Arriving in "Sweet Home Alabama" & Crazy Dreams

To say things have been busy this past month would be a huge understatement. I somehow managed to finish up my second year of teaching without any major issues. I did indeed manage to pack up my classroom and an entire townhouse full of junk in the same two week span. It wasn't without its problems, but the moving thing finally happened. I have a few stories to share about the drama of moving.

Story #1 - Mechanical Problems
As part of the military reimbursement for moving (since they pay to move us) we have to have certified weight receipts of the truck & trailer with an empty weight and a full weight. (Dave's rank allots him 8,ooo lbs that they will reimburse us for moving.) Well, my father-in-law drove down and arrived on a Friday evening with the truck and borrowed trailer, which saved us a ton of money not having to rent one. So the boys get up Saturday morning to go get the trailer weighed and the truck won't start. Moving is at a standstill at this point while they work on the truck all afternoon. They ended up replacing a starter, but not before all the certified weight scales were closed for the weekend. I'm still furiously packing boxes, but they are not moving to the truck because they need to weigh it empty. Finally Monday arrives and they were able to get the truck weighed and the loading process began. ...I was still trying to shove things in boxes, not many things...but enough things. They get all 5,600 lbs of stuff loaded by around 3:30pm. The boys have a half hour to get the truck 3 mi down the road to get it weighed for its full weight slip. I jump in the shower because we were going out to dinner since the kitchen was packed and closed for business. I get out of the shower and have just put on my dinner clothes when I get a phone call. Dave says I need to go pick him up from the scales place, uh why? He replies, "we have a flat tire on the trailer." Ugh! So I pick him up and we head around town to find a replacement tire. Apparently the brand new car hauler that we were using as a trailer (the kind they haul nice racin' cars in) had a screw that went all the way from the inside of the trailer in the wheel well through to the outside where the tire rubs. The screw wasn't a problem when the trailer was empty, but as the trailer was weighed down and the tire expanded it became a huge problem. The boys filed off the end of the screw and put on the new tire and we were back in the moving business. They left for AL the next morning and arrived that evening without further delay.

#2 Wendy's Travels to AL
I did not leave when the truck with out stuff left. I stayed in good ol' J-ville a few more days to get the place cleaned up, the carpets cleaned, and to have it treated for fleas. All of those things were part of our rental agreement as things we needed to do when we left. Upon leaving J-ville, I made a slight detour to Myrtle Beach where my father, his children, and his wife were vacationing. It was a pretty good time to spend two days at the beach with dad, my sisters (all 2.5 of them) and my half brother. The kids are cute at ages 2 & 4, but it reaffirmed the fact that I am NOT ready to be a Mommy. Nope, can't stand the constant noise. Then after two days at the beach Katie and I traveled to AL...

#3 Katie and AL
Katie came to visit me for a week in Alabama. I LOVED having her here. Dave and I keep trying to talk Katie into coming to AL for law school. We've offered to let her stay with us for a small, small rent fee for the duration of law school and beyond. So, as part of that we took her to visit two different law schools in the vicinity. The first stop was Birmingham School of Law, which is rather small and would be good only for practicing law in the state of AL. The second stop was Sanford. We were lucky enough to spend some time talking with an admissions counselor there. She shared a wealth of knowledge with Katie and I about the process of applying to law school, ways to prepare for the LSAT, and some things to think about as far as an application for law school goes. We were both very impressed. Katie said she might like to really go there. (Of course I rooting for it too!) Katie left AL on a Saturday to head back to Athens, OH for school. She needed to move out of her apartment from last school year and into her new one for the upcoming school year by July 1. Katie is about 2 hrs from school when we get a phone call about a problem with her tire area. Dave determines it is Katie's wheel baring and it must be replaced asap during the diagnostic phone call. Katie is a a ways off from the next exit in Owensville, KY when this even occurs. Katie was blessed with the presence of a young couple that stopped to help her out. The gentleman of the couple had his wife get out of the car first so that Katie would feel safer when they stopped to assist her. He also said that they were good church going people when he first talked to Katie. Good church going people they were indeed! They drove Katie all over to assist her. She visited the shop to get it towed and they said they probably wouldn't be able to get it fixed until Monday. They then took Katie to get the part she needed and drove back to drop it off. Then to the hotel to check-in to a room. Then back to Katie's car to get some clothes and her laptop and then back to the hotel. The couple invited Katie to church with them the following day where the gentleman's father was a minister. Katie ended up going to church with them and then ate lunch at a dinner thing they were doing at the church after the service. The couple dropped Katie off at the hotel again and gave her a variety of phone numbers at which they could be reached if she needed anything else. Katie got the call on Sunday that he car was done so they came along later and took her to her car. God is good. I felt so blessed to know that Katie was taken care of even though she was technically stranded. She arrived back in Athens on Sunday evening without further delay.

Ok, on to the crazy dreams story. To say moving was stressful would be another gross understatement. I ended up with a lot of burdens while my husband didn't seem to have nearly as many. I've also been frustrated with our plan to live temporarily with my in-laws (I HATE being dependent). I just wanted to move into a place that was ours again. However, I rationally understand the wisdom of waiting til we both secure jobs and figure out what we can realistically afford. Irrationally, I want what I want. The stress and frustrated feelings left me feeling very angry with my husband. I was rather grumpy to him most of the first few days here in Alabama. We even had a little talk about it one night before going to sleep. That very night when I was so irritated and angry I had a dream. I dreamed that we had packed up our entire house in J-ville and we set to leave the next day when Dave told me that he wanted to re-enlist and would be deploying the next day instead. Talk about crying!!! I cried and cried and cried in my dream. He just up and left me for deployment to Iraq instead of moving to AL. I woke up from that dream and snuggled up to my husband. From that moment on I've been grateful to be here instead of saying yet another good-bye to my husband as he travels into a world of uknowns for several months. (Do you think God may have been trying to remind me of how much I Love my husband?) We're slowly working our way back to the relationship we had prior to deployment. It's been a struggle with some give and take on both ends. He needed to unwind and realize I'm his wife and not a fellow Marine. I needed to realize that even though I did everything while he was gone and am capable, that I need to let him be needed. I also need to get used to actually having him around instead of being alone all the time (ok, with two furbabies all the time) and not just talking to him for a few minutes at a time sporadically.

Another tidbit: I am SUPER excited to spend the 4th of July with my husband. My husband who is no longer an active duty Marine, but who will always be a Marine. .oO(I'll always feel like a Marine's wife as well...) I think the 4th of July is better than Christmas! I love fireworks and sparklers and parades and whatever else the 4th brings. If I had decided to have a big ol' fancy weddin' I would have planned it for the 4th of July and of course had red, white, and blue as my colors. On this 4th of July as I am enjoying life as a civilian, not a military dependent, I will be thinking of all those brave men and women who volunteer to endure hardships, spend the majority of their time away from family-in the US and in other parts of the world (combat or no combat), and be thankful for their willingness to sacrifice, and pray for their safety so their loved ones can welcome them home with open arms. I'll also be thinking about 4th of July's from the past...actually seeing the fireworks in Washington, DC (I hope to make it back at least a few more times), and the 4th spent with Marines preparing to deploy who were setting all kinds of things on fire at my house and making lighted watermelon boats. (See last year's post about the 4th if you'd like to see some pictures.) I hope you all have a happy and safe 4th of July and take a few minutes to think about those who help protect our freedoms and Independence that we celebrate.