And so it goes

We recently moved from Chicago to Oklahoma City. (Didn't we just move to Chicago? Yes.) And this move has made me, the girl who doesn't mind moving, realize why so many people hate moving - because I am joining the ranks.

It all started on Wednesday when we called to confirm our reservation with Budget. Reservation canceled. No trucks available for at least two days after we need to move. We realize Budget customer service is horrific. This is the last day in their "72 hours to return a call." I'm anticipating filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau as I'm sure my call will not be returned after our experience thus far.

We called and called...and called every self-move company. We found ONE truck in all of the Chicago area that would hold all of our stuff. Rather than $950 for the truck and car dolly (still totally outrageous), we got our ONE truck for $1,700. Yes, you read that right. $1,700.00. (oh, and if we wanted something to pull our car, an extra $500.) The extra money is totally my Chariot Cougar II money (jogging stroller/biking trailer).

We could have hired a moving company! And not worried about a thing (except that they may have canceled our reservation as well). This was Thursday. I'm still thanking God for friends to help Jake load the truck and drive our car to Oklahoma.

Jake and Andrew drive for 14 hours on Friday and get to Oklahoma City around 8:30 PM. I went to make sure our house would be ready for our Saturday move-in. It is except for new carpet in two of the bedrooms. That was anticipated because the carpet layers were going to be there first thing Saturday morning. We got to the house at 9:30. No carpet layers. The house seems a little warm, but the windows had been open all night to help with the fresh coat of polyurethane on the wood floors (totally gorgeous, by the way). Meemaw and Peepaw were there to help us move in along with the Roses. The truck is unloaded fairly quick. Meemaw brought a huge bowl of veggies from the garden, and homemade bread. A few hours go by, no carpet, house is still warm.

I walked out to inspect the a/c, not having a clue what to look for, but it was obvious. It's a chunk of ice. We turn it off, call a/c people. We were done doing all we could do around 1:30 (we couldn't move into our bedrooms. Jake waited ALL DAY for carpet layers and a/c repair man.

Carpet layers arrive. Things are looking up. They take one look at the carpet that is already at the house to install and say: "It won't work." Great. A/C guy gets there - an easy fix. Jake gets home sweaty and gross.

Sunday: Our morning starts at 4 AM with Magnolia. Around 5:30, Cora rolls off of her air mattress and wakes up. I realize her diaper has failed. And we're out of diapers. I've never been so grateful for 24 hour Wal-marts. Vaughn and Tracey get there at 10:15. Vaughn brings yard stuff. The yard is looking infinitely better. We picked up glass from the yard from a broken window, television and large fish tank. The previous occupants left a mess. It is currently sitting on the side of the front lawn waiting for big trash pick up day. I can handle it because I know it is temporary. We strategically moved boxes around from room to room to get what we could set up. Dining room: check. Even though it has all of our mattresses and some boxes around. Den/study/the room for all of our books: check, with the same exception of being full of bedroom boxes and furniture. Same story in the living room. But it felt so nice to get some things done.

The highlight: Unpacking my dishes. It was better than Christmas, and maybe my birthday - combined. Oh Fiesta, you make my heart happy. And happier that all were intact. Oh, and we moved in Winston and Lucille (our washer and dryer).

We went to Holdenville to spend the night. I think I pulled 3-4 hours of interrupted sleep. After about hour 2, I realized I was getting a migraine (they happen when I don't get enough sleep). My saintly husband went and got the only medicine that helps my migraines go away, and the good news is that it is, in fact, feeling better. Jake just called the carpet people, still no crew available. So it has been 2 days, and we've not really been able to move into and live in our house. At any rate, the last four days have been a nightmare. Nothing has gone the way it was supposed to.

It's not all bad though. Our house is really cute, has a fenced backyard (that will be getting new sod on Saturday). Oh, and there are poles for a clothes line, I am going to cloth diaper Magnolia, and I think it will be fabulous to hang them out in the sun. Corner lot, cute neighborhood. We'll be able to move into our bedrooms eventually, right? We were able to stay with our friends, Ashleigh and Andrew. Ashleigh kept us fed and comfy. Vaughn made us some kick booty pancakes for dinner last night. My headache isn't making tears leak out of my eyes anymore. Good, good.

I'm missing two particular friends in Chicago. I'm pretty certain moving to Oklahoma was the right thing right now, but it doesn't make leaving friends any easier, especially ones that I don't think we had enough time with.

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