The Mover is Here!....The Mover is Here?

Yes, folks, you read that right.  Mover, not movers.  No, there is no plural there. There is also no 26 foot straight truck.  Before I confuse you any more, please let me explain.

Last Tuesday afternoon, I received a call from our moving company stating that our movers, note the plural, would be arriving on Thursday morning.  The movers, again note the plural, would be calling as they got closer to our home to let us know a more exact time to expect them.  A few hours later, I received a text that was either very poorly spelled or very broken English, at that point I wasn't sure which,  stating that he was on the road and would let me know when he would be arriving tomorrow.  As in Wednesday.  Hhhhmmmmm. Already something doesn't seem right, but I'll go with it.  If they do come on Wednesday, that would be fine since we were now ready for them.  We spent all Wednesday morning working around the house, waiting for our long anticipated call.  By early Wednesday afternoon, we decided to go out and do some shopping while we waited since we would be within a half an hour of our house and could get back before the movers if they call.  It was a lovely afternoon. We shopped, ate, and went for a ride to scope out a riding stable for Mountain Man. Finally, on our way home from the stable at about 5:30, I got a call from the movers.  They were in Tennessee and would be in Blairsville at around 8:30 if they didn't hit any traffic or get lost and would like to start the delivery then!  I don't know about you, but I for one think that its a very bad idea to start a move at my bedtime.  Ok, so I'm not really in bed at 8:30, but I do like to have my jammies on and be relaxing with a good book before bed.  Thinking that this was one of the worst ideas that I had heard lately, and believe me, I've heard A LOT of really crappy ideas in these past few months, I promptly called the moving company and plead my case.  The compassionate fellow on the other end of the line agreed with me about the poor timing and called off the move til 7 a.m. on Thursday.

Thursday morning, we were up bright and early ready and waiting.  We had coffee and waited.  We cleaned up the kitchen and waited.  We sat on the swing on the deck and waited.  Finally, a little after 8:30, the movers are here!!! We heard them coming down the gravel road at the bottom of the mountain. Mountain Man walked up the drive way and down the road to meet them and instruct them on the best way to get up our road and down our drive without going over the edge of the road.  He wasn't gone long.  Not nearly long enough and when he came back, there was no moving truck following him and he wasn't smiling and whistling.  For any of you that know my Mountain Man, know that if he stops whistling, things are NOT going his way.  I met him at the door already knowing that the news I was about to get was not good.  Without me even asking, he wasted no time telling me that our movers was just a mover and our 26 foot straight truck was an under powered 24 foot flat bed truck pulling a 35 foot overloaded low slung enclosed trailer that would not only be able to make it up our road, but definitely would NEVER make it down our driveway.  Oh, and our "mover" had arrived in this country seven months ago from Siberia and spoke very broken English.  I had to see this to believe it! I got in my car and drove down the road with Mountain Man in tow.  I drove, not because I am too lazy to walk, but because our cell phones get no reception at our house and our new land line wasn't working.  But that's a whole other story. So, down the road we drove, I met "Paul" who was very confused and apologetic and I left Mountain Man with him while I drove to our friends on the other side of the mountain so I could use their phone.  I explained the situation to Mountain Friends and as we were discussing the predicament, I realized that I was working with very limited time since the moving rig, if you can call it that, was blocking a good portion of the road leading up to ours.  Not a good foot to get off on with our new neighbors.

I've always been good at thinking on my feet and this time was no different.  I looked up the phone number for the moving company in Blairsville, called and plead my case.  They obviously have dealt with mishaps like this before because they were awesome!  Within two hours they had three guys and a straight truck on their way.  While our mover waited for the other movers to arrive, he had to unpack almost half the trailer onto the roadside because he was also moving a household to the Orlando area when he left our house!  Mountain Man stood and watched this whole escapade take place, met and visited with all four of our neighbors as they came by to see what the ruckus was on their quiet mountain. Everyone was very sympathetic to our plight and was very friendly. What a way to meet the neighbors!  

