Anatomy of a Frymark Move Part 1

Hey friends! We are still alive and kicking. Notice I didn’t say it was smooth sailing. Of course not. That’s just not the way our life runs! But we are all here, in one piece and slowly digging out of a mountain of boxes.

Travel was pretty much what you would expect.

On the morning we loaded up the car and started the big adventure, first thing, my engine light comes on. You have got to be kidding me!! I believe my eyes bugged out and I made one of my famous noises that sounds much like HAHW!!!

I was hoping it was the gas cap as I hadn’t had any problems with the van. If its not seated right it will make the engine light come on. No such luck. About 150 miles into the trip it was still on. And, to add a little fun to the mix, we ran into a nasty accident and were stuck in a traffic jam. No, the jam wasn’t the problem….the over 100 degree heat and a temperature gauge on the Durango creeping alarmingly high was the new challenge. One car wasn’t bad enough?

I put out a quick text to one of my favorite prayer warriors, Claire, and she got the message out for me. My awesome friends prayed us through. The temp dropped on the Durango and after 500 miles on the second travel day, the engine light in the van mysteriously disappeared. My friends rock.

On the second day of travel hubs remembers he really didn’t check about pets at our hotel destination. He made a call (as I am driving behind him wondering why his speed has dropped…what…is he on the phone???) Anyhow…turns out the hotel doesn’t allow pets. So he makes reservations at another hotel (while driving…can you tell that is a pet peeve of mine??) He found us a place that wasn’t too far from the base and had just opened two days earlier. Brand new!

Note to friends: Do not stay at a brand new hotel.

The hotel was lovely. Very pretty, shiny, and new. The staff was wonderful—we really loved them.

Unfortunately, we ended up on the second floor. We like ground floor. Oh well. And we are carrying a dump truck load of luggage and stuff as it’s a move, not a vacation, and you have to be prepared to go without your things for at least a month…and put kids in school, etc. Lots of luggage. Plus the non-luggage. Movers won’t pack everything. Plus, we have known so many people that had everything stolen out of their vehicles (or the vehicles also) at hotels that we don’t leave stuff in the car. Lots to take in.

We had satan’s toilet in our room.

Every time someone used it there was a clog. At first I was getting onto my girls for using crazy amounts of paper. But wait. They don’t do that at home. Why would both of them start right now? So we had the hotel fix it. Then, after yet another incident, it overflowed onto a bag full of clothes.

So – we are being asked to move to another room. No fixing this toilet, it actually has to be replaced. Now we have to load all that luggage up and go to another room. Up a level. Yep. Now we are on floor three. But the hotel did send our clothes out to be washed (their laundry wasn’t working yet) for free. Thank goodness.

Can you guess what is coming?

Saturday night is our LAST night in the hotel. We are going to camp in the empty house on Sunday as the movers are showing up at 8 am on Monday. Mighty Mouse falls asleep about 10:30 pm. We are all in our beds watching tv’s in our pjs.

The fire alarm goes off.

Seriously!!!!

So we are grabbing our kids….can’t find MM’s shoes (she’s a pig)…grabbing the dog (Songbird does not grab the leash)…grabbing my purse as our identities and life are in it. Out the door I go.

And all these people are standing in their doorways looking like idiots. Now, I’m not trying to be mean here….hear me out.

The peoples look at me and ask “Do we really have to go downstairs?”

I’m almost speechless. Almost. I say, YES!!!!!!! And they pass the word down the hall and everyone starts to get out. And everyone was very orderly and calm filing down the stairs. And we get outside and my family heads across the lot to get away from the building. We turn around to see all the peoples milling about the doors and windows right up next to the building.

Seriously???? Do they remember nothing from fire drills in elementary school? I was older than more than half those people and I remember. Move away from the building!

Now, in their defense, there was no smell of smoke or obvious fire. But still. People.

So, here we are stuck outside on a Saturday night, in our pjs, one kid with no shoes, no leash for the dog….and it turns out my keys weren’t in my purse. We can’t even sit in the car.

About an hour into this wait I have to go to the bathroom. Hubs is ready to walk over to Hooters for some wings….but a reminder of the DOG and all of us in our pjs brought him back to sanity…barley. We did walk to the next hotel and use their bathroom….the kid with no shoes and the dog with no leash in tow. I was feeling rather….hillbilly.

The good news is that there wasn’t a fire. The water main broke. The water main that runs by the elevators.

So yes. We did get to go back to our rooms and did not have to move again…but the next room over did.

And yes. The next morning the elevators were still out of commission and we had to carry that crazy load of luggage down three flights of stairs.

Because that’s the way we roll…..