Hold On to Your Hats

I have arrived, in more ways than one! I will have you know that I am typing this blog entry at MY computer from the comfort of my new home, and I hooked it up ALL BY MYSELF! That may not be cause for elation for the vast majority of the world, but this, my friends, is a BIG DEAL for me! I always rely on Randy to handle any computer issues but having this computer set up at my cozy little desk, knowing that DSL was coming into my house, and having no idea when Randy would actually get to Texas, was just driving me crazy!!! Never mind that I am still looking at piles of stuff in every room, never mind that the house will probably STILL not be put together when Randy gets here . . . the pull was just too strong! (Full disclosure: My brother called this afternoon after I had a couple of things plugged in and sort of walked me through a couple of other issues so I suppose I should give him a little of the credit (ha ha), but we were both stymied about where the DSL was coming in to the house. Long story short--I figured it out.)

I think I mentioned in my last brief post that I was taking notes for what was sure to be "the mother of all blog entries," but my friend Tracy advised me to take it easy and just do a little at a time, rather than bore you all to death in one sitting. Yeah, so think of this as dying a S-L-O-W, painful death instead, okay?!

Well, there is just so much to tell that I hardly know where to begin. Now this is cool: I just went back to my last blog post and discovered that at least TWO people are aware that I even posted this week so I just saw their comments for the first time. Hi Tina and Erin! Tina, girl, you do not disappoint! Yours was the FIRST piece of mail we received in our new home and lest I leave anyone in suspense, it did indeed CONTAIN A ONE DOLLAR BILL in the campaign to get Randy to lighten up and let me get DSL! Who knew he would be so easily swayed??! After what turned out to be a really long trip, that made for a really good laugh when we opened up the envelope!

Well, I guess I'll start with our inauspicious departure from Grove City. I believe the last entry I posted from Ohio was dated around 2:30 in the afternoon on Tuesday, and we were still waiting for the movers to get all of our belongings loaded so we could do a quick run-through (or, in my case, a quick sweep-through) and get on the road. Things began to look a little dim when the 5:00 hour hit and we were still house-bound. So much for an early start!

The driver finally pulled away from the curb and we were left to survey the carnage. Even in an empty house, it was not a pretty sight. Randy commenced to put all of our belongings (you know, the stuff that we just HAD to be able to get to within the next 48-72 hours, like 12 boxes of Band-aids, a container of brads, a hummingbird feeder, important stuff like that) into the van and it quickly became apparent that if we wanted to bring it all with us, one or more kids was going to have to stay behind. Um, wait . . . that won't work. If you could have seen the way our boxes and bags were crammed in and around every nook and cranny, every warm body--there was NO empty space. The kids had to ride with their knees up under their chins! If you don't believe me, here is the clincher--Randy made everyone WEAR their coats and just decreed that we would do without the heater because there was no place to put our coats!

So we loaded up and off we went . . . to the church building. Seems neither Randy nor I had thought to print out directions for our trip. Hmm. We got to say good-bye to Cam Smith and Bill Morgan ("I thought you were leaving today." "Yeah, so did we.") one last time and by this time I think it was between 7:00 and 7:30. I really don't remember. What I do remember is Darcy saying, "Have we had dinner yet?" For the love of Pete, we haven't had dinner! One of us had the brilliant idea to go to W.G. Grinders for what would probably be the last time (oh yeah, we love our Grinders!), and what do you know??? The oven's out!!! This just gets better all the time! Oh, and did I mention that we couldn't find the adapter we needed to allow the kids to watch DVDs on Randy's laptop as we drove down the road, and had to make an emergency stop at Radio Shack? When all was said and done, it was easily 8:00 and we were still sitting in Grove City! Doesn't that beat all?!

We decided at that point to just get on the road, drive for a while and then stop for dinner. And drive we did--all the way to Dayton. Whoo-hoo! We stopped at an Arby's and crossed the parking lot in the arctic cold, only to get inside and discover that it was fully AS cold or colder inside the building! We ate huddled in our coats (I even kept my gloves on, for crying out loud) but at least the food was good. We neglected to purchase any fries with our order so I gave Peyton two dollars to go get herself some. She was gone for a few minutes and when she got back to the table, she had a hot, steaming box of curly fries . . . and two dollars. I asked her why she still had her money and she said the boy behind the counter told her there was no charge. What??!!! I want you to remember that, because this is going to become a recurring theme.

We finally got back on the road and drove as far as Greenfield/Greenville (I can't remember), Indiana where we stopped for the night. And I guess that's as good a place as any for ME to stop for the night. But I must say, it's GOOD to be back!