We also had time to get acquainted with "Paul" and learn that he came to our country to try and make a better life for his family.  He is trying to get settled and then will bring his wife and ten year old daughter over.  You never know what other people are going through unless you take the time to listen to them. We also learned a great deal about life in Russia and also how a person new to the United States perceives our country.  Needless to say, this was an awesome reminder of the gratitude that we should always have for our awesome lives and the people in them.

Once the other moving company got here, within three hours everything was transferred from trailer to truck and was unloaded into the house.  The local moving company guys were such a great bunch of guys.  Seeing that our mover was new to this country, they really helped him out and explained easier ways to do things.  They even helped him reload his truck and got him on his way again.  It was really beautiful to see how some good old boys from Georgia took a foreigner from a foreign land under their wing, even despite the language barrier.  

Just as the movers were all leaving, our Mountain Friends pulled in with two bottles of wine to help us celebrate our move.  After an evening of celebrating and enjoying their company, we woke the next morning to a house full of boxes. After working to make sense of things, we took a break and Mountain Man left to walk down to our mailbox.  A guy in a four wheeler from the other side of the mountain stopped and gave him a ride.  Mountain Man introduced himself and the first thing the guy said was "heard you had quite a moving experience yesterday!"  News does travel fast in these here mountains!

Welcome Home.........Finally!

After three looooong and, at times, trying months, our house finally closed on Thursday, September 8.  To say that we were not only overjoyed but also greatly relieved is an understatement.  After signing our lives away with at least 100 signatures, we received our long coveted keys and took our first trip up Wilson Mountain as new home owners.  With all of the giddiness of a couple of teenagers, Mountain Man and I hurriedly unlocked the lock and walked through the door of our dream home, which now after the long humid summer months of being locked up with no air circulation reeked of mildew.  After closer examination, EVERYTHING had a coat of that fine white powdery mildew covering it.  YUCK!  Oh well, no time to fret, we were leaving for our beach vacation the very next morning.  So after a quick repacking, off we went for our week at the beach.  It was a fun and hectic week.  The grands were great fun as usual.  Mountain Man's Mountain Sis and her hubby were even able to come spend a few days with us which always is a good time.  I have always felt a very strong connection to the ocean and its inhabitants.  This time was no different. I was once again blessed to be able to be in the water when a school of dolphins swam by.  The energy that they share is amazing.  Whenever I am lucky enough to be near them and receiving their energy, I also send Reiki to them. I only hope that they feel the wonderfulness of the energy share that I do. Needless to say, the week flew by.  We arrived back on our mountain late Saturday afternoon. Sunday was spent shopping for our necessary arsenal of bleach, Odoban and other assorted cleaners and smell good items.  We took the rest of the day to regroup, smudge the house, and rest up.    Sunday afternoon it rained all afternoon.  To be able to sit on our covered porch overlooking the mountains while listening to the rain fall gives me the truest sense of peace and contentment that I have ever felt.  All is right with the world.

We received word that the Movers would be here either Wednesday or Thursday.  Let the cleaning frenzy begin!  By 10:00 Tuesday night, not a single surface in our house has been left untouched.  Mountain Man and I were thoroughly exhausted and hurt in places we didn't even know we had.  After emptying the last bucket of water from the carpet scrubber in the guest bathroom, Mountain Man went down the basement to make sure all of the lights were turned off.  I was finishing cleaning everything up when all of a sudden up the basement stairs he flew faster than I'd seen him move in a long time.  It seems that all of the buckets of water that we'd been dumping in that bathtub, probably 50 or more that day alone, were now on the basement floor.  The trap in the tub drain had come off!  No wonder it drained so well!  Now, after much mopping and scrubbing, the basement floor is also clean and disinfected!

The movers will be here at 7:00 tomorrow morning.  I'm looking forward to the simple things, like having a paper basket in my bathroom and a real mattress (air mattresses aren't bad for a night or two) to sleep on.  After working in our new home these last few days, I know that I packed waaayyy too much.  We will be purging much of what will be delivered here tomorrow.  Who needs to live in a cluttered indoors when we have the perfection of nature out our back door?

