We have exhaled

We scribbled down some numbers and realized we are better off with the moving people, considering the piano and the flight of stairs, and we will still be able to buy a new car. Our relocation money is saving our butts.

Stephen called our movers back this morning and rescheduled. They decided to go ahead and do our move all in one day, on November 30. This will be quite a long day for them, but I am so relieved that it is not spread over two days. I hope Mom and Stan can make it out. Our last move, Stephen and I were split for a lot of the day doing odds and ends at both locations; Mom and Stan would give us each a bit of companionship as we do cleaning in the old place and prepping in the new place.

The new apt called saying we are approved... barring we pay the $4,000 that is owed to our current landlords for breaking our lease (!!!!) It turned out our current kandlords merely forgot about our contract adendum stating we are excluded from fees if we have to break our lease-- so all is well, we just had to pay our last months rent as usual. Still, it did make our hearts sink. No one likes to hear that they owe $4,000. So, our 30-day notice, company letterhead, and last months rent is submitted, and we are officially approved.

My Uncle Gary is still in the hospital. Yesterday, both Angie and Grandma called, telling me two different things-- I guess Gary either has a hole in his heart or had a small stroke. We still don't know what has happened or will happen with him.

Tomorrow is Stephen's last day at his Oskaloosa store. His three women will miss him I am certain, and it sounds like they are preparing something "special" for Stephen's very last day. He has yet to pack his clothes, or even wash them at that, and he's leaving for NE Saturday. I suppose I should be a helpful wife and help him out with that. ;-)

See what the deer did:

The damage isn't as bad as I imagined, but the cost of repairs will still exceed its value.

Stephen's zooming around in a Kia Sportage until Saturday. :-)

HELP WANTED: New Arrangements

In light of very recent automobile accidents, we are canceling our services with Johnson and Son, and doing the move "the old-fashioned way". That's right folks, WE are going to do it.

Mom and Stan are more than happy to come up with us after the concert to help us out. This is a GIGANTIC help!!!

Our task is to recruit helpers on both ends. If you are in the Eastern Iowa or Omaha/Lincoln area and you would like to assist us on Sunday, November 30th, we would be very grateful. Even if you don't live in the area, and you'd like to cap off your Thanksgiving weekend by moving a piano up a flight of stairs, in the bitter cold and probable frozen elements, you are more than welcome to take advantage of the decent gas prices and drive your helpful self over to the loading or receiving location.

Panic mode was short-lived this morning. I am so thankful for my mom and my stepdad!

Lighting Strikes Us Twice

Just when I thought this next month was going to be a piece of cake:

Stephen just hit a deer on the highway, in the Saturn SL. 

He is safe.

We have liability only on this car; though this accident is the deer's fault, the deer is unfortunately uninsured.

In Stephen's words "the car is not drive-able." It runs, yes, but the damage is far, far beyond what the car is worth.

I don't know what we are going to do and where the money is going to come from to get us through this. We have a mere $500 in our savings. I do NOT want to take out another loan for another car... 

Stephen somehow needs a vehicle so he can be in Nebraska City starting Monday. We are hoping Alltel will help him out with that.

As for buying another car, we can hold off on our living room furniture, and juggle with one car the best we can until we have a few thousand saved up. 

UGH, this is just horrible, horrible timing---right in the middle of a major transition!

A week before Election '08

I took the car into Ulrich after my class, and they estimated the repairs from last weekend's fright fest to cost a little over $1,000. The rear bumper damage from antiquity will run a whopping $4,000. I don't know how much our insurance will take care of; Stephen said our deductible is $500, but I don't know if that applies

 to the rear damage since it happened so long ago.

I am more than thrilled that my professors are happy to work with me to get my semester wrapped up early. I am going to attend class as long as we are still living here, but I, at least, received Prof. Lahart's "ok" to miss classes toward the end of the month if I really need to. I'm glad I made a point to develop positive, working relationships with my profs and maintain excellent standing in class, because I doubt I would be granted this flexibility otherwise.

