This morning I headed out in the flurries (nothing laying here though) to try out my first Methodist Church in the area.  Technically I guess this is my second one in the area, but West Washington, where I've gone a few times before is a bit further from my purchased home.  Today I was checking out Trinity in McMurray.  They have the larger congregation of the UMCs in the area at around 170 members.  The greeter was prompt to recognize me as new and gave me some basics, people were friendly enough, the message was nice... but I gotta admit the music wasn't my favorite.  The early service here is their more modern music, but even that was a little off from what I expected.

I'll probably check out the Houston UMC and/or First UMC of Cburg next week even though they only have one blended/traditional service and it's even earlier in the morning.

Had a great visit today with my Favorite Egg's parents.  They came to see the new house, meet their grandpuppies, and to take Ben and I both out for his birthday dinner after a little chat around my table.  I had a yummy carolina bbq pulled pork sammie with onion straws on it.  This visit meant I was up and moving not too late today such that I could get a few other things in better order for their arrival.  The flooring got it's first de-fur and cleaning and the bed was remade with a bed skirt to name a few.

After a few super warm days it dropped back down into the 40s today and felt incredibly cold.  Last night as I worked upstairs I had to open the windows because it was up to 73 in the house and feeling a bit toasty.  I know this is more seasonal temps, but I really could get used to the 60s and 70s.  Soon enough I guess.

I was eager to try the local thai place and craving (both food and to get out into the amazing weather) so I tried to make a late lunch run, only to find them closed.  They're now only open for dinner, but it would be nice if they had updated that on their Facebook page.  I then tried to hit a local pizza place but they too were not open for lunch.  What's up with that Canonsburg?

Empty handed I returned home and ate some leftover meatloaf.  But since I had to run to Big Lots and Target last night I decided to stop again as I passed the pizza joint.  I can say that my white pizza from Arleo's was pretty good.

The target run was in part to get an exercise ball, but I'm not sure I'm going to like it as a chair for work.  My existing chair was dripping oil.  Thank goodness I brought a plastic mat for under it with me - or I would have oil on my carpet!  I've taped up some covering on there for now, but I think I'm going to need to buy a new "real" chair.

I got enough extra unboxed as to put two more big boxes full of broken down boxes out to the trash this morning along with garbage the previous owners left behind.

Dogs.  That is the theme of today's post, and here it is only 7:30ish when I got up at 7.  Sounds kind of ominous, doesn't it?

First, I love that all of my new neighbors have dogs.  I do not like already knowing that some of those new neighbors don't realize it isn't acceptable to put their little yippie shits outside at 6am and allow them to make all kinds of noise.

Next, I discovered who the crazy dog person is here (thank God it isn't me).  The house two doors up w/ the fence but no deck had... I dunno, I counted 5, but there may have been more as they were running about frantic, out there this morning.  It immediately caught my attention because they all began to bark and run about when I took the girls out back (on leash remember because I don't have a fence yet).  They however do as I do and immediately opened the door calling them in to contain the noise.  I admit I'm glad they are not immediately next door, and I'm sure my girls agree - they didn't appreciate the crazed excitement our previous neighbor puppy had.

Final note, while I made my english muffin this morning (yay - I went to the grocery store) Saffy was helping to unpack, the treats that is.  She pulled out a rawhide.  Fortunately, I saw that right away so I could close up the box before a morning smorgasbord ensued.

Speaking of that fence I need to find someone, get quotes, and get drawings to expedite things once the weather breaks.  Going from a short first floor walk to two flights of stairs to take the dogs out on leash isn't my favorite thing about the new house - and the weather is even nice right now.

I'm so behind!  As you can imagine the few days after my previous post were quite hectic.  It took the movers a lot longer to load on Monday than I expected, which meant I was cleaning later than I expected, and didn't roll into the general Wash/Can area until around 9:30, where I caught up with my Favorite Egg for some dinner before delivering another load to the new place and heading to his place to crash late as can be.

I was up that Tuesday bright and shiny to get to the new place and wait for the movers, where I worked putting things away as I could and directing them where items went.  It too was a long day, but a little shorter than the one before.  Turned out they underestimated the size of truck needed, so the second one showed around 5pm on Monday, and didn't get here until Wednesday.

I did get some work in on Wed and Thurs, but not full days as I needed to take some time putting things away. The office is reasonably set up but not complete as is the kitchen.  During these days the DirecTV guy and HVAC guy came and did their thing too, and I had a new doctor appointment.