Namaste

What fascinating people and beautiful land that we have moved to.  Since our house didn't end up closing until this past Thursday, we had many days to fill. We filled them by visiting most of the shops and restaurants in Blairsville and the near by towns of Blue Ridge, and Young Harris Georgia and Murphy North Carolina.  Everyone that we came in contact with and talked with were very friendly and gracious.  I'm  sure that it was because of our lack of accent or too much of an unfamiliar one, people always ask where we hail from.  Most of the time when we tell people Ohio, they usually were at one time,  knew someone who was or were at least curious about the state, which always started a fairly long conversation.  Blairsville has a very large summer population of Floridians who have homes that they come to so that they can get out of the summer heat of Florida.  So many times when stopping into the local shops the people usually ask if we are from Florida.  Once, while in the local hair salon getting my hair done, a gentleman that works there, assumed that I was one of the Floridians, asked me what part of Florida I was from.  When I said that I was from Ohio, he thought for a moment and then asked, "is that near Clearwater?"  Hmmm.

While in Murphy, we went into a sweet little shop that had everything from jewelry to Indian and spiritual items.  The store was divided into small rooms.  As I entered the second of five rooms, all at once I felt a great peace come over me.  I couldn't help but smile.  It felt like I was home.  The shopkeeper came in and started talking with me.  I shared with her that I am a Reiki Master and before you know it we were involved in a deep personal conversation and, I'm still not sure if it was the energy of the room, the mountains or just the moment, but, without any information from her, I was able to share with her some problem areas in her life and give her some positive reinforcement and encouragement.  A few more customers then came in and we ended our visit.  It was an incredibly spiritual experience.  A few days later I ran into her in our local coffee shop and she shared that with the encouragement that I was able to offer, she had mustered up the courage to start making the changes in her life, and heading in a more positive direction.  I feel that it was a true gift that I was able to help this beautiful soul.

The downtown motel that we spent the last week in had two comfy rocking chairs right outside our door.  Needless to say, we spent many hours sitting and rocking and visiting with other guests and the owners of the motel.  The other motel guests were from all over the country, and many had very interesting life stories that they shared with us.  The owners were a wonderful couple that we had much in common with on many levels.  On Wednesday evening, it was almost dark when a car dropped off an Appalachian Trail hiker and his dog.  They had come off of the trail to get supplies.  When they got out of the car that gave them a ride, the dog, a beautiful black German Sheppard, trotted right over to our truck in the parking lot and waited to get in.  The hiker called him back, they stopped by our rockers and visited for a few minutes before going to their room for a good night's sleep.  The next morning, we were sitting outside enjoying a cup of coffee when the hiker and his dog came out.  After taking care of business, they stopped by.  They ended up talking with us for more than an hour.  During the course of conversation, we realized that we connected on a very spiritual level.  When it was time for him to leave, he said that he needed to call for a shuttle to return him to the trail head.  Mountain Man and I decided that we would offer to give him a ride back so we could continue our visit.  Hiker gladly accepted our offer of a ride.  His dog ran to the truck and waited to be let in.  The dog actually knew the night before that he was to go for a ride in our truck.  Dogs are very perceptive!  We drove up the mountain to the trail head.  There was a beautiful old stone building on top of the mountain with an overlook with the most breathtaking view I have ever seen.  After taking in the view, and taking some pictures, we sat down and continued our conversation.  Before we knew it, more than two hours had flown by.  Mountain Man's phone rang and on it was our realtor with the good news that we had been waiting for.  Our house was going to close in two hours!  It was a perfect gift to end a perfect day.  We bid our new friend, who by now, we felt as if we had known a lifetime, a fond farewell and headed back to town to prepare for our trip to the attorney's office.

