A strange way to cut a cake, I know, but Katie and Joe each wanted the piece that had their name on it!

Katie and Joe promptly tore into their presents, their favorites both being the ones the Sam selected for them earlier in the day at the dollar store: hot pink Silly Putty for Katie and a little pirate set for Joe that slings tiny cannon balls out of a miniature cannon.

Aunt Sue had bought these "Balloonies" or some such thing. They're something we all remember from our childhood, but hadn't seen or tried in years. So all of us adults (minus Uncle Jerry--he seemed to think the whole thing rather ludicrous) spent the next 20 minutes or so creating lots of great bubbles and breathing in many a toxic fume. Ha!

Tammy spent the first 15 minutes fighting with her bubble pipe, but finally conquered it and talked it into giving her a bubble.

I took the award for BIGGEST bubble...

But Aunt Sue, naturally, took the award the WEIRDEST one...

Ha! She cracks me up!

This one looked like a brain to me, so I let Sam try it on. He could use one, you know!

It was the kids' birthday party, but this was obviously adult entertainment and we had a blast! :-)

I love the smell of that stuff, but it wasn't until we finally stopped and put it away that I realized I really was feeling a little funny! I was lightheaded and even a little dizzy. I felt kind of like I was dreaming or something. Weird! Oh well, it was fun while it lasted!

Tammy and Aunt Sue and I played games for a little while, then Tammy left and we all called it a night.

The next morning James and I left bright and early to drive the hour over to Hobbs to pick up our moving truck. Aunt Sue watched the kids all day, which was wonderful. Better for us and the kids! We made it back to the storage units in Andrews at about 10:00, I think. Sam & Tammy and Steven all came to help, which was SUCH a blessing!!! We never could have done it without them. We worked long and hard all day long and managed to even enjoy ourselves doing it. That's the true test of friendship. If you can load a moving truck together and still like each other, you're really and truly friends. ;-) Tammy and I work really good together. The guys hauled everything up into the truck, then we would stack and pack them in. The boxes always go in nice and easy, but it gets harder to put the puzzle pieces together once you get to the furniture! Still, we did really good, I think. The only real problem we had was with loading the piano. It suffered some damage when we moved it into storage and it nearly met it's death this time (!), but it actually made it all the way up the ramp without a scratch. As far as I know. :-)

There were several times I wished I had my camera with me that day, but I can't remember any of them except the very last one. James had decided some time ago that we wouldn't be taking the TV with us on this move, so we gave it to Sam & Tammy. It was a great big clunky thing, but Tammy had measured and said it would fit in their cabinet. So Sam wrestled the thing into the front seat of their car. (The toddler bed for Cathy was already in the trunk.) But the TV was so big it barely fit in. Sam pushed and shoved and wallowed the thing around until he thought he had it just right. There were only two small problems: he couldn't shift into reverse (they drive a standard instead of an automatic) and the door wouldn't close. Nothing major. Ha! So we wrapped a cord around the door handle and had Tammy crawl into the back seat, lean up over the TV and hold onto the cord to keep the door from flying wide open. (Are you picturing this?!) The other problem we easily remedied by Sam leaving the car in neutral and me pushing it backwards far enough to be able to make the turn without ramming the storage buildings. I followed them to their house, cracking up at the picture in front of me. The best part of the whole thing was when we passed a cop. Ha! The passenger door is open 6 or 8 inches, Tammy is pretty much laying on top of the TV, holding onto the cord, and she just sort of nonchalantly smiles and twirls the loose strands of hair from her bun with her free hand... Ha! We even passed the cop a second time (he sort of doubled back on us), but for some reason he didn't feel it necessary to stop us. He probably just recognized Sam. Everybody in that whole town knows and loves Sam. Good thing! And after all that, Tammy was wrong--the TV won't fit in their cabinet! Ha!

That night I was sooooo sore and achy. My feet were especially screaming for a rest. But I felt like I needed to spend some time with Uncle Jerry and our "quality time" together usually comes in the form of Eight Ball. We played 6 games. I won 1 and lost 5! Ha! Even the one I won was a fluke. Not a good night for me. At least I had a good excuse--we had a long, hard day of moving, right?! Even that couldn't justify how poorly I played, I'm afraid. Oh well. It was fun nonetheless.

