The Scramble

 It's a scramble here.  But thankfully I do my best work under a deadline...

 I've starting packing for my trip to LA for MAGIC Camp.  I fly Saturday.  Monday night I got my tool belt out and assessed all my hand tools. Blissfully everything was right where I thought it would be. Added my gloves and work boots to the pile.  Safety glasses, bandannas, ear plugs... bibs...  So I have the really critical things ready and heaped into a bag.  I found my airline reservation - yes, for a few panicked hours I couldn't find it  - and I've lined up transportation to and from the airport so that I don't have to pay a fortune to park there for 8 days.  Score!

I still have a few errands to run, some spices to pack for cooking "my" type of foods, some laundry to do and the rest of my packing.

And then I have to get dog things ready.  She's going to split her time between my place and my neighbor's - I can't tell you how pleased I am to not have to board her.  So. Pleased.  So I need to bathe her, and write out feeding instructions, and medication instructions... I will owe Amy & Bobby for a long time for this favor...

I'm working on my small gifts for folks at the Camp... why do those things always take longer than you estimate??  I should not be surprised at this point... but like I say... deadlines... best work...

And then of course, being off work for a week means the week prior is busier than normal... And so naturally what did I do?  I scheduled a hair appointment and an eye doctor appointment for this week!  Brilliant!  Just, brilliant!  lol  Ahhhh sometimes I wonder about me...

Meanwhile, Daniel figured out the materials list and called me with the invoice number at the local (Camarillo) Home Depot, so I called there and paid for that - my second chunk of cash towards the house.  It took me thirty minutes and 3 phone calls to pay an invoice.... Yeah, I do love phone trees, don't you?  And that great music?  But, when I finally got to the guy I needed, he was fabulous.  Thank you, Orlando!  It didn't hurt that the folks at the Pro Desk knew Daniel...  : )  Apparently he is a fixture there...So the construction materials for the Camp have been purchased (check!) and Daniel is figuring out a special Monday morning delivery.  I took the time to celebrate the milestone with a couple of girlfriends... 

And I'm still working on the windows.  Windows, windows, everywhere.  And my learning curve is vertical.  I've just about got it nailed, though.  I've gotten one estimate from the local Marvin windows retailer, and I got another one from a Pella windows retailer, for comparison.  I thought I had answered all the window questions, but noooooooo. For example...

Did you know that if you are in high altitude then you do not want Argon gas between the panes?  Apparently they'll crack.  So then add in the exciting feature that my house is on wheels, and that I just may pass through an high altitude area... yeah, the window rep was scratching his pate.  It was amusing.  I could have an entire chapter in my book about how I have stumped home suppliers with the fact that my house is going to be mobile.  Ohh all the long pauses in conversation...

How about, did you know there is a different exterior coating for the windows if you are in a coastal area where the air is salty and humid?  Do I have plans to park on the coast for an extended period of time?  Would I like to?  Well hell, yes, I'd love to!  And so the questions went...

I think I've figured out my skylights, too.  Size, anyway.  And that it/they will open... I just have to decide if I'm getting one or two.  I can argue it both ways.  We aren't installing windows and skylights at Camp, but we want to frame for them.  That's why the decisions must be made now... 

Through all of this I've been fighting the crud for over two weeks now.  You name a symptom, and I've had it.  I've missed a few days of work, I've slept through an entire weekend, I've missed 8-9 days at the gym, I've been to the doctor twice, I'm slathering on all sorts of essential oils and drinking gallons of water. I hate taking drugs, but I'm trying to have better living through pharmaceuticals.

 I can. not. be. sick. next. week.  Can.  Not.   But hey, I feel skinny.  (I'm a chick, what do you want from me??  I'll find the silver lining...)

My fellow tiny houser T-Homie who is taking the entire week off from work and driving down from Chico to build with me is similarly scrambling to get out of town.  Actually, I think she is scrambling even more than I am, bless her heart.  She's putting her house on the market while she's gone (in anticipation of building HER tiny house!!) and boy is she in the thick of it this week, preparing.  I so feel for her, because I did that in November/December.  It's a killer, but when you pull away from the curb to leave town - man.  You are just beat, but you are so proud of yourself!  Her head is spinning but she's totally getting things done. 

Several people have asked me if it all feels real now - with the purchasing, and the traveling, and planning the little details.  It does and it doesn't.  I think part of the issue is that all of this is happening in another part of the country.  It seems a little abstract. I'm not at all freaked out.  But I think once I get there?  No holds barred.  I fully expect to burst into tears the first time I see my little trailer.  And I am certain that if I try to address the folks at Camp the morning that we start, I'll totally choke up.  Heck, I am tearing up right now, just thinking about that morning!  I may have to be the mute one hanging in the background, and hey, I'll catch ya' when we start swinging hammers - we'll chat.  

Today is Wednesday.... marching towards Saturday...