The Stewys: February 2012

It's been more than a year since I've updated my blog! Glad I'm good at something... procrastination! I've had ever intention for the past several months; I even started several blogs; they just never made it to print. So, today, I will promise to TRY to update more :-)

So California... in the words of Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead), "What a long strange trip it's been!" As most of you know, the transition has been less than smooth. Looking back now, I was a fool to think moving across the country would be a piece of cake. Lee and I talked about how stressful and lonely it would be, but I put it in the back of my mind. You never really understand until you experience it. As most of you know, the shops not going to happen because of financial reasons (it may in the future, but not with us), so we had to find a job... and fast! We both successfully landed jobs within 2 months of applying! I'm working full time as a receptionist at a dermatology practice, and Lee is a carpenter for a builder, which is part time. When he took the job it was full time with all these promises, but for now it's a job and something to hold onto until something else comes along. My job has been stressful (as most dermatology practices are), but overall I like it and am loving the paychecks!

As for the housing situation... we've so far lived in 6 places in 6 months. We stayed at Lee's grandmother's neighbor's house the first 3 weeks, while house/horse sitting, then moved to Tahoe for a month; moved to a very tiny studio in Tahoe for several weeks; moved back to Santa Cruz into the in-laws house; moved into an approximately 300 s.f. studio in Santa Cruz; moved into a hotel for 4 days while our studio was de-skunked, and now we're living back in Santa Cruz. As you can probably guess, we're tired of moving!! I'm hoping the next move is into a house! We are hoping to hear from the bank this week if they've accepted our offer on a bank-owned home. It needs a LOT of work, but has so much potential! If we get it, I'll be shouting from the rooftop, and of course, posting a blog with pics!

And now the infamous skunk situation (which I can laugh about now!): One week after we moved into the sublet near the beach, we saw a skunk in our backyard. I'll post pics to show, but our back wall consists of two french glass doors, with two adjacent window walls; basically the wall looking into the backyard is all glass. It started to be a nightly occurence consisting of the skunk (tail-up), walking right (and I mean RIGHT) outside the door while the dogs had their face up to the glass growling and barking. There were two skunks, but we never saw them together. One was much bigger and fluffier, which I labeled the female. We would wake up several mornings to screaming and stomping noises underneath our bedroom that followed with a lovely spray from the skunk. I couldn't even be in the bedroom the stench was so bad when they sprayed. I look back on those instances and laugh. I had NO idea what was about to come. For weeks we would check to see if the skunk was outside before letting the dogs out, while most of Lee's time was consumed with getting those skunks out of here! He did some research, and bought moth balls to put underneath the house. He closed up all the holes on the back side of the house that we rent, except for one and would wait up (on non-working days) for the skunk to leave so he could close up the main entryway. We didn't want them trapped under there and dying. Superbowl Sunday I was awakened at 6:40 am to Lee outside yelling at the dogs. I instantly knew what was going on. Lee built a ramp up to the bed so Lacey can get on there, and as I went to run down the ramp, I slid and fell into a lamp. Once I was up and into the living room, I saw the skunk in one corner outside, the dogs in another, and a confused Lee wondering how he was going to get the dogs back in the house. Then the smell hit...

For all those that have been skunked before, you know what I'm talking about. I describe the smell as someone lighting a skunk on fire and throwing it into the house. Once I looked outside, I instantly ran to the toilet and began coughing to the point of puking. It was so bad it burned my nose and I could taste and smell skunk all day. Lee got the dogs in the house and began examining them. Lee didn't think they got sprayed since there was no shiny patches on their backs, but I thought differently. Lacey bit the skunk in the butt, and there's no way she got away unsprayed! Judging by how freaked out she looked, I knew something was up! I looked at her all over and noticed her chest had a big shiny spot. We immediately put them outside, and Lee went to the store to buy Dawn dish detergent, hydrogen peroxide and baking soda (a mixture we found online) and cleaned the dogs. He arrived home to a sobbing wife with toilet paper shoved up her nose. It was definitely a point I just couldn't be strong anymore. Lee told me to grab our clothes and get them out of here, which I did. I threw them into the car, headed to my in-laws and threw them out on the lawn. I was still in shock, and overwhelmed so I took a shower and headed back to the apartment to help Lee. My mother-in-law is a saint and carefully hung every article of clothing along side the pool, in the front and backyard spread apart then washed everything we owned.

My in-laws paid for a hotel room for two nights (and we added on two nights) and spent 4 days with an ozone generator in the apartment, with baking soda and powder saturating the place. The first night back was rough, but it's gotten better and thankfully doesn't smell anymore. We had the dogs professionally washed that day and they are better, although Lynch's head still smells. I guess I've gotten used to it because I still give him kisses and let him lay with me. Lee has spent so much time since the incident, closing ALL the holes up around the entire house, put down Critter Ritter and has cut the majority of the bamboo down that the skunks were hiding in. The landlord came by, but it was obvious he wasn't going to do anything. He offered to help, but Lee declined. The landlord owns a restaurant and has invited us there for a free meal to compensate for all the time and work Lee has put in. We will definitely be taking him up on the offer soon!

We have been through many ups and downs in the last 6 months, but good or bad... we are actually happy here. We have been enjoying all the hikes/walks along the coast; all the local organic grocery stores for our meals; all the great restaurants... and of course the mild, warm winter. There was a day in January we laid out in our bathing suits in the beach, just because we could! I am, however, very much looking forward to May! I'm in great need of a trip home!!

Lynch being... well... Lynch!

Lacey Lou

I love the app Instagram!

Living room leading into the bedroom

Living room

Lee using the bamboo to build a wall

Back of the house

The cat door, where the skunk sprayed (the door is slightly open so we can run a chord to the roof for TV, which helped spread the smell into the house)