The Good Side

My last few posts have been pretty negative. There's no way around it, the last couple of weeks have been pretty miserable. But now that my water heater is fixed and I've had a hot shower, I have been able to do some reflecting on the good things. It's only fair to tell you about those as well.

So here are a few of the positives.

• Despite everything that's broken in the apartment, the maintenance men are the best we've ever had. It's not their fault that so much has gone down. The apartment had been empty for some time, so they didn't know about the problems. They have been the best maintenance staff we've ever worked with-- professional, friendly, and very quick to deal with the problems. Plus, they love on the dogs and get right down in the floor to play with them every time they come over. That always earns extra points in my book.
  
• I still haven't been to downtown York, but the outskirts of town are very pretty. It's a mixture of nicely maintained townhouses and modest farms on rolling hills. It is lush with trees and has a wonderful community feel. I hope that downtown is just as nice.
  
• So far, Brandon is enjoying the hospital. It's well organized and stocked with equipment, and he says it's one of the best laid out ERs that he's ever worked in. Brandon always seeks what he likes to call "controlled chaos," interesting cases and a fairly quick pace, but in a highly ordered and well ran environment. It seems he has found that here.
  
• Prices are great, and there is no sales tax on clothes. This is a HUGE plus for me. I ran in Macy's yesterday (it was right by the grocery store, how could I resist?) and walked out with a fantastic sweater dress for 7 dollars. You just can't beat that.
  
• There are dozens of great sightseeing opportunities nearby, so we shouldn't get bored.
  

We've had a pretty rough start, but there is definitely potential for a great assignment here.

Vacation Plans

I just found out that we have another major snowstorm on the way. The accumulations won't be as bad this time-- 12-20 inches instead of the 30 we received last week. But the hospital is already warning Brandon that he will probably get snowed in Tuesday night.

I've seen so little of Brandon the last 6 weeks that I'm starting to feel more like a long distance girlfriend than his wife. It's not fun at all.

Today was the first time in 6 weeks that I cooked breakfast for him. It was so wonderful, because it felt normal again. We fell back into our old morning routine (well, as close to routine as we could get with three maintenance men in the apartment, switching out our water heater).

Since we've been in PA, Brandon has only had one day off. We were both so sick that we sat on the couch watching tv all day. It was great to be with him, but talking to each other through a haze of cold medicine did not make up the serious lack of time we've had together recently. So we came up with a great plan. Brandon was scheduled to have Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off work, so we decided to kennel the dogs and head to the Poconos for a little getaway. But if he gets snowed in, it could be Wednesday night or Thursday before he makes it home and we won't be able to go. Even if he makes it home on time Tuesday night, road conditions probably won't allow us to leave.

I love my husband, and I miss him. A lot. So right now, I'm hoping for a different kind of getaway. I'm hoping that Brandon makes it home Tuesday night and we have three days together, snowed in at our apartment. We'll hang out in our pjs, drink champagne, watch Netflix, and play in the snow. Right now, it almost sounds better than the Poconos.

So please, Mr. Snowstorm, just hold off until 11:30 Tuesday night....

The Curse Continues

We've been in our apartment for a week now, and I've only had one hot shower.

It seems we are still under some kind of curse. Here's a quick rundown of the last few days:

• The dishwasher leaked and caused water damage to the floor and walls. It will have to be replaced, but the new one can't be installed until Wednesday.
  
• The water heater broke- AGAIN- on Saturday morning. I checked the list of acceptable reasons to call the emergency maintenance number for weekend service. Lack of hot water wasn't on it.
• Brandon did indeed get stuck at the hospital during the snow storm.
  
• I'm still sick.
  
• Brandon is sick.
  
• Brandon has to work even though he's sick.
  
• Called the maintenance number first thing Monday morning. When they tried to fix the water heater, something happened and we lost all electricity in our apartment. This happened while I was cooking breakfast, leaving me with a stove covered in half cooked food... and dirty dishes I still couldn't wash.
  

Sometimes, all you can do is laugh.

Not to complain, but...

... sometimes, life just sucks.

When we pulled out of our icy Arkansas driveway to head for Pennsylvania, Brandon pointed out that our mileage meter read "666." We probably should have heeded that warning.

Even stranger, as we pulled into York, PA, the meter read "1,666." The trip should not have taken 1,000 miles, but thanks to getting lost in Elizabethtown (didn't the movie warn against that very thing?), our trip extended to exactly 1,000 miles, giving us another reminder of the ill omen.