James and Joe got up early and left for Albuquerque in the moving truck at about 7:20 the next morning. The other kids and I were all loaded up and took off in the van at about 8:00, I think. We finally caught up to James and passed him somewhere between Roswell and Clines Corners. We made it up to Sandia Park at about 1:00. I had received and interesting phone call from Jason earlier in the day and... well, this is where everything started to go haywire!!!

Jason said that in all of the excitement, we had all failed to realize that although the closing date on the house was that day (Thursday, the 14th), we didn't actually take possession of the house until the funding went through the next day (Friday, the 15th.) Jason had called and told us that the day before, but we really expected Mike (the interesting character we were buying the house from) to be moved out and that we'd be able to go ahead and move in that day anyway. Mike had been sooooo nice and helpful and agreeable up to that point, so we just assumed... Anyway, Jason said that Mike wasn't out yet and that technically the house wasn't ours until the next day. So we had loaded up a moving truck and driven 6 hours--and Dustin & Jamey were in the middle of their 6 hour drive from Colorado Springs to help us!--and we weren't going to be able to get into the house! Ugh. I called Mike and talked to him myself. He said he, indeed, wasn't out of the house yet and needed more time. He said that we could come park the moving truck at the house and then come back at noon the next day and he'd be out and it would be ours. Not the best of situations, but since we were a day early, how could I complain?! I would've wanted in at 9:00 in the morning to get started, but there's no sense in getting into a dispute over three hours, so I agreed to noon.

I called Dustin and we all met at a motel so we could get rooms for the night. (Crazy! This is not what I had planned at all!!!) Then we loaded up and went to Hometown Buffet because the kids eat for .99 on Thursdays and there's a big doofy bee mascot that goes around giving them balloons and such nonsense. Even gave James a massage. Weird. I didn't want a balloon. And I didn't want a massage. I just wanted a HOUSE! But noooooo--here I am, staying in a motel again!!! ~sigh~ At least we had "company" with us. :-) That helped a lot! In fact, we went to Target and bought a game to play that night. Buzzword I think it was called. It was so-so, but it's always fun if you're with fun people. :-)

The next day we got up and just about went crazy waiting for noon to come. We finally did some running around (the post office and something else...?), then headed up into the mountains. We had lunch at Burger Boy and finished up just in time to make it to the house at noon, as scheduled. Wa-Hooooo!!! I was sooooooo excited!!!

We got to the house and Mike met us at the door. He let us in and I was very disheartened to discover that his grubby couch and chair and great big huge screen TV were all still in the living room, along with miscellaneous junk here and there throughout the house. No biggie though. We can help him finish moving out, then we'll move in. Riiiiiight. In my dreams! Mike then tells us the plan. His new plan, that is. We can have the house from noon until 6:00. At 6:00 he would be sitting right there on that couch watching the race on that TV. He didn't want to see anybody--there would be no distractions--and he and his dogs would be spending the night at the house. At 9:00 the next morning, the house would be ours. I know my chin hit the floor. He asked if that would be okay, but he wasn't really asking. He was just waiting for us to agree to what he had already declared. I waited for James to say something, but he was as dumbfounded as I was. I finally just said, "Okay... Well... Um... Let's go with that for now and if things need to change, we'll let you know."

