We haven't talked in a while

First off, we have arrived in Bethel, Alaska. But before I get into that I feel the need to talk about our journey since our last post in early February.

Second off, I just finished this blog and came back up here to the top to say that this is a really long post. As I scan back through it, it seems more like a log of our activity and less like our thoughts on the things that transpired. This post may well be more for Angela and I and posterity than for our reader. But if you have time, read it and understand why we are so completely exhausted and conflicted about our move to Bethel at this date.


We filled up February getting things into storage (although not enough as most of our storage was filled up the week we left for Alaska) and finishing up our jobs. My Redmond based position at Microsoft ended on the last day in February (but I was back as a contractor as of this week).



In mid-February, I finally went to the dentist (the insurance clock was ticking, so Angela and I tried to get all of our medical, dental and vision taken care of) to figure out what I needed to do to get my fake tooth fixed. The tooth had loosened a few months before, and in the past couple weeks was pretty loose and almost falling out of my mouth (for those that don't know, this is my front right tooth - if you are facing me). The dentist said that the best thing to do was take the rest of my tooth base out and put in an implant (basically a screw socket with bone marrow infused around it) and let it heal for 3-4 months and then put in a more permanent fake tooth. So I had the minor surgery ( I made them put me out because I can't take it) and they gave me a retainer to hold my existing fake tooth (which broke within 3 days). They gave me a new (thicker) retainer the next week that didn't break until later. Just so you have the full picture, without that retainer, I have a great lisp and a huge gap in my mouth where my missing front tooth should be.


Angela's dad was also hospitalized in Spokane in February and we went over there for a few days. He's been sick off and on since October.


At the end of February I had a couple of days off I had to use before my last day so Angela and I went to San Francisco for a few days of rest and relaxation. We had a fun trip, but I will save the highlights for another post (maybe a flashback). The one thing I will say is that we visited The Rock (Alcatraz) and finally understood what Sean Connery and Nick Cage went through.


Since we got back from our vacation the last week in February, our lives have really been a crazy fast, exciting and sad blur. But I will now walk you through it as best I can.


With Angela's start date set for March 24th, we got flight reservations for March 20th and asked the moving company to pick up our stuff on March 13th. I was unemployed (for the transition from Employee to contractor at Microsoft) as of March 1st, so I tried to start getting our things organized into areas that we were putting into storage, what we were sending with the movers and what we were bringing with us in luggage. Angela still had a couple days left to work at Children's Hospital, but we also squeezed in some time to look around for a new vehicle (this was quite an interesting search as we started off wanting a Rav4, then decided to get a CRV or an Outback and finally decided on a Honda Pilot by the end of the first week in March). I was supposed to start again at work on Friday, March 7th, but there was a small delay and I was told I would start the following Tuesday or Wednesday instead because of a technical glitch.


On Thursday (March 6th) we made a final decision to buy the Honda Pilot from a dealership in Bellevue. We were planning on going in to buy the car on Friday morning and then going to visit Angela's dad at the hospital in Richland (he had gotten better since Spokane, so they sent him back to Richland - where he lives - so he could start physical therapy, but he had to return to the hospital in Richland because he had gotten worse again).


On Friday morning, while we were at the dealership haggling with Karim (our salesman) on the real trade-in value of my Acura Integra and Angela's Pontiac Vibe, we got a call that Angela's dad had a turn for the worse and they were trying to find him a bed in Spokane at a hospital that could give him more specific care. This sped up our haggling, and as soon as we finished the process of getting our new car, we went home quickly to get our stuff and sped to Richland (as there were no beds available at any other relevant hospitals in Washington for Angela's dad).


On Saturday, Angela's dad coded and required intubation. All 7 of his kids (who weren't already there) quickly travelled to Richland to be by his bedside. Gene (Angela's dad) has a wonderful set of kids and a great family, and it was more than obvious that he had a lot of people that loved him. We stayed until Monday, as I supposedly had to work on Tuesday and we still had a lot of things to do before the movers came, but we planned on returning the next weekend to visit again.


On the drive back to Kirkland, a cough I procured in Richland started to get violent, and by the time I parked the car, I was shivering like I was already in Alaska with only my skivies on and felt ridiculously sick. As soon as I got all of our baggage and was in the house, I started violently throwing up in the bathroom (the whole time this was happening, Angela was outside talking with our neighbor). I was still coughing so hard it felt like my ribs were breaking, and I had developed a bad fever. The next day Angela took care of me as best she could (but I don't remember most of the day) and then Angela adopted my fever on Wednesday. Not that I would have gone to work the way I felt (I might have tried to get a couple things done though) but the technical glitches were still delaying my start date so it was a non-issue. So Angela and I tried to take care of each other as we also tried to get some things separated into piles of what the movers should take on Thursday and what they should leave.


