Driving Across country

I never thought that I would be able to drive across country from Washington (not DC) to Maine by myself.  My mother thought I was crazy and thought I don't think I could do it.  Craig couldn't be able to drive because of his condition with lots of meds and surgery on his neck several years ago.  The first couple of days I got caught driving in the dark.  Those were scary moments.  Craig had set reservations for hotels so we couldn't just stop by at any hotel.  He marked the journey on the GPS so we don't get lost.  Each day we left earlier and earlier to avoid driving in the dark.  This was a 6 day trip driving 10-12 hours only stopping by rest areas and food.  Never again I would do this driving all by myself.  It was too much for me.  I didn't even have time to do my classes because I was utterly exhausted from the trip.  All three kitties eventually came out of the cat carrier because they wouldn't shut up meowing, but they were content afterwards. 

The route that we took was from Vancouver, Washington, to Spokane Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and finally Maine.  We did stop by my friend Sandra's house which was really nice.  I haven't seen her in like 5 years, we then went to my sister's house in Connecticut which was nice to see the children again.  We arrived in Connecticut that Thursday and spent the night.  We should had stayed for that weekend until Monday because it meant for us to stay in a hotel for that weekend since the property management doesn't work Saturdays.  I was very disappointed with Motel 6 here in Maine because we booked for the hotel for the weekend and the girl at the front desk only booked us for the night.  We had to leave hotel because people were already booked in.  We took our things and we nearly lost our cat.  Craig was holding her and by the time we were outside, she jumped out of his hands and started to run around the building.  I chased her to the back of the building calling her name.  What scared me was that there was a highway next to the building and she could had went across it.  When I called her name, she looked behind and continued to run again.  I couldn't believe it.  By the time I ran the forth corner of the building, she went on the windowsill at stayed where she was.  I slowly approached her and just grabbed her.  I was pissed.  Not at her but the fact, this bitch didn't book us for the weekend and if she would had done her job right, this wouldn't had happened. 

I am soo glad this driving and hotels are over.  Never again I would drive across country, by myself anyways.

Thoughts on relocation

We were thinking about relocating but we were undecided where we were going to move.  There were a few options, which were Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Maine.  We needed to go somewhere that is convenient for us via bus transportations and routes.  So we had done research on apartments in New Jersey and Philadelphia.  Both Philadelphia and New Jersey seems expensive our income.  Then I found out that Craig always wanted to move to Maine.  Apparently it was cheaper and he could be able to receive his insurance very quickly.  We suddenly started to look at places in Maine, and the apartments there were cheap.

Missing Home

The past couple of days I have been thinking about home back in New Jersey and how it would be great to be closer to them and to get to see the family more often and when I want.  I think about Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day where families get together and all the other holidays too.  Whenever these holidays come I think about how families get together and enjoying themselves and here I am many miles away from my family.  I never have money and hadn't worked in four years now.  This long distance between us is not working.  It was different years ago.  I was younger and I wanted to explore new places.  I feel such an outsider because I live so far away.

Craig and I have been thinking of relocating to Portland, Maine.  It is where he wants to move and I guess settle down which is why we are relocating at the end of the year.  Now I am getting this feeling in my gut that I probably would want to live much closer to them.  There are nephews and nieces and I'm missing out on their childhood.  I have a brother who I haven't seen in years.  I haven't talked to Craig, yet, about my feelings on this. 

Am I homesick?  I don't know.  Maybe.

Helping out a homeless friend

I am so aggravated at a friend right now.  Wednesday he calls up crying and rambling on the phone that the owner of the house was throwing him out because the owner was selling the house.   We took him in so we could talk to him that night because my partner knows a lot about his situation and where he could go as a homeless person.  He was looking for something to drink so my partner said water.  I mentioned there is orange juice and apple cranberry juice.  He then spotted the milk and made it clear the he ‘loves’ milk.  It seemed that he didn’t eat anything and was eating stuff from the fridge and our cereal.  After a long time I told him the first thing he should do is get things done early and to start seeing people at 8.30am.

I told him the first thing he should do when he gets up to go to places like seeing his case manager (which is in Portland Oregon) and clinics around this area who could support homelessness and could provide temporary housing.

That morning I went to the fridge and the gallon of milk we bought a day and a half ago we nearly gone.  I asked what he was doing for the morning and he told me that he couldn't do anything until after 1pm.  I don't know any company or clinic or whichever where you have to wait until after 1pm, the day was nearly over by that time.  I told him that my partner had an appointment at noon and I needed to head to college to study.  Technically we couldn't keep him here.  We couldn’t afford to take on someone.

I had talked to him Friday and he was telling me that he chanced it by sleeping at the house where he was kicked out from where there was no electricity. I was throwing out questions to know how he was doing but he was ignoring all my questions.

Yesterday I asked him where he was staying and he told me at Pollys Adult Home but was outside using his laptop by the dumpster.  I was confused on what he was saying.  Trying to get as much information out of him, he suddenly jumps down my throat saying that he was homeless and has been spending the night outside in the cold.  But he never said that.  He stated that he was at the PAH, that was it.  But for some reason I wasn't too sure why he was using the electricity by the dumpster behind the building.  He kept saying that it was cold outside.  Yes I feel bad about his situation but I don’t have much care if he doesn’t care for himself.  Why should I care about someone else if they are not going to care for themselves?  All of a sudden he started to say how retarded I was and bitched out at me about his situation.

I said, “Dude, first off, I don't like or appreciate people calling names.  I find that very rude and obnoxious.  And saying retarded is a very childish name. Second off, I asked you from the beginning where are you staying and did you have a place to stay and you did state that you were staying at the Pollys and then said you were outside.”

Basically what I was trying to do was to get a clear picture of what his plans were going to be.  So I told him not to be jumping down my throat because he was pissed off because he was homeless.  I also told him that my partner and I did what we could to help him bout.  I then told him to read his emails because I had sent him VALUABLE INFORMATION to help him.  I don’t even know why I even bother when he was not even helping himself out.

My partner had given him valuable information the night we took him in for the night what he should be doing.  My partner and I were doing this so he could be prepared what he needs to be doing in that morning.  I mean, my mouth dropped when he told me that he couldn’t do anything after 1pm.  We were confused what he meant by that.  We don't know any place where people had to wait that late of the day to seek help, especially with people in his condition.  My partner knows it because he has been in his shoes plenty of times.

He could have done something that Friday before the weekend started so he could have a place to stay.  So I told him that it was his life and that I had my life and need to get back to my studies.  I just left it like that.  But he’s not going to come back here because for one we didn’t see any progress and two my partner told me that he didn’t want to deal with another person was like his ex.

It’s interesting how you help people out and they shit all over you.