I was in shock. Total, crazed shock. I grabbed the cell phone and called Jason. I related everything that Mike had just said and he listened quietly until I finished, then said (with more unprofessionalism than I'd ever heard from him before), "WHAT?!" We talked for several minutes and I finally broke down and started crying. We had already forked out $100 for motel rooms the night before and were a full 24 hours behind schedule on the "moving in" project. Dustin & Jamey had driven down from Colorado to help us and none of us had done a single thing but sit and wait around for a whole day! They didn't have all the time in the world--they had to get back on Saturday--and there were some things that we just simply wouldn't be able to do without their help. And now we find out that we can't really move in today either?! And we're supposed to go get motel rooms for another night?! No way!!! Jason was nearly moved to tears too (not really) and said he'd make a few calls and get back to me. So we waited and struggled to figure out what to do. We can't do much moving in when Mike's stuff is still in the house, you know?! All of our living room furniture was in the very back of the moving truck so it would be the first to come off. I planned it that way so we could "build" the living room first and have a place to sit and relax if we needed it. Well, my living room happened to be full of Mike's stuff! How am I supposed to move into that?! To make a long story short (Ha! Ha! Ha! That'll be the day!), after several phone conversations with Jason and with Mike's realtor (who is very nice as well), it was finally determined that the house really and truly was ours that day, not Mike's, and we had every right to move into it and Mike was the one who would have to come up with other arrangements, not us. Well, Mike was none to happy about it. I felt really bad for him--I know he was exhausted and frustrated (moving will do that to you, you know!) and he didn't really have a place to go either for the night... but that doesn't mean this house is still his! And if it weren't for the fact that we had Dustin & Jamey with us and we were on a bit of a tight schedule for unloading the truck and getting it back and what not, I would have been more inclined to let him stay in the house one more night. But the most legitimate reason he had was because he was going to be watching some doofy race at 6:00 and that just wasn't good enough for me to walk away from my own house for another night! So it was a real mess. I was just sick over the whole thing. I felt terrible, but we needed to move in! It was just so miserable knowing that he was so upset. And really... he's not the kind of guy you want to have mad at you! In fact, Jason's advice was to get new locks on the doors... immediately! "Thanks a lot, Jason--you're making me feel a whole lot better about this whole situation!" Ha! I made sure to tell him that if he didnt' hear from us in a few days he should come check on us--we might all be laying dead on the floor or something! Ha! Mike's realtor told me that he was coming back over to get his TV and stuff and that he was probably going to be "a little cranky" (ha!), to just stay out of his way and not talk to him and just let him do his thing. So it was pretty awkward for a while with him here, loading up his stuff and rooting through the closets to get the last of the junk that was still there. He was obviously upset but he actually handled himself rather well, I thought. I didn't feel any fear for our safety or anything! Ha! I really think he's a good guy, he was just so wiped out and frustrated. I'm sure he's over it by now. At least I'm hoping so! ;-)

ANYWAY... while I was on the phone for the first hour or two trying to get things worked out so that we could actually have our house (!), James and Dustin worked on getting my new washer and dryer hooked up. :-) They're not stackable just yet because the dryer vent is too far away, but we'll get that worked out in time.

The next hitch with the "move in" project was in the fact that this house was FILTHY. I mean, beyond filthy. I would dare say I've never seen a house so gross. I knew it was bad, but you don't realize just how bad until you get ready to put your very own things into it! I would describe all of the ways it was gross, but it would take 8 pages at least. Just ask Jamey! Ha! So we had to do at least some cleaning before we could even bring anything in. Jamey and I swept and mopped the living room floors, then she took care of the bedroom floor while we were unloading. Jamey wasn't able to do any of the heavy lifting due to the "growth" inside of her (Dustin keeps saying there's something growing inside of her! Ha!), so that meant she got stuck with the really, really nasty jobs. She scrubbed on the bathroom for an hour or two or three! It was sooooooo gross! It still needs some work, but I was amazed at how clean she was able to get it. I just felt bad that she got stuck with such a gross job! She also cleaned out the nasty kitchen cabinets and pantries and stuff. Yuck. She deserves a prize of some kind!!!

Due to having to clean all along the way, it took us all day to get the truck unloaded. I've always heard that unloading is always so fast and easy. HA! It's a lie, I tell you! There is nothing easy about moving, not one single thing! Every time we do it I scream, "Never again!!! I'm not ever doing this again! I'm going to spend the rest of my life right here!!!" God must not be listening. Then again, perhaps He is! Ha! It was a long and grueling day, but it was fun, too, because of the Hays and all their help. Even Isaac and Aleah were a great help, in that they kept my kids company and thus had them occupied and out of the way most of the day! Mike left the trampoline here, so the kids had a blast playing on that. It was a godsend, I tell you! They were out there for hours. And this is where I found Joe once...

