Big night in a small town

Tonight was the annual Volunteer Fire Department Fundraiser Dinner. They only throw one fundraiser a year; this is it. We weren't sure what to expect, but we'd planned for some time to attend.


Held at Stickville Elementary, the ham dinner included pinto beans (great!), potato salad (good!), cinnamon apples (good!), rolls (fine!), and green beans (who eats these, blech!). There was also a huge, never-ending dessert table to finish off the meal.

Trevor contemplates his dessert options, and
Mom's beginning to think someone needs a haircut

The dinner was followed by a dance. "Bluegrass," our neighbors told us. "Hillbilly music," someone's 13 year old daughter muttered under her breath.

Well, maybe. We didn't hang around for that. But we hung around outside for awhile, enjoying the weather. Stickville Elementary is in the middle of the town of Stickville. Actually, it's not even a town, but it does have a post office.

This IS the town.

You think I'm kidding? It's not even a crossroads, it's just a T-intersection. Don't sneeze, or you'll miss it.

But we kinda like it here. :)

A busy day at the post office

We've played hooky the past few days of school to give me a chance to get my Christmas cards done and a few packages ready to mail. Everything was finally set to go today. In my old life, I would plan activities around my post office visits, trying to plot out which substation to go to and when. But I don't have many choices here in Stickville. I figured, at worst, I'd stand in line for a short time and find someone to talk to.

But this is what I found when I went to my post office. Can you believe this is the week before Christmas???


That's my van. The red car belongs to the postmaster. Sometimes I think I'm in love with him. But then I remember that it's his post office that I'm really in love with.

Uh-oh! The rush is on! Just when Larry began weighing my boxes, the telephone rang AND someone else came in!

These are my boxes on both counters.

Hey, no problem. When he hangs up, he leaves the phone off the hook so he can help his in store customers first.

I was there for 20 minutes or so. I had to buy stamps and put them on all my cards. When I was leaving, another customer came in the door. I think I hit it during the rush hour.

My day was totally made by this point. I practically floated home, a goofy grin plastered on my face.

As I drove down my street, I stopped everywhere that looked like a nice shot, blasting Chris Daughtry the whole way.

I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong.

I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.

I don't regret this life You chose for me.

Oh, look. It's smoke. The fires are still burning.



"Hi, Rob! How are you, hon? Can I get you anything?!"

Quote of the Day

Trevor: Mom! This is the first Starbucks we've been to in Virginia!

Mom: That's because we're not IN Virginia, dear.



Sure enough, we're back in North Carolina. But just to take Robert's mom to the airport.


New shopping. Target. Panera. Cold Stone. Starbucks. It was JUST like being in Colorado Springs. (To be fair, we have all these stores in Roanoke, but we haven't actually been to them yet.)

We also stopped in Office Depot. My three 6' bookshelves are no longer enough to hold my curriculum-junkie books. I have several boxes left to unpack and haven't found cheap bookshelves that match my basement decor. But I did one better, finding a matching bookshelf on clearance for $25.

I think I might be getting to like NC a little!

But only a little. I was v-e-r-y happy to get back home. Stickville has won my heart. No contest.

:)

Saturday

The most exciting thing we did today was go to the trash dumpsters. (I'm kidding here.) There's no curbside garbage pickup. I'm sure it's because there are no curbs. But other than having to put the garbage in my car, this is a pretty cool system.

There are dumpsters tucked away in six dozen spots around the county. Although it's for county residents, it's not publicized anywhere. We heard it from the postmaster (really).


The best part is that it's free. In Colorado, we paid $45 every three months for trash removal. And the dumpsters here even have a lovely view.


I did do more exciting things today. I spent the afternoon in town by myself. I went to the library. I can reserve books through my computer at home. The killer is that when my books are ready, the librarians will call me on the phone. Poor things. I've seen their hold shelf, and it may just fit all of my books. They will quickly begin to hate me, and this is sure to bring changes to the library: they will either automate holds notifications or begin charging for it.

They had so many Thornton Burgess books that I almost cried tears of joy. I chatted at length with the children's librarian, and she hooked me up with the local Christian hsing group. (YIPPEE!!!!)

I shopped at Walmart and then Kroger, where I talked to an elderly lady for 30 minutes in the salad dressing aisle. She gave me her phone number and invited me to visit her church and to call her anytime. And Kroger carries Laura's Natural Beef, which made me one happy shopper. (On the downside, this Walmart doesn't carry anything similar.)

