the year in review.

alrighty.. after spending a chaotic new years, with new friends, at the Vanguard in Hollywood, the spring was hectic. we got confirmation that we were indeed moving to Crete in February, and the following 2 months were filled with work, NO PACKING, a bit of stress, farewells, vet visits, more stress, overlooking the movers - severely hungover, having the movers pack our airmattres, so we spent the first night on the floor, with the blanket from my car, cleaning out the flat in SM while crying my eyes out, spending 2 weeks at C&S, while B was in Crete, a loooong flight with the boys (who did amazingly well), a week at a hostel, where the boys get used to being outdoors. We finally get the house in Crete, with a nice dog kennel outside, and the first night in the house we realize that there's a sheep farm right around the corner, and the sheep wander past the kennel in the early am.. :) we spend almost 2 months with loaner furniture from the base, and finally get our stuff right in time for a few visitors. :) it's amazing, that whatever furniture and crap we had in a small 1br flat in santa monica filled a 3br, 2 story house.. ;) the boys get used to the kennel, after escaping once to kill some chickens and once after Scoob tries to dig himself out, and manages to get a deep gash along his side from the fence.

We went to Ibiza, Spain, for a week in June, for a couple of friends' wedding, was fantastic to meet up with our friends from CA for a few days. We also managed to eat the worst (and the most expensive) Sushi in the whole of Europe, and some of the cheapest and tastiest Sangria.. :)

The summer was stormy, in many more ways than one, and come early august, i started a short project in London. 3 months turned into 9 months, and.. that's where we're at now.
went back to Crete for 2 weeks in Nov, B got extended in Crete until summer of 2010, and he is here now for 2 weeks, and it's FREEZING cold outside. :)
since our plans to go to Sweden for x-mas were ruined, we at least went to the IceBar here in London, to enjoy some -5 degree weather and the feeling of being back home.. :)


alrighty.
i wish you all a happy new years, and may 2009 be a fantastic year for everybody.


C&B

1 hr left

so.. finally, FINALLY mr.B is coming to town. Spoke to him a few hours ago, and he'd just arrived in Athens, i guess after a very shaky landing by the pilot.. haha, mr.B is NO fan of flying to start with, so.. he didn't sound too happy at all, but.. at least he made it there, and is due to land here in London in an hour.

can't wait.
walked down to JerkCity for lunch, and got some jerk chicken, ox tail and cola champagne (very jamaican food) to wish him welcome in town. :) (cola champagne tastes pretty much like 'trocadero')

have worked my buttocks off the past couple of weeks, to get stuff done here at work, so i can enjoy a few days off, and i think i am finally, almost done.
am working for a while tomorrow, but.. am contemplating making it half a day. juuust because, tomorrow is our x-mas eve, and i am used to celebrating on the 24th.. none of this 25th stuff..


anyways.

gotta get ready.

Merry Christmas, everybody!!

c&b

long time between updates..

i can't believe it's almost Christmas! crazy..
i can't believe I've been in London for almost 5 months, either.. it was only supposed to be 3 months, but.. one thing leads to another, and i am still here, obviously. Am actually here until mid-may, as of right now.

B's coming out here next Tuesday - can't wait!!! i can't wait to show him around, to go exploring, to do silly little tourist things, to snuggle on the couch - just to have him here. :) i have a few days off after christmas, will try to cram in as many things as possible during those days.

it's a beautiful day here today.. rained overnight, and is sunny out today.. sunny and cold, but... at least there's sun. :) makes wonders for your mood.

what else.. am working my behind off, as usual, trying to get my shots done before Christmas.
bought a bicycle, and managed to ride around for a few days before getting completely drenched on the way home one evening, and got sick.. haha, got sick like a dog, and got the rest of the office sick too.. i am not very nice, no. :(

oh well.. otherwise, nothing new on this side of the pond.
just waiting for B to come here.

dat's all!

