Moving highlights and low points

We are practically moved...into a storage unit. Yep. (That would not count as a highlight!) The other tenants that were so so desperate to move out have not moved out, and they really have until the end of November so we are moving into a storage unit. Actually, my kind sister Megan has let us stay at her house this week and then we'll be at my mom's and then we'll be in Colombia for two and a half weeks!!!!! Yahoo!!! So we'll be here in Cartagena!!!And here.

And here in Bogotá. Ahhhh...that's a relaxing thought. Somewhat stressful thought though too, but I try not to think of the stressful bits (like me not knowing Spanish, or trying to fly standby there with all our kids, or just being there with all the crime and my in-laws.) Anyway, back to the tidbits about moving.

I packed the entire house while Leo was working because he can't take any more time off. I had one low day when I couldn't get a babysitter because my kids were sick and they didn't let me get anything done and I was in tears all day. Hey, give me a break! This was after a week and a half of being insanely busy, my mother-in-law visiting for 6 days, my phone and internet going dead when I was still trying to make arrangements for the move, and being five months pregnant. Luckily, when I broke down in tears at our apartment complex's manager's office after talking to AT&T to try to get my phone back, some random stranger lent me her cell phone till our phone came back on the next afternoon. That was a highlight!! Also, other than that one day, I had tons of help from my friends with babysitting and dinners, so that was also really nice. Another highlight was the fact that Leo let me buy a new entertainment center, bookshelf and changing table off of craigslist before we moved because, really, there's a lot more stuff available in Chicagoland at cheaper prices than I'm going to find in Utah. So that was fabulous, and I got smashing good deals!! :) A low point was moving my wedding dress and prom dress and finding mold covering the two walls in that corner of my closet. It was disgusting. That was caused by a leak way back when (remember the raining in our bathroom incidence?) and they had come to fix it and had simply painted over the mold. Leo also had a couple bathroom tiles fall out on him while cleaning the shower that had mold encrusted all over them and the wall behind. I had been careful to try to wedge the grout back in whenever I cleaned, apparently Leo didn't know my methods. But another highlight was a lady from our church coming to help clean when we desperately needed it on Saturday night. She cleaned the kitchen for us. SO nice!!! She was a little appalled that you couldn't really scrub the cupboards because the paint would come off, but I assured her that was normal. I am really so glad to be out of there!!! Another highlight was listening to a few of Leo's young men complain as the helped us load the trailer on Saturday. It went like this.

"You said you had hardly any stuff!!! You have so MUCH stuff!!!"

"How can you possibly need all this!!!
"Are you kidding me?!?! There's a storage unit of yours in the basement too?!?!?!"

Ahh, teenagers. Just wait till they have three kids going on four and food storage. There was a lot of people to help us move on Saturday too. It was great. I flew out to Utah with the kids on Monday and Leo went to work, and then Leo's going to drive the minivan straight thru (20 hrs) on Friday getting here Saturday and then he has to fly back to Chicago Saturday night for work on Sunday. Yuck, I already hate the idea of Leo commuting for the next month and a half. But it all will soon settle down, I hope. Tomorrow we're unloading the trailer. I love having family nearby to help!! Well, time for dinner, gotta run.