So far so good...

Well, we all made it here alive...now what? I arrived yesterday at the auto train station around 2:30pm and no sooner than they drove off in my car, it started pouring rain. I got in line and got checked in with no problems and while I was there a guy offered me a great deal to rent a DVD to take on the train and return at the station in FL....boy am I glad I took him up on the offer. With 17 hours on the train to kill, it worked out great. The train took off at 4pm, I had dinner at 5pm where I ensured a good nights sleep with a couple bottles of wine...that's a lot for a light weight drinker like me...(I'm sure Deanna and Sis would be proud). Ha! Anyway, back after dinner to watch 3 movies and then I was knocked out for the night. I woke up about every hour to flip over because the seats weren't that huge but it really was quite cozy, not bad...I would highly recommend the train, but I think I'll get a sleeper the next time. I slept in until 7am when the crowds walking by woke me, so I was off to breakfast. After that I watched one last movie and the train came in to the station ahead of schedule so I was in FL by 9am. It took a little while to get the cars unloaded and I was really happy about that so I could finish watching my last movie, Deja Vu, pretty good movie. Then I got my car and was off to my sister's house. I got here, moved all my stuff in out of the car, except my safe (which came in handy at the DMV) when I went to get my FL driver's license. I had lunch with family, took Kenzie, Keegan and Lexy back to watch them swim for a while to kill time until Sean and the boys got here on the plane. They landed right on time and Carol went to pick them up for me so Sis and I could go to get my FL license. That was pretty quick and painless and I'm glad I had my birth certificate in the safe in the trunk because I had forgotten that I would even need that. So I'm official now, Sean says there's no turning back for me now. Ha! If only we had a house I'd feel a little more official, but we love staying with Sis and Rick so as long as they can stand us we'll be okay. Sean and the boys came in, we all had dinner and then back to the pool the kids all went. Haven't even been here a full day yet and Matthew is already going underwater (which he's never done before) and swimming all the way across the pool...that's exciting! Hunter had fun hanging in the "hot pool" because anyone who knows him knows that he's not a fan of cold water at all. It's been a great day so far so I hope it will just continue on this way forever here. I'll keep you all posted....hopefully I'll be better about my daily post promise but I'm still EXHAUSTED and I have school work to catch up on...ugh!

2 days left...

Well, I already missed a post on my blog but honestly it wasn't until 12:30am that I finally got the chance to do it and at that point I decided that it was already the next day so I might as well just skip it and go to bed. I have found an entirely new level of exhaustion and if I never have to pack or move another box again in this lifetime it'll be too soon. Ha! We made great progress yesterday, our yard is weed free, our garage could probably actually hold 2 cars now, and all the scrapes, markings and stickers are removed from our walls. Now I see just why we bought this house to begin with, it really is a beautiful house. But after working all day the entire weekend we still have one level left to pack up. I feel bad for anyone with these big huge homes that they will have to pack up one day....ugh! I think I did finally talk Sean into having someone actually move us rather than us having to do any of the work. So we're getting estimates now to have movers come in, load the truck, drive it to FL and unload. I'm hoping it all works out and won't require me getting a 2nd or 3rd job to pay for it...but I'd be willing to get an extra job if it would keep me from having to move all our furniture out and back in, that's for sure!
As for the kids, they managed to find a way to hide some little plastic tree frog toy under one of my plants on the top shelf of my kitchen and as I was dusting I stumbled upon it. I know they didn't do it on purpose, but I just can't get used to stumbling upon these crazy creatures hiding under leaves. I was happy that I didn't take a dive off the kitchen counter that I was standing on when I saw it, that could have been tragic....it would, however, have gotten me out of a little bit of packing. Ha! Poor Hunter wrecked on his scooter too and now he has a huge bruise and scrape on one side of his face and a fat lip from his dentist visit (he bit a hole in his lip while it was numb for anyone who wasn't aware of that bit of info....it was so bad and needed stitches but they couldn't because it was just a chunk missing so there was nothing to stitch). He looks exactly like I feel...all beat up! Matthew has just kept low key and quiet and stayed most of the weekend with the Cosgroves, he'd probably just move in with them if we'd let him...he and Raymond are like twins separated at birth...
My co-workers took me out to lunch today to celebrate my last days here in the McLean office. They took me to Maggiano's where I of course over ate to the fullest degree! I had at least 2 servings of everything and as if that weren't enough, I think I went back for 3rds on the desert....what was I thinking? They also gave me $100 cash as a departure gift and I thought for a minute that I was going to have to use it already to go through the mall and buy me some bigger pants. Ha! My stomach is still hurting and full, but it was so worth it! I have the most amazing group of friends around here, and none of them are making it any easier to pack up and leave....the only thought that keeps me positive is that they have all promised to come visit us in FL! I'm getting it all in writing too so I'm holding each of them to their promises!
Off tonight to meet with our realtor and hopefully get our house up on the market and sold.
And I just realized today that with all these gatherings and postings there's no pictures...I'm such a slacker! I haven't been taking any pictures of these gatherings and I think it's because I'm just too tired to actually lift my camera to my face or I'm too tired to think of taking it with me. So I have no pictures from this weekend at all....how can I do a moving scrapbook with no moving pictures? UGH!

