Since we closed on our new home June 27th we've been in a real whirlwind. We'd lived among the boxes for several weeks and I knew I'd come to the end of my packing so I called in the troops as I'd planned. I hired a couple to finish packing and clean the apartment for me. No, all was not perfect but adequate has become just good enough for me now.

Our movers were scheduled to come the first of July to move us. Far be it from me to question the "experts" but I did wonder about their appointment time of one o'clock in the afternoon. I decided to let them manage their own business though because it seemed apparent that I didn't really know what they do. When they arrived the three young men announced we were not ready to move. They also seemed very surprised that we had a garage and indicated they'd not prepared for that. They had thought they were to move the furniture and had no idea boxes were involved. In addition they would never begin to pack anything that was remaining since they hadn't brought their own boxes and those I had must be somehow defective. OK - here we go. Meltdown time for Ann? Close. However, I instructed the lady I'd hired to start packing everything that was left - she asked what exactly did I want packed and I told her everything. I then announced to the young men that I expected them to pack all the furniture and boxes that were in the garage and apartment ...period.. I told him if they would do that we could get most everything else packed. They calmed down and got to work. I think they expected to complete the job in the three hours I'd paid for up front and I knew they would be there much longer than that. It was amazing though. They were packed and on the road to the new home in about three hours - in spite of themselves!!

I really could have used three of myself on moving day. I knew going into the day it would be that way. I had so much to do and really needed to be with the movers, packers and Bill all at the same time. Bless Bill - he knew how busy I was and tried hard not to ask for much. I knew I needed to keep him fed and did manage to do a less than adequate job of that. The movers were good in that they let him sit in his chair until the very last thing, then he got in the car and they put the chair in the truck and we were off. Oh - getting the cats to the car was fun. None of them wanted to help with the cats. Finally I said I'd put one in the cat carrier - would one of them carry that? Yes - one did carry it. But I got to carry 22 pound Roy out to the car - one more assault to my back!!! I found this great stuff at 1 800 Pet Meds called "Be Serene". It was a real life saver for Coda because he is such a noisy, demanding cat. I didn't want to let them outside right away so when Couda would start bettering he'd get a dropper of Be Serene.

When we got to the house I needed to get Bill situated in the great room and the cats settled in before the movers started transferring. That was accomplished then the movers began. They did take one little short cut I've been dealing with since the move. The put almost ALL the boxes in the garage. They ignored the label I'd so painstakingly put on the boxes in order that they were put in the proper rooms. They were obviously in a hurry to get moving back home!

Our living room furniture had been delivered the 30th of June. The first the refrigerator and washer and dryer came. The excitement came when I did my first load of wash on the second and had a flood in the laundry room. When I called Sears - won't buy from Sears again - when I finally spoke with a human being he asked if I was sure it wasn't the drain???? His next comment was that he'd have someone call me because e sensed I might be getting a little upset. The next day a technician came to the house and discovered that the hose had been burned at the factory and the leak was right before the hose got to the drain.

Then there was the phone. We were going to go with the cable phone thing, but AT & T required that any numbers being moved required an eight day waiting period. Since we have horrible cell phone reception here I didn't feel comfortable depending on a cell phone for emergency purposes so I decided to go with AT & T. On Thursday AT & T, Cable and Sears were all here at the same time. I don't know how Bill took that because there was so much confusion, but bless his heart he did so well.

Anyway, we are in and getting settled. I've got to get the pictures up and my office arranged. I'll get some pics posted this week-end. It is so comfortable and we are just thrilled. The cats are settled in and are now allowed to go outside. They went out this morning at 4 o'clock. Then next thing I heard was a cat fight. I got up and called for them - it wasn't our boys, but a couple of neighbor cats. I suppose they were showing off for the boys! Our boys had eyes like saucers and wanted in the house IMMEDIATELY.

So, there you have it. We are in, moved and I am coming up to breath occasionally now. I am trying to monitor my email and hopefully will be back on some sort of normal schedule next week. Until then, just know we survived. Bill didn't have many problems at all. The most was some increased incontinence, but I expected it so was able to help him cope a little better. We are both sleeping real well - it's so quiet here!

I hope all is going well with you and you are enjoying summer. We've had rain at some point everyday for over a week now. It heats up during the day and we get hit in the evening. I think maybe it's the monsoon season in the south!!