Life in the Burbs

About a week ago we all arrived safely in Fort Worth. The driving was a little harder this time than it has been in the past because a) I was driving a 26-foot moving truck (which wasn’t all that bad) and b) we had a caravan of 3 cars. In most cases, this wasn’t a big deal but it did make me nervous in the bigger cities. The last 50-mile stretch across the DFW metroplex was the most intense for me, but we made it through with no problems and arrived at our new home about 5 p.m. Gina had called Don and Karen as we were approaching Dallas, and they pulled up within minutes of our arrival.

The last week has been very busy as we unpacked our boxes and found a place for all of our stuff. And let me tell you, we have a lot of stuff. That being said, we have found a place for almost everything and our house is now starting to look like a home. With all the activity and changes, I have not really been motivated to blog much, but that will change in the near future.

The boys have adjusted to the move pretty well. In fact, Sam has adjusted a bit too well. He has become so comfortable in his new surroundings that he started climbing out of the crib. Gina and I were both surprised that it took either of the boys this long to start climbing out, and on Friday night the era of “captive babies” came to an end. Thankfully, we were prepared for this event and had already purchased bed rails, which are now installed on their cribs in place of the front gate. So far, they have been going to sleep with minimal resistance, but we’ll see if this holds up.

We are grateful to finally be here and are especially thankful that my parents (Ron and Gale) were able to make the trip with us and help with various stages of the move. They are swinging back through town tonight and there will be no work for them to do. This should be a nice break from the last couple of weeks. Thank you to all of you have been praying for our safe move and travels.

We arrived home on Sunday from our trip, and we have been packing our house ever since. The drive back was pretty uneventful, but the boys did continue their fixation with the movie Cars. I think we watched it at least 5 times on the drive home, not to mention the 7-8 times we watched it in Florida. On the upside, we have yet to watch it since we got back home. Other than that, we stayed safe and made good time on the interstate.

When we walked into our house, things really got interesting. For one, we are used to coming home to a clean house because we always make sure things are in order before we leave. When we left for this trip, we were in a hurry and had boxes stacked everywhere. I wouldn’t say the house was a complete disaster, but it was quite cluttered with boxes and items waiting to be packed. We had a hard time finding a place to put our bags and other things from the trip. I had turned off the AC while we were gone because the temperature had not been all that hot before we left. It was still relatively cool when we came back but the house was very stuffy and humid. I also detected a slight musty smell. That’s when I discovered the major surprise …

When I went into the basement (which is VERY unfinished) everything looked fine. But I noticed that some trash cans were toppled over and there was an abnormal amount of debris in the drain in the floor. Well, after some investigating it was clear the basement had flooded while were gone. I have no idea how much water was in there, but I am thinking between 2-3 inches, at least. Everything that was on the floor was obviously ruined or completely soaked. Thankfully, it had flooded (just a slight trickle) right before we left and we had moved most of the stuff upstairs. We had to discard a few items, but most of the stuff was saved. Anyway, it was at this time that I realized how done I am with basements. Don’t get me wrong, if the basement is sealed up and taken care of, like my parent’s and sister’s house, it is a great thing. I loved my basement in my house in Casper. But this basement has been a real headache for us. Besides the fact that it looks like a 18th Century dungeon and has almost no lighting, it is dirty and cold, leaks water and smells like an old storm cellar. I can’t wait until we have moved everything out of there and can close the door for good.

We also came home to an AC unit that wasn’t working. So, in the midst of dealing with the basement crisis, the upstairs felt like a sauna. I was able to call the AC guy who works for our landlord, and he fixed it right away. Apparently it was an easy fix because we had a cool house again by Monday night. Even so, it was one more thing to think about and keep us from doing the packing we needed to do.

Despite the setbacks, the packing and planning for the move is going well. My parents show up today to help with the final details, then we all depart for Fort Worth on Saturday morning. Thankfully, we feel rested from our vacation in Florida, and we have actually been sleeping better since we got home. You know how it is with toddlers and their sleep patterns when they travel. I have actually found some time to write this before the rest of the family is awake, which couldn’t have happened on our trip. So, the next time I update this blog it will be from Texas. In the meantime, I have some more boxes to pack.

I had a really interesting experience on Wednesday of our vacation. Gina and I left the boys with Granny and Granddad so we could swim in the ocean for a little while. We took our stuff down to the beach and left it under the tent we had set up. I had noticed during my last couple of times to swim in the ocean that my wedding ring felt kind of loose on my finger. I decided to take it off and placed it in my hat. After we were done swimming, I dried off and put my hat back on without even thinking about my ring. In fact, I didn’t even notice that I wasn’t wearing it until we had been in the beach house about 30 minutes. I rushed back to the beach without telling anyone why I was going and searched furiously in the sand for about 30 minutes. It became clear to me that this was going to be really hard to find. I came back to the house and broke the news to Gina about what I’d done. She was understanding, but she wanted to go back down to look for it. We recruited a few others to come with us, but after quite awhile we became convinced that the ring was gone. Later that day, I looked out the window and saw Don by our tent. I had this sudden thought, if I don’t go back and look while the tent is still up (which gives me at least a general idea where the ring might be) I will definitely not find it again. So, I went down there one more time and began sifting through the sand. After several minutes, I saw in the sand the faint outline of a circle. I dropped down and dug around it, and as the sand fell from my hands, a small silver ring — my wedding ring — appeared. I was so excited that I ran back to the beach house without even telling Don, Kendall or Zach, who were on the beach with me, that I found the ring. I also forgot to put my shoes back on and I stubbed my bare toe on the boardwalk pretty badly. I ran into the house, tracking blood the whole way, ascended the stairs and just stood in front of everyone. Gina could tell immediately what had happened. It was a really cool experience.

If you are familiar at all with the two stories Jesus tells about people who found something  they thought was lost (the widow and her lost coin and the father of the prodigal son), you know that both people ran with joy. I don’t think this detail was randomly added to these stories. After finding my ring, my first response was to run back home and tell people what happened because I was convinced the ring was gone forever. I think Jesus included this detail on purpose to illustrate the emotions God feels when we choose Him over ourselves, the world or thousands of other things competing for our attention. Pure joy and elation, the natural reaction to which is running toward the lost object in order to end the lostness as soon as possible.

Gina, the boys and I have been in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida for the past few days with her parents, her brother and his family. So far, everyone is having a great time and we have really been soaking up the sunshine and cool (and sometimes hot) ocean breezes. The condo we rented for the week is pretty much right on the beach, so we can go swimming or for a stroll anytime we want. There is also a pool next to the condo, and we have really enjoyed going over there. The twins were quite slow to warm up to the beach; in fact, Sam still pretty much screams to go home every time we’re out there. Nate finally let us take him in the ocean this morning, and he loved it. He actually screamed when we told him it was time to go home and eat lunch. They both love the pool (they call it “blue water”) and have been quite the independent pair with their floatie Speedo swimming suits. Wearing a Speedo definitely has a different connotation now than when I was a kid. The best part of the vacation is that everyone is relaxed, which Gina and I will need when we get back to Illinois and pack up to move to Texas. We’re looking forward to the rest of the week and the fun adventures we will have at the beach. We just hope those adventures don’t include dodging oil slicks. So far, it’s been all clear.