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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

A long trip

Well, we're on our new journey! The kids, dog, and I made the long drive from the DC area to Houston, TX. Hubby is still up there finishing the house to clear housing then he'll be on his way down. We knew it would be much easier if the kids and dog weren't there during all the packing and loading. I also knew, though, that making that trip alone would not be easy either! I prayed a lot, and overall I was surprised at how well it went! There were definitely crazy moments, but overall it was OK!

Part 1: Ft Belvoir to Greenville, SC. The first day was definitely the worst as far as the driving was concerned. B was playing with hubby before we left and hubby accidentally poked B's eye. Well B didn't do well with that and screamed A LOT. Hubby told him it would be better at night and immediately when the sun went down he said he was fine. Yes, he went from a crying, screaming wreck to perfectly fine within minutes. You think we would know better. Everything is so technical for him, so if you say something like it will be better by a certain time that is exactly what he'll believe. I'm pretty sure it was feeling better within a couple of hours, but at least he used it as an excuse to keep his eyes closed which resulted in much nap time for him! Haha The anxious huge pup did better than I expected! She barked at people but was responsive to correction. What a refreshing response that was!

Part 2: Day 2 didn't start as planned because I was hoping to get together with friends in Greenville, but it didn't work out. I arrived too late the night before due to B's screaming episodes and some traffic due to an accident and then the morning of Day 2 didn't work. So we headed out a little earlier to visit a good friend from high school in Atlanta. The princess lost the key card on our way to the car at which point I realized my car keys were still in the room but I couldn't get in! After the maid opened it for me I got my car keys but still couldn't find the key card. After looking for what felt like forever they finally told me to just not worry about it! Phew! The beast (our mastiff) got to play with my friend's dogs in GA, which was SO good for her! The princess was her normal, dramatic whiny self and feel asleep within minutes of leaving my friend's house! My goal was to make it to Mobile, Alabama, but I wasn't sure I could. At that point, though, the drive was going so well that I DID make it! I called the Motel 6s there since our first night at the Motel 6 went so well. The first one was sold out, so on to the next one. We got a room - on the 2nd floor. WOW what an experience! By then I was tired, but I knew I would have to get kids, dog, and bags into the room in one trip. I put moose-lion in the stroller, gave B and princess each one bag and strapped the rest on my arm and pulled the rolling tote, which became unbalanced in the car so it kept tipping over. So here I am telling the dog to not bark, walking with 2 tired kids, and pushing another tired kid with 4 other bags on my arm. I'm tripping over the leash and stroller as the bags keep slipping down my arm trying to keep the older 2 kids to focus. Getting on the elevator was probably extremely amusing for all the people that were watching this train wreck. I finally get the stroller in and coax the beast in, and B and princess just stand OUT of the elevator just looking at me! Get in here! I dropped the bags immediately after getting off the elevator so I could get beast and kids into the room. When I turn back toward the room after picking up the bags I see the beast just walking out of the room! Luckily she's a good dog, so she just came back. I finally get settled and tend to the now screaming moose-lion. All 3 kids suddenly got new bursts of energy and were up until midnight.

Part 3: I decided to condense bags for the trip back to the car. I put mooselion in the Beco on my back, put 2 bags in the stroller, and had each kid carry a bag. That worked much better! Of course on our way to the car we had to take the long way around to avoid a smoker because we're all allergic and didn't want to deal with allergies on top of everything else! Then B dumped the stroller accidentally, and then a couple of little dogs saw the beast and started barking at her getting her riled up! The people freaked because they thought she was going to eat their dogs or something! LOL Yet she got into the car nicely as they're still fighting with their yappy little dogs! Haha We got back on the road and had a smooth drive to Houston! :-)

That's the summary of the drive down! Definitely never a dull moment, but even the stuff that was stressful really is funny now! Haha More stress has come with finding a place for the beast because we knew we couldn't bring her here to my grandparents' because of their dogs but I'm SO grateful one of our friends is able to keep her at their house while we're in Houston! We still haven't found housing near Fort Hood yet, so please pray that we find something quickly!


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