Home, At Last

Scott and I arrived home to Charlotte at 8:00pm on Saturday (almost 36 hours after we left DC on Friday morning). We unloaded my bed and left the rest for the morning. I turned in the truck Sunday afternoon... so glad to be done with that 3 day chapter of my life.

I have yet to begin the process of unpacking. Maybe I'll just leave everything in boxes- it'll make moving easier next time, right??? Things still feel a bit surreal now- probably partially because it's the holidays so I feel like I'm visiting home like I would be anyways and probably partially because of the extreme exhaustion I cannot seem to escape. All I want for Christmas is to sleep all day. :) Which might happen since it's supposed to rain and that is the best weather for sleeping in my opinion.

OK enough rambling for today. I should have something more constructive to provide the blogging world in the near future.

Much love during this Joyous Season!

Day 2: It's Still Snowing.

Alot.

DC to NC: Day 1

Here is a play-by-play of day 1 of the move.

6:00AM Wake Up and finish packing the UHaul with brother's help (AKA I pack boxes and he carries them to the truck)

8:30AM Everything is out! We begin the journey South.

9:15AM Arrive to Alexandria, VA to meet up with one of Scott's friends from high school for breakfast

10:30AM Return to UHaul and find that the driver's side mirror has been knocked off (assuming hit and run, not vandalism). Begin the process of reporting the incident to UHaul and the police.

11:30AM Contacted by UHaul who is sending a mechanic to fix the mirror.

12:30PM After talking to mechanic, decide to drive to the Springfield, VA tow shop so he can fix it. I let my brother drive and insist that he keep the hazard lights on and "honk 5 times" when he decides to change lanes to the left. Luckily we had 2 right merges and only 1 left merge to get to the shop.

1:15PM Meet with mechanic and he determines that it is not fixable and that we need a new mirror. He is able to find one in Hyattsville, MD and sends a driver to pick up the mirror.

1:30PM Mechanic leaves for a tow job and leaves Scott and I chillin in the UHaul.

1:45PM After organizing my tote bag, I discover that I have 6 packets of oatmeal, blank greeting cards, and a "Tale of Despreaux" coloring & activity book. I decide that we can survive for at least 3 days in the UHaul.

2:30PM Mechanic returns and lets us sit in the "lounge" area of the tow company's center. I do all the word mazes in my activity book while Scott listens to his Ipod. Then I read a chapter of Breaking Dawn. 

3:30PM Mechanic has to leave again so Scott and I return to the UHaul to chill- literally. I decide it would be fun to quote Disney movies and let Scott guess what the quote was from. He gets them all right. Then he quotes something from "Zombieland" and I don't want to play anymore.

4:30PM I begin to sing songs from "Sound of Music" as well as songs about being hungry and cold.

5:45PM Driver arrives with the long-awaited mirror.

6:00PM Mechanic arrives to replace mirror. Scott and I return to the lounge.

6:15PM Mechanic opens box and discovers that the Hyattsville UHaul sent a passenger side mirror. not a driver's side mirror. I laugh. Mechanic says he's going to try to reconfigure the mirror to work on the driver's side.

7:45PM Mechanic and accomplice succeessfully complete the rebuild and installation of the mirror.

8:00PM I pay $570 for 6 hours of labor (4 hours of driving to get the part and 2 hours of reconfiguration/installation). We drive away.

8:15PM Scott and I stop at Wendy's for our first meal since breakfast. We scarf down way too hot food.

8:30PM We stop to get gas before we get on I-95. It starts to snow. We get on the interstate.

9:15PM It's snowing. Alot. Like I can't see out the windshield. We get off at the Quantico Exit to find a hotel. The exit ramp has already collected a significant amount of snow.

9:30PM We check-in at Ramada and are assigned to a room in a building behind the main building. The guest service attendant tells us to park back there.

9:40PM I decide I do not want to park the truck in the snow behind the building, nor do I want to be in a building separated from the majority of the hotel. We return to the desk and I explain this to the attendant while holding back tears.

10:00PM We finally arrive to our room for the night and I'm able to find my toothbrush, clean pajamas, and my furry boots all in the back of the moving truck (next time I move, I'm packing a carry-on bag with all my necessary items and a change of clothes).

11:15PM After showering and putting on clean dry clothes, I begin recording the day's events.

Things I'm thankful for right now:

Hot shower

Dry place to sleep

Wireless at the hotel

Things I wish I had:

Hairbrush

Snack

Lysine (I'm getting a cold sore, probably from the stress)

I'll leave you with a photo of the current conditions.

Happy-Sad

My last day at American University will be this Thursday. I've had quite a bit of time to process this decision as I submitted my resignation in October. I can confidently say that I am ready for a change, but I also know that I will deeply miss the students I have worked with over the past year and a half. I have been stretched personally and professionally in so many ways. I'm already seeing how my experiences in DC have prepared me for the future. In looking at grad schools, I've also been researching assistantships. Many of the non-research assistantships involve supervising students. It's encouraging to see that my newfound supervision skills could help with financing grad school.

Last weekend was the best weekend ever of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever". I am sooo proud of the 15 kids (now professional actors) who truly became their characters for each show. I am thankful to have been part of an amazing cast & crew. My excitement about the show bubbled over into every aspect of life- I think it's all I talked about for a solid two weeks. :) Here's a pic of the group I spent the past month and a half with...

I think I may look into some children's theater volunteer opportunities when I get home. I'll be nannying approximately 30 hours/week and plan to spend some time working on grad school applications and volunteering in the city. More than anything, I hope I'm able to gain some focus on what it is I really want to do. I can't really come up with a plan when I don't know what the end goal is. Stay tuned for any insight on what that goal may be.

My brother flies in on Thursday night. We'll pack up and drive home on Friday. Watch out North Carolina, here we come!