Home at last in West Virginia

So, here I sit in my own home (finally!!) in Fairmont, WV. It has been a long road here and it promises to be a bit longer yet. I can't believe that barely three weeks ago they told Eli "You're hired" and we embarked on a whirlwind, chaotic quest to move up here. But here we are. The drive up was nothing short of amazing in so many ways. For one, Brayden managed to weather the trip without too much complaint. I bought a lapdesk and strapped it to him at times so he could color, have a snack, or watch one of the two new movies I bought on our new portable DVD player. He loves Kung Fu Panda, so I got that for him. I also bought Sleeping Beauty. I wasn't sure if he'd like it, but when the scene came on where the fairies are turning the dress blue and pink, he just giggled and giggled. Around the last 4 hours or so, he'd just about had it. So we stopped and let him play in the McD (indoor!) playplace while I switched his carseat over into Eli's truck. The change in scenery managed to buy us enough time to get into town. He is, of course, sick and tired of the car. Because after we took a look at the house we were supposed to rent that night, we turned it down and found a hotel. Which meant we spent the first several days in the car looking for a place to live. Only now will he let me put him in the car without vehement protestations.

On the way up, we drove through Tennessee. It was positively breathtaking! All the trees were beautiful shades of red and orange. And once we got into the mountains it was so amazing. I truly hated that all my cameras were packed away deep in the truck. I would have loved to stop and get pictures. We had deer run across the interstate and we saw a stray cow on the side of the interstate in the grass just happily grazing away. A car stopped next to her as we passed, so I'm guessing they were there to guide her home. It's amazing to me that as we traveled north, we literally passed through the seasons in 15 hours. When we left Mobile, it was barely fall with all the trees just beginning to turn and the air starting to get that crisp autumn chill. We drove through TN in full-blown autumn. And now that we're here, we're very definitely in winter. I'm rather sad that I've missed my favorite season of the year almost entirely. But the snow has been beautiful. I remember the last time I saw real snow. It was when my Aunt Shari still had only three boys (!) and we went up to visit her around Christmas. I remember how cold it was! We went out to a field to sled and build snowmen and I was miserable! The snow was too powdery to make balls with and I remember making Mom put seven pairs of socks on my feet (yes, I remember that it was exactly seven) and still I ended up in the car with my feet in front of the heater vent trying to thaw them out. I also remember snowmobiling. I remember that Dad tipped us over and fell on my arm. And I remember that I really wanted to ride with Mom. And I remember getting hip deep in a snow drift trying to take a picture. Mom still has that picture somewhere. Anyway, this is all to say that it has been a very long time. I have loved sitting (or driving!) and watching the snowflakes fall. It's amazing to me sometimes the way it seems to drift aimlessly and how it just dances about in the wind. It's like a little ballet of snow just for me. I got in trouble with Eli because I was catching snowflakes and examining their shapes instead of unloading the U-Haul! As an intelligent person, I have always known that snowflakes have unique crystallized shapes, but that realization never sank in until I accidently caught a good look at one that had fallen on my black glove. They're beautiful! I was mesmerized.

Anyway, back to our story. We ended up living in a hotel for the first whole week while I frantically searched for a suitable place to live. We saw several things, but nothing ever seemed quite right. I always had a sinking feeling in my stomach when I thought about taking it and moving in. I kept leaving the same messages on apartments and houses. All the while Brayden was going crazy in the hotel and taking me with him. Finally, last Saturday, I looked at the perfect house! It was beautiful! They were asking a little more in rent than we were originally looking to pay, but with me going to go back to work we figured we could afford it. After we were turned down for one house because we owe Evans money (which I was upfront about), we briefly considered lying and saying we'd been living with family. But when I went to fill out the application it just didn't feel right. Then something inside me said Honesty is the Best Policy. So I filled it out and called the landlord and told her our story of our time with Evans and our financial difficulties and how in the end our expenses outweighed our income by hundreds of dollars. She didn't seem particularly fazed by it. In fact, she said that she'd had bumps in the road as well. I sent her the application and followed up by calling Evans and leaving a message on his phone asking for him to find it in his heart to give us a decent reference when she called. Come Monday morning, we had the house! And do you know that once we started moving in, people that I had left messages for started calling me back about other places for rent? By the Grace of God. I seem to live much of my life only by the Grace of God.

So, after a long two weeks that has felt, truly, more like a month or more, I am finally in a home. With my own bed and my own things. All but the heaviest things are unloaded off the truck. We'll finish that up later when Eli wakes up. (He pulled a 24-hour shift and didn't get in until after 6 this morning.) And now I'm going to start putting my things away and start buying the things I need and the little finishing touches. After that, I'm going to hunker down and try to knit on my Christmas gifts, do my photo restoration job, and hopefully start a new job. Yes, I'm going to be a busy little bee. I'll post all about the job later when I have more information. Suffice it to say that it will pay well, be part time, let me work from home about 80% of the time, and the company will pay for daycare when I go in to the office. How awesome is that?!