We Made It!!!!

A little out of order, but some pictures of our packing/moving/saying goodbyes and even some from my Master's completion celebration lunch (photoshop Kylee's face in there...she was there in spirit).

Moving Day 3

We stopped at a Walmart to purchase a new portable DVD player, this time with a hanging traveling case to prevent further misshaps. We made it all the way to Des Moines and got to see my good friend James Snideman! He looked great and seems to be doing well. It was good to see him, I'm sure my momma Salt was a little jealous!

Moving Day 2

Well, we made it with few misshaps, other than the portable DVD player fell and broke. OH NO! What to do with Monster's Inc.? Well, this day only involved 3 hours of driving, in which Ally slept. We drove into Denver, spent a fun time with Matthew and Debbie (Debbie did Ally's hair...it was so cute. If her whole nursing thing doesn't work out maybe she can move her and become Ally's personal stylist). Anyway, we got to see my lovely Laura Chorak Milroy who insanely wants to continue school for about 4 more years. Of course, when she is finished, she can make about 200K working 2 days a week. Not too shabby.

Day One

Driving from Tucson to Wisconsin is a daunting task. Especially since Matt worries too much about me driving and insists on doing all the driving himself. I feel bad that I can't help, but he has been amazing at getting us this far.

Day One:
We overslept. Of course. But we did end up getting on the road by 7:30. Not too bad. I had called a vet earlier in the week to see what they suggested for taking cats on a long ride like this, and she said just to give them children's benadryl. If something stronger was needed, we would have to bring them in and I figured that benadryl knocks most people out, so we should be fine. Well, we weren't. The cats wouldn't take it. I'm taking foaming at the mouth spitting it out. Too late to go to the vet so we just put them in their kennels with a towel over them and took off. Later in the day we found Manny with a bloody nose because he had been scraping it on the side of the kennel. So Lola got put in the metal cage and Manny into the soft case.

Ally, however, did great, which was a relief. Of course, we had to watch Monsters, Inc. about 27 times. Unfortunately, due to the late start, we didn't quite make it to Denver as planned. Not to mention the fact that Matt was rocking in his seat and making me very nervous near the end. So we stopped in Raton, NM.

Pre-Moving Day

Well, Sunday began with most of the things loaded into the truck. There were a few things still left in the house and then of course wicked crazy cleaning to finish. I already had Ally's room done and the bathroom, but we still had the bedroom to finish and the front room to shampoo and the dreaded kitchen.
Sometimes when there are lots of things to do, I find the best strategy is to take a nap. OK, not the best strategy, but when I'm feeling overwhelmed it's what I do. Matt woke me up at about 5:30 and told me that my friend Julie was coming over at 6:00 to help clean. Normally, we might be too proud to accept help, but we really needed it because everytime we left the room to clean, Ally would cry for attention. Julie came over to help and took Ally over to her house to play with her kids and we got the kitchen all finished. Not to mention that while we were in the kitchen, Danny walks in and asks, "what can I clean?" (This is the same guy who orchestrated the packing of the Penske truck). We didn't call him, he just showed up to make sure we weren't up all night cleaning and then too tired to drive. So he helped Matt shampoo the carpet and we got the house finished.
We have been very blessed with great friends in Tucson, and we will miss them all.

Pre-Pre-Moving Day

Saturday morning our friends arrived at 8 am to begin loading the truck. One of our good friends used to work for a moving company and his help and direction were greatly appeciated...I don't think that we could have fit all our stuff on the truck otherwise. But minus a lawnmower and a few laundry hampers, we were able to get all things together. Of course, not without a few hiccups:
1. Matt had turned in a jacket to have the zipper fixed earlier in the week and was told it would be ready on Saturday. He went to pick it up and found it sitting in the same condition he left it in. They told him they didn't have time to buy a zipper. So, Matt heads over to Walmart to buy a zipper for them. They manage to get the jacket done in time and then end up charging him more than what they had quoted. Even though he bought the zipper! So he told them he wasn't going to pay for it, and grabbed the jacket to leave. The woman came around the corner and grabbed him by the arm and told him he wasn't leaving. So he paid with the credit card and then called and cancelled the payment.
2. After leaving the drycleaners, he called me to tell me about it. Followed by "Hold on. I think I'm getting pulled over." And then five minutes later he calls me back, "I got a ticket."

So minus a lawnmower, the cost of a zipper, and of course, the up-coming cost of Defensive Driving, we're doing alright.