Fiasco-ville

Moving sucks! Who knew? People kept asking us, "so are you all packed?" Wondering why they asked such a question we replied "About halfway." We thought, we have plenty of time (this was on Sunday). Apparently our house hides things well because our goods just seemed to keep flowing out of the nooks and crannies. From Monday morning to Wednesday afternoon it was the never-ending story. Many emotions and events were intermingled with runs to Wally for more bubble wrap and errands that just needed to be done before leaving the state. It even came to Tanner saying he was about to commit mover's suicide.

Tuesday morning we stopped off at U-haul to pick up our monster truck. They brought the truck around the corner and let's just say it wasn't even close to "monster." My eyes got big and I told Tanner that I thought we would never fit our life in that tiny truck. He looked a little weary but told me that you can always squish more into these moving trucks than it seems. So, off we went to begin the heavy lifting (well Tanner anyway). Thank goodness Tanner has such good friends because I am of no use when it comes to heavy lifting. These muscles are purely for looks. Ryan & Derek came over to help and it went pretty smooth until they began to doubt that the truck was going to allow everything to enter. Before I knew it Tanner started pulling me outside to ask me if I could part with our couches...our spare beds...all the while the truck was becoming eerily full and boxes were still being filled inside the house. Let's just say that it got to the point where I was coming to terms with leaving anything and everything just so Tanner could get on the road.

It started getting dark and Tanner was sending everyone home. Saying that the two of us would just continue packing the innards and everyone could come back in the morning and yeah...that's where we didn't know what in the world we were going to do...we had a full truck that took hours of work but a bunch of stuff still left in the house and garage. After we saw the tail-lights of the last person fade into the distance Tanner took some initiative and decided that we must have a bigger truck and began unloading. He came inside pouring sweat while I was busy trying to cut tape with my teeth and said he was done. What the? He unloaded the entire 14 foot truck by himself? It turns out the neighbor saw him struggling and came over to help. And that was that.

We went to sleep and woke up to Groundhog's day. Trial and error taught us that we needed a much larger truck. Tanner's friends and my parents came over to relive the previous day (thank goodness). I don't think Tanner will ever acknowledge that this event ever happened so this may be the only record.

My mom wondered why we were so calm during all of this...it was because we were so naive to the whole ordeal. Let's just say I never want to pack, move, or buy another item again!

Well the journey continues...I am sure Tanner will have many stories to tell from his long cross-country voyage in a giant U-haul towing the Civ. I am still in HATU having good times and will fly out with the pups and my madre Friday afternoon...so I am sure I will have plenty of drama to come. It is nice that I am still here to wrap up all of our loose ends. I am learning that Tanner seems to have a lot of knick knacks rolling around in more ways than one.

p.s. thanks Jess for bringing me and my poor house movers subway sandwiches and for helping me clean up the house after everyone was gone.

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Bonding over poop-soup

Today my dad FORCED me to workout against my will. I will admit it really was a nice way to keep my mind off of the undeniable...I'm leaving my hometown, CV, and it isn't easy. But anyway we got to the gym and there was Natalie to greet us at the door with a surprise (which we seem to get three times a week at bootcamp). She came up with a cardio day that included running around to people's homes asking them to donate nonperishable food items to us. Then we pack up all the goods in our grocery sacks and off to the next house on foot, preferably running. Sounds terrific, right? Running around outside with 29+ soup cans dangling from each shoulder...neat.

Since we were the sixth class to be performing this little task we were bound to run into some people that have already been asked to raid their cupboards for our workout and a good cause. Well dad and I aren't so good at strategizing. We started off running but my pops was crying about his aches and pains (I learned today where I get my constant urge to whine). He did have a good excuse though, he won a very important softball game last night, and word on the street is that it's the best game he's ever played. So we scurried down to my neighborhood and began knocking. Unfortunately we hit a saturated area. But people were really nice and gave whatever they could.

I thought I hit the jackpot when we stopped at my backdoor neighbor's house, with the creepy, possessed, single-colored (eyes, body, nose, you name it) dog. She invited me in and Cyrus (the dog) stared at my soul and demanded that I pet him and ask him to do tricks. He had me backed into a corner so I cracked and began telling him to roll over and speak. I was about to get out the hula-hoop when the mother of the house emerged from the basement with a whole pallet full of gumbo soup. She stated that she couldn't get her kids to eat this soup. So it ended up being perfect for both parties.

I went on my merry way and my competitive edge surfaced and I was getting ready to...what the? Something was leaking from my bag and all over the one pair of shorts that aren't packed somewhere in an ocean of boxes. I opened the bag...and oh no...it smelled and looked like Cyrus ate the gumbo soup and then crapped in my bag! It was leaking all over the place, thank goodness my dad was there to handle the vomit-festival. Apparently one of the cans decided to open it self right up on backdoor neighbor mom's shelf and grow something indescribable. He pulled out the moldy, disgusting can and disposed of it. He even carried the grody bag back to the Sports Academy as it continued to leak all over him. And oh man...the stench was...see below* We could have left the bag behind but this was a competition, hello! Ew...just got a whiff, its been many hours and I have taken a shower but it's lingering in my nostrils. When we got back to the Sports Academy our two-man team counted out 38 goods, not bad for a forty minute workout. Thanks Natalie for creating a platform for this daddy-daughter bonding sesh even if it included some poop-soup.

*abhorrent, abominable, awful, beastly, creepy, detestable, foul, fulsome, gross, hateful, hideous, loathsome, mawkish, nasty, nauseating, noisome, obscene, odious, offensive, rebarbative, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, shocking, sickening, vile, yucky


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