Aunt Angie gave us a call last night to tell us that my Uncle Gary is in the hospital. He was at work, when, around lunchtime, his coworkers noticed he did not know their names and acted aloof. His boss was actually the one who took Gary to the hospital and called my grandparents. They did a few tests to see if there were any indications that he suffered from a stroke, but the tests did not show anything, so they were going to send him home. However, Gary couldn't even find his keys (which were in his hand), and continued to act absent-minded as he was heading out the hospital, so my family insisted that he stay because there was obviously something very wrong. He's experienced headaches for awhile now, and has said that this has happened before, so there is murmur that this could be a tumor. Of course, we don't know anything yet; hopefully the tests will point to something that can be fixed.

Stephen will be in NE today and tomorrow. I held a self-photo shoot when I got home this afternoon so I could send one to Stephen's email. I have very few recent pictures of me, since I am either behind the camera or evading it!

Moving Date

Our moving company came by this afternoon and gave us an estimate. It will cost, at the most, a little over $2,100 to move. We anticipate much less because they over-estimated our last move.

The movers are packing our house up on November 30, and then driving to NE, and unpacking Dec. 1. Stephen and I will drive to NE with the kitties right after they are finished loading up the truck on the 30th, and camp out in our apt on an air mattress so we are there when they arrive in the morning.

These dates work out great because we will get to have Thur-Sat in KC for Thanksgiving, and go to that Siberian Orchestra Concert. YAAY! What a great buffer between the two evil stressors, packing and moving! I just need to make sure I have EVERYTHING done before we leave for KC.

I put our living room furniture up on Freecycle, and our washer and dryer up on Craigslist. Hopefully we don't have any of it lingering when we have to move.

Grandma's Macaroni and Cheese

We made this for Beth today, along with sandwiches and grapes. Eating it reminded me of the many Hazelrigg family get-togethers in which we savored this yummy comfort food, Grandma's specialty.

1 pkg Velveeta, cut in approx. 1" cubes
1 stick butter, cut in approx. 1" pieces
1/2 C milk
2 cans Rotel tomatoes, drained thoroughly
2 bags of large shell macaroni

1. Cook macaroni according to directions on bag, drain, and set aside

2. Combine Velveeta, butter, milk, and Rotel in a microwave safe bowl, and melt in microwave on med-low heat, stirring frequently. This process can also be done on the stove in a saucepan, med-low heat, stirring frequently.

3. Combine macaroni and sauce in a large crock pot, on low heat. Mix well, but gently. Can be kept warm for potlucks, but stir often. If macaroni and cheese becomes too sticky, add a dash of milk.

Serves 16. Recipe can be halved to serve a smaller crowd.

Apartment Search Results

After the nerve-rattling event last night, it took us quite awhile to settle down in our hotel room; it was nearly 1 before we finally crashed.

The hotel provided a mediocre continental breakfast and we were off by 9 for a full day of looking at apartments.

We first dropped by the Pavilion, the new fancier apt, that was quickly referred to as "The Shining Hall." On each floor was an extremely LOOOONG hall, with doors on each side, lowly lit-- kind of spooky. I totally was thinking "redrum". The apartment itself was really nice; we liked their 2 bdrm/2 bthrm layout. Drawback was that it was so new that we would be taking a risk with its management team, since there was absolutely no history to refer to, nor was the property at all "lived in".


After "The Shining Hall", we drove to the much anticipated Fontenelle Hills-- the apts w/ the large decks and natural setting. The pictures looked so promising, but the actual property couldn't have been more of a letdown. The property itself needed a manicure as well as some maintenence work. The complex layout was confusing, congested, and potentially treacherous in winter. We looked at 3 apartments, and they all were unfinished/unclean, needing work before move-in, therefore we had no indication of what the finished product would be like. They were built in the late 60s and needed updating in the worst way. The last apartment on that property that we looked was marginally promising because the layout was so interesting, but it did not have washer/dryer hookups. Total bummer, but at least we could scratch it off the list.


Two of the apartments we were interested in were closed Saturdays, so those were scratched off the list as well.


We had lunch at Ruby Tuesdays, discouraged with our latest stop. Stephen and Beth brought in their laptops, so we gathered more apartment info and planned the 2nd half of our day. We really had no idea where to look. Toward the end of our meal, we chatted with our waiter and explained to him we were moving to the area. He became very excited and recommended his apartment complex, Midland Heights. He and his wife are completely pleased with his unit and the management team. My heart gave a little leap; a personal endorsement of a complex meant so much at that point, and it sounded promising. I felt that this might be it, but of course, I didn't want to verbalize, because who knows?


