I got to work that morning early so I could finish everything before I left for the long weekend. I then taught my class. We talked about lesson plans, UDL, and how technology can enhance a lesson. I also did my PB&J game! Gotta love it! Then when class was over, my co-worker followed me home to drop off my car and then took me to the airport. I made it through security with no problems but then my first flight was delayed. The first leg of the journey (from Birmingham to Houston) was on a little tiny plan and not very much fun! Plus, this pilot had a problem with smooth landings. By the time we got on the ground my prayers had changed from asking for a safe landing to just a landing in general without getting sick. The second leg of the journey was much better. The plane was bigger and not so over-crowded. Once on the ground in McAllen, I was met by Chris and we headed in search of food. I had skipped lunch and my morning coffee was no longer doing the trick. It was almost 8 pm and I was ready for dinner. We had planned to go out to a nice dinner to celebrate Chris being able to move home but due to Chris being extremely sick with a bad cold, that didn't happen. Instead we grabbed a quick bite and headed to the hotel to rest up before our real adventure began.
The next morning we were up and on the road by 6:30 am. Chris got me moving with the promise of coffee. After a quick stop at Starbucks we hit the road. About an 1 1/2 outside of McAllen we hit a road block. Chris thought they would want to investigate the U-Haul and it might take some time but nope – they checked our drivers’ licenses and we were on our way. We drove and drove and still hadn’t left Texas when half the day had gone by. Chris did most of the driving. My job was co-pilot i.e.: keep him company, fiddle with the radio, open food and drinks, hand him things, navigate in bigger towns, etc. As we were making our way through one city… which will remain nameless… we were going around this one particular bend and as we made our way out of the curve, we heard a siren right behind us. I turned to Chris and said “Are you getting pulled over?” He said, “I don’t know!” So we kept going for another minute or so and the siren went again! Sure enough – Chris was getting pulled over by a state trooper! Once we figured out that we were being pulled over we then had the challenge of finding a place on the interstate that was big enough to pull our big truck and U-Haul over at. Well this time consuming process only ticked off our state trooper friend even more. So finally he pulled up beside us yelling and screaming and flailing his arms. He then pulled away and cut us off. Chris turned to me and asked, “What did he say?” I, now completely freaked out, told Chris to follow the guy! So we did. Then the cop pulled over and so did we. Only we happened to pull up behind him and he wanted us in front of the cop car so the camera thing could see us. So we had to maneuver our giant caravan around back into traffic to get in front of the cop car. Finally the angry state trooper appeared at my window. After some basic questions he had Chris get out of the truck and meet him at the back of the U-Haul. He told Chris he had been speeding – going 70 mph in a 50 mph zone. Chris was calm and honest with the guy and told him he had not seen it drop to 50 but had seen it drop to 60 mph and had been working on slowing the massive truck and trailer down, while focusing on the curve and its narrow lanes. Then the trooper looked at Chris and got this dumb-founded look on his face and asked, “Didn’t you see the McDonald’s?” This took Chris completely by surprise and he said, “No sir, I didn’t see a McDonald’s.” Then the trooper explained that there is a speed sign dropping the speed zone to 50 mph prior to the turn, right at the McDonald’s sign. Wow! I never would have guessed to look for the golden arches to tell me traffic information! Chris and his smooth negotiation skills did end up getting him just a warning ticket. But it was complete craziness! You can bet I sang him the cop’s song (Whatcha gonna do when they come for you!) and any other jail house cop music I could think of for the next 100 miles or so. I almost want to frame the warning ticket just to remind my dear sweet husband he too does mess up.
Now I know that sounds silly. But really sometime I feel he never screws up or that I always screw up bigger. He is so logical and methodical and smart. It just always seems to work out for him and this warning ticket was kinda a nice little “you’re not perfect” tag.
Anyway… the trip continued. We had planned to stop along the way and spend the night. But when we were about 5 hours from home we decided to just keep driving and sleep in our own bed! Yes, we drove all 18 hours in one day. I even got to drive a bit. It drove Chris crazy. He doesn’t like it when I drive because I don’t do everything exactly how he would. He gets so antsy when I drive that he can’t even sleep. Let’s put it this way… by the time we pulled into our drive way we were just about done with each other for a time. I think he was probably ready to go back to Texas!
The next day we unpacked the U-Haul and took things to the storage unit and donated other things. We then went and spent the weekend at the lake with Chris’s brother and his girlfriend. The boys went dove hunting on Saturday and the girlfriend and I went shopping. It turned out to be a pretty fun day. We then all met back at the lake and spent Sunday lounging around watching movies which was perfect because it rained all day. By the time we made it home Monday mid-morning we were well rested and ready to face the week.
Chris did end up having to go back to Texas for Tuesday through Thursday. I think this was probably an ok thing… maybe we needed the time to get used to the idea of living together. After he returned from this trip, things have been going really well. We have been working together, getting a lot accomplished at the house, and even running together in the evening with our girls. And I have to admit, other than the occasional tussle over TV programming, it is wonderful having such a helpful team-mate.
Work has gotten extremely busy for me over the last couple of week as evidence from the lack of blogging! Chris has been right there helping me out. He has made dinners, done dishes, taken care of errands, and even picked up the house. I couldn’t ask for a better partner. The sweetest thing he did was surprise me by taking my favorite pair of high heels to the shoe doctor to have the heels repaired! I didn’t even have to ask. He just knew it needed to be done and he did it. It was the best surprise!!!
Life doesn’t look like it will be slowing down any time soon. But I love my job so that’s good and my family is my foundation and my daily blessings. Now if I could just get my dissertation done it would be awesome! LOL – I know it is a process and I am making progress I guess. I am just ready to be done. It is hard having that thing on your list that you can never check off. You never work enough no matter how much you work. I will get there… I know I will. I refuse to fail.
But for now I am just happy to have my honey home. It’s strange to think we are more than half way through our first year of marriage and he gets to finally live with me. I have so many things around our area that I want to try, museums I want to visit, parks I want to take the dogs to, etc. We will get there. Life will find a rhythm now that everyone is home sweet home.
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