Starting the “New” Job, Moving to the Midwest, & Where is all our stuff?

Greetings and salutations faithful Stapleton Blog Readers!

It’s been a long few months without an update so I thought I would catch everyone up.  As is tradition when I have let the blog go stale I will catch you up in chronological order.

November

On November 15^th I began to take over my new responsibilities in Nebraska.  This began a 45-day period of me unraveling from my old job in WV and beginning to take on new duties in the mid-west.   This was my first time back to Nebraska in 4 years so I stayed over the weekend to begin looking for places to live.  Thanksgiving began the worst spade of headaches Jess has had since the wreck 3+ years ago.  (The wreck was 4 years ago in January)

December

Was more of the same I traveled between WV & NE trying to get into the grove of my new job and finishing up the projects with my old one.  Jess’s headaches show no sign of letting up and she has hardly worked since the week of Thanksgiving.  We hobbled through the holidays as best we could, as her moments of feeling good were few and far between.  I took most of the end of December off to be with Jess and family during the holidays.  As of 12/31/11, I was free of my job responsibilities in WV and I’m turned lose on the Midwest.

January

January 9^th I began 4 ½ months of “commuting” to my job in Nebraska.  I left on Mondays and, for the most part, come back every other Friday.  In January, we put down an offer on a new construction home that was being finished (which begins a merry tale that I will elaborate on later).  Jess worked one full week at the end of January and that would be the last time she worked in the Cabell County School system.  Her headaches increased in such severity and frequency she was pretty much unable to function except to go to doctor’s appointments.  I came home every other week and took care of her as best I could.  She took a FMLA leave the first week of February hoping that her job would be preserved and that we would be able to get the headaches under control.

February

Was more of the same I’m working things out with my new job and Jess’s headaches were not showing any sign of letting up, no matter what we tried.  Jess was on medical leave the entire month of February, and I spent my “spare” time trying to get the NE house closed on.

March

Well March was a little eventful.

• Jess, unable to work and with much regret, resigned from her job.
• After 70+ days of trying to close on the house, I walked away the morning of the “suspected” closing.   No regrets; it was the right thing to do after going through all the hoops (None of the issues were financial but all government driven, like putting down sod and sprinklers in February in Nebraska).  There just was not an ounce of joy left in getting the house.  Plus, I could have arrived to the closing, the lender could have a phone call, and the deal would not close (still over the sprinklers and sod).  I’m not always the best at listening to what God is trying to tell me, but when He beats you over the head for the 18^th time with a problem, you go “Hey maybe that house is not for us”.  I provided some compensation to everyone involved to clear my conscience, but the house just was not to be.
• I took out a lease in a pet friendly apartment complex in Lincoln.  It would be the smallest place we have ever lived in together.  The rent was reasonable for Lincoln, I was also able to lease two climate-controlled garages on the property to store all of our stuff, so it is close at hand.
• We also began the preparations to get Petey, Phoebe, & oh yeah, Jess out to NE.

April

The first few weeks in April I traveled pretty much non-stop for business but it was nice to have an apartment to come back to Lincoln.

• The week of April 23^rd began the move of the Stapleton Mansion to Nebraska.  On the 23^rd the packers showed up to pack the house (and that did not go so well we would later learn).
• On the 24^th the movers showed up to load the truck with what was “professionally” packed the day before.  The afternoon of the 24^th, I took Jess and Phoebe to the airport to catch a plan to Nebraska.  It took Jess and just 5 TSA agents to get Phoebe through security and then her flight was cancelled.
• On the 25^th, we got up at 4 am to try to ship Jess and Phoebe out to Nebraska again with success this time.  I spent the rest of the day (or the next 22 hours to be exact) working on the house, getting it ready to put on the market.
• The 26^th was spent continuing to work on the house and having vendors come in to stretch and clean the carpet.  As soon as they were done Petey and I started out on our road trip.

 

 

 

 

Since we left so late on the 26^th, we just got as far as Louisville and Petey got to spend his first night in a hotel.

 

 

 

• On the 27^th we made the rest of the trip to Lincoln and for the first time all the Stapletons were under one roof in their Nebraska home.

Sure we just had the lawn chair and the air mattress I had been using but we were all together.

May

On May 4^th, our stuff finally arrived in Nebraska.  However, lots of items were damaged and, as of the writing of this post, Jess’s dresser is still MIA.  (You know, because a large 4 drawer dressers are like socks and they escape from the dryer when you are not looking!)  I mean honestly how do you lose a dresser?  We could spend 8 pages of copy on how many things were found damaged when we started unpacking, but I won’t.  I will just say this; the next time we move, every item will be packed by us.

Even though this is the smallest place we’ve ever lived, we seem to be managing well.  We’ve nearly finished unpacking everything and bought some new furniture this weekend.  Petey loves being walked 4 times a day and Phoebe loves the long banister that runs the length of the stairs.   (We on the other hand see it as a trip to the Kitty ER just waiting to happen.)  To be honest I’m enjoying having hardly anything to keep up with, that way when Jess feels well enough to do something, I’m not busy mowing or doing something else.  Jess’s headaches seem to be getting better.  We are establishing her with new Doctors & specialists.  The house in WV is on the market and we hope to have it sold very soon.

I think that just about summarizes and covers everything.  That’s the news and I am outta here.