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Family Matters:  Moving to Hawaii...or NOT!!  |
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Penny Wise
True Blue Farmgirl
1903 Posts
Margo
Elyria
OH
USA
1903 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 22 2013 : 09:18:21 AM
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Sisters..I feel like I need to offer some explanation.....put it all in one place for any/all to see....I have not been as active on the boards the last few (more!) months due to life and a quick decision to finally make our move to Hawaii.
let me back up- sweetie and I have talked about it since the day we met- he had lived on both Maui and the Big Island in his past and we were looking very seriously at the Big Island before the economy tanked so horribly in 2009.We went from Ohio to Michigan and then we came back to Ohio in 2012 to be near my kids during my breast cancer treatments.
over the years and various moves, I have acquired lots of "stuff" and have been accumulating more to use for glamping and gifting etc....my kids think I hoard- they haven't been to my mother's house in 13 years.....i'm an amateur!
the kids and grands---ahhhhh I love being near them but they all have lives and don't always have time for mom and ailing/aging stepdad.
we were very lucky to find a wonderful lil house for rent last summer and I was hired to work fulltime where my daughter works....we enjoy our house here but-it's Ohio! it will snow soon and it gets ugly and ucky and ...well....my job was great...they paid me well and I had full benes..as well as a great group to work with! tho there were days!!!!
ok,back to the more recent past; a few months ago I decided that's it-we're going! I don't feel like I belong here and sweetie's mental and physical health would, I think, improve with the climate and Aloha spirit....moving anywhere is not easy-we all know that...moving to Hawaii is harder cuz the moving van just can't get across the water cheaply! and there are no rabies in Hawaii so taking pets is not easy- I KNEW this......arrrrggggghhhhhh
***long story short-a dog or cat going to Hawaii must have current shots and be tested for Rabies (called OIE-FAVN) which gets sent to special labs and is not cheap....then they stay at your home for 120 days--that's 4 months---they can go outside etc...just can't go to Hawaii;if they get there before that they go into quarantine there at a very sanitized institutional facility at cost to the owner (again not cheap!)(also-Hawaiian Dept of Ag literature and web site are confusing no matter how many times you read what's expected/required and they DO NOT answer email or phone calls)
I could not justify the cost of quarantine for both cats and my dog especially since I was not allowing enough lead time to quarantine here before moving.
so.....ok- I had to tell my kids we were leaving again and it was not easy.....i'll spare all of the story! then I had to find somewhere to live (now remember I LOVE this house and my landlady and her hubby are the bestssst); found somewhere awesome to move to--- ***it's not easy getting a landlord in Hawaii to rent to you if you are not already there face to face and have a job there ---again you need to be there face to face to get a job unless you are a do or lawyer etc --the new landlady was a Godsend I believe in giving us the chance.....)
ok- so-now get rid of everything! oh gosh harder than most of you would believe--attachments and etc....two weeks solid of garage sale at my house -sold stuff for 25 cents to get rid of it and now I'm sorry...mentally it was exhausting- still worked another week and trying to train my replacement thoroughly cuz I want the job done right! and trying to make all of the arrangements and letting things go so much more cheaply than they should have....bought a new car and planned our drive to California to put the car on the boat at Matson (again more money!)
struggled terribly trying to rehome my two cats-finally the SPCA took them (after I paid $40 each!) and I just ache for that (the cats not the money)
ok- left the house at 5pm on Wednesday Oct 2nd and drove almost 300 miles before we slept in the car in a rest stop.....continued driving on - got stuck in Cheyenne WY when that wind storm came thru closing the Laramie Pass due to ice and dumping feet- I mean feet -of snow in the Dakotas etc, also tornadoes in Iowa etc... had extra expenses due to the cold-hotels not budgeted and gas mileage not so great due to the wind;
so on Sunday morning, from a motel room in western Wyoming I find out that the dog (who has been a trooper on the whole trip!!!) can fly Delta without us and the cost is more than I wanted but fairly reasonable- BUT her health certificate needs to be less than 10 days old for Delta(hers would be 14 days on the date per Hawaii Dept of Ag)---ouch! ok- checked around -found Banfields/PetSmart near Salt Lake (our next planned stop)where they can do the checkup (which I already had and paid for in Ohio at our vet so yes-more money to spend!!!!)wait-whoa----she didn't have her OIE-FAVN this time around (she did have it in 2009 and her shots have been kept current and we were putting her into quarantine but it's the rule)...
oh gosh....it's Sunday we've been on the road since Wednesday and money is going fast---we've given up our home in Ohio and haven't yet gotten to our new home in Hawaii so we are basically homeless....I would have been ok alone-- but not having Michael with me...and the dog....my thoughts are we have to get off the road-find somewhere and hunker down for the winter and get her test done and then regroup in spring....