After three hours, Robert finally called me. He probably thought I was trying to make my way back to Colorado.

I also got in touch with a local author (with her permission, I'll post her blog later). She casually mentioned that the ground is red because of the high iron content in the underground water--and that since we've not had much rain, my well water might smell like sulphur. Mystery solved!

Free water is nice too. We used to pay a LOT for water, more than we paid for heat in the winter. Of course, there's no need to water the grass here. And no more pesky $50 a MONTH wastewater charge (or was it stormwater?).

It was a gorgeous day, just too hot: 92 degrees, 45% humidity, blue skies, all just like Colorado. And we had a lovely sunset too (not that I can actually see it setting!).

Kid Quotables

Trevor, distraught about leaving the old house:

"I wish I had a rewind button!"

* * * *

Driving to the new house, I noticed someone who was clearly lost. I commented to Holly, "It stinks to be lost back here," to which she dryly replied:

"With no hope of ever getting out."

(I think she feels the same way.)

Hotelling it and moving in

Last week was a jumble of hotel, swimming, and running around. We had to bring Lucky (the dog) with us everywhere, which was difficult because it was sooo hot.

Trevor swam every chance he got. I took a bunch of shots to get one with him cannonballing.


We checked out the "big" town, including two of the three grocery stores.


After our lender accidentally sent our funds to FLORIDA, we closed on our house a day later than anticipated. But truly, this whole move from start to finish has been really smooth!

Our house from the street.


Trevor checking out the back . . . acres.


We drove down to North Carolina to check out furniture. That was a zoo, and my first clue should have been the directions that seriously said: Go straight on US-220 SOUTH. Drive for 8.3 miles. Go straight to get on US-220 NORTH. Drive for 6 miles.

Then there was the 1 million sf store. And you can't, for example, just look at dressers. They are sorted by manufacturer. It was all quite overwhelming and we didn't stick around. Although I swore I would NEVER go back to Greensboro, Robert has decided he thinks he saw something he liked and wants to go back. This month. I think he's trying to drive me insane.

We ate dinner in the "big town" at an Italian restaurant that is run by Egyptians. Along with your manicotti, pizza, and sub sandwiches, you can order Egyptian bread. I found that quite amusing.

We also spent a day in Roanoke. Roanoke doesn't have many furniture stores--because people tend to go to North Carolina . . .

Friday was my birthday!!!! And moving day!!!!

Unfortunately, it was impossible for the truck driver to get his truck down our curvy, narrow, hilly lane. The original plan was for them to be done in the early afternoon. After renting a smaller truck, they had to transfer our stuff into the smaller truck (three times), drive it to our house, and unload. By the time they were done, it was 10 p.m. It was a r-e-a-l-l-y long day.


I'm not happy with the moving company. They totally dropped the ball on this and didn't support their driver at all. Mayflower contracts with drivers and has agents at different locations. The agent here told our driver to "make the customer happy" and that the driver was to figure out what to do. Tough when you don't have cell phone coverage, a phone book, and are just driving an 84' 18-wheeler . . .

We ended up contacting the agent in CSpgs, who called us back shortly, recommending a place to rent a smaller truck.

Meanwhile, the kids waited ever so patiently, and this was truly the reason for my having a GREAT birthday. What did I get? Among other things, my house!



We met our mailman. Our little town of 2000 has its own post office. The mailman gave Robert directions to the post office, telling him it was on the left, "in the middle of a cornfield." Robert thought he was kidding. (He wasn't.)

I've posted before about the horrible post office in CSpgs. I went to this post office and was the only person there. It was awesome!!!! It's a "new" post office, built in 1999. They outgrew the old one. (Did the population go from 1700 to 2000 or what?!)

As we've been unpacking, I'm amazed at what broke. And what didn't.

Broken: plastic colander; laundry basket

Unbroken: Mikasa crystal fruit bowl; crystal lamps; all glassware/tableware

Something leaked, but since I packed no liquids, I can only think that it might have been the package of birthday candles?

So far, we've seen deer, turkeys, little turtles, and a couple of kinds of lizards. Trevor grabbed for the blue tailed one, and the tail came off in his hand. It was quite funny. :)

The night noises are incredible. It is an endless singing from zillions of bugs and who knows what else. (I don't want to know, but I sure enjoy listening.) I can't wait until it's cool enough to sleep with the windows open every night.

Moving out

A few days before moving, Robert cut flowers from the garden for us to enjoy in the house.


The movers came on Wednesday and took most of the day to load the truck.


