Signing Off

 
We'll be packing up the computers this evening. The next time I post will probably be from the library in our new town!  Getting back online at home will be at the bottom of the priority list.  I was going to say I am taking a vacation from blogging, but to be honest I don't think it will be much of a vacation, lol!  Everyone have a lovely spring!

Getting There

Last Monday:

 

Last Friday:

Today:

 

Three days left til the truck is loaded!

It seems the driver of the Penske truck had a moment of stress-induced zealous threatenings, and I believed him!  Here is his unpublished comment on the previous post:

"The dining room table is moving. Only two desks are being sold. Two bicycles are being sold. So it isn't as bad as the article made it sound."

The lovely oak table goes with us! :)  Three of the desks will be dismantled and squeezed in. :)   And two of the bikes will be sold, however I was not even counting one of those. 

My editor checks my posts carefully, and he is always faithful to let me know when I have misrepresented him or made factual errors.  What would I do without a faithful editor?  Lie, probably.  I didn't mean to.

That house looks rather empty, doesn't it?

When we moved to Arizona we had a 26-foot moving truck.  Everything we owned fit in it.  That was before we had two cars, a king-sized bed, two bunk beds, three large desks and three small ones, and an oak dining table that seated twelve.  It was also before we had eight bicycles. (Yes, there are only six of us.  Some guys collect tools.  Some guys collect bikes.)  And it was before we had years' worth of school curriculum and a vast library.  See how God has blessed us?!

We are leaving the piano.  And the recliner.  Our washer and dryer and refrigerator are sold.  The king-sized bed stays here.   Three of four of the desks will go in the yard sale this week.  

The driver of the Penske truck is worried that we will still have too many possessions to fit into the van.  I now hear talk of leaving behind another desk, the dining room table(!), the bookshelves, and some end tables.

*sigh*


Hold on while I experience an attitude adjustment...


The Lord is my helper,
the Lord is my helper,
the Lord is my helper,
the Lord is my helper,
the Lord is my helper...

♪ ♫ This world is not my home

I'm just a passin' through.

My treasures are laid up

Somewhere beyond the blue....♫ ♪

♫♫ ♪♫♪ ♪♪♫ ♪♫

♫ ♪ Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full on his wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of his glory and grace...♫ ♪

Okay, I feel better now.

All we need is a home.

With the Lord and a roof and six people who love each other, we have that!

That house looks rather empty.  There's no furniture in it, but it does have the most important thing.  :)

 

One of the friends we made here is our orthodontist.  Exactly one year and one day ago he outfitted Elisabeth (and before that, Alison and Amy) with braces, charging us only for the labs and equipment involved. This has been a HUGE blessing to our family.  God was good to introduce us to this man!  Dr. W. will not be helping us load our truck, however. (Isn't that why you are supposed to make lots of friends before you move? For help loading?)  :) 

Today Amy and Betsy had their brackets removed.  What gorgeous smiles my girls have now!

Other friends have offered to help us load our truck, keep our kids overnight, or bring us a meal. Some have even brought us homemade soft pretzels, and others chocolate!  (Now that's a true friend!)

What would we do without all of you?  We are going to miss you, each and every one.

We don't have a dog or a cat, but there are other things that should not be packed together... like school books with dishes. Or maybe you have a box of bathroom things that is 3/4 full, and you toss in a jacket just to fill up the empty space.  It just doesn't make sense.  But when you get down to the dregs, everything that's left just sort of gets thrown together!  I think we are getting to that point.

Today's goal: pricing all the yard sale stuff.

* * * * *

Okay, so now it's evening, and not one yard sale item was priced... what DID I do??  

Time to set another goal.  This evening's goal:  make signs for yard sale.  

Packing

Today's goal is to get all the girls' bedding washed and packed without running out of soft water, and then we will tackle whatever is living UNDER the beds. *grimace*  We are going to be camping out for the next 10 days, and then we'll hit the road in whatever array or disarray we happen to be in when the deadline comes! 

I thought I was making progress, but our stuff seems to be multiplying furiously while I sleep at night.

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; 

be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: 

for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Joshua 1:9

When All the Toys are Packed

We have the advantage of knowing weeks ahead of time that we are moving.  That is a wonderful thing, because I really would not want to have to pack a house in a week.  But it's also a hard thing, because everything can't be packed at the last minute.  The books are boxed up and it seems like everything else that is fun is also off limits for a few weeks.  What to do in the meantime?

Make a house-of-cards with apple separators. 

 

Or build a tower.

Or be silly with a roll of paper. 

Did you know that your local newspaper sells (or maybe even gives away) the ends of their paper rolls?  For $3.00 I bought miles of clean newsprint. Obviously it was going to be for packing breakables, but since there is trouble where there is boredom without ingenuity, I have delayed packing the breakables. Thankfully we have a bit of ingenuity here. And silliness, too. :)

By the way, clean newsprint is great homeschooling paper.  It makes wonderful material for self-portraits.  Just draw around your child's shape with a crayon and have him color in the missing parts.  Or let the kids make Happy Birthday, Welcome Home, or Garage Sale banners.  Or pretend it's a fashion runway for modest evening gowns.  Or red carpet for the king.  Or practice log-rolling. :)