The Clampetts move to Illinois

There was no black gold, aka Texas Tea. And we are far from millionaires. And frankly, the kin folk did not say move away and are mostly sad about our move to somewhere very different than Bever-lee. BUT we did move (1/2 is done, at least), and boy was it interesting. . .

The packers were the best we have had (at first) - they were very careful not to pack something they thought you might need. Jessa loved them and drew pictures of them. Spencer spent the first day (Monday) being shy and hiding under a blanket. The second day did not go quite as well. They just got tired and sort of petered out. At 9:30 PM, they were finally finished. Notice I did not say everything was packed, but they were finished. David was so glad to have them leave that we did not notice until the next day how many "things" were around.

I did the math, and at this house, we spent as much time living with boxes as without

The kids are I went to the hotel on the second day (Tuesday) to escape the battles. The TVs were packed, the DVD players were packed, the internet was off meaning no computer games, the toys were in the process of being packed or already packed, and all the outside toys had been pressure washed for the trip. So the only thing the kids had to do was pick fights with each other. Fun. OR they would ask me 27 times, "Can I ride my bike?" And I would reply, "No, it is already clean to be packed." Super fun. At the wonderful hotel, we had toys, books, TV, and NO boxes. Woo-hoo!


Unfortunately, we also had drama. They were all tucked into their bed for a much needed rest. They were watching PBS kids on the tube. They decided they wanted popcorn. Now, I had microwave popcorn in the room, but that is not what they wanted. They wanted freshly popped popcorn from the machine in the lobby. So I weighed my options. No one had on shoes (and in some cases, pants), and they were finally all situated and calm and happy. So I decided to walk down the stairs to retrieve the popcorn. Now, before you call DFACS yourself, the distance from the room to the popcorn machine was no farther apart than we would have been at home. Both of them were instructed to stay put, and they both agreed. I made the decision to not leave the little door thingy so that it was cracked for their safety. I pulled the door closed to lock it. Considering what happened next, not the best plan. . .


In the couple of minutes I was downstairs, Spencer got up, opened the door, walked out into the hall, and the door swiftly closed behind him. This should not be a huge big deal because Jessa was in there and could here him knocking, right? Wrong. She was a little booger and stayed right where she was, all tucked into bed watching Cyberchase. He panicked and started to cry. I am unclear if he knocked on another door OR if someone heard him, but when I walked up the stairs and took the left to our room, I saw a crowd of people all around some hysterical child. I thought, bless his heart, that kid has a crappy mother! Oh wait, that's MY KID! He ran toward me, still clutching a chips ahoy bag in his hands. I was so embarrassed! I could not look any of the people in the eye. I apologized, thanked them, and muttered something about me thinking they were asleep as I hurried back into the room.


Princess Jessa owned up to her part in it all. Yes, she knew he got out of bed. Yes, she knew he opened the door. No, she did not try to stop him. Yes, she knew he was locked out. Yes, she heard him knocking. No, she did not let him in. Yes, she heard him crying and upset. No, she did not remove her diva bottom from the comfort of her bed to check on him, help him, or let him in. I am not sure when I have been more mad at her! She has since apologized, but I may never get the image of me walking into that hotel room, holding my sobbing son to find her chillin' in the bed. And social services never called, so I guess the nice people at the hotel did not think I was as terrible as I felt like I was. Oh, and I did not let Jessa have any popcorn, darn it.


The truck showed up first thing Wednesday to load us up. They already had 25% of the truck full, and we were slated to take up the remaining 75%. I said early in the day to David, "They are not going to make it." He told me they would. As the day wore on, David began to doubt, too. But the truck driver and his crew were confident. At about 5:30 PM, they were almost out of truck. I was starting to sweat a little. The truck drivers wife told me not to worry that they had a tailgate that they could load the outdoor stuff on. I relaxed a little. And they did make it, but it was in a way I never heard nor could I have predicted.


At 6:3o PM, David signed all the paperwork, and they were finished. They had a bunch of our stuff on a plywood shelf on the back of the truck. David said that they had a tent-ish, tarp-ish dome thing that could go over our belongings. They did not use this. Instead, they used plastic wrap. It was basically a huge roll on Saran Wrap. They did the best they could to cover everything. It was mostly all outside stuff, so I guess it will be OK. They also placed some book boxes IN THE CAB with them! They even slid some things under the truck where they store their hand trucks and ladders. He assured me that they would make it work, and by golly, they did.

So I drove away from our 7th home, with this image in my head. The only thing missing is granny on the top of the truck in a rocker. . .