Next, we toured Summit Apartments. THIS looked like our best bet. The 1200 sq ft second floor 2brm/2bath had everything we needed, looked excellent, management seemed dependable and friendly, and I felt very confident that we'd go with it. We decided we'd check Midland Heights, just to make certain we wanted to go with Summit.


Midland Heights wasn't as gorgeous as Summit, which was newer and a little bit ritzier, but the price was right. At Summit, we would pay approx. $950.... at Midland Heights $790, the exact same as what we pay here in Pella. Despite Stephen's raise, we wanted to keep our rent the same.


The 2nd level layout was just as functional and comfortable as Summit, but it also had a gas corner fireplace, which Summit did not have. I got the impression that the management staff was competent and professional, but they were also family owned, so I felt like they would be more flexible, personable, and available than a company. Most of the apartments we toured had a clubhouse with all the ammenities, but Midland Height's was extremely modest with a small kitchen and a tv. No pool, no workout room, no work-spaces-- but this is not an issue for us since we rarely used those things here in Pella, for which I am glad because that is probably how our price was so nice! We are renting a garage, with a door opener, that is just a few feet from our apartment. Another neat plus is that this complex is situated right next to the complex where Stephen's old roommate Chris and his wife Kim live; we have built-in friends merely a few hundred feet away! We were going to quickly tour Chris's apartment, but then realized we probably won't find anything better, and we filled out the application and payed our deposit right then and there. Here are a few pics of our new place:

I love all the counter and cabinet space in our kitchen. We will be using their appliances. Our refrigerator will be stored in our garage, as well as our microwave. The laundry room is off of the kitchen. We are getting rid of our washer and dryer, and intend to purchase new or lightly used machines when we need them in a future home.

Stephen and Beth in front of our fireplace in the living room area. The first picture is taken from the dining room wall. The area is much bigger than our Pella apartment.

Beth modeling the dining area. To the right is a small counter that would be excellent as a service counter for food, a place for photos, or a place to pile junk. The possibilities are endless. We are talking about getting a small breakfast table for this space so we aren't eating in front of the tv when company visits or when we want to feel civilized. We will be setting up our upright freezer next to the fridge (behind Beth).

I took pictures of the baths/beds and closets, but those pictures would probably mean nothing to you guys. The bedrooms are ample enough for our needs. Our master closet is massive and would probably store everything in our current master and spare closet, and then some. We have a shower stall in our bathroom, and a tub/shower in the spare bathroom. There are two closets in the spare bedroom.

So, I will totally have to seek out our Ruby Tuesdays waiter (named Creighton) and make he and his wife some banana bread or brownies as a thank you for the tip.

On our way back, we stopped in Des Moines and ate supper with Kristen and fam at Dickey Doogins.

Above are Beth and Kristen being entertained as my five year old nephew Adam was "tattling" to the restaurant manager that Uncle Stephen was throwing peanuts at him. It was a hoot to watch.

She told him to throw some back at him. Adam had to contemplate the morality of this for quite some time, but ended up throttling a fistful of peanuts in Stephen's face. Unfortunately, my camera was too slow to pick up that action-packed moment.

Monday, Johnson and Son Moving and Storage is coming by to give us an estimate on how much it will cost to move us to Papillion (oh I forgot to mention, our apt is not in Bellevue; this only adds a mere 4-5 min. to Stephen's commute). When I talked to them today, they anticipated that moving us would be a two-day process, and that Friday, Nov. 28 works best for them. This would normally be perfect, but we found out today that Mom and Stan got tickets for a Siberian Orchestra concert in KC, with us in mind, for the 29th, so we are doing whatever we can to work around that so we can make the concert. So, right now, dates are not set in stone. Hopefully we will have a clearer idea of when we will move by Monday night.

There is talk of Stephen moving into our apt Nov 1, instead of a hotel, but this depends on if he can get his hands on a stipend from Alltel by then, and if Midland Heights is fine with it. It would be easier on Stephen, me, and Alltel if we could get it worked out this way. I anticipate Stephen living in a Microtel for a month would be very depressing for him.

We have a busy few weeks ahead of us. This week we need to notify our current landlords and iron out moving day and details. I will be busy turning out schoolwork/papers/projects as quickly as possible so as to leave ample time to pack the latter half of November. My last day of work is next Thursday; Stephen's last day will be this Friday.

