Forward Motion

Leaving Georgia

Just a quick note after our breakfast at Panera.  Love your WiFi, Panera!!

I had a whole list of stuff I was going to blog about before we left, but just like cleaning the refrigerator, that didn't happen.

We're homeless now and happy.  Finishing the whole packing/moving out of the house thing was a bit frustrating, but it's done.  We began quite early Wednesday morning with my alarm clock beeping.  From inside a box.

The house closing is done, even though the Federal Reserve was all backed up and the wire transfers didn't come through until 5:15.  I'm just so thankful that the whole house selling process was so quick and overall, easy.

Anyway, we're heading out now, so the blog will probably be quiet for a few days.  Talk to you again from TX!

Moving Day Part Last

Time:  2248

Dang.  I'm tired.  And I just watched the packing.

We have already had to bust open one box to rescue Piggy, the stuffed animal that is always getting in trouble.  Grace tucked her in the bed, thinking that anything on the bed would not be packed.  Luckily she was on top of the first box and I did not have to open the 6 other boxes marked "Toys".

DH is bummed that they left out the bread & jelly, but packed the peanut butter.

I am bummed that there are no more Poptarts.

But at least I can sleep in tomorrow.

I called our community housing office at the new post today to ask a question.  The receptionist hung up on me.  4 times.  Probably on accident, but whenever she heard my voice, we were disconnected.  When DH (observing this with dismay) called, she had no trouble talking to him. 

Diet Coke Total - 4  Pretty good, considering.

The Moving to El Paso Guacamole sock is at the gusset.  The DK weight yarn is making this the perfect project.  Just a few rows here and there and I've got a whole foot nearly done.  In fact it was knitting up so quickly, I kind of got a late start on the gusset.  This yarn is so gorgeous to look at and it feels soft and comfy.

Moving Day Pt. 5

Time: 1725 (5:25 pm)

They are still here.  But I think they are leaving soon.  There are walls of boxes everywhere.  Oh, and Vernon is out of town.  And they will not be here to pick up our boxes until Thursday.  I'm very disillusioned with Vernon.  Thank goodness we left all the TVs hooked up and the computers out.  And I get an extra night in my real bed.

My hair looks nice.  One of the worst things about moving is finding a new hair stylist.

I told DH he was the most stressed out, so he can pick what we do for dinner.  I think it's going to be pizza.

Time for another Diet Coke.

Moving Day Pt. 4

Time:  1448 (2:48 pm)

Wow... this is a lot of boxes.

The kitchen guy fell victim to a booby-trapped box of spaghetti.  I guess I opened it from the back end and then put it way in the back of the cabinet.  He grabbed it and we had noodles all over the floor.

The dog has managed to roll in something foul & DH gave her a bath.

The kids are deliriously happy because we've allowed them to play Runescape on the computers all day so they won't be in the way.  I caved and allowed the old desktop to stay unpacked.  DH says we've got more than enough room to bring it with us.  There's really nothing to do other than play computers anyway.  What on earth did I do with them when they were younger and we moved?  Probably something awful like taking them to Chuck E Cheese.

Subway for lunch.  I have no idea what is for dinner.  There's still a package of chicken in the fridge and we've got the grill.  I suppose BBQ is the answer.

I'm going to get my hair cut in a few minutes.  My stylist had the nerve to go on vacation last week and today was the only appointment I could get before we moved.

It turns out sitting around knitting on a sock is a good thing to do while staying out of the way of the packers.

Diet Coke Tally - 3, but it was watery by the time DH got back from Subway, so I don't think it counts.

Moving Day Pt. 3

Time: 1032

Movers are here!  No Vernon, only 3 other not as large and burly guys.  Their jeans - not ironed.

Now to overcome the squickiness of knowing these guys are packing my undies.

Edited to add:  Time: 1046

Diet Coke Tally - 2

Moving Day Pt. 2

Time: 0951

Still no movers.  Boys still getting haircuts.  I'm bored.

Things that are in the NO PACK room.

(We also have a NO PACK folding table and a NO PACK bathroom counter)

Air mattresses & air pumps (very important not to forget air pump as neither of us likes inflating air mattresses by mouth late at night.  Makes for bad headache.)

Linens

Empty suitcases

2 folding tables

piles of clothes (I figure I've got 2 days to put them in the suitcases and it's easier to pick from a pile rather than trying to remember who's suitcase is who's.)

important paperwork (although I'm sure something vital will get packed)

brooms

vacuum cleaner

home school books (not that we plan to use them for a few months, just that I don't trust the movers with them)

2 boxes of kitchen stuff

the Wii

the tiny TV

a small desk lamp so I can read at night

a book of word search puzzles (somehow I found a book of these a few months ago and decided that circling hidden words is oddly relaxing)

2 knitting bags

2 boxes of yarn and knitting books.

