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April 29, 2006
Relo: Day 2
8:45 (mile 525) We get on the road. Katie falls asleep almost immediately.
10:30 (mile 653) We enter Alabama. The terrain instantly looks different, less mountainous.
10:50 (mile 673) We have to stop for gas. Katie wakes up. As we drive into Fort Payne for lunch, I realize we are fulfilling a lifelong dream of mine. We have found the Sock Capitol of the world! We ate at Arby's. Pricey, but good. Next time, I'll make sure to ask for no mustard. Damn that stuff was spicy! Oh, and the kids sandwich was just like mine, but with the crusts cut off, no mayo, mustard, lettuce or tomato. Kinda sad, actually.
12:00 We get back on the road. It's like we can't stop for less than an hour.
1:00 (mile 750) Halfway!
1:40/12:40 (mile 800) I notice that the time has changed. Not really sure where.
2:00/1:00 (mile 826) We stop for snacks and get some gas. I get to recover the chicken that has been bock bocking every time we hit a bump. There were a lot of bumps. I achieve a new level of white trash by breastfeeding ouside the gas station, sitting on the ground leaning on the building and feeding Jamie M&M's.
2:35/1:35 Back on the road. Both girls falls asleep. I'm in heaven, aside from the fact that I can't feel my ass.
3:35/2:35 (mile 900) We enter Mississippi.
5:40 (mile 1055) We hit the Mississippi River, and enter Louisiana.
6:30/5:30 (mile 1095) I actually price checked a couple hotels. Ok, two, and they're right next to each other. We're socked in and waiting for Rex to catch up, and for the sugar to wear off so I get hungry.
Posted by me at 10:01 PM | Comments (0)
Relo: Night 1
Sucked.
Thankfully, Rex got my voicemail and met up with us at the motel. If nothing else, it saved us from eating breakfast bars and fruit roll-ups, because there was no was I was going to put the kids back in the can to pick up dinner.
For some reason, though, I couldn't sleep. Neither could Jamie. While I didn't get any feet in my face, she spent some time rolling and playing and occasionally talking. And Katie, well, she screamed herself to sleep.
One of the cats knocked over the litter box.
Bubba knocked the cooler off the desk.
Katie woke up (duh). I nursed her back to sleep.
Katie woke up early and wasn't having any of our efforts to put her back to sleep. By now, Jamie is out COLD. She slept through Rex's shower, and then I woke her up so she could shower with me. Katie gave her a big hug. Jamie gave her a big hug and said, "Wake up, sleephead!"
And so we started Day 2.
Posted by me at 9:51 PM | Comments (0)
Relo: Day 1
10:45 (mile 0) We hit the road. I'm becoming quite skilled at driving while crying. Katie immediately falls asleep. Jamie talks for literally 45 minutes straight.
12:00 (mile 100) Jamie has to pee, so we stop at BK for lunch. We go before we eat, then after Jamie says she has to poop. She doesn't.
1:00 Back on the road.
1:35 (mile 140) Jamie says she has to pee again. I ask her to hold it.
1:50 (mile 157) Katie is so bored she's already eating her toes. Jamie tells me she still needs the potty.
2:18 (mile 187) Jamie tells me every now and then that she still needs to potty, so I stop and she goes on her potty on the side of the road. She really did have to go!
(mile 288) We stop for gas and munchies, but mostly to give the kids a break. I stop at an exit that has just one gas station, and the grassy patch there is coated with trash. We sit on a small patch of recently poured cement that looks clean except for a couple pieces of gum.
4:30 Back on the road.
5:20 (mile 355) I've been passing crackers back to Katie through Jamie. I have no idea what she's doing with them, but they keep disappearing. She screams for a little while, then falls asleep.
5:40 (mile 374) Jamie succumbs to sleep. Ahhh, peace.
6:00 (mile 401) We enter Tennessee.
6:14 (mile 416) We pass our first Sonic!
7:00 (mile 480) Katie wakes, screams, goes back to sleep, repeat. I start looking for a hotel. I have no cell signal, so I can't reach Rex to tell him where I'm stopping.
7:40 (mile 520) I can't take the screaming anymore. I pull into a Motel 6 and use their phone to try to get Rex. The best I can do is a vm on his work phone, and hope he checks it.
8:15 I'm nursing Katie. There's a knock at the door. Thank god, Rex got the vm!
Posted by me at 9:50 PM | Comments (0)
April 22, 2006
Still
Did you know you could call to inititate electric service at 11 at night? You don't get the best customer service rep in the world, but it can be done.
The truck is packed. We still have to load up the car we're towing and the van tomorrow morning, and then we're outta here.
It still doesn't feel real.
I still can't believe we don't live here anymore.
I still can't believe all that I'm voluntarily giving up.