Beth, Stephen, (and Zoe) are wiped out in front of the tv, and I am fantisizing about bed myself. Ahhh, my own bed sounds great after an exhausting couple days.

We shouldn't be here...

We should be in the hospital or dead.

I was driving 75 mph, westbound I-80, about 40 miles outside of Omaha in the left lane, when I decided to look down at my iPod to adjust the receiving station.

Beth and Stephen both screamed "Watch out! Watch out!"

I looked up, and all I see is the rear left corner of a semi quickly approaching. It was inevitable that we would collide.

Should I even try to avoid it, and risk collision with the cars behind us? Should I just let us hit and hope to God we live?

In the next split second, I chose to avoid, and slammed on the breaks.

Our back end fishtailed, we were turning counterclockwise because of the force of the stop at 75 mph. In a matter of moments we would be facing oncoming traffic.

I turned the wheel right to keep the car facing west, but overcompensated; we were veering into the right lane, cars oncoming at 75 mph.

I veered left, tires squeeling, aiming us head-first into the ditch.

The car stood still, the smell of burnt rubber heavy, and we were alive.

All I could say was "I am so sorry", my head buried in my arms on the steering wheel, trembling, crying. Someone was rubbing my back. I didn't want to look up. Stephen was coaxing me out of the car to have a look, but I didn't want to see. All I could think about was that I almost killed my husband and our cousin because I was messing with the stupid iPod.

Eventually I did get out. All we had was a small, 1 foot long dent in the body above the front right tire.

We had no idea we even made contact with semi; we felt nothing at all.

All the while, Beth and Stephen were exclaiming, "You did so well!" and that I controlled the car beautifully through it all. II felt like I didn't do anything well at all; I felt completely out of control. The accident was my fault, and my reaction was sheer gut. Any slight deviation, and we would be dead. I could've easily caused us to collide with semi thinking that is better than a six car pile up or head-on collision.

From Beth and Stephen, I found out it wasn't completely my fault, or even mostly my fault. The semi was actually trying to get into the left lane while we were occupying it. He didn't see us.

The semi continued to drive on after all of this happened. We don't even know that he knew anything happened, considering the massive size and noise of a semi. You'd think he'd at least see lights going crazy in his side mirror as we were fishtailing all over the place, but I guess not.

It was a hit and run.

Stephen is on the phone with the insurance company, trying to figure out what we need to do about the car. Because the body above the tired is pushed in, the tire rubs against it when we go over bumps.

I just can't believe we are alive. If it went any other way, we would certainly be seriously injured at the least.

West-Bound

We are on our way to Omaha with Beth!

More moving talk and some pics

It feels like October here. Cold rain, cool temps, barely dressed trees, sights of blanket-draped gardens--- snow is inching closer!

I turned in my two weeks to my boss yesterday, and it bordered on a "mooshy" moment, with us both near tears. I will miss working with them because they---well, most [haha]--- are such good-natured people. I carry a lot of respect for my manager, and it will be hard to come across another who compares.  November 6 is my last day, with just one weekend of donuts left. I may miss the people, but I won't miss waking up at 2:30-3am one bit!

Stephen is able to get away from his store Saturday, so we are going to use this weekend to apartment-hunt in Nebraska. His cousin, Beth, is coming down from MN today for a weekend visit, so she'll receive the privilege of an Ivy league education in house-hunting. She'll be an expert by the time we are through with her, haha! We've been through this process so many times. By now, we know exactly what we want, what price is reasonable, what to look for in landlords, signs of good building integrity, etc. We should be able to pin something down in no time.

Stephen went all proactive today and made appointments with the apartments we are interested in. The Pavilion--- the newer, fancier apt--- has vacancies, allows THREE pets (there is talk between us about getting a canine pet for Howie and Zoe....), and includes some utilities in the rent, so that compensates for the higher price. Plus, there is no pet rent! I still have my little heart set on Fontenelle Hills, because I love the decks.... but the Pavilion may be better suited for us. We shall see!

As for our moving date, we would REALLY like to shoot for the weekend of Nov 29-30,  just to avoid paying rent in two places. However, my term does 

not end until the week of Dec. 8-12. I am waiting on email responses from my profs, but hopefully I can submit everything before Dec, and end my term early. If not,  I might be able to board with Kristen and fam in Des Moines to finish it out. 

