I am HERE! aka: Moving is an "adventure"

Okay, who ever thought moving through 2 states to arrive in the middle of the state of your final destination of the 3rd state would be easy and filled with butterflies and rainbows.....was wrong just plain wrong.

It all started on packing the truck day. My plans to have it all complete were not met. But for the most part it was done. We only had 3 other peo0ple show up to help my dh and 61 year old father in law pack the moving truck. It was a long, back breaking day. At one point, it looked as if we would not get all our stuff on the truck. But my husband rearranged and it went it with no problem. So we get to our first hotel that night and there was a problem with the Penske truck we rented to move with. My husband could not drive OVER 45 miles an hour. NOT good for a move from Florida to Tennesse. That is too long of a trip to be stuck at 45 miles per hour. My husband called the company and they sent out a mechanic who told us we might have to be sent another truck and have it repacked! I DO NOT think so. I told my husband you better tell them that is NOT an option, and they better find a way to fix it or his wife would take it up with them. Uh, they did listen. I did a lot of praying! Finallly, they fixed it and the next morning we were on our way. Still could not go over 65 because of some kind of governor they had on the older trucks. The kids did pretty well actually because somone GAVE us a dvd player for our van. I started ou in the van with the children and my inlaws while Mike drove the truck. My inlaws forgot what it is like to travel with children and did not figure in the length bathroom stops can take. And they chose Cracker barrel to eat at for almost every stop. Now I like Cracker Barrel but after 2.5 days of non stop Cracker barrel.....uh no.....over it. Finally, Mike put his foot down and said NO more cracker barrell. We also once stopped at a Waffle House but did not stay cause it was so DIRTY! Okay so the trip wasn't that bad but it was tiring. At some point I decided to get in the truck with my husband and strap the baby's car seat in the truck with us. Worked out pretty good but made gas up stops more intersting because they would not take the kids potty unless they asked. Unlike me who makes them try every stop. So, consequently 5 minutess after getting back on, someone would need to potty. My inlaws wanted to take long leisurely lunches, nice but not good for travel. I am greatful to them, don't get me wrong, they had just forgotten how it is to travel with little children. Once we got to more hilly regions travel slowed way down because of the truck trying to climb the hills. We went swimming at one hotel and Hannah scared me silly when she went face down in the water and I could not get to her very fast. She held her breath good and the life jacket thingy kept her afloat til I could get to her. But still it freaked me out, after my friend's daughter almost drowned. Then I noticed, I could not find my purse anywhere....we tore the van and truck apart to no avail. It was gone. I was freaking. We arrived in Tennessee on the hottest day in the region in YEARS! NO ac had been left on in our new apartment and it wa so hot. We only had 1 person to help my husband and my father in law could not help as he was feeling the effects of the heat. So my husband, myself and one football player sized teen unloaded the truck. We were exhausted, the kids were cranky and we had no food in the house. But we were done. The trip was over. The next morning my husband called the hotel in GA and they HAD my purse. They mailed it to me, completelyi intact! The phone company took from the Monday after we moved in to today to get our phone and dsl hooked up correctly and numerous phone calls and complaints. It has been an adventure not all bad, not all good but nothing major. In the middle of it, Christopher's asthma was flaring and we ran out of meds so we had to find a peditrician after we first got here. I never ran so much between all the things we had to do. We have gotten plugged into a wonderful church and are enjoying just being able to worship without any responsibility. So.....even though it wasn't all butterflies and rainbows it was filled with laughs admist the panic and groans. So I draw from the laughter and move on. Moving with 3 children, and 4 adults......really makes for family togetherness......LOL.