Posted by me at 9:47 PM | Comments (0)
April 21, 2006
The house is totally, officially, technically ours!
The money has all gone through. All the paperwork is complete.
On to the important part - internet access!
I called today to set up cable and cable modem. We knew it wasn't going to be cheap, even with their introductory rate. We used to pay right around $100 for both services (and that was just basic digital cable, no frills). It was $85 for the first 6 months, then goes up to the regular rate of $95. Whew! Then he told me that he since we were installing both, he would give me 50% off of the internet installation. It would only be $50! Add that to the $42.95 they wanted to install the cable, and I told him i was going to check out DSL.
Because Rex works for SBC/AT&T and we're actually going to be living in an area they provide servce to, we're eligible for a discount. We weren't sure exactly how much the discount was, we weren't all that excited. I called and found out that they cover everything except the taxes for a phone line and the DSL! And we'll get a small discount on Dish Network, too.
What I didn't manage to do was get the electric turned on. I wonder if they work on the weekends...
Posted by me at 9:44 PM | Comments (0)
April 20, 2006
Almost ready to roll
We finally got the corrected HUD today, signed it, faxed it and overnighted it with a cashier's check. As soon as the mortgage company transfers their funds and ours are received, we're set.
I've started changing addresses. I saved my list from when we moved up here, so hopefully I won't miss too many.
I've set up for the gas and water/sewer/trash to be transferred to us. We've decided to get cable and a cable modem. I'll call them tomorrow to get installation set up. We still need to pick an electric company and get that set up tomorrow as well.
I ordered the washer, dryer and fridge yesterday. They should be delivered Wednesday.
I've spent the last week going to activities for the last time, saying goodbye.
This still doesn't feel quite real.
Posted by me at 10:03 PM | Comments (0)
April 18, 2006
I'm doing a little dance in my chair
We accidently closed on our house a day early.
Maybe I should start a little farther back.
By Monday, we still hadn't heard anything about closing. No paperwork, no calls from the title company giving us a time and place, no contact information information for the people who would know these things.
Today, we started making more calls to see what was going on. Up until this morning, our realtor wasn't even sure we would be able to close tomorrow because the mortgage company had gotten a copy of our contract so late.
By this afternoon, we knew we were going to be able to close tomorrow. The title company was going to email the paperwork to the notary company either today or tomorrow, and the notary would contact us.
At this point, I realized I hadn't transferred out down payment from my money market to our checking account. Oops. I got that done about 10 minutes before the market closed. With any luck, the funds will be available tomorrow. Not that big a deal, since we don't need the keys in the next couple days anyway.
While we were eating dinner, I got a voicemail from the notary. She could meet us for the closing tonight between 7 and 8. Huh? I called the realtor to see if that was ok. We called the mortgage company to see if it was ok with them. We accepted the appointment.
The only flaw in this deal is that the HUD statement has an error that no one was acailable to fix tonight. Since it isn't a form that needs to be notarized, we'll get the corrected copy tomorrow, sign it and send it in.
We own a house!
Posted by me at 9:58 PM | Comments (0)
April 17, 2006
It'll all come out in the wash, right?
We looked at refrigerators, washers and dryers today. Looks like we can go ahead and order them up here and have them delivered in Texas for basically nothing. I think I'm going to do that.
We made a decision on the fridge. It wasn't all that difficult. The washer was a little more complicated, but once we decided to get it at Sear's to combine delivery charges, it narrowed the choices significantly without costing us more dough. The dryer, though, that's giving me fits.
I'd *like* the washer and dryer to match, but I don't feel the need to spend a couple extra hundred dollars to make that happen. But the list of dryers to choose from is long, and relatively undifferentiated, except by price. I wonder how much it really matters.
I think I'm going to make that decision tomorrow!
Posted by me at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)
April 16, 2006
Packety packety
Well, we didn't make it to Easter, but we did get a buttload of packing done. I guess I'll have to settle for that. Most of the stuff in the basement is packed. I didn't intend to get much of the upstairs done, but I needed crap to finish off boxes, so I took what I could. Then I got motivated and packed a few more boxes worth of stuff that we won't be using for the next week.
There's still a lot of stuff, but most of it is still in use. Plus, I still have a week to pack and organize. Even better, Rex is home all week. Well, working, but here.
We leave in a week.
Posted by me at 10:26 PM | Comments (0)
April 15, 2006
Who needs to pack?
I need to pack!
I've gotten all of two more boxes packed. It's getting close to crunch time.
Tomorrow, my dad is taking the girls to my aunt's house for Easter with his family. Rex and I will be staying home to pack. Byt tomorrow evening, we need to have pretty much everything in the basement packed, and as much as the stuff upstairs done as we can get away with.
I really want to be able to go with the girls. I want to see them hunt eggs again with my cousin's kids. I want to say goodbye to my family.
