I'm back

I am grateful for all the hugs that I have gotten from my kids since I got home yesterday.......almost 9 days was too long to be away from them.

A Short visit

My oldest sis is so good with kids.  It was fun to watch her interact with the kids she tends during the day.

And it was fun to get to know my niece and nephews better.....we had fun joking and laughing and such.......getting to know all about a job at chick-fil-a and its grand opening, and watching an awesome claymation movie made by one of my nephews, and teasing one of them about a dating schedule.  =)


And they treated us to some seriously awesome snow cones!

I am grateful that we could crash at my sisters for a couple days and visit with them before we had to leave FL.

Today's the day

Ok, let me rewind a couple of days and let ya know how things went. First off my mom and I were trying to get the rest of her belongings packed and loaded on to the POD....and there was still A LOT left to be packed after my brother had been out here right before I came (and he did an awesome job when he was here).


  We kept trying to get people to come and help but no one ever came. So,

I was pretty much in tears.....stress played a MAJOR roll in it, but I was also hit so hard with a pain that I haven't felt for years as I was packing up some of my dads belongings.  So in short, I felt like I was a wreck.

After having a little tiff with my mom, I poured out my heart and prayed that we would be able to get this done cause I just didn't see it happening.  And not even 10 minutes later help was on our doorstep......the Burtofts, good and long time family friends, were there offering their help.

And the next day Sister Burtoft was able to get a few more helping hands to show up.  And the relator,  Brad, who is also a family friend, came over to help us.  Things were looking up for us.

Then yesterday evening 8-12 people were there helping us to load up the rest of the furniture and boxes and even help pack up a few things that were needing to find a home in a box.

I can not express my gratitude for those who were willing to come and do some heavy lifting in the heat and humidity of a typical Florida summer.  We truly were blessed by those helping hands and couldn't have done it without them.

The Burtoft's and Brad and his family stayed later and even helped to drain the waterbed, which wasn't coming with us, and help vacuum and tidy up the house and fix some wood trim on the outside of the house.

Brad even helped to take some furniture to Goodwill and finish up some odds and ends after my mom left.



So, last night we stayed at a nearby hotel and woke to this beautiful view.

After signing the paperwork (which was a little more stressful due to the fact that the buyers were being a stickler about termites, even though terminex came out and checked and didn't find any termites or interior termite damage....just one piece of outside trim had old termite damage.) And when we finally got that all settled we then went out to breakfast.....with a nice view from our booth.

Before we left we went back to the house to do one final check and make sure we got everything and to clean out the fridge.

It didn't even feel like the place I grew up in, which was really good.  I was worried about having to say goodbye to the only house I remember living in....think we moved there when I was 2.

Both my mom and I were exhausted with the whole thing and were just ready to be done with it all.  So, honestly, we didn't think twice about driving away and getting ready for the next adventure of getting my mom into her new place.

......but first, a long drive to visit my sister.

Running out of time!!!!

Only a couple more days until the sale is final and then we are out of here.

It is strange to see everything slowly become so bare and look nothing like it was when I was growing up.

I am over my head in stress and don't know how we are going to pull getting it all done in time.....up around 8:30am and back to bed about 3am has been my schedule so far.  But I keep praying that all will work out.

Think positive thoughts, right?

I know we can, I know we can, I know we can....

I am grateful that I was able to figure out how to make it so I could come down and help my mom.....it was tricky, but I am blessed with some amazing family and friends.

Hold on Tight!

Recognize anyone?

I am thankful for things that make me laugh.

Airport Awesomeness

So, I am headed to Florida to help my mom make the big move.

I know it is going to be a LOT of work and it all needs to be done in a short amount of time and I'm a little stressed about being able to get it all done.

So as I was going through the Chicago airport I was grateful for this wall, that I just loved, and the brief distraction it gave my mind.