend called to say goodbye. “Let’s not think of it as goodbye, but that our worlds are getting bigger!”

I’m going to bed like a baby — early, after a bath, and with crackers and cocoa (well, wine!).

What I feel is not loneliness

Last night I couldn’t sleep (I know — hardly ever happens!), so I took a bath at 4 a.m. It worked.

Zing touched down in Sacramento late last night and is in good hands. Just got notice from Steph that the vet there finds Zing healthy. Thanks, Patrick and Steph!

I hate the word grief. 

The bright zinnias are still alive on my hotel table. 

I had to be gruff to the 2 men cleaning out the garage and shed. They wanted to dump everything by the edge of the drive for garbage pickup. I said No, in the same tone I use with Zing. No, plus treats (tips) worked. All is cleaned out. I never saw the house without furniture before today. It’s got character. I don’t know if I’ll go back.

I ate lunch at Hopkins Eatery, studying literature that came with my new Wells Fargo checking account. But the banker forgot our appointment. I ate dinner waiting for a city of Tallahassee phone to answer so I could cancel utilities. Never happened. In between, I returned all the black boxes to Comcast. Met with realtor. Laughed with Gretchen.

I decided to take it slow, realize things take time, not leave details unfinished here, head to Sacramento Monday. I’d have to stay in a hotel there anyway. And I keep limping a bit. I don’t like it. Going slower here will heal the knee.  

What I feel is not loneliness.

Can dogs fly?

All day I’ve been trying to get Zing in the air. It might not happen. There are restrictions — size of dog, temperature of tarmac in each city touched. If you get the size of the carrying case wrong you will be rejected. You must freeze the water he will drink. Screws must be metal, not plastic, but metal covered with plastic is OK. Everything is listed on the websites, but there is too much to absorb. Surprisingly, every person I talked to on the phone was relaxed and helpful. But no answers yet. Zing and I will be at the Tallahassee Airport Monday morning, and they might take him to Sacramento. But they might not. If he does land, Patrick and Steph will pick him up at 11 p.m. and take him home, and then Tuesday check him in to a dog boarding home until I come.

Needless to say, I haven’t made my own reservations yet. (I began today by making reservations for myself, with Zing under the seat as a carry-on, but it turns out he’s too big to fit under a seat.) We might end up driving across the country. Or Patrick might drive Zing to Sacramento. Really, if Zing hadn’t been by my side this time of crisis without Clark, I'd be tempted to leave him in Tallahassee with my student who loves him and begged for him. But Zing is now mine, completely. We’ll see on Monday what that entails. 

BTW, Amtrak takes dogs, but only recently (late 2015),  and with many area and time restrictions. Zing need not apply. And no dogs on buses. Yet. 

Zing hasn’t been eating much at the hotel. Same food, different place. Tonight I’m too tired for a dinner search, so I heated some spinach and cracked two eggs into it. With crackers and wine it was fine!

After a day or two you get the workaround that is Residence Inn.