Phase 1 : Check!

Hey guess what guys.....
this afternoon I unpacked my last box. I am officially settled. Well I mean not really settled but I have now wiped, cleaned, washed, ironed, dusted or attacked every inch of this house and I can rest for a moment knowing that I wont have to do it again until tomorrow. Sigh. There are just too many square feet to keep clean here.

But this gives me a chance to tell you all about my big move because I am sure that the suspense is killing you right? First off let me say a massive thank you to everyone who helped me move, threw me a going away party or attended one of my many going away parties. They say that good friends help you move but best friends help you move bodies but I think they got it all wrong. I think that good friends help you defrost your refrigerator, they buy you lovely flowers and tiaras, and get up on stage and sing Journey with you. Now those are good friends. I bet bodies are really heavy anyway that would be when you should call the movers :)

Also mad props go out to my bomb ass parents. They rock my socks. Despite the fact that my mother lived on the verge of tears the whole four days I was at home they were both helpful and supportive and lovely. My father - i.e. my personal hero/savior took a week off of work to move me far away and went through every step with me. We picked out our U-Haul which had a picture of a sturgeon and Virginia on it, and as a side note did anyone else have any idea how informative U-Haul trucks are now? Mine had a tale about meteorites in the Chesapeake Bay on it but they all tell informative and descriptive stories about different aspects of the 50 states. Who knew?

Anyways, I got upgraded to a 14 foot trailer, which everything fit in rather nicely with some room to spare. We put the Saturn on a dolly on the back, mom packed us an awesome cooler, we all exchanged hugs and then we were off into the wild blue yonder.

In a huge U-Haul.

Pulling a Saturn.

I have never been passed more in my life and it was somewhere in the hills of West Virginia as I was once again in the right hand lane going 40 up a never ending hill that I realized I was pulling the contents of my life up that hill and that I was doing it very freaking slowly. I drove the first leg of the trip and dad took over the rest of West Virginia into Kentucky. We amused ourselves with funny tales and antidotes. Anyone who has ever talked to my dad knows that he is the smartest man on the planet and can talk intelligently about any topic on earth and his rational levelheadedness and ability to steer the U-Haul through bustling Kentucky traffic was the trips saving grace.

People sometimes accuse me of being 'slow' but I am not slow I am deliberate and I see now where that comes from. Dad is methodical and never cuts corners or half-asses anything which is frustrating when you just want to be done with whatever you're doing but later when you look back you understand the method in the madness and realize that it was all indeed for the best. Another awesome quality to have for a big move, although completely contradictory to my habit of throwing everything in a box, duct taping it and calling it a day.

We stopped overnight in Kentucky and stayed at the Hampton Inn off the interstate. As there were no restaurants nearby and we did not wish to try to park the U-Haul in another parking lot we instead dined at wait for it the Hampton Inn. They had a lovely Managers Reception with meatball and carrots and cheese and crackers and potato chips. Free and delicious. I will never forget my father and I filling our mini Styrofoam plate and making out like bandits. Fat kid perhaps, amazing yes.

The next day we were up again and ready to get to Illinois. We rolled on through Kentucky across the Ohio river and into Indiana where life and the road began to flatten out and it was sunny and warm and lovely. The drive from Indiana into Illinois was actually the calmest part of the trip. Random since I was driving but I had begun to get the hang of the truck and we were making great time considering that we tapped out at 70 mph.

Eventually though slowly, very slowly but surely my dad and I rolled into town. Last weekend was SIUC's homecoming and we had to navigate crazy congested roads in the U-Haul but we made it out to Murphysboro in one piece with the Saturn still in tow, there were definitely points where it was iffy whether or not we still had the car on the truck.

We didn't know if Gus was going to be at the house or not because he had a midterm and might not be done so we decided to drop the dolly off at the U-Haul dealer in town which happened to be in a place called the 'Appledome' a former community indoor pool run by the local townsman named Angelo who was nowhere to be found but assured us that we could just leave the Saturn and dolly "out back".