Just so this isn't a text only post, here are some pics I took this morning of the little Knittel furballs. I had a couple videos too, but I guess blogspot doesn't support MPEG1 format.

Aww, cuddle with Newspaper, Howie

My futile attempt at getting a good face pic of Zoe:

"My profile looks better, Mom"

Still not head on, but a good pic of her doing absolutely nothing. 

You may have noticed the newspaper props in these photos:

(Grandpa Fred, the following might scare you)

Quirky Knittel Fact #1: We have a newspaper subscription that we don't use. 

It takes about a 10 days for our newspapers to travel from outside our front door to the large heap underneath the living room end table merely 20 feet away. This occurs in three defined steps. 

First, the most labor intensive step, we must kick the rolled newspaper from outside the front door to the front entry way of our apartment. This occurs about every 2-3 days, or when we anticipate disapproving glances from our neighbors-that-we-never-run into... whichever comes first. 

Second, our rolled newspapers must circulate to each room in the house. Some don't make it to each room, to our newspapers' chagrin, but most do. The vehicle in which they travel is by kick or drop. Stepping on or tripping over the newspaper is essential, for this lets us know that the newspaper is ready to be transported to another location.

The last step, occurring when we are about to have visitors, or when tension between humans is reaching a moderate level, entails actually picking up the newspapers and plopping them, unrolled, under the end table. Out of sight, out of mind--- we just avoid looking under our end table. 

Moving to NE is causing some anxiety, because we are very fond of this newspaper-subscription-that-we-don't-use, and we have a routine that will now have to be disrupted. We rely very much on our 3-step process to keep us grounded, and I don't know what is going to happen when we move and we don't have a newspaper subscription anymore.  

Housing Browsing

We are getting excited about our move and looking online at the housing options. We are leaning more towards getting an apartment rather than renting a house, although we are open to houses. It is just nice to not have to keep up with grass/snow and apartments are usually more energy efficient. We found a few apartments in Bellevue that stoked our interest, and they all allow kitty cats:

Fontenelle Hills Apartments

We really like the good sized decks, big windows, and natural setting. It is close the in interstate as well as Hwy 75- a straight shot to Nebraska City. The floor plan to the left is the one we like the best w/ 3 bedrooms and 330 more sq ft than the apartment we have now, although the 2 bedroom layouts would be suitable too. $865-$910/month for 3bdrom.

The Overlook is another apartment we like. It seems a lot like the one we have, but with 80 extra sq ft. The floorplan to the right is probably best suited for us; I don't know why it is called "The Ridge". They are asking $839-899/month. They have a short term lease in case yet another job opportunity comes up for Stephen, and it comes with a corner fireplace, which I like because it frees up the walls for furniture.

The Pavilion at Twin Creek is newer and a bit pricier with a 2brm starting at a whopping $935, however, this includes cables, sewer, water, and trash removal. Short term lease is a plus in our situation. It's very attractive w/ hardwood floors, valted ceilings, and little modern extras. Since it is newer, there may be no vacancy.

Depending on how much money our relocation demands, we might be buying our living room furniture with some of it. It would be so refreshing to leave this re-re-re-recycled furniture here in Iowa, and start fresh with new stuff in Nebraska. Just a thought.

We are really really excited.

How do you feel about Nebraska...?

.... because we are moving there!

Stephen had an interview yesterday for a management position in the Nebraska City store. He was called back today and officially offered the job, and he accepted! They want him out there ASAP, so as soon as he can wrap up his dealings at his current store and pack his clothes (probably by Nov. 1, at the latest!), he'll be living the hotel life until I graduate and join him in December.

• We are very excited and confident about this move; it is happening at an exceptionally good time with me wrapping up my degree and ready to move on to the next phase, and Verizon getting reading to seal the deal with Alltel.
  
• He will have six reps under him, double what he has right now at the Osky store.
  
• We will live nearby to two metro areas (Lincoln and Omaha), which will come in handy for shopping, eating (our big hobby!), and resources as I pursue music
  
• Travel time from Chillicothe/KC will be reduced dramatically. We will miss being so far from Kristen and fam, but even that drive won't be too bad
• He will receive a 4% payraise, as well as $5,000 to help us with moving costs. Alltel will be paying for his hotel until I move down there.
• He is very excited about his boss. Stephen exceeded expectations at his current store, and his potential was marginally tapped. Through this new boss, he will be challenged more as a manager, therefore he expects to grow more.

