You can take the girl out of Oklahoma...

Week one of my time away from Oklahoma is quickly drawing to a bittersweet close.

It's possible that Erie isn't THAT bad. (Something tells me, though, that those words will come back around to bite me in the butt...)

Thursday, Daddy and I drove from Tulsa to Pittsburgh. Contrary to expectations, we did not listen to The Eagles the entire way, so that was a plus. My genius self made the executive decision to drive across Kentucky instead of Indiana... which - while we missed the one lane construction zone that is, in fact, the state of Indiana - meant we hit Cincinnati right at 5pm, and we sat in the interstate parking lot behind an onion truck for almost an hour and a half.

After three square meals from gas stations, the three of us (of course Annie was in tow!) got to Brooks and Julie's house, where we stayed until early the next morning, when we headed to Erie for my pre-employment physical.

I wandered into the ER (where there were zero patients, by the way), where I donated a urine sample and had my arm abruptly poked for my TB test (no worries, I'm TB-free(!) but I did almost pass out), we headed to my new house for a final walk-through prior to closing.

By the end of the paperwork, my signature no longer had any identifiable letters, but I had the keys to my very own home.

 

Annie and I waited - not so patiently - for the truck with all our furniture and "stuff" after lunch. Speaking of lunch, the Imperial China Buffet is actually not at all disappointing.

Once the trucks were unloaded, Daddy and I got right to work unpacking. As you can see, Annie was her usual helpful self:

The bedrooms came first: 

Guest room

That's right. I got that walk-in closet. Be jealous, PA people.

It took Annie all of 12 minutes to get comfy back in her usual spot.

We stopped late in the evening to explore a pizza place a few blocks away, Skippereno's. Incidentally, Skippereno's may be the ruin of any health and fitness aspirations I've ever had.

Saturday, we started with a trip to Lowe's, because task number one was fixing the fence so my escape artist of a white dog couldn't get through any of the gaps. The backyard:

She found the gaps behind the trees in record time.

Another trip to Lowe's got the washer and dryer installed and paint purchased. Sunday, the real transformations began!

The bathroom before...

And after!

The kitchen before...

And when I got home from my first day of orientation. Daddy took care of BUSINESS while I was filling out tax forms.

His organization skills make more sense than mine would have...

Dining room.

Diploma.

Dining room.

The bathroom after a few more decorative touches. 

 Of course, Annie was particularly helpful...

Monday, after I signed more releases and insurance forms and I-9s and W-4s and 742Qs (made that last one up...), I got my long white Doctor coat... and it crossed my mind that I should invest in some longer skirts...

That brings us almost up to speed with the end of my first day of my big kid job orientation... The Doctor and her dad explore Lake Erie next time... when big hair conquers soft water. :)

-Rachel