I reached out to SWFG Momma Hen CeeJay...she offered suggestions of farmgirls to reach out to but it just didn't work...just having her to talk with helped tho tremendously...calmed me....we reached out to sweetie's family in Wisconsin; no room at either inn...we weren't asking for a place for the whole 4 or 5 months- just a nite or two til we could regroup and find a cheap furnished apt and me a job somehow (temp agencies?)...so- we reached even further- our wonderful landlady here had not yet rented the house -they talked and she said "c'mon home, honey!" he went over and put our mattress and springs back in the house (from the covered back porch) so they wouldn't be ruined in the weekend rain til we got back--my son was able to be stopped from putting a few things out for trash nite and we got home after driving 782 miles on Tuesday nite----3 nites in the car 3 nites in hotels and 3500 total miles later....
---didn't even touch the difficulty with getting a cashier's check for dept of ag-or cashing it back in once back home- or about sweetie accidentally throwing out three very important meds and trying to get emergency scrips in Nebraska thru his dr here in Ohio----
we are "home" -had to go to Habitat for Humanity and Goodwill and yard sales to replace furniture; had some stuff in storage (where we also picked up cockroaches OMG I freak out).
i'm looking for a job now cuz -remember- I trained my replacement!
forgot to tell you- I had mailed 6 boxes of stuff to myself at general delivery in Hawaii- my sewing machine in one box, some craft stuff, some foodstuffs and some kitchen stuff some other misc---again money spent-about $200 which I will have to pay again to have sent back to myself.
Hawaiian landlady was crushed..as was I....
now-i'm not sure that we WILL try again...I think this coming back, defeated and broke and jobless, may just be my last start over..i knew I had at least one left in me but this may be it. I still wanna glamp and think I'll start with a tent.
for now; I'm job-hunting and waiting to hear from two very promising places and am arguing with the SPCA--I paid to rescue both of them, paid to have them declawed so landlady would let me have them here-vetted them and paid to give them to SPCA-I'm waiting now to see what they will charge me to get them back...IF I get them back I will have them both tested (OIE-FAVN @ $150 each)along with the dog so that we/they could go in spring...which brings me to-whether or not sweetie will make it thru another Ohio winter and do I still wanna go????
thanks for listening......hugs!!!!!!
Farmgirl # 2139
proud member of the Farmgirls of the Southwest Henhouse
~*~ counting my pennies; my dreams are adding up!~*~ |
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Simply Satisfied
True Blue Farmgirl
427 Posts
Emily
Montana
USA
427 Posts |
Posted - Oct 22 2013 : 11:39:01 AM
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Wow! So sorry for your crazy, expensive trip. Don't give up on your dream though. Hawaii will wait for you. Maybe a couple days a month you can crank up the heat and wander around in shorts to get ready for spring. Good luck finding a job and getting started again.
Emily
Farmgirl # 3591 |
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jan49829
True Blue Farmgirl
2428 Posts
Janet
Gladstone
Mi.
USA
2428 Posts |
Posted - Oct 22 2013 : 12:37:08 PM
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Margo, so sorry for all that you had to go through. Keep your spirits up and who know? Maybe things will work out better than planned the first time. Good luck, I will be thinking of you.
Janet
Farmgirl Sister #3340
http://hardatworkcrafts.blogspot.com
http://Jan49829.etsy.com
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forgetmenot
True Blue Farmgirl
3602 Posts
Judith
Nora Springs
IA
USA
3602 Posts |
Posted - Oct 22 2013 : 8:19:49 PM
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Oh, Margo..I have to say you are one strong chikadee! I'm sorry you went through so much to find it not work out this time. You hang in there ...next time just might be the charm.
Thanks for sharing.
Farmgirl sister #3926
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the belief that something is more important than fear." Ambrose Red Moon |
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lovinRchickens
True Blue Farmgirl
3463 Posts
Kelly
Pipe Creek
Texas
USA
3463 Posts |
Posted - Oct 23 2013 : 04:02:24 AM
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Margo
My goodness girl, you have seen some ups and downs. I pray that you and your DH will find comfort in your new home. Maybe the time is still to come for a major move in the future.
Farmgirl #5111
Blessings
~Kelly~ |
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Family Matters: Moving to Hawaii...or NOT!! |
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Moving to Hawaii...or NOT!!