Then on Thursday night Lor-Lor arrived, because Friday morning we flew out to San Juan!  We spent two nights there before joining Jewel of the Seas for a 7 night get away.  In San Juan we hit some places I knew were sure bets (Cafe Cultura and Mojitos) and tried some other places out (La Madre), we walked along some of the touristy areas, and we made a trek to the El Yunique rain forest and then off to night kayaking to see the bioluminescent bay!  It was not luminescing leading up to our visit, but we sure saw it!  My legs were pretty sore from the rainforest hike for a few days.

This trip was pretty busy, with only one day at sea before the last port.  We went to...
St Thomas where we did a walking tour on our own, targeting the Synagogue.  There was a little rain, but still a good day and it was a nice little tour.
St Kitts where we had booked a trip to the Clay Villa Plantation and a bit of an island tour.  It too was a nice day and a pleasant tour.
St Johns Antigua, where we went on a catamaran tour through the ship.  The snorkeling wasn't great and there was simply too many ppl who didn't know what to do with a pair of flippers.  It was a nice enough day, but the tour was as I'd expect of the cattle call.
Barbados where our prebooked tour left without us an hour before our ship arrived.  Yeah.  Not getting good reviews there.  We ended up doing a taxi tour with a few other ppl, but it notably missed some key areas.
At sea Lor-Lor took the sushi class and we both had a bite, then I caved and bought an embellished giclee of Ilyayev (A Little Stroll).  It may be a little longer until my next sail, so I used that as my excuse.
St Maarten where we went on a kick butt private power boat tour/3-stop snorkel.  As a result I am crispy burned.

We arrived home after a day of travel late last night and today I headed out early to fetch the girls from camp back by Jtown.  We arrived and they checked everything out before crashing out.  I'd say they're feeling pretty comfortable.  I've done a little more unpacking and organizing today, but not a ton - I'm tired.

I'm hoping to sleep like a champ tonight.  I left my favorite Egg's earlier in the day than I normally do on Sundays too, so I had more time to finish packing tonight.  There is still a little more to do before I can call it a night however.  The movers will be here tomorrow morning and I have to keep up the motivation to clean behind them as they clear things out.

Friday morning I was up earlier than normal so I could drop the girls off the second the place opened.  Then I was back to the house to load some stuff up and on the road.  Fortunately the weather I have been blessed with has been fantastic, so it was smooth sailing for me to arrive at the new house for the final walk through right on time.  Then we were off to closing.  When I was on my own I headed back to empty the vehicle and then to cross some to do items off of the list.  I already have a change of address license card and stopped to get internet set up.  Back to the house I cleaned the bathrooms and kitchen cabinets so I am ready to start unpacking the most important room.  I also started the list of stupid little things that need fixed.  New house, wth.  Saturday I was a bit of a slacker.  We did take a load from his place to the new one but other than that I didn't get much done there.

It wasn't a perfect weekend as in we forgot to get the check from the previous owners for some other repairs that need made *sigh* and they said their electrician didn't see the front light tripping, but I managed to trip it several times, that is, once I figured out how to reset it.  I wasn't too worried about it until I realized I couldn't get out because the tripped circuit also killed the garage door.  I eventually, with the help of the flashlight on my phone found the plug that needed reset.  I will say this - even in newer houses the way they choose to run wiring makes NO SENSE.  Oh, and they left two squares of tp in the whole house.  Thanks.  This bumped the stop at Big Lots for a few items up on the to do list that made me run back out so fast.

Tonight was my last night at youth.  They even had cake for me.  I bawled a good bit.  It coincided with Pastor Todd returning to speak.  I admit to enjoying his visits as I know when he prays over me I am getting a word.

In the past the message was the end of a season of waiting coming.  Well, here I am in transition.  Today's message was a season of joy coming - and it is already, there have been so many great things I know God has poured into my first month of 2017 alone.

Since I was at youth I didn't get a ton of packing done, but I did get another load of laundry through and the dishwasher run so those things can be packed up tomorrow.  I also finished off a couple of boxes that were in the works and started to prep the plants to go on Friday.  There remains what still feels like a lot, but I'm starting to think I can buckle down and get it done between tomorrow and Sunday night.

The other news here is that we may be shifting the closing on this house forward to next week as well.

Finally, I'm starting to break through from the cold that hit me.  It's the first one I've had in years and I felt kind of miserable.  I've still got some sinus pressure and a bit of a snotty head, but it's definitely better than it was.  In the midst of all of this I managed to pull a muscle in my chest with the sneezing that came with it.  That too feels better today than it did. I'm falling apart over here.