"Clark, that there's an RV!"

Ack, y'all! We leave tomorrow for California. We'll spend Friday, Saturday, Sunday and part of Monday in Anaheim, and then - off we go!

I cannot believe it's nearly time to set off on this adventure. I've never ever had a job before where I felt so immediately charged with responsibility and energy and inspiration.

Also the feeling of being completely overwhelmed. These past few weeks have been so crazy-busy and Ryan and I often find ourselves looking at each other in some of our more relaxed moments going, "Wow, this is so great!" More often, though, it's something more akin to, "Hotels! RV Parks! Hotels! Nearest local hospitals! Insurance forms! Hotels! This is fun! We're excited! Excited! But, oh.... Tailgate parties! Did I mention Hotels yet! No? Hotels!"

And - oh the magic of RV Dump Stations just might fulfill Ryan's dream of actually being able to one day say "Merry Christmas! S**tter's Full!"

Anyway, as part of our preparation, we've started a blog to track the progress of Tim and the crew of the A-T CureTour. I can't make promises for how frequently I'll be updating my own blog between now and November (although I hope to at least post something like "Hi! We're safe! And in Alabama! Or maybe Illinois! Er, or is it Montreal? Come to think of it, we're not sure! But it's nice! Hi!") However this more official one should be updated fairly regularly right here: A-T CureTour on the Road

For those of you that have asked (okay, so none of you have, but I'm passing on the information regardless since I know you meant to), you can make a donation to this endeavor here: Help Find a Cure! Better yet... make a $25 donation and meet up with us along the way at one of our Tailgate parties or join Tim for a FunRun!

Hope to see some of you along the way!

Scorpions. Why'd it hafta be scorpions?

I was going to write a nice meaty entry about how much fun Ryan and I are having planning for the A-T CureTour and how it's become clear in the past few days what a terrific organization we work for.

There is also much to be said about how we found the perfect apartment and I freaked out for a few days because I loved it so, but it happens to be 3.5 miles away from a landfill and I was really SO not thrilled about that. As an aside, if you ever wanted to really annoy your boyfriend, you should plan on telling everyone you see about how... there's this really great apartment? But it's near a landfill? And, like, landfills are smelly and can't they be sort of, I don't know, dangerous? Such a gorgeous apartment, though! With a huge porch and two bedrooms and two bathrooms! Too bad about the landfill. And the kitchen is just enormous and has ceramic tile floor! And there's a private entrance, too! But, did I tell you about the landfill? The landfillllll! (Luckily, after talking to approximately 4,278 people, I have sufficiently reassured myself that just by living in the general vicinity, I'm not going to grow horns or a tail or anything.)

But this has all been temporarily eclipsed because today we had a little... um... visitor in the office.

Luckily I was not around when he made his appearance because..... Eeeeeeeekkkkkkk!!!! Also Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!! (And probably a few heartfelt OhGodOhGodOhGods, too...) If I had actually seen this critter myself, you can rest assured that Ryan would have had to physically lift me from my perch off my chair and carry my weeping, horrified ass from the office. And the worst part is... apparently - Just Super! - he's not the only one. They are spraying after we leave for California.

Seriously, though. Did y'all know they had scorpions in South Florida? And if you did, why the hell didn't you tell me? I mean, I'm sure I would have still moved here and all. However, when my boss told me we were a casual office - but hello! Possible scorpions! - you can bet I would not have chosen to wear flip flops for the past three days.

Nothing says summer like steel toed boots.

Orange and Blue

Well, I've successfully managed to meet Ryan's entire family without embarrassing myself, or causing anyone (as far as I know) to pull him aside to say discreetly, "Uh, Ryan? This girl that you've been dating... I don't meant to pry, but have you been smoking very much crack lately? "

This is great news because while I already knew Ryan had to have a pretty terrific family, I've now discovered for myself that they universally rock. It's been a lot of fun getting to meet everyone and to be included in all of the festivities from the Decatur Celebration to BBQs to the official Livergood family picture. I also have to brag that while having dinner at Ditka's the other night, I met "Da Coach". Yeah, so I totally didn't know who he was. But Julie and Craig (Ryan's sister and brother-in-law) were so excited by his presence that I had to prove what an awesome future sister-in-law I am by asking him to sign an empty wine bottle. And doesn't that just make you wish I was your future sister-in-law too?

In addition to some quality time with various super-cool family members, we also got to play with Tyson who is getting big. It has been confirmed that he is indeed the cutest puppy in the whole world and probably some alternate universes as well.

It seems, though, Tyson has figured out that I am a complete and utter wimp and this means he gets to grab my hand in his teeth and chew heartily upon it whenever his little heart desires. Which is pretty much all the time. What was really freakin' cute when he started doing it is now still awfully damn adorable.... but really? Getting sort of painful. We read online that in order to deter biting, the owner should yelp whenever the puppy gnaws on something that is not a toy and growl in a discouraging manner. Recognizing that this means he has over-stepped his boundaries, the puppy will then bow to the owner's clear authority and cease all biting behavior. Makes sense, yes?

Apparently our puppy has decided to boycott this theory because whenever we snarled in our most scary dog-like manner, he would kick and writhe and wag his tail happily, all the while biting down harder and more enthusiastically.

This could be a problem. We are already looking into obedience and socialization classes in Ft. Lauderdale. But in the meantime, Grandma and Grandpa are taking good care of him until we get settled in Florida in a few months' time. Didn't I tell you they were awesome?

Speaking of Ft. Lauderdale, we fly down tomorrow to undergo training for a week and a half, before driving out to Anaheim to get started with the A-T CureTour. We're more than a little excited and it should be interesting to see how the next few months play out.

In other news, Ryan has been saying that he does not think he wants cable TV in our new home. I don't necessarily agree with this because while I don't love television, there are a few shows that exist beyond network TV that I particularly enjoy. I mean, I don't cry if I miss them or anything and I'd rather be doing something active or outside (that is, when it's not so damn HOT), but on the whole? - fairly entertaining. More importantly, though, I know of Ryan's penchant for sports of all kinds. I envision him immediately regretting this decision and moving out of our house to live at the Ale House or Buffalo Wild Wings or something during college basketball season and football season and baseball season and soccer season and, God forbid, cricket season. And then I'd have to move in too in order to actually see him. And while I like these upstanding institutions and have invested quite a bit in ensuring they are successful in maintaining their respective businesses, I don't think I'd like spending the rest of my days eating chicken wings for dinner every night and resting my weary head on a door mat that says "Hooters Makes You Happy!" I'd like to avoid this scenario if at all possible and told him I would willingly surrender our TV in our very own home to him so that he may get his "fix", but it was looking like we might very well be a cable-less household. But thanks to him recently discovering the magic that is A&E, specifically "Dog the Bounty Hunter" and, strangely, "Flip This House", Ryan has decided that cable might very well be necessary after all.

Hooray! "Whose Wedding is it Anyway?", "Big Love" and "Corwin's Quest" here I come.