Part the first: In which we make the familiar trek from Miami to Grandma Sue's house in Land O Lakes.
No wait, back up. In which the movers come and take away all our stuff to Albuquerque. Miraculously it didn't rain that day, as it had poured on the original day we were scheduled to load.
I could go farther back, to when Sue and James came to my resue and helped me pack, but then I might keep backing up and never finish this. I am depending on you all to remind me of holes to fill in this narrative - that's what comments are for, right?
Christine, our lovely and dedicated babysitter, deserves a medal. We picked her up at 7:30 AM and dropped her off at about 7:30 PM. She rocked and rolled for 12 hours straight to entertain and distract Sonnie and Xman without any significant break in the action, not even a nap.
I love that girl. Couldn't pay her what she was worth. Thanks, Christine! That left me free to keep an eye on the movers and answer any questions, etc. Also allowed me to do the majority of cleaning after the movers left so we could split the next morning early.... which didn't quite happen due to our landlord's cellphone snafu (he lost it, and we only had each other's cellphone numbers for contact info, hahahaha, not funny).
The next morning I loaded up the car while Sonnie fretted. Finally, she snapped: "NO! MORE! PACKING! I DON'T WANT TO MOVE! I JUST WANT TO GO BACK TO OUR REAL HOME!"
Note: I totally agree with you on that one, girl.
Bad Mommy Moment: She leaned on the babygate I had up so they could look out the door and see me loading, and knocked it over. I was trying to get the car loaded so we could GO, we were all beyond our specified tolerances. Instead of comforting her wails I yelled. Really yelled. Sorry, girlfriend. Not proud of that.
Finally hooked up with the landlord at noonish, gave him his keys, and started to back out the driveway. When I realized I left a cooler bag of sippy cups in the fridge, which I didn't want to replace. Of course he was marking his territory, I mean visiting his long lost restroom and didn't hear the doorbell or my frantic knocking at both doors while kids screamed in car (please don't report me)... Finally, got the cooler bag and backed out of the driveway. Sigh. Bathed in sweat and tears. And realized the gas tank was empty. Gaaaaaah! But easily remedied and FINALLY on our way out of town. Wheeeeeee!
A bit of luck - still no rain, only a few sprinkles on the way up. Bye Alligator Alley. Bye McDonald's at exits 101 and 170. I will miss these things, amazingly. I will NOT miss the last part of the journey, since we no longer take 275/St. Petersburg to get to our Tampa house, instead taking 75 all the way up to Land O Lakes.
Ah, sweet relief pulling into the driveway of Grandma Sue's and Mr. James's house. Little did we realize an unwelcome guest rode with us.
