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Moving is a Pain!!!!
I have to say that moving is way down on my list of things to do. I think I would much rather have a tooth drilled than move, really! After we left the fair on Wednesday, we headed to the U-Haul place, content that we had filled in all the info on line and it would be a snap. Well, it took about 20 minutes to do the paperwork at the store...get this... even though we filled out information on line about the kind of vehicle we were driving and all, I had to do it ALL AGAIN! Grr.... Then we went out to hook up. Based on when we reserved the u-haul, we thought they would be providing us with a ball. Nope...we had to have one...so the gal suggested going to a nearby automotive sales/repair place.
First I went to the Jeep place, he refused to work on my Nissan, but gave me directions to the Nissan place. They said they would be happy to put it in, but they don't carry balls in stock. So, then I had to drive to the automotive store (right next door to the place where I was to get the u-haul). First we had some miscommunication and he thought I wanted the receiver which he didn't have in stock, but then when we figured out what I was talking about, he had plenty balls in stock for minimal money. Back to the Nissan place and the kind guy there installed it. He had mentioned a bolt, so I figured tools would be involved...there was a pin and a cotter pin....I could have done that. I spent about an hour doing what I could have done in about 5 minutes had I known the proper place to go and how easy it would be to install...LET THAT BE A LESSON TO ALL WHO READ THIS.
Back to the U-haul place, got the U-haul and headed to the apartment. Daniel had a friend from work who came by to help load up the heavy stuff. I headed back out with Katrina for twine, more packing tape and a lock. Daniel's new Palm Preo decided to stop working, so I couldn't call him to make sure what size key lock I needed. I got the long-necked version because I wasn't sure how thick the place was where the lock would be inserted.
Back to the apartment and on with packing. We worked for a couple of hours and got most of the big stuff packed. By this time I was exhausted, because I had been on my feet for most of the day either packing or at the fair (from 7-8:30). I am not used to that, my feet are not used to that.
Thursday morning, I was up at 7. Got showered and resumed packing. There was laundry to do, some cleaning of the apartment to do, final packing. We were finishing up when Daniel arrived about 12:30. We had to go to the airport and return Daniel's rental car. By 2:45, EST we were on our way. Daniel was determined to get home without stopping. So he drove from 2:45 pm until 5:40 this morning. That's right folks, the maniac drove straight through! We drove through 4 different rain storms, a couple were very heavy. We stopped for dinner, gas and bathroom breaks. At 4:30, I was praying, we would find an open gas station before we ran out of gas (I have an 18 gallon tank and needed 17.85 gallons...phew!)
After we got gas, we had one more hour to go. We were all tired. I had dozed off briefly a couple of times and Jack had too, Katrina slept a little more than that. So the last hour, the three of us tried to help keep Daniel awake. We all were a bit 'punch drunk.' We were doing tongue twisters and mixing them together. But we made it home and tumbled into bed, except for Katrina.
She had had enough sleep that she didn't want to go to bed. I told her she could go in the playroom and do something quietly. I sank into sleep. 75 minutes later, she was standing over me...saying "Mom, Mom...." She had fixed me breakfast in bed. Waffles and a glass of water. My eyes felt like sand was in them, I was soooo tired, but it was so sweet of her to want to mark my birthday with breakfast in bed, so I ate (I sort of remember doing this), then went back to sleep for about 75 minutes when the phone began to ring. Between 8:50 and 9:00 am, there were three phone calls! The phone goes some days with only three calls all day!
So, I got up and started doing stuff. Animals had to be fed for one thing. Then, Katrina and I watched some TV before starting to unload the truck. Daniel and Jack were still asleep. We discovered that the long-necked long had twisted around during the long, bumpy drive (roads in WV are horrible and we had to pay 3 tolls to go through). Anyway...the lock was jammed on the U-Haul and we couldn't remove it. Katrina and I got everything out of the truck before Daniel got up. After he showered, he went to work on the lock. ANOTHER TIP HERE...UNLOCK BEFORE USING CROWBAR. We were unable to unlock the lock, but not remove it. I had pushed it back together before coming back to the house. Daniel got the crowbar out and managed to bend the lock until it went around where we could get it off, but then the key wouldn't work...because the lock had been damaged...great safety feature! Really! But now we couldn't get in.
We had to drive to town and get bolt cutters. On the way, we picked up Daniel's car from the Lynchburg airport. By the time, he got home and had some lunch, it was about 3 pm. We emptied a bit more than 1/3 of the stuff in the u-Haul and it has been put away. I am tired and I think they are going to let me go to sleep soon.
So, that is how I spent my 43rd birthday. But, I have been promised a nice dinner on Sunday and Daniel has gotten me so many things over the last few months (including the flip camera, a really nice ipod, a kindle and then all of our travel), I really didn't expect or want or need any presents. I am happy to be alive and well and to be loved by family and friends. It doesn't get better than that!
