The long version…

The past week was wonderful and awful- On Sunday, I was able to see the Godkids one last time before I left for Atlanta, and it was great. I got an amazing home cooked/grilled meal, lots of time with the kids, and had a great time.

I wasn’t feeling the best, and I hadn’t really slept for a few days, trying to get everything done for the move. Monday I woke up feeling like crap. Sore throat, ear pain, general lousiness… the whole shebang.

Tuesday, I had 2 dentist appts and a vet appt, and while I was driving the IGo car around, I decided to stop at a Minute Clinic inside of a CVS store since I could not get into my regular doctor and I was feeling horrible. I was in the exam room in under 5 minutes and had a diagnosis in under 15—double ear infection and strep throat.

Yep.

Anyway, I got an antibiotic, finished my appts, and went home to get some sleep.

Wednesday, the movers arrived to pack. One of the guys (there were 3) asked me how long I had been living in the studio—I told him 7, but I had lost my voice and it was hard to understand me. 17? He asked.

I could totally understand why he would think I would have lived there 17 years. I have that much stuff. The boxes were stacked to the ceiling. It was so cool to see them set up the boxes and pack stuff in milliseconds.

Anyway, they packed from 10-3 then I did some work and slept again, still feeling horrible. my nose was running so much, I went through 2 boxes of tissues that day. Pretty.

Thursday, the same guys came back and packed the rest of my stuff and moved everything out of the apt. It was sad to see everything go, but it was amazing to see how much room I had in the place.

TBO had NO IDEA what are going on, though he was VERY GOOD the entire time the movers were there. He hung out on the bed the whole time sleeping or watching. Well, almost the whole time.

On Thursday, the movers had the door open to get everything out to the truck. I watched the door and the cat the whole time. TBO is not known for movement, and when he didn’t move for 2 1/2 hours of the door being open (not even to check it out or sniff the outside) I got lax in my watching role.

All the sudden, TBO wasn’t there anymore. Not on the bed, not at his litterbox, not at his food bowl. I quickly walked out the door and saw him in the hallway, sniffing the crated flatscreen tv.

He saw me and took a running stance, then took off down the hall.

Poor thing hadn’t ran in like 3 years and 10lbs. He waddled a bit, and I caught up to him before he got to my neighbor’s door. He was so tuckered out from running, he slept the rest of the afternoon.

Poor, chubby cat-child. :-)

I went into the office for the last time Thursday afternoon. It was sad and weird and strange and – I don’t know- just not a fun time. I made it until 5:15pm before I burst into tears saying my goodbyes.

Thursday night was spent cussing at the vacuum (as it died while I was trying to clean the carpet) and worrying about the drive down to Atlanta. We had decided to leave Chicago at 2AM.

At 11:45p I was still awake and decided that sleeping for just an hour would make me more tired. I relaxed and then at 1:15a I got up, got dressed, got the rest of the stuff in the car (A Saturn Vue) and wrangled the TBO in his pop-up carrier (the coolest thing ever buy the way—RUN and get one at Target if you have a pet).

TBO and I picked up my friend Noelle, who graciously rode/drove with, and we were on the rode at 2:28am—after the obligatory stop at the 24 hour Starbucks on North Ave.

I drove the first 4 hours – the drive was nice. We drove on the Skyway, then stopped in, gosh, I can’t remember where our first stop was, to stretch our legs and go potty. It was there I saw the funniest thing ever—a “fragrance stop” – 25 cents to get a scent of your choice in the women’s bathroom. Good times.

Once the sun came up, Noelle did the rest of the driving. After not sleeping for 3 nights and the sickness really kicking in, there was no reason I should be driving. After she started driving, I kept falling asleep with my mouth  hanging open in mid-sentence. It was pretty, I am sure. :-)

We stopped at a few Starbucks to re-fuel on ice teas (and shaken ice-tea lemonades) and found out that (crap! I cannot remember names of places we stopped- but Noelle will remember!) is not cosmopolitan enough to have a Starbucks, but they did have a Sonic Drive In, which we ate breakfast and kept on truckin.

Poor Kentucky- it looked like a bomb had gone off through pretty much all of the state. After a few minutes, I remembered they had that horrible ice storm this winter—90 percent of the trees lost their tops. It was really sad. I am sure the state has not had the cash to clean up the mess so all the tops are just littering the sides of the roads. Sad.

Nashville we stopped (can you guess?!?) at a Starbucks after getting a bit lost and calling them to get directions. We saw this strange thing- I think it is part of some sort of civic center.

I don’t remember lunch- But I do remember stopping at a rest stop just over the Georgia border and seeing spring flowers and green grass. And it was the first time we had stopped I really didn’t need my coat and could walk around in short sleeves.

TBO was good the whole trip. He got treats and even used his letter box (GOOD BOY!) He got a bit restless by the end of the trip, but I would too after being in the car for 15 hours straight with no change to get up and stretch his legs. (picture is of the red carrier behind the front seats. I forgot to get a picture of him in his “cave”)

When we got close to ATL, we net my aunt and she brought us YUMMY soup, casserole and banana bread! It was nice to get something “real” to eat for a change!

We hit massive rush hour traffic on 75 but because of the HOV lanes, we were able to get through it pretty quickly (relatively).

We stopped by the real estate office (my landlord) to pay my rent and get the keys, then headed (FINALLY!!!!) off to the new condo. We arrived at 6:31pm at my new house, tired and ready to get out of the car and get some food. But there was one thing holding us back. 

 

There was a car parked in my deeded parking spot. (AAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!)

I called the management company, who told me to tow the car. I did, and about 35 minutes later I had a parking spot to myself. FINALLY!!!   !!!!! I was home!!

I took TBO in first, and he promptly threw up on the floor, found his litter box and peed, then curled up on the floor to take a nap. He was home. :-)

Noelle and I unpacked the car, then went to Target where I filled the cart with stuff like HVAC Filters and frozen food. I was overtired and LOST IT when we got into the car to go get dinner, so we ran for Wendy’s instead and went back to the empty house to relax and turn in.

I got a pretty good nights sleep and when we got up the next morning, we got ready and we went to the airport not only to return the Saturn Vue and pick up the Ford Focus, but to drop Noelle off for her flight home.

Since we had a bit before she had to get on her flight, I decided to take her to Chick-fil-a, since she had never been.

We ended up going to the closest one, and followed the signs from the highway. We ended up in Hapville, and low and behold, we ended up at the first ever Chick-fil-a, The Dwarf House!

It was cool- both a sit down and a fast food place. We decided on sit down, and had an adorable waitress, who, when I told her I wanted a waffle, said “Honey, you are gonna diiiiiiiie when you taste that waffle!” (think of a southern drawl when you read that last line…) :-)

I have to say: It was hands down the best waffle I have ever had in my life. Really. It was malted or something. Not Belgian like us Northerners usually order. So good, I got a second one! And Noelle got one too! :-)

I am gonna post this update now, then pull all the photos of my condo off the regular camera (as the photos above came from my cell phone). So stay tuned for pt 2!