When the movers came on Thursday morning, we were both pretty incapacitated, and just sat on the couch downstairs (until we moved to the futon, which was the only piece of furniture we knew they were leaving). The movers asked us to stay away from them because they didn't want to get sick. One of them actually told Angela that she looked terrible.


I thought I might work on Friday, as I needed to start getting things going before we were leaving the following Thursday (I didn't want to get to Alaska and not be able to do my job). But they still didn't have my new stuff set up in the system, so I couldn't start.



We left back to Richland on Friday in the evening. I was almost over my sickness but still had a cough, and Angela was still pretty sick and running a fever. Angela's dad was not getting better at all. By Saturday, Carol (Angela's step-mom) sat down with all the kids. He wasn't going to make it and we needed to decide what to do for him to make him comfortable. We talked to the doctors and decided to start with high pain meds and pull out his breathing tube.



Camillus Eugene Williams IV died on Sunday, March 16th at 1:13pm. Below is his obituary:

Gene Williams

July 07, 1948 - March 16, 2008
Birthplace:
Oakland, California
Resided In:
Richland Washington
Service:
March 20, 2008




On March 16, 2008 Gene Williams left us after a long battle with illness.



Gene is survived by his loving wife Carol, his children Camillus, Anthony, Pamela, Nicholas, Angela, Joseph, Michael, and step-son Jon, his sister Nancy and brother Mark, his Uncle Jim and Aunt Mary, and many nieces, nephews, and beautiful grandchildren. Camillus Eugene ''Gene'' Williams IV was born on July 7th, 1948 to Camillus Eugene Williams III and Margaret Wagner in Oakland, Ca. He worked for more than seventeen years as a Radiologic Technician at Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in Pasco, Washington. Throughout his life he loved having pets and even at his sickest he was worried about everyone else more than himself. He never lost his sense of humor and taught us all how to laugh. He was the toughest man we will ever know. We were blessed to have his love. We miss you, Pop.


end of obituary.


Because of the funeral, Angela asked to move her start date and flight out by a week. So our new flight was going to be on Thursday, March 27th and Angela's new first day (orientation) was going to be Monday, March 31st. We left Richland on Friday, March 21st and Microsoft still did not have my technical glitches sorted out, but hoped to have it done by Monday (March 24th).

Since our home was reduced to piles of things that needed to go to storage, luggage or garbage, we tried to figure out where to stay from Friday through Wednesday. We decided to stay with our friends the Fraziers over the weekend and then hotels (Marriotts) in the Seattle area from Sunday through Wednesday. My brother in law basically helped us with discounted prices on Marriott hotels for the last month (he helped us for our vacation in San Francisco, our hotels in Spokane as well as Richland (and even offered to help with Angela's families reservations during the funeral). He was a life-saver and we would have been broke at this point if it weren't for him. We did stay at our home one night (Monday night) so we could really finish getting things squared away, but Angela got really sick (again) that night and had the stomach flu from then until the morning we left on Thursday.


On Monday, I still wasn't able to go to work because I wasn't in the system yet, but was basically guaranteed that I could start on Tuesday (even though I wouldn't be able to work full days because of everything we still had to do. On Tuesday I went to work for a couple hours in the afternoon and got my computer set up, while Angela and her sister in law (Angie) sorted through clothes and put everything into luggage. My little brother came over after work to help move our last pieces of furniture (the futon, dresser and a bookcase) to his home in Seattle.


Wednesday morning, we had to drop off our car in Tacoma to be shipped to Bethel, so we trekked down there and back to Kirkland. The Fraziers came over while I went to work for a couple hours and helped clean the entire house. It was pretty much spotless in about 2 hours or so. Then Angela and I finished getting everything into our car (12 pieces of luggage - including my guitar-, 4 boxes we needed to mail and some bags of things we were giving to our families - mostly left over cleaning supplies and things). We dropped off our keys to the house, mailed our boxes (xbox 360 and tivo included) and went to Seattle. We had booked the Waterfront Marriott for our final night in Washington so Angela's family could walk on the ferry and meet us in Seattle at the Red Robin on the waterfront for one last dinner. My brother and his wife came as well and we played cards with them in the hotel afterwards. The goodbyes were all tearful for Angela, and sad for me. I keep thinking that we will see them all again soon (we're back in May for a week and will probably be down every couple months after that if not more frequently).


So I will end with the night before we left for now. We will write a couple more blogs this week (we hope) to talk about our actual trip to Bethel and our first impressions of our new home.


We are excited about being in Bethel, but are so completely exhausted right now because of this last month (emotionally and physically). Angela is worried about starting her job in the right spirits because she is still (obviously) dealing with the death of her dad and the sadness of moving away from her entire family. We know our friends in Bethel will help us get settled, but we would love any prayers you can spare for Angela's new job, my home office, and our new home in Alaska.