.c&b

back in London..

i am sorry if the updates have been kind of sparse as of lately, it's just so much to do, and not enough time in the day to sit in front of a computer.. (that was a lie, as i am in front of a computer ALL day, but.. not enough time to do what I want, not work.. )

Spent the first 2 weeks of November in Crete, which was perfect.. 2 weeks of nothing. Spent a lot of time at the beach with Scoob and Tay (need to upload the pictures)and completely spoiled them rotten.. :)

the birthday was nice and mellow, and just spent eating well and sleeping on the couch in front of a movie.

had some friends over for dinner on friday, and went to other friends on saturday, and slept most of sunday, after way too much wine and too little food.. :)
it's quite strange how Crete in so many ways feels like 'home' at the moment, but so does London.. Crete is home when i am here, and London becomes home when i am there.. and Cali is ALWAYS the ultimate 'home' when me and B are talking.. but.. then again.. regardless of being in Crete or London, i feel more american than swedish.. yea, yea, i know, i am confused. :) it's all good, as long as i keep track of WHERE i am at the moment.. :)

what else.

mrB is supposed to come out this way for x-mas, am looking forward to that.. it'll be his first time out here!! :)

ah well.. time to head home from work.

hope all's well!

C&B

back in crete..

and it's gorgeous here..
not as sweltering hot as it was in the summer, but well around 245 degrees in the day time, and around 20 at night..

quite pleasant..

will be back with more later. :)

.c&b

4 days to go..

and then back to crete.. got a bit of a shock this morning when i left the flat - it's was right around 0 degrees celsius.. (that's just over freezing, for you non-celsuis peeps).. nedless to say - i am NOT used to cold weather.. 14 years in Cali and the summer in Crete hasn't helped, at all.. thank god for heaters on the bus to warm my feet on, and big, fuzzy scarves and gloves.. can't wait to get back to Crete, even tho it's not WARM there anymore, but it's warmer than here.. and i've got my winter gear there.. i am definitely bringing back winter coats and thick socks and big ol' boots to London.. will need them to go to Sweden for x-mas too.. :)

other than that, alls's well here.. will spend 2 weeks in Crete, then back to London for 6 more months.. Sweden for x-mas, and hopefully a few trips to Crete in the spring.. :)


hope all are well!!

C

oct 4th.

and only 4 weeks to go here in London.. can't believe I've already been here over 2 months!! it feels like a couple of weeks, maybe a month - tops.
wasn't very keen on London in the beginning, the culture shock between Crete and London was a little harsh, but.. the city has grown on me, to the point of actually contemplating staying for another project. yeah, the weather SUCKS, but at least I'll have the opportunity to go to Crete as often as my wallet/work permits, and hopefully B will actually make it out here, too.. :)
It's good here, but awfully busy! everybody seems to be in a hurry to get somewhere, always. first week i felt like the pebble in the middle of the stream of people, it felt like i was the only one walking in MY direction, and everybody else was going the other way.. and having spent too many years in Cali, where you almost always excuse yourself when you're in somebody's way, i found myself trying to sidestep to get around people, found myself weaving in and out of the crowds.. until i figured out that the less i care about where i walk, the easier it is to walk.. does that make sense? in the sense of if i don't try to walk around people, but just walk straight ahead, along MY path, people will move out of MY way, instead of me trying to maneuver around them.. and i stopped saying 'excuse me', too. uh-oh, i am becoming a rude Londoner. :)

my flat mate is a really cool gal, btw, makes it so much easier to rent from someone when the person's laidback and chill, and it's nice to come home and there's no tension or drama.

work's great, finally getting a little bit less confusing.. (about time isn't, when there's less than a month left?)

have taken loads of pictures, and i am sure there will be many more taken this coming week, when my lilSis comes out here to explore London with me.. LilSis who's suffering from Cabin Fever in the worst way, at the moment.. she'll have a shock when she gets here.. mooahahaaha!! :)


so.. right now - sis coming on wesnesday, her friend on friday, her friend leaves on tuesday, sis leaves again on the 22nd, i believe, and i roll outta here on the 1st.. just in time for my b-day. and then - most likely back here mid november again, me thinks.


alrighty.. maybe i should pretend to do some work, after all..

letahs, getahs!


.c

a month ago???

holy crap'ola.

didn't realize it had been that long. :(

alrighty, am still in london, been suuuper swamped, working my buttocks off, trying to see london, bry's in crete with a short hop to Italy for a week, i might be going to South Africa, and all is well. :)

anything else? :)

more to come when i actually have a few minutes to spare. :(

.c

extension..

b just got extended in crete for another year!! yay!

so.. for all you guys who sad you'd visit - now you've got until summer of 2010 to visit... ;)

back to work.