Racing the clock...

Okay, so I'm racing the clock now to post onto my blog because I'm committed to this as promised. Today was a draining day but we still managed to fit some visiting time in. We started the day off with a HUGE garage sale...huge, in that we had so much crap sitting out to get rid of, it was hard to believe that we still had closets full of clothes and a house still full of toys. Anyway, the yard sale was a pretty good success, but we gave up hours earlier than we had posted because we were just too tired so we took the easy route and posted a sign in our driveway that said "free, please take what you want". I'm thinking from the looks of how much stuff we still have to pack that we should have put the sign on our front door instead. Ha! We made enough money to put a good deposit on a new computer for the boys though because that's what they've been asking for and the bulk of the sales came from their toys anyway. We made $287 and the bulk of it came 50 cents at a time if that gives you any idea at all just how much stuff we had out to sell. Anyway, the day wasn't a total loss because we had a visit from Carol (Sean's mom) who was here for a reunion so it was nice to have a visitor and take a break. Then we had a very relaxing night hanging out with our friends for dinner and drinks, thanks again Deanna, Ted, Dria, and Raymond for everything you guys have done: keeping the kids, helping with boxes, feeding us dinner and drinks, and being our driver when someone needs to go somewhere.....you guys are the best! Also, while I'm thanking people....Namita saved me with some packing boxes, so thanks to her for not only giving up their boxes but bringing them over to me too! What are we going to do without all of our friends around to spoil us?
Well, we have a busy day packed full of cleaning, yard work and packing...sounds like fun I know. So I better get to sleep so I can get up bright and early to get started...I just can't wait! 3 days and counting until I leave to become a Florida resident, this week has flown by so quickly. I'm so excited to get to FL and go house shopping and get settled in....but I regret that we haven't had more time to spend with all our friends here before we leave....most of them I won't even get to see before we go...but it makes it easier I guess to not have to say goodbye anyway.

Let the panic, I mean packing begin...

Well, it's day 2 now and I'm still going strong on my posts as promised. Ha! Though I'm absolutely exhausted because we've been staying up entirely too late at night to try to get things packed and sorted. Can I just tell you how proud I am of the boys....I've set limits on the number of toys they can take and they've been such troopers to agree to it. I have narrowed our packing down a great deal by limiting the toys...of course they still have tons of stuff. Last night I told Hunter that he could only take 3 stuffed animals and he looked at me after selecting those 3 and said "how about 10"...to which I said "no" and he said "can I at least take spider man"...how could I not agree to that? So then he grabbed one more and said "this doesn't count because it's a pillow so I can take that". Ha! This is the only argument we have had and I knew that would be going into it because Hunter loves 3 things: costumes, his "peoples" and his scooter. Honestly, I'm surprised he let me get rid of the other 15 so he did good to only keep 5. While I was working on packing things up, I heard a loud thump and looked out of the boys' room and there they were sliding down the steps in my rubbermaid bins like it was some kind of amusement park ride....no fear of perhaps busting their heads. "Boys will be boys"...I find myself saying this an awful lot...hopefully I will survive them but I assure you that each gray hair in my head has either Matthew or Hunter written all over it.

Tonight is crunch time to get our last bit of stuff out and ready for our big Moving Sale tomorrow...I'll post to let you know how it goes. I was thinking I should just open the doors to my house and let people walk through and take whatever they want and just pack what's left. Amazing how much stuff you can collect in just 4 years time! Until tomorrow.....(attached this picture to show just how we're feeling as of now from packing)

My venture into the times of 2007...

Well, I've been seeing and hearing all about these "blogs" so I decided to give it a try....I mean since I'm the only person in Northern Virginia without TIVO I figure this blog will be my best attempt to get within the year of 2007. Also, since we are packing up to move South to Orlando, FL in less than a week, I figured it would be a great way for me to keep everyone in the know as to what we're doing and how we're surviving the extreme heat. I mean what were we thinking, moving to Orlando in the summer anyway? I guess if we can survive July there then we'll be okay...until hurricane season that is. Ha! I'll post more later but wanted to say hello and welcome to my new blog, I hope to have many happy posts!