Moving Day

 It was a long day filled with excitement, sadness, happiness and a yearning for the future.

I was blessed to have breakfast with AT. Then we went to the house and loaded up the truck. We gave each other hugs, fought back tears and went on our separate ways. She’s a good kid with a good head on her shoulders and she’ll be fine.

I Drove out of TX and headed to OK to visit friends. We had a nice visit and it was on to see my family. Here’s me and my momma.

We went to our next task for the day. My little gir Beans got a new home in the country. I’m not sure how I feel about leaving her, but I’m sure she’ll be fine. Sometimes I wish I weren’t an animal person. Thank you to everyone who assisted me in trying to rehome Besns. 

Then I had a homemade dinner with my sister, brother and momma. Ended the day with birthday cake. Thank you momma! 

With that, I’m going to bed soon. Pardon the typos on the phone tonight.

DV,

JT

One

 24 hours, that’s what I’ve got left….better make the most of it.

Fold laundry, check.

Pack suitcase for OH, check.

Purchase a couple more boxes for….wait, is that the moving truck out there???? But, they never called to set up a time for Sunday!!!! Guess I better get some clothes on…

Yep, they just showed up this morning without calling yesterday. That’s okay, I was mostly ready for them. As it turns out, I severely underestimated the number of boxes I had. Price of moving cross country just went up. I’ll admit, I didn’t do my due diligence in measuring my garage full of stuff. I did after they left. I would have over estimated by just a bit had I done that. Lesson learned.

Free Qdoba, check. ( Thanks Megan , you have know idea how many free meals you’ve gotten me from Qdoba :)

Refrigerator sold, check.

Dogs bathed, check.

TX Cemetery Geocache Bronze (100) Challenge complete, check.

Fun Facts - TX Adventure Lab Completed, check.

Car washed and cleaned out,  check.

I think that’s about it. I may tidy up a bit before going to bed,  but overall it’s been a highly productive, stressful, expensive, and memorable day. Guess I’m good to officially start my vacation tomorrow.

I’ve got about 20 or so hours of driving to do this week. I’m going to need some suggestions for new music to listen to.

Let’s do this!

DV,

JT

Two

 With two days to go, I'm finishing up all of the last details. I didn't say "little" details, just details. I've found that even after packing for several weeks, there is still random stuff everywhere. For example, the laundry room. That's where you keep all the detergent, fabric softeners, stain removers, appolstry  cleaners for when the dog yaks something up on the carpet. You know, stuff like that. You can't pack all of that up until you've done your last load of laundry. Yep, that's what I did today. My last load. Then I sold the washer and dryer. 30 minutes, that's all it took. anybody want a fridge?

I had lunch with a nephew today. We enjoyed seeing each other and just talking about life in general. I'd recommend having lunch with the people you love more often. It's a good thing

Movers: They're somewhat ambiguous about when they're going to pick up my stuff. I didn't get a call from the dispatcher today, so I'm assuming that they'll be here on Monday (not tomorrow). However, as of about 11:00 today I was still on the schedule for tomorrow. Guess we'll see if it's going to be a big surprise. I'll be ready either way.

Tomorrow I'll prepare for the long drive. Get the cooler ready, clean the truck and load up whatever I can load before Monday. This'll be the last post composed on the desktop computer. It's getting packed. So here we are, coming up on 1 day before the big move. It's like a freight train headed my way. The light is shining at my front door and there's nothing I can do to stop it.

I have a feeling that the next 36 hours or so will be very bittersweet. I'm not looking forward to it, but I am.

DV,

JT

Three

 Three days to go.

Today I managed to complete the repairs needed on the house. I didn't necessarily do the repairs myself. I've got roofers and plumbers coming on Monday. Hopefully, I won't be there. I'll just pay the bill. I'm okay with that too.

The garage is packed up and all I have left to pack is my closet. Guess I should pack for OH 1st. I've also got computer stuff to do. Don't know if I'm going to get it done or not. Ultimately, all that matters is that I get my stuff loaded on the truck and drive to Cincy.

As they say, however, we're down to the wire. (I wonder where that phrase came from.) Utilities are scheduled to be turned off, the dogs have no idea what's going on, and the garage is almost full. The movers are supposed to call and confirm pickup the afternoon before they come. Nothing like just waiting around to see if someone is going to come get your stuff.

That's about it for now. Tomorrow I'll work on some computer projects and pack the closet. Oh... and sell the washer/dryer and fridge. Gotta do that too.

DV,

JT

Four

 It’s getting real now. Four days to go and I started making some minor repairs at the request of the buyer. AC is good and I’ve got roofers coming to do some very minor repairs.

The bulk of today was spent moving money from one bank to another. Making sure all of your financial affairs are in order is a bit of a hassle when moving. It’s done now.

Tomorrow, I should get confirmation from the movers about when they’ll haul all my stuff away. Guess I should start packing! ;)

I’ve started planning my travels, and I have to say, I’m getting excited about my adventures next week.

DV,

JT

Five

 Day five, I flew home after having lunch with my honeybunch. Sold an agility teeter in McKinney….far NE McKinney, found some geocaches, and came home.

It has been a whirlwind couple of days, but a couple of days that I’ll remember for a long time.

I’ve made a list for the next couple of days. We’ll see how that goes.