.me

quick changes in life..

alrighty, it's been about 3 weeks since i last wrote.. and if you remember, that was right after we got our things from Cali.. It took about a week to get everything settled, unpacked and stored away, but MAN what a difference it made.. it actually feels like a home now.. and it was just in time, as yet another set of friends arrived on the 26th of july, and my dad on the 27th. :) it was awesome to have our couches, the tv, and a guestbed all setup. felt a little bit more civilized than when our other friends were out there...

so.. E&G stayed for a whoppin' day and a half, we barely had time to show them chania and a beach, and then they were off to the ferry to athens, for transport back to Cali, and dad and B-I got to enjoy town for at least a week.

and.. now i am in London. :) quick turns, here. got contact with a company out here only 4 weeks ago, had 3 interviews, and was offered a job pretty much right away. i left the morning of dad'd last day in Crete, arrived in a rainy London on sunday midday, and started working on monday..
it's been crazy busy, trying to deal with yet another new country in the past 3 months, learning yet another new company, a new town (a crazy one at that), and rain..

i think, for me personally, the transition from LA to Crete was less harsch than the transition from Crete to London.. it feels like living in an anthill here, there are people everywhere here.. running, always in a hurry, milling about.. but the city seems cool, otherwise.. just haven't had much time to explore yet, as i started off with working 6 days a week. :)

it's alright, tho.. i am used to it.

anyways, gotta run, yet again.

will post pics, later sometime.

b is still in crete, with the house and the dogs.. miss them.

.c

living in crete means...

getting used to nothing being done the way you're used to.. especially after living in Cali too long...

we're having cable installed today.. in Cali - someone from whatever cable company you're dealing with shows up with a van full of equipment, from tools, to whatever equipment you might need installed, even a ladder to get up on the roof - if that's where you need the disk installed.. today, 2 guys show up, in a little Honda. i walked outside when they arrived, and the first thing they asked for was a ladder.. Mind you, we live in a 2 story house... and there's no fire escape ladder, or any kind of roof access. and we sure don't have too many ladders laying around the house...

so.. they offered to mount the darn satellite dish on the side of the house, while saying that we might not get reception because the wall was facing the wrong direction... *rolls eyes* these ppl are nuts.

so.. off they went, to try to find a ladder, and we're expecting them back in a couple of hours. with a ladder? hopefully.

also.. when our furniture was delivered, they were supposed to cart off the loaner stuff we have had for the past couple of months.. and i don't know if I've updated the blog with the hassle of trying to get our stuff here? to make a long story short, our stuff is a little over a month delayed, it was missing for a while, and finally arrived. now.. we have A LOT of stuff.. and really no place for a double set of furniture.. so.. they were supposed to take away the loaner pieces when they delivered our stuff.. but noooooo. we were told by the housing office that we should've called 10 days in advance to have the loaner stuff picked up... but 10 days in advance, from the other day, we had no idea we were even getting our stuff today.. heck, the day before everything arrived, we weren't sure it was even getting here.. gotta love it.

more.. when you take the bus to town.. be prepared to wait up to 30 min after the set departure time.. and then when the bus arrives, if you don't pay attention and flag it down, it'll just drive straight past you, even tho there's only one line serving that bus stop.

but.. other than that, I've managed to open a Greek bank account.. that was - so far, almost the easiest thing to get done.

what else.. i am going to upload the pics from the move-in day one of these days to show the disaster in here. :) and the result. even tho we're not done by any means, at least this place is starting to feel like a home, and just not an empty house.


.c & b

we FINALLY got our furniture!!!

and it seems like most of it made the trip ok, including our tv and couches.. only thing that didn't make it, was the B and O stereo.. :( sucks balls, but.. fortunately it was fully insured, and we've already filed a claim for it...

cretan bugs....

okok, i KNOW i briefly mentioned this before, but.. this country - or rather - this ISLAND, have an interesting bug life.... there's not one single day when i don't see an instect/bug/unidentifiable nasty creature flying/crawling/whizzing past..

lastly - the cicadas. they started about a month ago.. at first i thought they were really loud birds.. you very rarely see them, but they sound like humongous flocks of birds in the trees around here.. but.. i very quickly found out that they're indeed, insects. and they're HUUUGE!!! check out the image above, and imagine an insect that looks like that, but is about 3/4 of your thumb lenght??? and they're not afraid of humans either, they rather come dive bomb you... NASTY creatures.

and not only that.. before they're fully developed, they look like a 10000% enlarged bed bug, they leave these nasty empty husks behind. i almost fell over and dropped a rock on my foot, as i was building up rocks around the dog kennel out back the first time i saw one of 'em.

gross!!!

and then we got the beetles, the ants, the centipeds aaand the various kinds of other critters.. :) oh, not to forget the fleas that attacked scoobs and tay the first couple of weeks here.. never seen anything like it. i don't even think they were fleas, nor ticks.. there's something else here, something right between them two, i had to use tweazers to pick them from the poor dogs, and they were bloody hard to pull loose. suuuper gross. :(


wonder if one ever gets used to 'em?