They had a lot of fun, but it was a long, hard day on the kids, too!

James shampooed the carpets (there's only carpet in the kids' closet and in the master bedroom and closet) because he's a better carpet shampooer than I am, so I helped Dustin build the beds in the kids' room. Katie's bed never has had slats and we had a temporary fix back in Andrews, but nothing to work with here, so nobody could actually sleep on that bed. We got the boys' beds put together and Isaac and Aleah slept there. Dustin and Jamey just slept on the mattress from Katie's bed on the floor. Our kids were sacked out all over the living room, so James and I threw our mattress down in the floor and slept there with kids scattered here and there.

The next morning the guys got up and took the truck back to the Budget place in Albuquerque. I planned on running to the store for some breakfast items, but discovered we had been left with no keys to the one vehicle remaining at the house! So we called the guys and had them bring breakfast back. I got busy putting shelf paper into the cabinets so I'd be able to unload the 42 kitchen boxes. (It's AMAZING how much stuff goes in a kitchen!) We had breakfast, then James went back to Albuquerque for some more supplies, but don't as me what. Dustin and I got busy building James' and my bed and moving the furniture into that room. Jamey helped me make the bed up and I don't remember what all we did after that. I know that Dustin tried to hook up the ice machine, but it kept leaking. James has tried it since then (a total of three times, I think), but it just keeps leaking. Anyway, James brought KFC back for lunch when he came, so we enjoyed another non-home-cooked meal together. ;-) Dustin & Jamey left in the early afternoon to drive back to Colorado. Before I forget, let me just say publicly...

DUSTIN & JAMEY HAYS ARE THE MOST WONDERFUL PEOPLE IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!!

There, I said it. Even with Dustin's name in there. It is a huge departure from the sarcastic and taunting relationship I've had with him these 12 years (12 years--is that bizarre, or what?!), but I just can't possibly say anything mean about him after all of the help he was to us this past weekend. James and I would STILL be unloading that truck if it wasn't for him and Jamey and their help. I'm banking on the fact that Dustin doesn't frequent the blogs when I say this (Jamey, don't you dare tell him!), but he has proven himself to be a man's man in every possible way! I was amazed at the things he was able to do. Most specifically, he almost single-handedly got that piano of mine down the ramp on the dolly without a single moment of panic (on his part or mine! Ha!) or anything close to disaster. That's a first with that piano! And we usually have one or two more adults than we did this time. In any case, I am sooooooo thankful that they were here. There is just absolutely no way we could have managed without them--both of them. Just like Sam & Tammy on the other end--we absolutely could not of gotten that truck loaded without their help. Several times! I'd probably still be packing up the Andrews house were it not for Tammy's assistance! Ha! So let me say as well...

SAM & TAMMY KAUFMAN ARE ALSO THE MOST WONDERFUL PEOPLE IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!!

~sigh~ What wonderful friends we have. The Church of God is just full of the most amazing people around. We're soooooooo blessed!

Anyway... After Dustin & Jamey left on Saturday afternoon I made the mistake of sitting down. It took me 20 minutes to pull myself out of that chair, and it wasn't easy even then! Every bone and muscle in my whole body hurt. Moving is not for sissies, that's for sure. I felt so old!!! Dustin kept reminding me that I am, indeed, just that. But I saw him hobbling around a little himself and Jamey says he was doing plenty of his own moaning and groaning. :-) Anyway, I spent the rest of that day working on the kids' room and closet. I know that's a strange place to start when there's so much to be done, but I just felt like it might help if they had a room that was all put together and all (or at least most!) of their usual stuff within reach. So I unpacked boxes and found lots of their clothes (still looking for Katie's though!) and toys and found a place for pretty much everything. There are several boxes that I stacked in the closet because they're full of decor--which is pointless to put up on those hot pink and blue walls of theirs! Ha! It'll have to wait until we get some remodeling done. So here are a few pictures of what their crazy room looks like right now...

