Lessons in Life

Okay. I didn't get the pictures up yet. I'm sorry. Took a lot, but I've been so busy elsewhere. #3 daughter's moving back home from school till she locates a real, full-time job. Yay! We're very pleased that she's finally graduated.

We settled on a date to drive the four hours to her apartment, retrieve her stuff, and bring it home. I called around to locate a moving truck to rent, settled on one and made a reservation for "the" date, 5/23/08. A Saturday. It was about two weeks prior to the moving date. Good planning, right? Everyone in town (where she lives) was finished with school at least for the summer and moving. So far so good.

As the moving day approached, I began imagining said rented truck breaking down--and on a weekend, 200 miles from home that might not be such a good idea. So, I started praying that whatever truck we got wouldn't break down. Nothing wrong with that, right?

Husband decided to take off the Friday prior to the move so we could go down, enjoy a celebratory dinner out with #3 daughter, etc. Then #1 daughter had an activity in the same city as #3 daughter lives and asked if she could spend Friday night as well. This apartment is tiny. The whole thing could probably fit in our living room here. And our living room isn't huge. It's large, but not excessively so.

So we worked out the details. Friday came. Husband and I left to wend our way south with happy thoughts of getting the job done quickly--not effortlessly. (She inherited a hide-a-bed couch from her grandparents and it's no picnic to move that sucker, let me tell you!) She doesn't have much furniture to speak of, but she has lots of STUFF--clothes, in particular.

Ten minutes into the drive south on Friday we get a call on the cell phone. "Mom," #1 and only son said, "The truck rental people just called. You might want to call them." Fear and dread filled my previously happy countenance. "Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?" I carefully asked.

#1 son explained that THE 10' truck we reserved had broken down and there were NO OTHER 10' trucks available. However, they had a 26' truck we could have for the same price. In my mind I saw this picture: We'd already discussed, my husband and I, the fact that our daughter's belongings would not even fill the 10 footer, so why in the world would we want a 26' truck where nothing could be secured, not to mention the potential for excessive gasoline usage, difficulty in manuverability, etc.? So, what to do.

I called the very nice truck rental folks who told me they also had two other trucks broken down and since it was Memorial Day Weekend, they had no mechanics to repair said breakdowns or future breakdowns that might occur over that 3 day period. What fun. Why plan ahead?, you may ask.

With little faith of finding a replacement among the other brands of rental trucks, I dutifully called and checked. The resounding response: "We're booked solid for the next two-and-a-half weeks." So, after much aggravation, several phone calls, discussion and all, we decided to call my husband's brother who has a pick-up with a slightly longer bed than our own. He wasn't keen on the adventure, but he's ALWAYS most kind and generous with helping us when he can. He and my husband have no other siblings, and their parents are no longer living. He lives about 3 hours drive from us, but also about 4 hours drive from our daughter's place.

He met us Saturday morning at her place. 4 husky, young, male church friends of #3 girls' also showed up about the same time to help load the heavy stuff--meaning primarily the couch. They were great and helped get another piece of furniture and some boxes loaded as well. My husband, his brother and I all managed to get to our house and unload--with some help from a couple of other young, husky, male church friends here.

Well, Monday this week, #1 son and I drove back down, spent the night and THOUGHT/HOPED--we could load the rest of the furniture and boxes left, except for daughter's things she needed while she finished up her commitment at work and the cleaning of her apartment that she'd bring when she drives home later this week.

Well, the plan was good, but didn't quite work out. Again. Bed frame and headboard didn't fit. We loaded all we could manage and came home once more. I'll go back--sans the truck bed lid--and make a final, final trip down and back later this week. Oh, the gas prices! Not to mention, I'm getting tired! I don't think I have one foot in the grave just yet, but I'm just not used to working this hard. (Maybe if I continue . . . I'll get better at it? Hmmmmm. Exercise. Yes. That's probably what I need. Ooooh. Ouch. Snap. Crackle. Pop. Yeah, that's the ticket!)