.c

happiness is..

to give our dogs a muuuch needed bath... to wrestle them in under the garden hose, and shampoo them up, and get soaked when they shake it off.. to enjoy them CLEAN for one minute, until they both ran off behind the house to roll in the red mud.

i swear they communicate, too... i started off with scoobs, and while i was working on tay he was laying on the back porch, just chillin', drying off in the shade. as soon as Tay was done, tay ran up to scoobs, and they both, as if on cue, took off around the corner.. then they both waited until i caught up with them, at the end of the porch, and then they both dove face first into the dirt. and then took off running around, leaving red mud prints ALL over. :) not only did i have to wash them again, i also got to scrub the yard and the neighbor house's patio, and our back porch.

scoobs, who once was white and brown is now a multi layered shade of red. and tay, who once was black, is a very matte black/red color.. good times.

at least they seemed to enjoy being in the water for a bit, as that day was a sweltering 42 degrees outside.. and that's CELSIUS, ladies and gents. not farenheit.

bloody hot.

note to self - next time, don't let them off leash after bath. :)

.c

it worked!!

okok, it's not spain, yet, but this is the weekend when jess, atheng and Amy came to visit. first picture is in Hersonissous, friday night i think. the picture of the car is when we picked them up at the ferry from Santorini.. one VERY small car, loooads of luggage and 6 ppl.. :) 'liiike a glooove', anyone? the picture of me, i really aren't that angry, but i was getting eaten alive by some kind of odd bugs, as we were waiting to drop the gang off at the ferry to Athens.. got so bad i had to borrow jess' jacket and still there were icky little shits all over me. naaaasty. and only on me, for some odd reason.

oh, they've got some reeeally yucky insects here.

been a while

blogger hasn't been cooperating - at all.

am trying to post pics from spain, not sure if it'll work.
all is well here, work's progressing, and we're still waiting for our stuff.. guess the shipping company 'lost' our stuff, somewhere, somehow. we're waiting for news today, re: IF our stuff arrives today, or if we'll get somehow reimbursed...


keep fingers crossed, will ya?

.c

whoa

i've gotten a job!! :)

i'll be doing the same kind of work here as i was in the states, only on a muuuuch smaller scale.. the company, mind.gr, only has 4 employees (before me), but.. it's still mainly 3d, with a bunch of compositing and some actual filming and stuff. shall be fun. :)

will be great to have a job, i'll be driving down there (abt 1.5 hrs away) 2-3 days a week, and work from home the rest of the time. no biggie, i kinda prefer that actually. :)



3 friends from cali are arriving friday'ish this weekend, can't wait!! :) and weekend after that we're heading to Ibiza..


.c

ok, last one

aaand even more..

first shipment of stuff.. (and more pics)

arrived last week.. i don't know WHAT we were thinking when we packed (or rather, i know we WEREN'T thinking) cause.. pretty much no useful stuff arrived.. dogfood, video game consoles, a sofa pillow, the lava lamp, a couple of sets of silverware and a couple of plates and storage boxes.. and that was pretty much it. :)

oh well.
the rest of our stuff is due next week - i can't WAIT!!!

have befriended the neighbor woman, we're going swimming a bit later today, she seems really sweet, a single mom, early 40's, with a super cool kid (our new doggie walker), and i have met a super cool danish chiquita out here too.. slowly trying to find my space in life here too. ;)

it's way different here, but.. so far, i love it. absolutely love it.


