Where Have I Been?

I am certain most of you know where I have been. I've been here working my tail off. It must have worked because last night I couldn't find a tail to speak of. I woke up this morning thinking it must be Friday since I was so tired.

We are moving. We are relocating (sounds better right?) to Fargo, ND. Darren accepted another job with Caterpillar at their Fargo location. It is basically the same thing he is doing here in Menominee. The guys who interviewed him said they could write their job posting off his resume. I think that was a compliment. He is suppose to start November 1st.

When you move there is SO much you have to do. By a show of hands - who does not like moving?? We are so lucky that Caterpillar takes such great care of those they relocate. My only issue is when it starts - its starts and there is no slowing it down.

Last week was a prime example of it not slowing down.

Tuesday - call at 9 AM from the home inspector - can he come at 11 AM? WHAT?? Well, I said yes because I'm a nice person, but the whole time I'm thinking "NOT NOW!" It turned out ok in the end. Darren was able to come home for the inspection and wrote down a list of things we should probably do before we sell the house.

Wednesday - 2 PM scheduled call with the movers. I walked through each room and told them what we owned. That way they have an idea how long it will take to pack and load our crap. After spending an hour on the phone I decided we have a lot of crap, I am treasures. :-)

4 PM - One of the realtors came to look through the house and put together a plan. Caterpillar sends two realtors and then we pick which one we like. Just in case the other realtor is reading this - you haven't showed up yet and we've already picked the first one. Ha ha ha

Thursday - our niece, Emma came for the day. We had a great time, but that left no time for me to clean. I have started going through one to three rooms a week and getting them show ready. Its very easy to keep our house cleaned up (unless you head to the basement with all the toys!) once its show quality.

Friday - Chiropractor appointment, library story time, visit to the Blessed Sacrament, and home again for more school. We were behind in school from Tuesday's hurried morning. Yawn...

Saturday - Darren gave a vast collection of crap, I mean useful furniture to his sister, Sally. He spent the morning cleaning up the garage and building sides for our little trailer. Then after lunch Sally and he took two loads to her house. We are no longer the owners of one twin bed, two bookcases with dresser bottoms, one Gazelle, one shelving unit, and a weight machine. I worked all day on the school room. I cleaned off the bookcase that went to Sally's and decided not to stop there. I moved one smaller bookcase upstairs and rearranged the room so it looks bigger. I took pictures and magnets down off the walls and cabinets. I also organized this heaping pile of stuff and found a lovely desk underneath. Of course the normal Saturday stuff happened to - vacuumed all rooms, cleaned the kitchen, picked up the basement, gave baths, supper, prayers and bedtime. Long day.

Sunday - we watched four siblings for the day while their parents had a much deserved day out. We had a great time playing with them. We are trying our best to see everyone who wants to see us before we leave. Its going to be hard to see everyone, so hopefully we can have a party or something that will save us the time.

Now this week is going to be fun too. Darren is working this morning and will take 1/2 a vacation day for this afternoon. He hopes to get a few more of the things done on the house. I have school to teach this morning so I can be available to help Darren. Darren, and possibly Blase, will leave in the morning for Fargo. This is the first house hunting trip. We are given two 5 day house hunting trips to locate a new place. On Friday Darren will go pheasant hunting with his normal crew in Eastern South Dakota. He will return on Monday to start another crazy week. I have no plans for this week. I am hoping to work some more on cleaning the house and maybe on some Christmas presents. I was just informed by the second person that they are out of underwear. I think its time to fold clothes. ;-)

Darren will be here the first week of November but after that he will be spending most of November in Fargo. The boys and I will be staying here waiting to move. Let's hope Darren finds a place this trip. The sooner, the better. He may not find anything so we will have to put off moving for another month. We are hoping to move by Thanksgiving.

Anyone want to move the beautiful U.P.?? I have the perfect house for you!! All reasonable offers considered.