There's just not enough time to do everything.
Posted by me at 8:33 PM | Comments (0)
April 11, 2006
Slam dunk
There are a lot of days I feel sort of sheepish about moving back to the exact same town we left a year and a half ago.
Today is not one of them.
Katie will be due for her one year well check two weeks after we get back to Texas, and I already have an appointment with a pediatrician I know and like. She's not taking new patients, but since she remembered Jamie, she was willing to take Katie on as well.
Posted by me at 9:18 PM | Comments (0)
April 8, 2006
Get to work!
Got the Inspection Report on the perfect house today. It's not so perfect. The good news is, they're obligated to fix a lot of it, and if they don't do it to our satisfaction, I believe we have a warranty so I can make them keep coming back until they do it right, even after we close. They need to get started soon, though, since we're supposed to close in 11 days.
And move in two weeks. I've gotten exactly one box packed in the last week. I need to get on that. Rex will be home early Friday morning, which means that I need to pack my ass off from Friday afternoon through Sunday. I may even send Rex and the girls off to celebrate Easter with my dad's side of the family, although I really want to go too! And I sort of hate to have to spend a holiday alone instead of with my girls, even if it isn't one the biggies in our family.
I guess I need to get on the phone and get the realtor moving on the builder. I'd like for them to finish as many of the needed repairs as possible before I'm moved into the house and have to sit around waiting for workmen.
Posted by me at 2:29 PM | Comments (0)
April 5, 2006
This time we're sure. I think.
I received the contracts for the perfect house today. Rex has already left for New Mexico again, so I signed them and the FedExed them to him. Thirty-five freaking dollars! Eh, well, compared the the price of the house, that's not even chicken feed.
Still, the things I could do with $35. Yes, I'm a cheapskate.
So, the whole thing about opting out of one house and offering on the perfect house. I guess I haven't really told that story yet.
We called Wally the salesguy back Monday to see if they had moved any on the price. They came down a bit, and we came up some, and we had a deal. The rest of the evening was spent in a flurry of phonecalls to the realtor, the mortgage company and to some friends and family, letting everyone in on the change.
Here's the rundown on what we lost in the deal:
Hmm. That was less than i was thinking. I wonder if I've blocked something out of my mind already. We thought we were going to lose the application/appraisal fee, but since the appraisal hadn't actually happened, I think we'll be able to transfer that to the new house.
Closing should still be on or around April 19th, so the the truck rental is still on.
Posted by me at 10:15 PM | Comments (0)
April 3, 2006
Everything was going so smoothly
I reserved a truck for out move this morning! We're set to pack up and go on the 22nd. The last time we moved, Penske was cheaper, and Rex loved the truck cause it was newish and diesel. I figured I'd go ahead and check U-Haul prices again, just to see.
U-Haul: 6 days, 1623 miles, 26' truck - $2201 and they said we could tow Rex's Scion xA
Penske: 7 days, unlimited miles, 26' truck - $1385 plus $365 for a car trailer
Yeah, I went with Penske.
Then we made abother bid for the perfect house, and opted out of our current contract!
We're a bit confused, too.
I'll post a bit more about that tomorrow when we shake out all the details. Shame we couldn't manage to make this decision last week!
Posted by me at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)
April 2, 2006
Still holding out hope. For what, I'm not sure
I caved in and called Wally.
The perfect house is still for sale. I didn't ask what his price was now, and I didn't tell himi who I was. Just a quick call to find out if it was still available.
I'm back to being torn.
We haven't heard back if the seller's of our actual house if they have accepted the repairs we've asked for. Of course, we just faxed the contract addendum in today, so that's no big shock. We still have a few days left on our option perioed to back out, and I'm still not sure which way I'm leaning.
Posted by me at 8:34 PM | Comments (0)
April 1, 2006
Wishful thinking
We finally got the inspection report today. No major problems, although there are plenty of little ones. Rex and I just finished going through the list to decide which items we felt needed to be repaired. The list seems pretty long, although we left plenty of things off of it.
Part of me hoped that there would be something major wrong with the house so that we could take another crack at the perfect house. I'd try anyway, except that at this point we've sunk about $1,000 in fees and such into "our" house. The good news is that I'm less disappointed with the house we got. I'm starting to try to decorate and repair it in my head, although that's hard, since i can't remember a lot of the details.
I've emailed our list of repairs to our realtor. She negotiates them from here. I believe that the mortgage company has ordered the appraisal. Rex and I have started hammering out the details of the actual move: who will be around to help us load and unload the truck, how we're going to drive down with the girls, where we're going to sleep and what we'll eat our first night or two in the house.
It's all a bit overwhelming right now, and I suspect there are going to be some really crappy days ahead. In the end, though, I bet it will all work out!
Posted by me at 9:44 PM | Comments (0)