The sucky part will be living apart from him for six-ish weeks. I am submitting my two week notice tomorrow at Caseys so that I am available on weekends to spend time with him and devote energy to packing, as well as finish up my last semester at DMACC. We are probably not going to live in Nebraska City, but Bellevue, which is bigger, nicer town 30 minutes away.

I am extremely proud of my husband!! I had every confidence that he would succeed in his interview, and I was pretty sure he would be chosen for this position. YAAY!!!

Still up

Okay, I'm not in bed. I know this is counterproductive to getting over this cold, but I keep finding blogs of people I know and I can't stop following them. I'm addicted. Help.

Autumn Leaves...

The Knittels are feeling the weather change- our skin is drying out (big time!), we have to wear jackets, and I, at least, have an ugly head cold. 

I ended up coming home from work early and decided to spend the day in bed to nip whatever this is in the bud so I don't have to miss more work and more school. I called my prof to let her know I wouldn't be in class and felt some shame because she, too, is ill but she's still going to lecture. Even though I felt like a little baby after that phone call, I know I made the right choice for me considering the long-term: I routinely do not get enough sleep, and I'm stressed; I can either sacrifice a day and get over it fast, or I can push through and continue to weaken my immune system and take forever to get over it, costing more missed classes and work than what today will.

Today is a busy day for Stephen with an RCR (like a store audit), a visit from his boss, Doug, and other various events. He was a little concerned last night about how today will go with everything going on at once, and he even went in early this morning. I know he stressed, but I am extremely confident that he'll do well; it is in his character to do so. I really admire his work ethic and his people and administrative skills; he makes management look easy. 

Well, I'm gonna go to bed. Wish me luck in getting over whatever this is.

McCain speaks in Belton

It is pretty cool that a presidential candidate chose my hometown to speak at. I thought maybe McCain was drawn to a particular demographic in Belton, but he is actually speaking there because it is Brian Baker's (MO State Rep.) hometown. Whatever the case may be, my sister is trying to get over to his rally this afternoon. 

What we are up to lately

I spent the last hour or so fiddling with this website, trying to get the hang of it; I think I've got it down pat now!

So, let's see, what is going on on the Knittel front:

• Stephen just wrapped up a week long vacation. He spent the first few days in Des Moines with his sister, offering moral support and distraction as she recuperated her bad car accident that happened Saturday---she's ok, as well as everyone else in the 5-car travesty--- but it has been a very stressful and trying event. He spent the latter part of the week chilling at home. Although he has enjoyed letting loose for a few days, I think he's anxious to get back to work tomorrow. 
  

• My stepbrother Jason and his wife Dollie brought into the world their first child, Micah James, yesterday at 10:10pm. This is really exciting as it is the first grandchild on the Blackley/Hazelrigg side of the family. Mom and Stan drove up from MO to meet the new little guy, and swung by Pella this evening for a short visit and dinner. It was good to see them. They have the "we're new grandparents" glow about them and it is really cute.

• We intend to spend Thanksgiving with my family this year. Considering that we might be preparing to move, (or not) we cannot pin down commitments yet. Christmas will be with the Knittels.

• Howie and Zoe (the cats) are doing fine. Howie has taken up following me to the toilet every time we have to go, and literally begging us to turn on the tub faucet so he can drink. It is ridiculous and adorable- you know how it is. Zoe is content sleeping and begging for food when we are a few minutes late feeding her

• School is... going. I'll be glad when this semester is over. Just a few more weeks.

I think that is about it for now. Stephen is crashed on the sofa, and I am exhausted and needing to get up in a mere four hours. Goodnight!

Numero Uno

Hong-i! We caved and created yet another blog in our long string of blogs we've maintained and abandoned over the last several years.

We will each continue our current personal blogs at livejournal.com, but here we will jointly post about our daily activities/events , rather than plaster our rants and deep cranium activity-- if you are in the mood for those, go to our livejournal blogs. 

Stephen's LJ

Meghan's LJ

We look forward to searching for our people on here and staying in touch!