.c

and more:

as promised:

some pics. :)

almost 2 weeks

and life is good..

we've moved into the house - which, by the way, is SUPER nice.. brand new, 2 story house, 4 km from the base and 9 km from town (chania), with a view over Souda Bay, we can see the Athens ferry coming in and leaving every night.

have grown brass balls, rented a little car and have been driving with the crazy greeks for a week, and that my dear friends, is no easy feat. stop signs seem to be merely a suggestion to maybe slow down, cause there might be oncoming traffic, and at red lights you pile up, 5 cars side by side on a 2 lane road.. speed limits are made to not be adhered to, driving 110 km/h in a 50 zone is something you just do, otherwise you'll be honked at and someone will pass you on the inside, in a blind curve.. they're NUTS here.
i haven't really done much at all since i arrived, been exploring beaches most of the time, done a little bit of shopping, and loads of tanning.. found a beatiful beach: Elafonissos, with pink sand and turqouise water.. sooo pretty. (i am soooo tan now, btw.. ;) )

part of our furniture is arriving next week - wooho!!!

oh, this past week has been interesting.. trying to get a greek tax number (kind of like a social security number), without speaking any greek, trying with a little handbook explain what i need, and being hearded around to different floors, with different ppl.. all good fun.

jen has been here since last thursday, too, and we've taken loads of pictures, walked lots, eaten good and slept on different beaches almost every day. tomorrow (tuesday) i think we're going to San Torini for a day trip. a 2 hr ferry ride out and home, and all day to walk around and take pics. should be good fun..

i know i've promised to post pics, and i will.. one of these days.. ;) finally downloaded stuff from my camera and from jens camera, and have all the pics on my little hard drive, just need to remember to bring it to the web cafe.

so much to tell, but it's all locked in my head.. been a toootal sensory overload the past weeks, seen so much, done so much, experienced sooo much, but i am having hard time getting it all down.. bear with me.

for now at least, i love it here. between 80 and 90 degrees in the day time, 'siesta' is the best thing ever invented, everybody should eat a little greek salad per day, and having 'raki' after a meal is capping it off the right way.
what i can't get used to tho, is all the smoking.. EVERYBODY smokes, everywhere.. even the electrician that came to our house walked in with a lit cigarette and started looking for an ash tray.. funny as all hell. even here at the web cafe there are ashtrays by every single machine... noone here believes in seat belts or motorcycle helmets either..

talk abt culture shock, btw.. walking the dogs here, ppl think that our dogs are dangerous, cause nobody else walks their dogs here it seems like.. you have them out in the yard, but that's it... and walking them we pass by chicken farms, goats, geep (cross breed of goat and sheep) and all kinds of loose dogs and cats. Tay is very amused by the goats.. :) oh, they live in a kennel now, next to our house.. first night we're staying at the house, first night they are outdoors, we hear this ruckus around 10 o'clock or so, and look out, and there's a whole heard of sheep passing by the kennel, not even a yard away from the fence.. thought tay was gonna have a heart attack.. :)

it's so nice to have an upstairs, btw.. to be able to leave windows wide open at night, to get a nice cross breeze, without worrying abt ppl sleeping in the laundry room or trying to break in.. to have a balcony to dry laundry on, a tub that's large enough to soak yourself in, without half of your body being above water, a washer and dryer in the house.. a bedroom, guestroom and office room, and open downstairs, with a fireplace and a wood pile (still to come) behind the house.

alrighty.. it's 3pm here, we're gonna walk over to a travel place and get the tickets for tomorrow and then head over to the beach.


letahs, getahs!!


.c & b

link to the beach:
http://www.travel-to-crete.com/place.php?place_id=72

finally here...

a long and somewhat stressful trip later, we all made it here in one piece, the dogs completely exhausted, and so am i.. arrived at 6.30 am on thursday to Chania, on Crete, cabbed it to the hostel, got all checked in and setup, and passed out.. slept almost a good 23 hrs, but.. think i managed to get the correct time difference all straightened out. ;)

spent ALL day friday walking around in the old part of Chania, sightseeing, being overwhelmed, taking LOADS of pics - which i need to offload from my camera at some point, but.. initial impression: loads of diesel cars, loads of tourists in various shades of red, a suuper laid back pace, loads of shops, crazy drivers, diesel fumes all around (i even saw a yamaha R1 Diesel.. )
old town is really cozy, loads of little alleyways, with mom and pop shops and/or bars, loads of funky little houses, lots of stray dogs, and a completely incomprehendible language (is that even a word?) First plan of attack - to learn at least the most basic phrases in greek.
i am staying at a hostel until monday or tuesday, and then we're supposed to get the house.. that'll be a change, for sure, to go from a small, super crammed 1br apartment, to a 3br house.. can't wait.