We spent the next two nights at our neighbor Mike's house. How nice is that??? It was a hundred times better than hotelling it!

Although we presigned all of our house paperwork and didn't attend the closing, we met our buyers. Here's an odd twist. (Our buyer) Tom's dad built a house in 1957 that was five doors down from our house in Littleton. Tom lived there and attended the same elementary school that Robert's brother and sister did. Six years later, they moved a mile away--to a house on the backside of the block that Robert grew up on. They are military and have moved 19 times--wanting to make our old house their permanent home.

Our friends Dan and Christine had invited us for dinner on our last night. This was so appreciated--I was able to look forward to it for a few weeks! Christine sent us home with banana bread to snack on during our drive too. She's a GREAT cook!

Gas in Colorado Springs when we left: $2.89/gallon.

We drove 540 miles on Friday. I had been so worried that I wouldn't be able to do it! We drove both cars, each of us taking one of the kids. Trevor rode with me most of the time, and he was terrific! Robert followed me the entire way out--which was really nice for me. This was somewhere in Kansas . . .


Kansas was much prettier than I expected, definitely NOT as flat as a pancake. It was very green, pretty fields and hills--and sizzling hot. We spent the night in Topeka, where it was 95 at 9:00 p.m. Holly lost a tooth while chewing a Milk Dud, pretty disgusting!

Saturday continued to be hot, hot, hot. I was disappointed that we didn't hit the pretty part of Missouri on I-70 . . .


Trevor snapped these for me at the last minute. I thought it was prudent to focus on driving--and gas signs when we stopped, lol.



We went over 600 miles, and I was in the total drive mode--with a little (lot of) help from McDonald's iced coffee. I don't remember much of Illinois, Indiana, but Illinois was rural, lots of big trees, also not what I was expecting (Chicago maybe?).

Gas in Indiana.


It was gorgeous coming out of Indiana down the hill towards Louisville, where we spent the second night. I loved what I saw.

We had our two kitties (in Robert's car) and dog (in my car). They were really great travelers too.

We drove the last 500 miles on Sunday. Kentucky was so pretty, more rural on the highway than I expected. West Virginia was wild--crazy drivers, crazy mountain roads. I don't know if they are used to mountain highway driving or have a death wish or a little of both . . .

Gas in Charleston.


We hit Virginia, checked into our hotel around 6 p.m., and took off for the house. This was sunset at the hotel.


Robert's NEVER seen this house, and he's never been in this town either. We are staying 10 miles away, in the largest city (pop. 4,000) in the whole county. I don't know the "pretty" way to drive, but thinking nothing of it, I head for the roads I know. Robert doesn't say anything, but he's less than impressed at this point with this "big" town.

As I drive out, Robert's both appreciating the scenery and thinking THIS IS IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. (But I thought that's what he wanted!) We turn down our street, which is a little, one lane, tree covered, well, LANE. (And at least it's paved.) Our house is a mile down the lane, almost to the end. We come across a woman in what looks to be full Amish dress, walking her dogs. I thought Robert was going to have a heart attack right there, poor guy. (We later find that there is a large community of German Baptists here, and three families live on our street.)

We get to the house which, typical of small towns, is unlocked. And it looks fabulous!!


After checking out the house, we head down to find the creek. We stayed about 10 seconds, because it was getting dark, and I worry about getting stuck in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE and having no clue where to go. (Someone or two is in the picture, but I can't see them on this screen!)

More to follow . . .

Where everybody knows your name

I am looking forward to moving to a small town. I've always been a city girl, er, at least a suburban girl. When we moved here five years ago, it was like moving to a small town--after all, the population is only 350,000.

This move next month will be to a smaller town. 2,000 people. My high school was bigger than this. I am already expecting I'll have a bit of an adjustment period.

I called the small town post office today. The woman laughed and told me it definitely is a small town post office. (Hey, at least there is one!) She is familiar with our street, telling me that there used to be cluster mailboxes on the main road, but now each house has their own at the driveway. She also asked for my name, saying she would tell the carrier that we were new on his route.

Wow. I'm impressed.

We've lived in this house for five years; we've had two regular mail carriers in that time. And we still get mail for the previous owners.

And yes, this will be an adjustment for me. Right now, I have a post office two blocks away. There are also two contract postal stations less than a mile away. I can buy stamps at half a dozen other places. But no one here knows my name. No one knows my street, and I'm sure no one knows where my mailbox is.

This will definitely take some time to adjust to. And I think I'll like it.

:)