What a Difference a Year Makes...

One year ago this Saturday (it will actually be tomorrow, but I'm choosing to post this today!), the Great Upheaval in our lives culminated in a frantic packing session.

For months, we had been living in Limbo...would HUD allow us to stay and defend our home against the proven destructive vandalism that sweeps our neighborhood everytime a house is left empty due to a move? Would we be able to find a rental house in the school district, so our kids could stay with their friends? Or would we find something in the larger school district, one where my oldest could dust off his rusty football skills and live up to his "Thunder" nickname his teammates on the Youth Football team dubbed him, because he spent more time in the opponant's backfield than any other member? (I'm being serious...one game, every other announcement was "tackle by KH..." )

But no. Out of the blue, a letter arrived in the mail. Consultation with our (useless excuse of a) lawyer led to more gathering of boxes, and on the last Saturday in October, friends and family members arrived to help us pack.

I'd already gathered most of it; but you never realize how much crap you accumulate in 10 year's time! We started at 9am, and by 6 pm, everything except the beds, our clothes, and a few items we couldn't fit in the U-Haul were left. Dad took us all out to dinner before he left, and we sank exhaustedly into bed.

Got up the next morning and went to church; I believe I started crying midway through the service. Ate a farewell lunch with some close friends who hadn't been able to help the day before, and returned home to finish. At 6pm, we admitted we'd packed the truck to capacity and decided we'd just have to make a second trip. We began the 2-hour trek south, stopping halfway to get something to drink (I was tired and needed caffeine) and to switch kids (K wanted to ride with me because I listen to the music!). We didn't even bother to unpack when we arrived at hubby's childhood home; just turned on the heat, found the pj's and went to bed.

Monday, my father showed up and helped us unload everything into a new storage facility. He treated us to lunch and we headed back north for the rest and the dogs.

I need to digress here...you know Indiana's been wrestling with the Daylight Savings Time issue? Well, this time last year, it went into effect. And as a result, we lost two hours in the same day. I dutifully set my clocks back an hour before the move; on Monday morning, I started calling around to see which school my daughter would attend, and couldn't get any answer! Finally, at "8:00", I called the neighbor.

"Connie, is there some weird holiday down here that I don't know about?"

"Molly, the schools don't open for another hour...it's only 7 am..."

"You mean to tell me we've lost ANOTHER HOUR?"

Don't you just love Indiana? We don't know what the weather will be like from one hour to the next, and we don't know what time it is!

And now, our county has decided NOT to change it's clocks this fall; we're going to finally be back on Indianapolis time!

Back to the move:

We've been in our new home for a year, and the past 3 days have shown me how bad the lighting is in my bathroom. When I look in the mirror, I see my blonde highlights sliding down the back of my head (it's really noticible when the hair is wet!), but otherwise my blonde/dark blonde roots don't look that bad.

And then I looked in the mirror at my mom's. OMG!!! I badly need a touch-up...the silver streaks are threating to overtake my scalp...I look like the women I used to privately make fun of for not paying more attention to one's hair...I've got dark blonde (okay...almost brown!) from the top of my head to my ears; silver strands twinkling here and there; and blonde tips from my ears to my shoulders, nearly the same color I had my entire life until I started having children. How blonde? Picture a tub of butter. Nearly that yellow!

Yesterday:

Mom: "What do you want for Christmas?"

Me: "I want my hair re-done. New eyes. A trip to the dentist. My book to be a best-seller."

I can dream, can't I?

More on the move later this week. This has taken longer than expected, and I need to get moving (pun intended!)