The Pilgrimage to Texas

A rundown on the events of last week:

Wednesday, July 23 - Colton's two-month appointment. In keeping with his pattern as a lean (not) mean pooping machine, the little man weighed in at 10 pounds 3 ounces and was 23 inches long. We wrapped up the appointment by sticking Colton in his legs a few times and pouring a probably gross tasting liquid down his throat. Poor fellow. I hope he knows that the nurse is the one who poked him and not me.

Thursday - We picked up the Uhaul and began loading up.

Friday A.M. - The house closes and we deposit the check in the bank. Waa Hoo!

Friday P.M. - Continue loading truck with the help of much-appreciated friends and family. 8 p.m. - Uh oh, first truck is full, rush to pick up another truck.

Saturday A.M. - Finish loading the truck and set off for Texas. (Note: When traveling to the Dallas area with 5 cars, 2 Uhauls, 10 adults, 7 children (including two infants and one in utero), things slow down just a tad. The usual 3-hour drive ended up taking about 6 hours!

Saturday P.M. - Arrive at our rent house in The Colony (it's the name of the town, not a nickname for some weird cult.) and with the help of GFA staff, friends and family unload the trucks lickety split.

Sunday - Work on unpacking boxes (a seemingly unending job). Say Auf Weidersehn to family and friends.

Monday - More boxes.

Tuesday A.M. More boxes.

Tuesday P.M. - Attend our first GFA Tuesday night prayer meeting since becoming staff.

Tuesday P.M. P.M. Dang, this house is HOT! For anyone who'd ever been to our Oklahoma house, you know we like it rather chilly. Unfortunately, the master bedroom is about the hottest room in the house. Casey is even more intolerant of the heat than me and is forced to move a pallet into the cooler front room in order to catch a few hours of zzz's.

Wednesday A.M. - Spend several hours finagaling with the internet to try and get it up and running. We failed to get the laptop going but did manage to get the Mac operational. Yay!!!

Wednesday P.M. Head out to get some lunch. I suggest a small Mexican restaurant that Casey is leery of for some reason. Upon entering the restaurant and viewing the menu, I decide I'm not brave enough to order things like beef tongue and menudo. So we depart. But, in order to get to the larger, safer Mexican restaurant across the street, Casey must perform a u-turn. This is where our Mexican lunch on the town gets expensivo. Flashing lights in the rear view mirror and we're slapped with a $180 ticket for making an illegal u-turn. (We really didn't see the sign!)

Wednesday P.M. P.M. - As native Eskimos, we devise a clever plan to turn our Texas sweathouse into a delightful artic paradise. This involves the strategic placement of three floor fans, the use of the ceiling fan, hanging curtains and moving the bed to the opposite side of the room in order to be closer to the vent. Mission Winter Wonderland: Achieved.

Thursday A.M. - Casey's big first day of work at GFA is today. So he rises early and as most adult men do, takes a bath (hey, there's nothing wrong with enjoying a fine soak in the morning . . . and night . . . and afternoon.) A few minutes after my sweetie has submerged himself in the healing tub waters, I hear a cry from the loo. "Summer, can you get me a towel?" I think to myself, " I thought there were towels in there." But I hop up anyway and grab a towel and bring it to the bathroom where I see Casey on his hands and knees soaking up water from the floor with a wad of towels. Apparently, the tub overflowed a bit. Whoops.

Thursday P.M. - Kindly neighbor brings me (er. . . us) delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies, which take away all worry and magically unpack all remaining boxes. (Ok, maybe that second part isn't quite accurate, but isn't it amazing how many problems chocolate can solve?)