I am really beginning to understand how good mountain living is for me.  The relaxed pace is helping me to realign myself with spirit and open myself on a much deeper level.  Human connections are coming on a much more open and honest plane.  It seems as if Spirit is connecting us with more and more like minded people all the time.  I am beginning to feel that I may be finding my soul purpose here in this new home of ours.  

Hello...Hello...Is Anyone There???

I'm sure that by now, you all thought that our house would have closed, the movers would have moved all of our belongings in and we would be settling into the wonderful world of mountain living.  Yeah, so did we!  Well, it seems as though the universal creator has other plans for us and she's sitting back laughing as we are busy making our plans.  She knows full well that we will be abiding by hers and ours was just a silly idea.

Here's a very abbreviated version of the past week of our life.  After hearing nothing about closing on Monday, we were promised that the closing would probably be on Tuesday.  Note the word probably.  Most of Tuesday came and went and at around 6 in the evening, we had an email from the law firm and a call from our agent saying that all of our ducks were not only not yet in a row, but there may be a few chickens in the mix.  Now the target date was moved to Friday!  So all week long, we enjoyed our cabin, did some necessary shopping for things for the cabin and met many of our fellow Blairsvillains (not quite sure if this is the politically correct term). Actually, we have not met a single person in this town who is not completely kind, friendly and helpful.  We are thoroughly enjoying our new community.  OK, fast forward past all of the fun to the target day.  FRIDAY!!!  It's here, we're ready!  All we need is the phone call from the attorney giving us our time to show up.  So we waited...and waited...oh, and did I say that we waited?  FINALLY, at 3:30 Friday afternoon, the call came. Our attorney's office didn't get the final package from the bank or the final paperwork from the seller's attorney. With the holiday weekend, our prospective closing date now falls somewhere between September 6th and 9th.   Now, you can imagine the sound in comedy movies when something disappointing happens.  I swear you could hear that noise in our car when we got the call. Thank goodness, I went with a gut feeling and booked us a room in the motel in downtown as a just in case.

Oh, and, did I mention that we are leaving on a long ago planned vacation on the ninth of September with Token Son and the fam?  I am sooo very excited to spend an entire week at the beach with them.  But, the timing, really????   So the first thing that we needed to do was to get a hold of the mover.  Since we can't give him an exact date of closing, and we will be gone for the entire week of September 11, the soonest we could get our belongings will not be until September 19.  We also had to cancel all of the turn ons and start ups that had been scheduled.  Also, I hadn't done a lick of laundry since we left Ohio and it was either go to a laundrymat or buy new clothes.  Since you all know how badly I hate shopping for clothes, you know what I did Friday evening.  I never even gave that possibility a thought since our new cabin has a washer and dryer in it who would have thought that I would be spending $30 to wash clothes.  This did not set well with "the queen of cheep" as I am known to Mountain Man and my Mountain Chillin'.  I must say,  after all of our hitches and giddy ups along the way, Mountain Man took all of Friday's news rather well.  I, on the other hand,  instead of having a total come apart, had a total shut down! I guess that's what you call it when the brain experiences a total overload?  I felt like my three year old Grand:   Don't look at me, don't talk to me, don't touch me!  I honestly can't tell you the last time I felt this way.  It was NOT fun!

After filling our bellies at the local all-you-can-eat Pizza Bar and an eventful night's sleep (there was a group of musicians staying at the motel that had a parking lot jam into the wee hours of the morning), I woke up looking at the brighter side of life again.  Even though we aren't in our own home yet, we do have all of the creature comforts:  A warm bed, a hot shower, food, an occasional cocktail and my Mountain Man by my side.  

Today is Monday, the beginning of a new week.  Will we be able to close on our house this week?  Who knows.  If our creator sees fit, we will, if not, it'll just have to wait til we get back from the beach.  As for me, this week will be business as normal or abnormal, however one chooses to look at it!  I will wake up every morning with Mountain Man by my side, have a cup of coffee or two, take care of any business that needs tending to and then move on through my day enjoying my new surroundings, making new friends and trying to spread some happiness and love in the world.