Moving Is Not for the Faint of Heart

We moved.  Over two weeks ago.   Moving day was one of the worst, most stressful days ever during which I shed more tears than I care to admit.  Due to certain cicumstances (read: lots of things going terribly wrong), I had to put on my big girl pants and drive the moving truck all by my lonesome.  Without directions (again, lots of things, terribly wrong).

And it ended like this: 

For the record, I was not getting gas.  For the record, I just needed a place to turn around (I was lost & had just figured out where I needed to go) and this not-yet-open-to-the-public gas station looked like my best bet.  I suck at turning moving trucks around.  Apparently.  For the record, several contractors were angry with me.  For the record, my husband is a contractor so I understood completely how I was "setting them back" and was in no need of guilt trips.  But bawling your eyes out in front of a superintendent apparently disarms him.  (I despise crying in front of people, a fact that made me cry all the harder.) And for the record, no, I still don't know if our insurance is covering it.

So this is one of the many reasons you haven't heard from me lately.  It's been a long, slow road.  And to be really honest, I haven't felt like "talking" about it on here.  Looking at that photo still makes my stomach do flip-flops.  Suffice it to say that it was a very, very bad day.  Someday, when it strikes me as more humorous, I might sit down and chronicle our moving misadventure...but today is not that day.

Unlike Princess, Smooch wasn't adjusting well to the move either.  Thankfully she has since moved past the tantrums, scratching, hitting, screaming, and whining and is back to her cheery self.  But for days, we looked something like this, perhaps minus my smile:

We're as unpacked as I dare to be considering we're likely moving again in the Spring.  (Lord, help us.)  All remaining boxes & their contents have been shoved into the garage for condensing, selling, donating, etc.  We have too much stuff.  How do I tell people I want coal in my stocking this year? 

(28 weeks)

Things have since settled down, and we've been able to enjoy a little bit of exploring in our new city.  I now know where to buy grass-fed beef, the location of our nearest Starbucks and the ever-important Hobby Lobby.  We also discovered a free pumpkin patch (of the non-farm variety) down the road a few miles from our house.     

We also have a little tree in our front yard with bright red Autumn leaves, in front of which we took my 30-week belly shot.   Because sometimes, especially when it feels like everything is falling apart, it's all about the joy you can glean from the smallest details in life, clinging to an attitude of gratefulness.  

Some of the many things I have been grateful for these past couple of weeks, are visits from family and unexpected phone calls from friends just wanting to check in on us.   Also, ill-fitting princess dresses and butterfly costumes, a husband who has shown an exceptional amount of compassion, unexpected toddler kisses, and the will to put my feet on the ground and start all over building our lives in a new place...again...when sometimes I'd rather conquer tasks at home and feel lonely because it's easier.
 

Wish me luck.  It's time to put on my big girl pants again: my first MOPS meeting is tomorrow, and I don't like social butterfly stuff. ;-)