Hey Ya'll!!

We made it to TN. I would like to say all in one piece, but that is pushing it.

First, Abby and I drove up Wednesday. 12 hours – just us two. We had decided to do this weeks ago as we were not sure where we were going to live. This would give us the opportunity to find a place to live before Stu came in with all of our stuff. We ended up deciding where to live about 2 weeks ago, but since I had already scheduled the days off, we just stayed with the original plan. Bad idea. 12 hours in a car with a 1 year old was, in a word – ROUGH. I left about 4:30 that morning, hoping that Abby would sleep the first few hours. Oh no, she just glared at me for about an hour. I think in the 12 hours, she slept 2 of them. She was relatively good, but crossing that TN line, the meltdown began. I was more than happy to hand her over to the willing grandparents.

Then, Stu and his bro (who had flown in) were all set to pack the U-Haul (wait, let me rephrase that – we went with Budget trucks), please keep this in mind as you hear the rest of this story. We rented the largest truck they had, yet still ended up giving things away. Stu and Kevin realized about 20 miles down the road that it did not go past 55 MPH. 20 MPH up a mountain. As Stu stated, “A horse and buggy passed us”. A/C went out 2 hours in. Needless to say, this became a 15 hour drive.

Finally, the morning of the move arrives! We are so excited! Even though the weather man is calling for rain, we figure we can move it during breaks in rain. No idea that tornadoes are coming! Luckily, we did get it all in the apartment. Then, promptly sat in the closet for a few hours.

We had left Abby with her Gammy (Stu’s mom). She had her three grandkids all alone today. Who was the only one that refused to get in the closet? Abby of course! Not even a tornado can stop that gal.

Luckily, we are all ok. Watching the weather reports, we are so lucky. But I did leave my Ms. Ali (the puppy that was so happy to see me that she ripped a hole in my arm) at my parents with the intent to get her later today (they are out of town). Stu went by in the middle of the tornadoes and let her out, but she is still stuck there. I will be up early in the morning to get her. I am sure that she is fine, but I still worry about her.

Other random things that have happened –

• I did buy a new camera. Have you ever been in a store and your child goes insane and you just buy what they tell you? Well, I did. I bought a new camera – a Sony Cybershot. I am not happy about my selection. I have not even opened it. I want to return it. Actually, I want to read reviews on it first. But since I have limited Internet access, I have not had the time. So, it is sitting in a box with the receipt.
• Abby and Ali are new bestest friends. They are too funny to watch. I constantly tell Ali “BACK” to stop licking Abby. So now, Abby says “BA” to get Ali to back away from her. Ali is learning, slowly but surely.
• When did I acquire so much stuff? I love Jess (my bro’s girlfriend) to death. I think she was completely overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that we have. She just kept saying, “How can you have yet another box labeled “kitchen”? Believe it, baby.
• How did I lose so much stuff? Where are the remotes? Where is my bathmat? Where is my toothbrush holder? Seriously, how did this stuff go missing?