And with that, good night.

DV,

JT

Oh wait… I almost forgot. I open quite the can of worms by asking about a travel job in Ohio. I had no less than 42 recruiters contact me within a couple of hours!

Six

Today I woke up early and flew to Cincinnati, OH, and boy are my arms tired!

25 years ago today I married my best friend. There was no way in heck I was going to be separated for this one. I actually had this trip planned for a few weeks. I didn't tell BT I was coming, and it was going to be a big surprise. Yesterday I took the dogs to camp for a couple of days. It looks like they're having a good time.

This morning I got up early, headed to the airport and got on the plane to Cincy. I arrived at in Ohio just in time for lunch. I made my way to the passenger pick up area and  rented a Lyft to the stage door of music hall.

After going inside, I convinced security to let me in so I could surprise BT. I got her on the phone and realized  she was working from home this morning and hadn't gone into the office yet. (Okay, slight change of plans, but the surprise was still going to work.)

I headed through Washington Park to see if I could catch her. Unfortunately, I managed to get all the way to her apartment, and she still hadn't left yet. After a while, she left the apartment and I was able to keep her on the phone while I started walking to work with her. 

Eventually, I told her to look at the cute dog on her left, she got suspicious. :) That's when she finally turned around to the sound of my voice. BT was confused and happy all at the same time.

We ended up going to lunch and dinner tonight and were able to celebrate together, in the same state.

Tomorrow I'll head back to TX for a few more days then it’s moving day. This will be an anniversary to remember!

DV,

JT

Seven

 One more week and I'm out of here. 

7:00 pm

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Today was a most wonderful day, despite the heat. I was able to hang out with my little grown up daughter. She picked me up from the Toyota service department and we headed out for a tour of my old stomping grounds. I recounted all my stories of growing up. I took her by the trailer I grew up in (incidentally, our first married place to live). I had lots of stories about driving my friends around. We saw the elementary school where I got 3rd degree burns on the metal slide. We both recounted stories of Jr High PE class and everyone's awkwardness. In short, we bonded. That's what I wanted. Before leaving we stopped by the cemetery where Maw and Paw are buried. We cleaned up the place a bit, found a geocache (cemetery cache, BTW) and then headed home. 

I'm blessed that she took the time off work to come hang out with me today. It's a special day that I'll remember for a long time. We'll do it again in a week. 

Today I was able to meet the future owner of my home. He came out for the home inspection and we met him on the way out with the dogs. It's a young couple with 1 little boy and another one on the way. They'll love walking their kids to school just like we did. The home inspection is complete and hopefully everything will turn out okay.

Today happens to be BT and JT eve! I'm sure we'll share a meal together tomorrow. We do that on occasion. We've gotten quite good at the telephone hangouts. Tomorrow will be a special day. ;)

DV,

JT

Eight

 Eight days to go.

Today I woke up refreshed and ready to get stuff done. I suppose all the sleep I got yesterday was necessary and justified considering the last 13 months. This morning I made my way to get a couple of geocaches. One of which was in a very long tunnel.

Link would be proud that I attempted it, however I chickened out about a third of the way through. Link has the master sword, I do not. I'm gonna need a buddy for this one (it's almost half a mile underground). I really don't want to come up missing right before the big move. Found a couple cemetery caches and now I only need 28 more before next Monday.

I headed home to clean up and head out to lunch with a good friend. We had a great time talking about our future and how things seem to be working out well for the both of us. If I were a more social creature, I'd have a lunch like this with many more people. However, I don't do lots of people. I'm sure it's some kind of social anxiety thing, but it is what it is. I'm not too worried about changing. Just know that if you are reading this...I'd love to have lunch with you someday. Just you.

When I returned home I was able to tackle the kitchen. It's all packed. I'll be eating protein shakes, fruit and microwaved baked potatoes for the next week. Don't feel bad...I love potatoes!

After getting the kitchen finished up, it was time to mow the yard again. I'll probably have to mow a couple more times before next week. Everybody mows 2-3 times a week, right....no....just me?

Tomorrow is a day I've been looking forward to for at least a couple of months. It'll be fun! Stay tuned.

DV,

JT

Nine

 Okay, two days in a row. Not bad, JT, not bad.

I woke up this morning about 6am at the insistence of Zelda. She had to go potty. I let the dogs out and went back to bed. Let them back in and went back to bed.

Man, I really need to get up and get going....nah, back to sleep.

About 10:30 I finally made myself get up. That's pretty unusual for me. I'm naturally a morning person. Get up early, get things done for the day. After I got going, I managed to find a couple of geocaches in a some cemeteries not too far away. They aren't always at cemeteries, but I have been trying to get my Bronze award for TX Cemetery caches. I'm not sure that's going to happen. I still need 28 more before I leave. We'll see.

Made my way home, ate some lunch and took a nap. A long nap. All I know is that I've felt exhausted today. Maybe it's stress relief.

This afternoon I finally felt ready to do something productive. Realizing we had a cold front move through DFW, I decided to tackle the attic. It was only 92 degrees after all. I managed to get everything down including the file cabinet without injuring myself. That's a win!

I'll tidy up the garage a bit and we'll be ready for the home inspection on Monday. Tomorrow I'll start boxing up the remainder of the kitchen and my closet. We're getting close...

DV,

JT