Monday, September 29, 2008

As I would say to my dear friend, Tori, "Oh my stars and whiskers, has it really been that long since I have blogged?!" So much has happened since I last posted it is hard to know where to begin. Hmm. Dan home from school in early May (yipee!!), Vacation Bible School in June, a 21st wedding anniversary in July, and then came August. Let's see if I can map this out for you:

August 22 Mark goes to Birmingham for a job interview.

August 25 Mark gets a call with a job offer.

August 26 Mark turns in notice at Pitney.

August 27-28 We begin getting ready for a yard sale.

August 29 We travel to Birmingham en famille to look for a new home.

August 31 We find an apartment!

September 1 Travel back to Augusta to finish getting ready for a yard sale.

September 3 Dan and I have an unexpected trip to New York City via Amtrak.

September 5 Dan and I leave New York 1 hour before Amtrak closes all further rail service south from NYC due to Hurricane Hanna.

September 6 Dan and I arrive home as the first yard sale buyers arrives in the driveway....6 hours of sleep since the morning of the third....no big deal!

September 7 Last day at Grace.

September 8-9 Packing and Mark's last days at Pitney.

September 10 Leave for Birmingham via the Atlanta Ikea store to buy a bed. First night in our new home.

September 11 Mark leaves for Tres Dias weekend here in the 'Ham, Dan and I hang out.

September 15 Up early and back to Augusta for a marathon packing session.

September 17 Mark arrives with the moving van, the piano movers come to load the piano, the truck gets loaded. And loaded. And loaded. Virginia does as much cleaning as she can at the old home.

September 18 After goodbyes to all the family, off we go to Birmingham with a full truck, a full car, and 2 VERY unhappy kitties. Don't ask about the truck stop and Baby Boo (the cat), just know that we do still have her and despite her best efforts, she was not injured. Arrive in Birmingham minutes before brother Robert shows up with 5 of his crew to help us unload; they are all heroes in my book!

September 19 The truck in almost all unloaded, a space has been cleared out in the living room and the piano man arrives to unload the piano and set it up for us. After he leaves and I look around at the boxes piled high and very little space to move throughout the apartment, I am close to a little melt down. Mark and Dan to the rescue! By bed time significant progress has been made. And we have realized that a lot of "stuff" we thought we needed, we really don't need after all.

September 22 After a weekend of intensive unpacking, Mark starts his new job and comes home happy!

So Mark has had a week and a day of the new job and I have had about 2 weeks of living in the new home. Apartment living is different. The cats are trying to get used to the noise of the upstairs neighbors (who have a yippy little dog). It's not bad at all, but we do hear them walking around sometimes. We never hear voices or television, or anything and in general all our neighbors seem pretty quiet. I'm happy with the set up, the pool is still open and will be as long as it stays this warm (Yay!). We are finding fun places to go and things to do and most importantly, I found the Hoover Library and got (drum-roll please) my very own library card. The essentials are accomplished!
I'll try to get some pictures of the apartment, the area, etc. as soon as I can. Don't tell Nana Liz, but I have BIG plans for Thursday. Does anyone else love the zoo as much as Moses and I do?