the hostel i am staying at "hotel alexis" is super cozy, and run by Canadians, a couple from Vancouver (go figure), really clean and neat, and quiet. Scoobs and Tay are staying in the backyard, poor things, going from being couch potatoes to outdoors pups, but.. at least they're here. :)

oh, man, there's soo much i want to write, so much i've seen just today, but.. i just can't get it all out.

i was walking next to the wall that surrounds the old part of chania, just minding my own world (as usual) and inbetween 2 cars there was an old man, playing the clarinett, playing the theme song to 'the godfather'.. it was the most surreal moment, felt like i was transplanted back to old time italy, but.. it was nice.

what else.. oh, waling around in a massively crowded shopping area today, all of a sudden i stumble upon a fish market, where they sell fresh fish out in the open, right on the street corner.. fish of all kinds, and octopus, and all kinds of seafood.. quite neat, and quite unexpected.

but.. enough for now.
am gonna drag myself back to the hostel for some din-din and to walk the boys.

more to come.


C - sliiightly overwhelmed

off i go

cheerio!!


not sure when i'll be able to write again, not sure even when we'll get the house, not sure when i'll even see mr.B, but.. what the heck, i'll be in crete. :)

oh, the one thing i know.. i won't be in crete until very early on thursday am, i think we arrive in chania around 7am, on thursday.. that much i've confirmed. :)


.c

tomorrow...

i leave. have to be at the airport in some 15 hrs, leave in some 18 hrs.. and will be in crete late, late on wednesday night...

nuts.

nothing is really set in stone yet, unfortunately, but.. at least i'll have a place to stay to start off with, and i'll at least be in the same country as mr.B, so.. that's a start.

fingers and toes crossed, ladies and gents, for all to go well tomorrow...

.c - almost, almost ready to leave.

3 days left - more

IF, for some ungodly reason we haven't gotten access to the house when we arrive in crete on the 15th, i just got confirmation that i can stay at the hostel i've been talking to, WITH the dogs.. the owners of the hostel have 2 pups already, and they said their dogs are suuuper friendly and that they'd love to have a couple of playmates.. :)

awesome!!!

and for the neat price of 14 bucks/night - can't really be beat. :)

so.. 3 days left, and everything is sllooowly settling into place.

YAY!!!


.c - muuuch relieved. :)

3 days left

completely forgot to update yesterday, but.. was out running errands pretty much ALL day, taking care of the very last minute things..
i think i am almost done now, tho..
almost, almost.

it's getting difficult to hang out with friends these days, cause.. chances are it's the last time i see each and every one of 'em, at least for the upcoming year to year and a half, so.. saying good-bye is getting increasingly difficult. :(

wish B was home.

.c

5 days left

and i've burned my back today. :)

ah, the joys of being unemployed...
tomorrow no sun, but back to the beach for some front side treatment on saturday.

heard some more abt the house today, supposedly huuuge bottom floor and all the living area is upstairs, which means downstairs is mainly for entertaining and chillin'. and cooking, above all. :)


can't wait to see it.


.c

6 days left

and nada much going on.

just waiting to leave at this point.


cheers,

.c

7 days left..

one week left... celebrated my first day as unemployed with sleeping in 'til 11am.. :)

and now - off to the gym, then tanning salon, then the post office.


letahs!

.c

8 days left - more

so.. i am officially unemployed now.. or in 30 minutes, rather. :)

8 days left

and B has potentially found a place today, and is turning in paperwork tomorrow...

so, hopefully we'll have a place.

and i am having someone look at my car today, keep fingers crossed that they like it.

if i have been absent/no too talkative/bad at returning calls in the past few weeks, i do apologize. Especially to you, Beppo. mycket ledsen.

.c

9 days left

whoa, it's under 10 days now..

and unless something very unexpected happens, i'll be unemployed for the first time in many, many years come tomorrow... unemployed, with no job lined up, with NO idea what to do with myself for a while.

can't wait.. sooo can't wait!
then i'll have a week to focus on getting ready to head out of here, a week to enjoy the beaches around here before i get a change of scenery, a week to say good bye to everybody we know.


i know, i know, updates have been sparse from the island so far, haven't really had a chance to get good updates from mr.B, but i promise to have more to report as soon as i get out there.. if we've got some kind of internet access. :)

keep your fingers crossed for the home hunt to go well tomorrow, btw. And, for everybody that celebrated cinco the mayo, raise a toast for mr.B, too, as it's his b-day. :)


SALUT!

