// Type Writer Machine

It’s Superbowl SUNDAY! I so totally could not possibly care LESS right now! But everyone that I know does care for some reason, except for my wonderful husband, who also could not care less about this game called football. We will be spending our Superbowl Sunday not watching the Superbowl. Instead, we will be unpacking a little more, and maybe watching Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs with our son. I wouldn’t mind going out somewhere, but in the name of saving a bit of money, it is probably best that we just stick to ourselves and our home.

I really need to go out and shop for groceries, but the problem with doing that today is that since everyone is wigging out over this stupid football game, the Commissary is going to be slammed with people. John suggests that I go after the game starts, so we’ll see what happens there, I suppose.

While we’ve been unpacking, we’ve been taking a good look at all of our furniture and deciding that some of it has to go. We need a new couch, and we need new bookshelves, and Gabe really needs a new mattress. There are other things we need, too, but that’s just the start of it. We’ll probably start with some new bookshelves for now. We have so many books, and nowhere near enough shelves for them. One thing at a time. We can’t get a couch yet, because we have these two cats who just love to tear up furniture. We’ve decided to get them declawed, which is going to cost a pretty penny, but you do what you have to do to save your couch.

I’ve run out of things to say. It’s obviously humdrum around here. Maybe it’s this Pacific Northwest weather. Always cloudy and/or rainy.

Things are going well, albeit at a slow pace. I don’t feel like the unpacking is going as quickly as it should. I think it could be my imagination, or the fact that we live in a smaller place than our last house, but do I have more stuff than I did when we last moved? I really think I might.

It’s a very quiet neighborhood. There are a lot of kids, but they are all kind of quiet children that I can tell. The last neighborhood had a lot of loud, obnoxious, rude middle school aged kids running amok around the neighborhood. It doesn’t seem to be like that here as much, which is good. The only thing that is not quiet about our neighborhood is that it’s just a few buildings and trees away from the flight line, and the fighter jets are constantly in and out. It gets very loud, but I don’t mind that at all. Compared to some neighborhoods I have lived in, I would say this is probably the best one yet.

I even had a visit from a lady who lives one building over, and she brought cookies! How nice is that? I didn’t think people even did that anymore.

I can’t wait until I have unpacked the last box. I think that is going to be a while, though, because I am seriously ready for bed, and it’s not even 6.

Addendum: It’s somewhere around 8:30 now. Little Man is in bed, and I’m hanging out here on the couch with John. The couch is in a very odd location. Certainly not permanent. We just sort of stuck it in the middle of the living room so that it faces the television, with no regard as to how it looks. I’m starting to like it here, which means it may be time to finish the living room. We’re so ready for new couches, but we have to save up the money first and get the cats declawed and all that good stuff.

I kind of wish that I had someone to talk to on the phone, which is why I am writing here. But it’s several hours ahead of me in the east, and I am the only person I know in the west. I hope we can find a good church quickly.

We’re home.

Our stuff is here.

I wanted to write so much but it has been such a long day. I hope to write something serious soon.

I kept meaning to update every night when we got to our hotel but unfortunately, I was hit with a horrible bug. Gabriel had been sick, and so I think that by being in the car with him for hours at a time, sharing the same air, I got infected, too. So whenever I’d get to my hotel, I would pretty much just eat dinner and pass out. So I’ll have to try to make a quick update about the past couple of days.

After we left Little Rock on the 23rd, we drove through Oklahoma and reached Amarillo, TX. We ate at this place called The Big Texan, and it was probably the best food I have ever shoved into my face at any given time in my life.

Then, on the 24th, we drove through more of Texas, all of New Mexico, and some of Arizona to reach Flagstaff. The snow there was over my head in drifts, and it was amazingly picturesque. The mountains and the desert during the drive that day were absolutely amazing and awe inspiring. I wish that I could have seen more of it.

On the 25th, yesterday, we left Flagstaff and drove the rest of the way through Arizona, passing the Hualapai (Wa-la-pie) mountain range (near Kingman, AZ – look it up, they’re beautiful) and into California, where we drove through the Sierra Nevadas. The latter mountain range was so gorgeous I couldn’t believe it. I wanted to stop the car and climb them and roll down. Some were huge and jagged and snow capped, and the foothills were so tall and rounded and covered in fine green grass pastures that housed cows and goats and probably other livestock, too. It was like the prettiest postcard. After a very long drive, we arrived in Stockton, California, where we stayed the night and ate at The Old Spaghetti Factory.

Now it’s the 26th, and we’re all getting ready for our free continental breakfast before hitting the road one last time. Today we finish California, drive through Oregon, and then finally reach Washington State, where we will stop in Olympia. It’s going to be our lengthiest trip yet, but it’s our final trip, so I’m ready to get it over with.

I really enjoy the scenery and such, and the driving hasn’t been too bad. It’s just really long and exhausting, and being sick has made it hard. I am feeling so much better this morning, albeit a little congested, so I think that today will go well despite the length of trip. It will be good to be in our new home. (Note: We will no have our house when we get there, just a hotel room, but the area is going to be home to us for the next few years so I am trying it on for size. Haha.)

