Saturday Summary

I'm sitting next to Uncle Jim, sunk into his deliciously soft sofa, drinking my favorite wine spritzer, the girls are in bed, life is good! Auntie Karen and Uncle Jim arrived this morning at 8:15 and got breakfast for all. Then Laura arrived at 9:30 to help with the girls. First we felt the rumbling, next we heard the diesel and at last the doorbell rang about 10:30, the moving van was here! We made great friends of Animal Andrew who threw box after box together, wrapping, taping, packing like a mad man taking 4 breaks between 10:30 and 6:30! He was smiling, happy, upbeat couldn't be a nicer guy. He was from Tucson, had never worked with the guys from California before and fell in like nobody's business. Incredible! It was 100 degrees with 23% humidity, completely gross day to be moving and yet these guys never stopped moving, smiling, laughing, making it fun. Then we had Ricky who worked all day in the hot, metal truck bed. He kept apologizing he had to drink Gatorade…Seriously? I'd have to drink an ocean of it just to pack, I can't imagine doing it in a tin can! He also was absolutely lovely, kind, quiet, gentle. Turns out he was a priest at one point in his life. He was impressed with the number of rosaries I had around the house for a protestant. And then we had Jerry, he drives Big Red, and is a gargantuan Samoan, definitely the muscle. He walked in, found a rosary I had on the coffee table and immediately put it on. He wore it all day and took it home with him, still wearing it. The amazing thing is, this rosary is one that my good friend Heather has been using to pray over the call, the move, the changes and she'd just sent it to me. Jerry the mover was drawn to the moving rosary. So, as it had been previously pressed into service about this move, it literally continued with the move…Awesome!! In spite of no one believing it possible, including the movers, everything was packed, loaded, tied up inside the truck and all pulling away from the curb at 7pm this evening! Hooray! This is actually happening! Gabrielle was absolutely thrilled to be with these men all day. She was in high heaven and took a particular shine to Rosary Jerry. As we all went out to see the full truck the guys asked if she'd like to see inside Big Red. They helped her climb up in and shut the door. They turned on the interior cab lights. They showed her how the seats go way up or way down like an amusement park ride. She was working hard to be cool and not smile! Then, Jerry climbed in and started the truck! She got to ride along as they drove around the trailer and backed up to connect. She got a bit scared when he rolled up the window and got out. But, what a big day! She couldn't believe she was up so high in such a big truck! Thank you God for Walsh Moving. Thank you for Jerry, Ricky, and Andrew. What a great crew. And after this 15 hour day and counting, it feels good to know, the hardest work is behind us and now the fun begins. Plus, Uncle Jim made grilled chicken burritos for dinner with Alejandro's tortillas and Auntie Karen made homemade pumpkin pie! It just doesn't get better than this! Thanks everyone for helping today to be absolutely incredible. Big love!