The move back to Pennsylvania was quite a struggle. We had a dog, Dixie, and a cat, Sam, and we broke down 20 some times on the way home. By the time we reached Utah, Mom had $6 to her name. I gave her all of my birthday money, so she'd have some more money, but that was only $50 or so. I remember for the first time, Mom called home and asked for help. She told my grandparents she wasn't going to ask them specifically, but that anything they could possibly do would be appreciated it, and asked them to think about it. The drive took a long time.

I'll never forget how excited we were to be going home though. When we crossed the Pennsylvania state line, all of us started screaming. Then we hit a pot hole *grin* and someone had said, "Yup, we're back in Pennsylvania." When we got to Gram and Pap's road, we kept thinking it was "just around the next bend." The road was definitely longer than we had remembered. I know we had changed a lot in the previous two years, and that is definitely apparent if I look at home movies and pictures from before California and after. Our hair was *way* lighter for one, and Shawn had taken up skateboarding, and we just acted differently. I remember my Aunt Barb, and cousins Jenny and Christopher were there. But all in all we were way happy to be home.

Pap made me keep my cat in the old barn that was falling over though, so I was mad. And having Dixie there, was apparently a problem with him.. So Mom left with Dixie and Sam, and the car, and drove to Erie to find a place for us to live. I can't remember how long she was gone. I know she was living in the car though, until she found a place. She finally found a place in McKean, though our mailing address was still Erie. It was an older trailer. I was terrified of trailers at the time, because I heard they caught on fire more.. So I was rather parinoid for awhile.

I started 3rd grade in Erie. Starting new schools was starting to get old, considering I had been in a different school every other year.. some years even 2 or 3. I met some really great people in Erie, such as Beth, and Karleen, whom I still keep in touch with. Mom met a guy named Jim, though I'm unsure as to how, and he moved in with us for awhile. He was so mean to me. It was kind of like Randy with Ric, except it was Jim with me.

Jim would purposely look into my room whenever walking by to see if it was spotless to find something to yell at me for. He was always finding something to get mad about. We had a chore board, and it would tell us what our weekly chores were. He had this punishment for me. He'd make me drink tobasco sauce if I was 'bad', and I couldn't tell my mom. Well, I had gotten that punishment three times. The first time, I drank a little sip, and he gave me three pieces of bread, the second time I had to drink a little bit more, and I got once piece of bread. The third time, it was my week to clean the dining room, and I hadn't dusted on top of the lamp shades on the chandelier (I mean, he literally stood on the table to check it) so he made me drink half a bottle.. And I don't like hot things, so I started crying, and he told me to shut up, or he'd make me eat an ice cube. Well, I told my mom, and she got *real* mad and threw him out. He always came back though.

We lived in Erie for three years. During this time, Mom finished her last two years of college, and then got a temporary job at GE Transportation Systems. But as I said, it was only temporary. She applied for a job with the federal government, and was hoping to get it in Texas. Well she got the job, but they said they needed someone who spoke Spanish, and she spoke French. The only other two options were Salt Lake, Utah, and Helena, Montana. Since Jim, who'd we finally gotten rid of, was in Salt Lake, there was no way we were going there. So Helena, Montana it was.

I was *really* unhappy about this. I had been playing softball, and I had finally had a chance to stay in one place and make friends. I was really upset about leaving. Mom met someone named Roger, who offered to help us out with packing to move, etc. My grandfather managed to talk Mom into letting Roger go *with* her to Montana. (Ric, Shawn, and I stayed back in Erie, until we were done with softball and little league, and then got to stay at Gram and Pap's for the rest of the summer). So Mom left for Montana.

We enjoyed our time in Pennsylvania before we got to move to Montana. I missed Mom a lot though. :p