The Move

The movers arrived around 9:30 Monday morning with just a trailer-type truck.  It was only two guys, which made for a lot of work between the two of them.  As they cleared furniture out, we made attempts to vacuum and clean up some.  Because it was just the two guys, they did not finish til mid-afternoon.  Lots of Gatorade was drunk, even more sweat was poured, and a few new holes in the walls were added.  Between the massive weight of Caroline's dresser as well as the equally heavy rowing machine, they did pretty well.  

There was a lot of down time, too, where we just had to hang out and stay out of the way.  

Last minute, the kids were able to go to Main Event with friends.  The movers left at 3:30 p.m. and the kids were picked up at 3:45.  They met up with CC friends and they bowled, played pool and laser tag, and executed the ropes course.  On the way home, our friends brought them out to eat.  They got Chipotle with Chick-fil-a water cups because one kid wanted Chick-fil-a.  While they were gone, I cleaned and packed up the house more.  Our van was filled to the brim in the back.   

Tuesday morning, 5:00 a.m., the kids, Benson, and I packed in the car and started the long drive to South Carolina.  Without stops, it is 14 ½ hours.  With Benson, it was 19 hours.  He did amazing.  Everyone did.  However, for every stop, the boys would use the bathroom together, while I would walk Benson.  Then the girls would use the bathroom while the boys watched Benson (in the car).  At the beginning of the drive, Benson hung out by my arm.  He licked it often.  It was lovely.  As the drive progressed, he relaxed and realized he was in it for the long haul.  He laid down on his bed.  Caroline and Josiah were in charge of him in the back.  I forgot to give Caroline her anti-nausea meds the day before, so whenever she felt sick, she took a nap.  Three naps, no puking.  That's a win.

Henry rode shotgun.  We went through many patches of rain throughout the entire trip.  In Alabama, the clouds were awesome to look at.  The picture does not do them justice.  But the beauty of the clouds doused us with rain a few miles up the road.  As we drove out of one particular downpour, Henry, who had not looked up from his phone for even a second during the entire rain storm, who only listened to the rain hit the car roof, commented, "Well, that was easy."  

Georgia clobbered us with rain.  It was the intense rain where you squint looking for the road lines and drive with the emergency blinkers on.  I prayed for our tires to stay inflated since I couldn't actually see the road and what I was driving on, and, since we were driving through Atlanta for part of it, for the car to not get hit.  It was a praise to make it through unscathed.  We finally drove up our new driveway a little after midnight.  19 hours, 6 minutes.  957.8 miles.   My brain was fuzzy, my legs were wobbly, and air mattresses were waiting.  

The next day we introduced Benson to his big new backyard.  We're still unsure of what he'll do with the fences of assorted sizes, so we're walking him on a leash for the time being.  He loves the screened-in porch.  He can just hang out there and check on the neighborhood.  That was where he and I both spent the majority of Wednesday. 

Thursday, I was back on the road again.  Back to TX to try and clear out the house.  I took considerably less time at each stop, so I made the drive in 16 hours.  

Clearing out the house was a substantially bigger job than anticipated.  I only had a minivan and I knew that we needed more space than it held.  On Friday morning, two friends came over with their teenage sons and they loaded the TVs into the van.  They loaded Josiah's drums and duffle bags of clothes.  The van filled up quickly.  Very quickly.  Over the course of Friday and Saturday, I had four different friends each take 1-2 loads of stuff to their house.  Three of them mentioned they had just cleaned out their garages.  It was a blessing to have them, for them to have the space, and for their willingness to help.  Todd's friend came and took three pick-up truck loads full.  It was an incredibly overwhelming experience in so many ways.  The sheer amount of stuff to 'save' and the sheer number of people who were there to help.  It was a lot, but I was deeply grateful for all of them.  It never would have gotten done without them.  Until Labor Day when I return and clear out all their garages again!

Saturday evening, a friend came and took Caroline's mattress.  It was good to have the things we couldn't bring to SC at least go to people and not the curb.  That also meant a night sleeping on the hard floor, but it wasn't for long.  4:30 a.m. Sunday morning, I was back on the road.  Georgia did not disappoint and again showered hard as I drove through.  Alabama had been the same, but with more accidents.  It felt like a long drive and I was exhausted when I rolled into driveway at 10:15 pm.  The end of our Texas journey.