Moving Day Pt. 1

Let's see how many moving updates I can do today!  It will be fun to watch DH say, "What are you doing on the computer again?"

Time: 0833 

The movers called 15 minutes ago to say they'd be here around...oh, 10:30ish.  I am furious, as I could have stayed in bed another hour.  I am sorely disappointed in Vernon.  "They all talk a good game, but really they are all the same.",  DH muttered.

Taking advantage of the delay, the DH & Alex went to get a haircut. 

We moved the desktop to a folding table yesterday and then couldn't get the wireless computers back up and going.  AT&T was off at a Memorial Day BBQ and couldn't help us, but I called this morning and we are wireless once again.

Diet Coke tally - 1

I am out of Diet Cherry Coke and reluctantly making do with plain old Diet Coke.

Did I mention that I'll be doing payroll & invoicing today?  My dad/boss came up to see us yesterday and brought me an air card so that I'll be able to access the internet more easily.  Why did either of us think that me continuing to work while in the middle of moving was a good idea?

Sure enough, as soon as I laid down last night I remembered that I needed to put the dog's food in the NO PACK room.  I did manage to sleep not long after that.  This morning I remembered to put all the spare toilet paper in the NP room.  I am the only one who will think of these kind of things.

The crazy has arrived

The movers are coming in, like, what - OMG 8 hours?  I've eaten an entire box of Poptarts in 2 days all by myself.  The scale says I've only gained 3 lbs, but I feel about 15 lbs heavier.  Stress is heavy, you know.  I've been spinning in circles around the house, constantly finding one more thing that needs to go in the "NO PACK" room.  It's kinda late and I should be in bed, but I hate laying down only to stare into the darkness while the endless list of blahblahmovingblahblah runs through my brain.

I actually had a point to this post when I started it.  I'll be danged if I can remember what it was now.  Seriously, this was not just going to be a post of relocation ranting.

The forecast is partly crazy with a chance of freakouts tomorrow, with a high pressure system all week.  By Wednesday afternoon, the crazy should be lessening, but fatigue may be visible.  By Saturday, the whirlwind will really start up as we hit the road.

J is for Josie

I can't decide if Josie is the cutest little dog on earth or if she's really funny looking with her big ears and bug eyes.

She doesn't really like the camera, though.  I have lots of photos like this:

As soon as she notices we are trying to steal her image without consent,  she hunches up and slinks away.

Every now and then, I can sneak up on her and grab a photo.

As far as our transition goes, I think I've tapped into some special kind of denial, because I honestly cannot bring myself to believe that the movers are coming on Tuesday.

Today I met Vernon.

A large, burly man named Vernon came to our house this afternoon.  He is The Man in charge of packing and moving all our of possessions.  Is "large, burly" redundant?  I think both words are needed to describe Vernon.  He roamed through the house analyzing how many boxes would be needed, giving me guidelines(No liquids!  But that open box of grits is okay if I put it in a ziploc.), and declared that they'd have us all packed up in one day.  They'll start at 7:45 - ye gods! - and be done by 4, Vernon asserts.

Vernon's jeans were pressed with a sharp crease.  I feel confident having our moving plans in the hands of a burly moving guy with ironed jeans.

My GPS arrived yesterday and it is way cool.  My favorite thing is that it works as a Bluetooth device for my cell phone.  If I'm driving along, looking for a yarn store and I get a phone call, "Incoming Call" appears on the GPS screen.  I just touch "Answer" and talk.  The GPS has a speaker and microphone built into it and that makes it much more hands free than my earpiece which requires a certain amount of fumbling.

Even cooler is the Wii Fit that we bought today.  I am awesome at hula hooping.  The soccer ball thing, I am horrible with.  You are supposed to bop the soccer balls with your imaginary head, which is hard enough, but then the players start flinging their cleats at you and you have to avoid them.  I keep getting smacked in the face with soccer cleats.  Far more disturbing are the decapitated panda bear heads that start coming toward you.  No, I am not kidding.

I know I'm ridiculously late on this, but here is my Mother's Day gift from DH & the kids:

The Cadillac of folding chairs.  The foot rest and sun shade fold away if unneeded.  Once our household goods leave Vernon's control, the transportation office estimates 8-12 working days before they'll get to us at Ft. Bliss.  So since we'll be camping out with air mattresses and folding chairs in empty homes for up to 2 weeks, this is the perfect chair for me to work on the laptop and knit.  Or maybe nap.  I think I'll need a few good naps.