Finding it a tad suspicious but chalking it up to a small town living we left our extra load and made the triumphant drive down Walnut St. to my new home. We were both tired and hungry having been in the car all day and losing an hour and all and we just wanted to wash our hands and eat, maybe walk around. Leave it to me to not be able to find the house. We must have circled the block three of four time in the U-Haul mind you before we made it to the house where Gus had pulled up moments before to greet us.

It was really important to me that Gus be there when we pulled up and because of the Appledome and my inability to turn on to the right streets he was able to make it home before we did. We walked in and everyone hugged and welcomed and then we were right out to eat. 17th St. Barbecue which is right down the street and drank delicious beer and ate lots of food and it was wonderful. Luckily the boys persuaded me to unload the truck that night which worked out perfectly because the next day as if to welcome me to Murphysboro the skies opened and flash floods ensued.

It poured the entire time that my dad was in town. Thursday we spent roaming the area because we could not go fishing on Lake Murphysboro as originally planned. Instead we went to return the U-Haul to the Appledome where we got to meet Angelo in person and after much amusing and enlightening conversation it came to pass the Angelo was the director of the annual Murphysboro Apple Festival and now next year Gus Diggs is going to have the honor and privilege of being Captain Applesauce in the parade! The qualifications were limited to height and a certain neck length but I am still very proud of him.

Oh and I almost forgot to tell you Gus got me a welcome sign. How cute is that?
At the Apple Inn at the beginning of town they have a sign board and you can ask them to put signs up so Gus asked them to write "Welcome to Murphysboro Erin Greene" which was really sweet the only problem was that they spelled my name Eirn. Obviously I wanted my picture with the sign so Gus hopped up to spell my name correctly. At which point several construction workers came out to yell at him for vandalising the Apple Inn sign and I had to jump up and down trying to assure them that I was Erin Greene and just wanted my name spelled right. Then they smiled and waved and welcomed me to the Boro, it really made me feel like a rockstar in my new town :)

We also visited several local hardware stores, SIUC's campus and my local CO-OP grocery store which I am already madly in love with. Dad and Gus put our new flag and flag pole up on the front porch and fixed up little things around the house. All in all it was a lovely day to spend in the rain.

The last night my dad was there Gus threw me a "Welcome to the Boro" party and invited all of the people in his program and that he works with in the lab and they took over our cute, tiny local Mexican restaurant Sergio's which is delicious and welcoming and was the perfect place to throw a fun party. It was great to meet all of Gus's colleagues even though I didn't really get a chance to talk to alot of them. I have a feeling that they came more for margaritas then for me but I can't blame them one bit. It was a really special party made even more special by the fact that my dad was there and got to meet everyone too.

Unfortunately the next day we had to drive Dad to the airport and put him on a plane home which was probably the hardest part of the entire move. It was like saying goodbye to my normalcy and comfort zone and it is never easy saying goodbye when you don't know the next time you will see them. I watched him and his yellow fleece all the way through security and then got back in the car and cried like a baby. Poor Gus. It was therapeutic though. The drive back home was spent discussing furniture and window treatments and decorating and who gets what shelf in the bathroom. Stuff of co-habitation I suppose.

Once dad left I had to get down to business. It does not help ones motivation when apparently Illinois is protesting my arrival and everyday has been cold, rainy and grey. Gross. Welcome to Southern Illinois. So I have now spent my time cleaning, unpacking, scrubbing, washing and trying to get everything perfect and organized and clean so that I can feel comfortable and settled in and I think that I am just now getting to that point.

For those of you who are going to ask the inevitable question the answer is no I still do not have a job and in all honesty I have not started looking. That is my goal to tackle next week and now that all the housekeeping duties have been taken care of I can focus all my attention on no longer being the person who has to so the housework. Pledge is not a good perfume and when I took my hair down last night little tufts of dust puffed out. Ewwwww. No more I say.

So now I am here and my boxes are all unpacked and the next phase begins.... now. Its go time. Thank you again mom and dad for all of your help and love and presents and support. I could not have made the move without you guys. Also thank you to Lauren Hutton. True friends defrost refrigerators :)

Love you all I promise I will try to do a better job of updating you on the crazy nonsense that ensues whenever I leave 2011 elm st.

I mean home :)