.c

10 days left

amd my first weekend off in about 6 weeks.. was SO nice to sleep in, and be able to turn off the alarm clock.. :)

11 days left

alright.. where in the world did time go to??? holy h*ll. When did May sneak up on us? It was just the other day when B called early a Thursday morning to ask if I wanted to move to Crete, and gave me abt .2 seconds to make up my mind. It felt then like we had allll the time in the world left before we had to pack up and leave. It felt sooo remote that we were actually leaving.. but.. lo and behold, I close my eyes for .3 seconds, and now I am almost outta here. B has already been gone for almost 3 weeks - nuts. Feels like half an eternity, and no time at all. I am anxious to leave, I am anxious to get out of here, and try to get some kind of semblance of life back, because living out of a suitcase just isn't much fun.

i am anxious to get to the island, to get to know a new town, to get to explore and find 'our' favorite places and meet new ppl, get new impressions, take on a new culture and new challenges. I am sure some days will be better than others, but.. i think it'll be good. no, i KNOW it'll be good. I just want to get there and start living again. :)

.c

(oh.. it's B's birthday on Monday.)

12 days left - update

alrighty, so we're officially done. showed the landlord around our 'fixed' apartment and he seemed quite pleased with the fixes we had accomplished. :)

am even getting some of my deposit back.. lo and behold. :)
i thought for sure he was gonna be like 'uhm.. yeeeaah. i am gonna have to charge you more'. :)


.c

12 days left

and i am turning over the keys to our old place in 45 minutes. :) i sincerely doubt i'll get much of the deposit back, but.. whatever. we've been in that place for 5 years, not put a lot of wear and tear on the place, except for Scooby damage in a few places. :) if he wants to keep the deposit, so be it, we've tried to fix the place as best we can, it's not perfect, but.. it's better than it was. :)

besides - it's not as if the place wasn't in need of a renovation, period, it was grimey already when i moved in, almost 5 years ago, i don't think my landlord even re-painted the place in between the previous tenant and me. He was still spraying down the bedroom floor with clear lacquer when i started off loading my boxes the day i drove down from SF.

aanyways, i'll try to post some pics later, when i've pulled them off my camera.

gas is turned off, electricity is turned off, as is the internet and our cable is suspended (for now).
I even fixed the ceiling fan in the bedroom, as - being clumsy as i am at times- i managed to break one arm off, when i carried a tall light into the bedroom. the day of our move-out, at that.
fortunately there were spare parts to get at Home Depot, and the fan actually looks a heckuvalot better now than it ever did before. :)

alrighty. time to go meet ze landlord.


letah, getahs!

.c

13 days left - continued

so.. ontop of all of the mass craziness going on at the moment, we've failed to get ahold of our friend who had promised to fix the wall at home, so.. me and S have been moonlighting as construction workers. :)

had my doubts when we started out last night, but.. as it turns out we actually make a good team, and the wall came out better than i had even dared to imagine.. and tonight i am making a small hack for one of the flat surfaces, we shall see if it works out well.

picked out primer for the drywall, an ugly white matte wall color for the hallway, and some trim for the sides. keep fingers crossed that this works out well, even if we've got to spackle the hell out of the seam between the 2 pieces i intend to use to fuse the chewed flat surface together... :)

c - being creative

13 days left

and the wall that scooby has chewed thru in our old apartment is almost fixed, just lacking a layer of paint and the new wood trims.
saw "Ironman" last night - highly entertaining! Highly recommended!

gas/electricity/internet and tv has been switched off, and i am making my way thru the looong list of last minute stuff to do.. 13 days left, shouldn't be a problem. :)

Had the pleasure to yap for a few with B last night, and we've at least decided to not live too close to the base, as they've got jets/airplanes taking off almost back to back.. yuuuck.


can't wait to leave.
.c

14 days left

and life feels a bit brighter today. :)

.c

15 days left

and i am in a funky mood today.
the apartment here in CA has been completely emptied over the weekend, and me and the pooches now stay with a couple of friends for the coming 2 weeks.

it feels a bit melancholy to be leaving Cali. Feels strange to empty out our home of the past 5 years, to look thru drawers and closets to make sure the movers didn't forget anything, to wipe down the windows and spackle over holes in the walls. feels strange to look at the empty floors and imagine where we had our furniture, and to wonder what the future will hold.