When we finally did arrive in York, it had been a bad day. You've already heard about our lovely stay beside the federal pen, in a town where our only choice for food was a gas station. On top of that, I had developed pneumonia and bronchitis, a pretty lousy combination. I hadn't slept in over 24 hours. We were hungry and exhausted. So you can imagine our frustration when we walked into the apartment office and found that they were not expecting us until the following day. I huddled in the car with the dogs while Brandon fought with the apartment and his company to get things worked out. Then we waited together in the car while the rental company moved our furniture. It was not fun.

We were so relieved when they finally handed over the keys to our new home. The apartment was bright, clean, and beautifully furnished. The rental company had left us a gift basket with snacks and bottled water. Things were looking up.

We let down our guard. We should have known better. This trip was cursed.

Brandon left me at the apartment to rest, and ran to Olive Garden to pick up dinner. He ordered a fabulous dinner, complete with tiramisu, as sort of a late birthday celebration for me. I sat the table with our new dishes and linen napkins. We uncovered all the food, took a moment to enjoy the enticing aromas, and lifted our forks. At that very second, before our forks could reach our mouths, the light fixture above us exploded. The globe shattered, covering our beautiful meal in glass.

As exhausted, sick, and hungry as I was, there was a split second where I almost burst into tears. But I took a deep breath, cleaned up the mess, and my sweet husband headed back to Olive Garden to order dinner for us... again.

He returned, and we ate our dinner on the couch, just to be safe.

After such a stressful day, all I wanted was a hot bubble bath. Too bad that the hot water heater was broken.



Three days later, and things aren't much better. We have hot water, but the dishwasher is now broken. I'm still sick. Brandon is at the hospital, and I have no idea when he'll be home. We're expecting a major winter storm- anywhere from 10-30 inchest of snow, depending on the source- so Brandon was instructed to take an overnight bag to work. None of the nurses are expecting to make it home tonight, and tomorrow is supposed to be even worse.

I could look on the bright side. I mean, at least I have a warm place to stay. I've got chicken noodle soup and plenty of water. Brandon made sure that I am well stocked with medicine and Vick's vapor rub. He has a job, which is always something to be thankful for. He has a warm place to stay tonight if the roads are too bad for him to come home. The logical me is thankful for all those things.

But the sick, miserable, exhausted me? The me who seriously misses my husband and wants him home NOW? Well, that me just doesn't feel like looking on the bright side today.

Road Kill

While driving through West Virginia, we counted-- are you ready for this?-- 334 deer.

334 deer, along 176 miles of interstate.

It wasn't long before the inevitable happened. A semi traveling directly in front of us hit a deer head on. He couldn't help it. He wasn't speeding, and the deer came out of nowhere. The deer died on impact. Thankfully, the driver was fine, and we managed to avoid a collision. But it certainly wasn't pretty, and it changed our deer counting from fun to fearful.

Hazelton, West Virginia

Today we drove from Elizabethtown, Kentucky to Hazelton, West Virginia. You've probably never heard of Hazelton. There's a reason for that.

Hazelton is a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. It's in the far corner of West Virginia, just a few miles from the Maryland border, tucked away in the mountains. We chose to stop here for the night because it was a good driving distance, and because they had a hotel with great reviews, for an excellent price.

What we didn't know is that Hazelton is the location of a federal prison, and that the hotel exists for people visiting prisoners. There is nothing else around-- not even a restaurant or grocery store.

It should be an interesting night.

Elizabethtown, Kentucky

Hello from Elizabethtown, Kentucky!

Brandon and I are on the road again. He accepted a travel job in York, Pennsylvania, and we are slowly making our way there.

The news of this travel job shocked everyone-- including me-- and we didn't even have a chance to say goodbye to our families before leaving town. We were not sure if we were going to take another job at all, and had not even applied for the position at York. It happened something like this...

Courtney: Hey, sweetie, who was that on the phone?

Brandon: That was my recruiter. He said that a job in Pennsylvania came open, and wanted to know if I was interested. The hospital is going to interview people today.

Courtney: Hmmm. Well, that might be a cool place to go. What do you think? Are you interested? Your contract just ended yesterday, are you sure you want to take another--

--phone rings, Brandon answers, and returns approximately five minutes later--

Brandon: Guess we're going to Pennsylvania.

Courtney: Um, what?



It really did happen that quickly. We didn't even have time to discuss it, and we only had three days to plan for the trip and pack. On top of that, we were hit with a major ice and snow storm, and were trapped at home during those three days. . . . which gave us plenty of time to pack, but made all other trip preparations pretty difficult.

So we threw everything together in record time, loaded the car, and waited for the sun to melt the ice. We were finally able to make a break for it late this afternoon.

Any travel job that starts out this crazy is bound to be an adventure. We'll keep you posted.