Osha is back - My story

Happy Friday, everyone. Howdy, ya'all, as some say in Tennessee. I've been fixin to write for a while, but just too busy to actually do it. I had a few friends call me to see if I was still alive. I haven't emailed or posted on FB for a long time.


OMG - Moving is a full time job!!! I used PODS to move from Santa Barbara to Florida just 2 years ago and it was perfect. This time it turned out to be quite frustrating, irritating, and upsetting. Nothing wrong with PODS. The problem was that even though I sold many things including sofa, book cases, and other big and little things, all would not fit into the PODS. I guess I had acquired more than I thought. We ended up leaving behind a new pillow- top mattress set, bed frame for our bed, oak file cabinet, vacuum cleaner, nice office chair, etc. etc. etc. Okay, I know about simplifying, but easier said than done.

Romeo in car

Even though the professional movers packed the PODS very expertly, they could not fit some essentials in like the base to our dining room table. The chairs and glass top were inside the POD, but without the base, there is no dining room table. Also, left behind was a treasured end table, and 7 foot silk tree. Since we had to have the base of the table, we decided to attempt to take these last three items in our packed to the brim car. There was nowhere else to put these items except for the top of the car. Jim was a genius to figure that out. See the picture of us as the Hillbillies driving on the freeway with a tree on top of our car!!

When we arrived in TN, we found a great hotel suite where we would stay until we found a place to live. It would have been just fine except that Romeo, our cat, loves to roam at night. He has always had a pet door to come and go as he pleases. Since we needed to slide a card just to get into the hotel and swipe the card again to get into our room, it was not possible to easily let him out. His instincts kick in when it becomes dark and he cries, whines, and howls to be let out. Our sweet, quiet cat ended up sounding as if he was possessed by demons as his howling became guttural deep and frightening. Not conducive to our getting a good night’s sleep. We let him out after a few nights of that. But, because he was nowhere to be seen for 3 days, I thought he was gone for good and started grieving my loss, but then he showed up in the parking lot. Once he came back he lost all of his roaming privileges which means we lost our sleeping privileges. Jim was ready to pay for him to be in another hotel room. Not so practical. Jim thought of the solution to our problem. Romeo was going to be in his car at night. It worked. Apparently, Romeo even looked forward to it because he would go into his cat carrier waiting for one of us to take him out.

Our view

My job has been to look for a house to buy. With prices and interest rates so low, we thought we would trust that we will be here for many years and purchase rather than rent. Since living with Romeo in a hotel was not exactly what I would call a joyful experience, my job was to find a home to buy as quickly as possible. First I was taken around for a few days by a sweet real estate lady who found beautiful homes, but not the grand view Jim and I wanted. So I decided to do it my way. The next morning I lit a candle and visualized what our home would look like. I sat in a meditative state for a while then got on the internet to search. I found this house in a new development right after I had breakfast that very morning. It has a vista view of trees and hills and deer that come onto our property. A home in this setting would be in the million dollar range in Santa Barbara, and that is no exaggeration!! Even though Jim liked it a lot, he still wanted me to see if I could find anything better. After looking 8 hours a day, every day for over a week, I could not find a better house with the view ours has. We knew it was the very best one. This home is only 7 minutes to shopping, 20 minutes to Jim's job, 20 minutes to Nashville, and 15 minutes to Percy Priest lake where Jim has his catamaran. Not only is the house amazing, but the realtor, Patty, Krystal, construction supervisor, Aaron, and Rodney, mortgage lender and his associates have all been so exceptionally wonderful. It was an amazing feat how they all worked together to get everything done so quickly for us.
Patty, Jim and me signing papers

I love the woods. There are trees and hills everywhere. It’s very modern with lots and lots of restaurants and stores of all kind. It is much more cosmopolitan than I expected. There are people here from all over the world. And, oh by the way, we went sailing, and it was so serene because the lake is set in a forest.

We are in our new home now and unpacking. Now, that is a whole entire job in itself. As you all know, it is not just opening boxes and deciding where to put everything, but all of the calls that need to be made to start up everything, and countless other things that need to be done. It seems like that would be simple, but it takes hours and is exhausting.

All is great though. Love, really love, love, love our new home and this area. We traded seeing dolphins for deer in our backyard.

I googled yoga classes in Franklin, TN since I was going to be there last Fri. (only 20 min. from my home) I took a class in a wonderful studio with an instructor with a TN accent and was certified from Ananda in Nevada City - where I got my first certification. She was fantastic. I am very enthusiastic about what I plan to do here. In fact, the manager of order taking (forgot her official title) at Jim's work wants me to do their special event for Xmas. She always surprises her team with something for the holidays. She looked at all my websites and saw yoga parties on StretchBreak and asked me to do that for them.

Oh, forgot to mention something most important that makes this all possible. Jim got a fantastic job here and the best part is that he loves his new job, boss, and co-workers.

I will be in No CA for Thanksgiving. I sure wish SB was closer. Don't know if I can swing a trip out that way, but I will keep that option open if possible. We incurred a ton of expenses, but one day, when I visit CA. it will include trips to SB too. I haven’t forgotten my beloved friends in Florida. I will visit ya’all too.

I will end with this. Our neighbor brought us brownies to welcome us to the neighborhood. How sweet is that??

Live creatively, love passionately, laugh uncontrollably, and learn constantly. Until next time, my friends.


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Love and many blessings,
Osha Ray
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