This has been a place where we've lived, loved, fought, slept, cooked, had friends over, where the walls and closets have been bursting with our combined crap, where my soul has felt safe, where our crazy life in LA has taken place.

This has been 'home' for the past 5 years, by far the longest I've stayed in one place since I moved to the States.

the LA chapter in our lives is coming to an end, and today I am sad.


.c

16 days left..

and it's hotter than h*ll here in Cali... almost as warm as in Crete. :)

went down to the beach in Santa Monica for an hour earlier today, to try to shock my blue/white skin into acquiring some kind of color before I leave here, and now i am hiding infront of my computer monitor at work.

2 weeks left at work, 2 weeks and 2 days left. can't wait.

18 days left. :)

2.5 weeks.

*sigh*

i'd like to leave. now?

alrighty... here we go again. 19 days left

so.. i managed to move my tickets up - thank you, Kiruna affars resor!!!!

and the countdown can re-start...


cheerios!!

.c & b

update:

alrighty..

so.. in the mess of things, at least i've got the paperworks for the dogs straightened out today. *phew*

stand by for more.. :)

8 days left/29 days left?

keep fingers crossed tomorrow (Monday) for there to be spots open for the dogs on the 20'th of May...
that actually works out better in many ways.


cheers,
.c

updates may be sparse from my end for a few days

as there's really nothing going on on my end of things, especially if I've got to stay here for another month, and from B's side of things, all is quiet.

so.. please stand by 'til we know more, or at least until he's got some way to update things from his end.

.me - lost my spirit for a bit.

...

nothing can ever be easy, can it? :)

*might* be in the states 3 weeks longer than expected, due to moronic rules and regulations.


.c

10 days left

and i can't sleep for the life of me.
went to bed around 11pm, only to wake up from coughing around 2am, and it went from coughing to thoughts abt the move and how much there's left to do, in the coming 10 days. or rather - there isn't that much left to do, but it's all out of my hands - like waiting for the Vet papers for the dogs.. my Vet only works from sunday thru wednesday, what if they get the papers on thursday? oh well, hopefully there's someone else there who's able to take care of just stamping the papers and handing them to me.

won't bother y'all with everything else that's swirling around in the messy place called my head, i am sure i'll be back to my normal self tomorrow, pending some sleep tonight.

meanwhile, the dogs are snoring away, dreaming abt chasing squirrels and running in their sleep.

i'd like this move to be done, already. :)


.c

11 days left

B's safe and sound and miiiiighty tired in Crete, arrived around 1am local time on Thursday. Said from what he could tell so far the base seems really tiny but really nice and clean. Given that it was 2am before they even reached the base, it was kinda hard to tell anything abt the surroundings, but he'd had a chance to walk around the work area and what-not, and checked in to the temp housing where he'll be staying for a few days.

Updates from him may be kind of scarce, since - being the morons that we are - managed to pack his phone charger and the powercord to his laptop.. we're hoping they've got internet access at work, and he was gonna try to get ahold of a cell phone to use. :)

on this side of things all is calm. i work and sleep, and that's about it. just biding my time here for the coming 10 days. :)

and that's all for now.


c&b

12 days left

poor, poor B is out on a nightmare flight over to Crete.. 5 stops, from LA to Crete.. Nuts. Including an 8hr layover on the east coast.

Meanwhile, i came home from work late last night (there really isn't much to do at home, in an empty apartment), and just passed out on our air mattress. Seldom have i had a deeper sleep than last night. Thought I'd have a hard time sleeping alone at home, but it certainly helps having the dogs around (and i think they're happy that i am alone at home, too, since they get to sleep on the bed with me. :) )



not much new to report, am on standby until B arrives. Fingers crossed for a safe flight and timely arrival, and for all the luggage making it on time too.

more later.

.c & b

on our way

so.. the time has finally come for our travels to begin. B left this am, and i am to follow in 13 days.

Craazy. I never thought this day would come, it's felt sooo distant, it's felt as if we've had all the time in the world left here in the States.. but.. the time is here.


we're going to try to update this little site as often as possible, with pics and stories and would love for you all to keep in touch. :)


.C & B