I really don't think Matt Dillon would appreciate the paint job in that room, but what can we do?! I had plans of painting that room right away--like, our very first project here. But upon further investigation, I think that pink and blue paint is probably the cleanest stuff in the whole house! There are so many other things that totally gross me out and will have to be dealt with first. So I think the kids may be stuck with that crazy room for a while! Ha!

We all slept long and solid Saturday night and woke bright and early yesterday. I was able to get about an hour's worth of work done in the kitchen before getting ready for church. We had a really good service and I had 8 kids in my Sunday School class. I had absolutely NO time to prepare, but it just so happens that we only got through half of last week's class, so I was able to do part two yesterday. :-)

After service we went out to eat, then did some running around. James needed to buy a new modem so we could get our Internet hooked up, so we tried 2 or 3 stores before we found the right one. We did one or two other things, then went to Wal-Mart and walked the aisles in search of all the things for our kitchen that we don't have anymore. Of course, I didn't have the kitchen unpacked yet, so we really didn't know what we have and don't have! It gave us something to do anyway. :-)

We got back to the church a little bit early and loaded up all of the stuff we had left there last week. Sister Sally was sick and unable to come do her ABM service, so James pulled out an old CPMA service with tons of transparencies and scriptures about the Church in prophecy and so on. I think everybody really enjoyed it.

After church we headed home to a lonely poodle who had been left alone for the first time in weeks and weeks--for 11 whole hours! With no dog door like he's used to. But he was fine and there were no problems in the house. :-) He is such a good dog. And sooooo happy to see us! That dog is LOVING being up in the mountains. He has spent so much time outside--no doubt making up for all that time he was stuck in that little motel room! Ah yes, I forgot to mention that he got out on Saturday. Ggrrr. I wasn't there at the time, so I couldn't give that "GET BACK HERE OR YOU'RE DEAD MEAT" scream that he's finally started heeding. I had to go track him down and drag him home--and take the long route to do it. I know one thing, if he gets out one too many times up here he's a goner. I must've seen 42 dogs before I got him back to the house, and I heard twice that many--and every one of them is at least 5 times Hershey's size! He's got to be the only poodle within 30 miles! Ha! He'll be a nice little brunch for some husky or mastiff or something if he's not careful!

I was so worn out last night when we got home. I worked for just a little while in the kitchen, but gave up and went to bed at about 9:00! I had been feeling pretty sick all day anyway and the rest did me good. I was feeling much, much better when I woke up this morning. I worked throughout the day and was finally able to get the kitchen all unpacked and found a place for pretty much everything. I got it all cleaned up and actually found all of the countertops for the very first time since Friday afternoon! That feels soooooo much better! Of course, there are now stacks and piles of more STUFF all over the floor in there because we emptied out our dirty, nasty, filthy van that was packed full of all that STUFF. Ugh. That will be tomorrow's project. That and our bedroom. It's getting a little out of control in there! I've got to get all of the nasty cobwebs vacuumed out of the closet (I'm telling you, it is GROTESQUE!!!) and the shelves washed down before we can really move an of our stuff in permanent-like, so it'll take some time. Then I've got to figure out what to do in the bathrooms. Both of them. YUCK-O. I'm still SOOOOO thankful for Jamey every time I go into the bathroom that she cleaned. (I refuse to use the other one until I get a chance to scrub it down, too!) JAMEY, YOU'RE MY HERO!!! :-)

Okay, now I've spent wa-a-a-a-a-ay too much time blogging and I am soooooo tired again. I'm going to hit the hay. But there you have it. I'm sure there are lots of holes in action that I've forgotten to write about, but this is way plenty, don't you think?! In the end, all that matters is that we're in our very own home. Not a motel room, a real home. And not Mike's home (!), ours. :-) And I'm a happy camper. In fact, some parts of this house are still dirty enough I even feel like I'm camping! Ha! It'll all come together in time. Again, HUGE thank-you's to Sam & Tammy and Dustin & Jamey and Aunt Sue and Steven and all who have made this move soooooo much easier for us. I love you's all!!! :-)

The Weary Traveler-No-More,

~Becki~

P.S. -- Ah, yes. This is the picture that I took from our front porch when I woke up our first morning here. Almost makes it worth all the hassle, doesn't it? ;-)