Now I am off to have continental coffee. If you’re on my Facebook page, you will see my phone number there. You can call me if you want today. I am driving a long way and it’s nice to hear from friends. Keeps me going.

Onward!

We’re in Little Rock. Meant to write that last night but we were so tired after driving that we went out to eat (awful food) and went straight to bed. Today we drove in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and then arrived in Arkansas.

Trying to get a hold of my parents has been kind of hard. I was hoping to talk to mom and tell her how the trip is going. Maybe she will call me today.

We’re about to get to driving. I just wanted to log where we’re at and what we’re doing. Not much to speak of yet, but maybe after we arrive at the next hotel tonight there will be more to say.

Tomorrow we hit the road. All of our household goods are in a truck and on their way to Fort Lewis, Washington as we speak. I’m sitting in a La Quinta, freshly showered, and waiting for Hungry Howies pizza to be delivered. Gabe is sick (drat!), John is exhausted, my cats are sufficiently freaked, and my feet are killing me, but we are all here and we are all together.

Our old place on Hartsock Loop is completely cleaned, and we clear housing tomorrow at 9am. Then we hit the road and drive until we reach our hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Praise God that we are finally on our way! Please pray for Gabriel. I have been. He needs to get better. He is feverish, coughing, and sniffly. Please pray for my cats and for John and I. Please pray for our cars, and for good weather.

Hopefully we will be in Fort Lewis soon. I will write again from Arkansas.

Well, this is it. Tonight we’re taking the computers down, so this is the last post that I will be making from my home in Fort Benning, Georgia. Tomorrow, the movers are coming to pack us all up (thank GOD for movers – I wouldn’t know where to begin with packing all of this stuff up), and the next day it gets loaded into a big truck. Then on Friday we clear housing and start our pioneer-type journey west.

I should be able to make small updates from the road, as we will have our laptop with us, and I made sure all of the hotels have free wireless internet. So check back daily to find out where we are.

There is so much to do today, so I will have to get started soon. Right now I’m waiting for John to get back with breakfast from Burger King. We have no food in the house since we are moving, so there’s going to be a lot of fast food in our lives for the next two weeks. I guess that means I have to hit the gym really hard once we arrive.

I am thankful so much to God for all of the blessings He has given us while we prepare for this move, and I am very excited to see where He will be taking us. If you are reading this, please keep our little family in your prayers for the next couple of weeks. Pray for good weather, pray that both of our cars hold up 100% on the road, pray that we get a house quickly, and pray especially that our cats will be alright on the long trip. If I know you are praying, I will feel better about everything in general.

That’s all I have time for, unfortunately. I have to get dressed for the day and get moving soon. After this cup of coffee.

Update:
I wrote about ten hours ago, and after I posted I was immediately on my feet and moving. I didn’t stop until now, and I really shouldn’t, but I am so tired and my feet hurt so badly that I just have to. It took my son chiding me for me to actually be reasonable and give myself a rest. I was complaining about how tired I was when he said, “Well then take a BREAK, Mom!”
Touche, kid.

So I’m taking a breather. I don’t have long, for there is still much to do, and so little time. I don’t need to clean the entire house or anything, but I do need to manage to get everything I want in the cars with us into the cars so the movers don’t pack them up tomorrow. I’ve got most of it taken care of, but there are all of these little things. I don’t know. It’s really insane in my world right now. I still have all of this laundry to finish, and I have to make the beds for tonight and stuff (I washed all of the sheets and blankets, which was the bulk of the laundry). I don’t know what else I have to do but I know it’s there. My brain is out of commission right now. I’m having another cup of coffee to keep me going.

I need to get a good night’s sleep tonight. I also need to wake up really early tomorrow so I can finish up any lose ends. I can’t believe the movers are coming tomorrow! And oh my gosh, we still need to take the computers and television stuff apart, and take the desk apart and move it out of this room. It’s too big to move in one piece, and John doesn’t trust the movers to touch his baby. I wanted to take a shower tonight but believe it or not, I did so much laundry and dishes today that my huge hot water heater has been emptied, and I will either have to take a very late shower tonight or a very early one tomorrow morning.
Boo hoo. Woe is me.

This is just me being tired and ready to have today finished. A few more hours and I will be done, I think.

Okay. TIME OUT!

I have been go go go go go going for quite some time now and I have had it with the go go go for a minute. My feet are killing me, especially my little toes. The way my feet are built, when I stand, my little toes on both feet roll out funny so that the toe nails actually touch the ground (or the bottoms of my shoes), and I stand with a lot of pressure on those toes. It’s fairly rare but sometimes, when I have been standing on my feet for a really long time, my cuticles start to hurt really badly. It sort of feels like someone is sticking sharp needles all along the base of my toenails. Yeah that’s gross, but that’s what it feels like. It hurts! That’s how I can tell I have been too busy. My little toes hurt! Crazy sounding, maybe, but that’s how they feel right now, and I am so tired.

The good news is my hair is cute and the weather is good and my parents are on their way up for a visit.

We leave here in one week and head out to rainy Washington state. Friday the 22nd early in the morning to be precise. We just need to clear housing that day at about 9am and John has one or two small errands to run I think to finish up here on post and then we can hit the big open road. That night we will be staying in Little Rock, Arkansas. The next day we drive some more and stay overnight in Amarillo, Texas. Then the day after that we drive some more and stay overnight in Flagstaff, Arizona. Then the day after THAT we drive some MORE and stay overnight in Stockton, California. THEN we drive some MORE the day after THAT and after about twelve hours on that final day of driving, we should reach Olympia, Washington….hopefully fully mentally and physically intact at that point. The plan after we arrive is to check into our La Quinta room (we’re staying in La Quintas the whole way because they let pets stay free, and we have two cats) that night, and then the next day head down to on post housing office at Fort Lewis and try to get a place to live. We’ve got reservation at La Quinta in Olympia until February 1st just in case we are homeless for a while. We might have to extend that reservation, too, but I hope not.

At least we have that garbage figured out. The traveling stuff. And the movers come on Wednesday and pack up our stuff, and haul it off on Thursday. I forgot to mention that on Thursday night we are staying in a hotel in Columbus, because our beds and all of our earthly possessions (minus what we need to travel with) will be in a truck. That’s like…a whole bunch of nights in a hotel. I wonder if we will survive it.

The good news is we have plenty of music for the trip, Gabe has his Nintendo DS (and I think I might buy him a new game as a on-the-road suprise) and plenty of crayons/workbooks, we have our cell phones so that we can communicate on the road (John and I are going to be driving our separate vehicles), and in the event that there is no signal for the phones we have a set of high powered, long range radios for emergencies. The GPS systems we bought will also help with the trip.

I just really hope that we are going to be able to get everything together in time. The biggest thing is making sure that all of the important stuff is set aside so that the movers don’t pack them. Things like our wallets and our directions and our clothes and our important paperwork (marriage license, birth certs, the powers of attorney, etc), our guns, our two-way radios, our CATS (lol) cell phones, air mattresses and sheets and towels (just in case – you never know what will happen on a big trip like this) etc. It’s a major issue to try to find all of those things and gather them and double check it all and fit it into the cars, etc. PLUS I have to go through my pantry and my cleaning supplies and figure out what can be taken with me (not much), what the movers can pack (only unopened dry/canned goods), and what I need to clean up after the movers leave but can’t take with me (I really hope I can fit my Swiffer vacuum and mop in the Jeep, because I don’t want to get rid of those but I need them to clean the floors before we sign out). The rest I have to either throw out or give to my neighbor. I never see my neighbor though and I don’t know what she will want, so idk. I am going to try to pawn as much stuff on my mom as I can. I am sure she could use some extra white flour and baking powder, etc, but I don’t know what she packed in her car to come visit, so she might not have room for everything.

Do you see what the Army does to me? Do you see what kind of crap I have to think about before I move? This happens to me EVERY time we move, but this is the biggest move we have ever made, so it’s all multiplied by 3,221 miles right now. (That’s 3,221 miles one way).

All is well though. I am in no way frazzled or insane yet. As I said earlier, my hair is really cute today, so something must be going right.

I just really needed a break. My brain, oddly enough, does not hurt yet, but my toes do.

I could keep typing but I just re-read this stuff and it is incredibly boring! Sorry. I hope you survived.

I am having a really rough day. I really wish that I had somebody to talk to, but I don’t. We just found out yesterday that we have to be IN WASHINGTON by the 1st of February, no later. We were originally planning on leaving on the 5th of Feb, but we had to push our leaving date up quite a bit. Now we’re leaving on the 22nd, and the movers have to come on the 20th. That’s only 12 days from now! How am I going to get everything straightened out in 12 days?! This is an outrage, and all because John’s worthless commander didn’t feel like granting him 30 days of leave. Some guys got 40 days or more, but that’s probably just because they’re all Ranger qualified.

I hate the way the Army is about the Rangers. And I hate that I have to drive to Washington in 14 days. From Georgia.

My house is a wreck and I need to clean it but I have no energy for any of it. I have done nothing today but sit on the computer and try to figure out the logistics of this whole move. I just wanted things to go as smoothly as possible, and now things are starting to get a little rocky.

I hope that nothing gets worse. I need this move to go easy.

I can’t believe we’ll be on the road exactly two weeks from now. It’s really freaking me out right now.

I actually do have a lot to write about but haven’t had much time.

I have been weaving on a loom my mother-in-law got me for Christmas, though all I can make so far are scarves. I have also been finally putting together my family photo album. I have so many pictures that it will probably end up being albums (plural) but for now, one page at a time. I have been cleaning, as usual, and getting back into the homeschool groove. I took a break during Christmas/New Years. Gabe did a bit of school but I am so blessed to have a husband who is willing to do the teaching sometimes so I can put my mind to other things. He did a great job.

Gosh I really want to talk about what is going on in my mind and what I have been doing and dreaming, but it is getting late, and I am so disorganized in my mind. I will TRY very hard to come back here this week and write longer things.

You don’t care if I don’t put titles at the tops of these things sometimes, do you? Because sometimes I don’t know what to name an entry. Oh wait, I just thought of one. See you in a few days.