One Truck loaded . . .

Yesterday was busy. We were up and trying to pack more before the truck and helpers arrived. I even ran errands before it finally got here. I got a lot accomplished, in only an hour . . . I had a hitch put on my van, went to AAA to pick up the TripTik for the move, got copies of the kids' immunization records (have to have those for notification to home educate), transferred our storage unit from my name to my father-in-law's name, and then picked up the bulletins and the processional cross for Jay's ordination.

The truck finally arrived a little before noon. So we ate our subs and then the work began.

Jay had promised the kids they could run around in the empty trailer. So they did.

Jay and Marty started loading and then asked me what I thought could go somewhere. Well, before they knew it I was suggesting a reload of the first few items so we could use the space more wisely. They complied (flipping the hide a sofa onto the other part of the sectional) in hopes if we used the space wisely then we'd get all our stuff on one truck - yeah right . . . one truck.

This is about the time we realized it wasn't going to fit on ONE truck.

Trying to squeeze as much on as possible so we don't use as many feet on the second truck.

These guys had a heck of a time putting in the bulk head, but they succeeded . . .

A huge THANKS to Marty, Mike, and Beth from Cosi. They came over and helped - they were a huge help considering I can not pick up anything because of my back. I felt bad since I wasn't helping, but I even had a chiro appointment today and made mention of picking things up and he politely discouraged it. Also, want to thank Jay's bro and parents for taking time off of work to help out too.

The kids' rooms are empty except for just a tote of things that they'll use between now and the time the truck arrives in Bismarck.

Chloe finally got her spot back.

See why we still need another truck . . .

This is what is left still in the garage. Then inside the house we still have the 7 ft. farm dining farm table, a file cabinet, our head board, and then a few more totes. Then we still have our 7.5 ft. air hockey table and our Queen mattress set in storage that we have to get. Jay and I are hoping to be able to get the rest of our possessions on about 10 ft. of the second truck.

The kids decided to have some fun . . .

Cassie amazes me on the wave board already, but to be able to bend and still maneuver that two-wheeler under the truck was just fun to watch. Must be nice to be young and flexible.

Packing the mess . . .

ARGHHH . . . .

Well, we have been packing non-stop!! Does it ever end? Remember those 15 hour days Jay was working at Cosi? Well, I'm not sure he truly realized how long this would take – the packing part that is? Those long shifts have been replaced with long shifts at the house cleaning, organizing, and packing. We started this process months ago, thank goodness; otherwise we'd be more overwhelmed than we are now. The bedrooms have probably been the easiest to pack, as all the stuff in them belongs to us, so it's just a matter of sifting through the mess. Other areas of the house are common areas between us and our in-laws, so they are a little more time consuming in packing because we have to decide what is ours from the beginning, what is theirs from the beginning, and what has been acquired over the last 4 years 11 months and decipher who the rightful owner is at this time.

The kids' rooms are almost packed – Mackenzie has maybe a book box of stuff left to pack, Zack's is still a couple of boxes away, and Cassie-well she's been working at the zoo the last two days so her room is not quite cleaned and organized enough for me to go in and pack. I told the kids that we would pack their room once they went through all their stuff and decided what could go away. I told them to use the approach, "If you haven't used it or played with it in the last 6 months and you don't think you will when we get there, please donate it!!"

As many of you know, we love thrift store shopping for clothes, furniture, books – well just about everything in our possession is second-hand. So, once the kids had sifted through the majority of their stuff, Jay & I went in to finish the job. The next question was, "Does it have sentimental value?" If not then we decided it too could be donated. After working in Mackenzie's room, she had well over 4 medium size boxes of clothes, clothes, more clothes (she picks up things from the thrift store and gets hand-me downs from big sis & friends), purses, books, and just a few toys; and 3 medium boxes of trash. Her snow globe collection itself took up 4 medium boxes for the move. Zack didn't have as much clutter, I think he only had 2 medium boxes for donate and 2 medium boxes of trash, and his lighthouse collection too took up 4 medium boxes for the move. Now Cassie is still working on her room – so far she's only had 2 medium boxes for donate and 1 medium box of trash.

So far we have donated 17 large boxes, 7 large trash bags, 3 small electronics (?), and 1 printer.

Well most of the stuff has made it to the house from our storage units – one is completely empty and the other houses our sectional sofa (thank you Marshall & Amy), flat top stove (may sell later since the house we're renting has one), our 7.5 ft. air hockey table (have suggested selling & have gotten 4 resounding NOs), and a dining room curio cabinet (from my in-laws, which we are probably going to have to leave behind because a) lack of room on truck & b) no place in the house for it).

Anyway, as you can see from the pictures, the garage is almost full. So, I started envisioning all this stuff in the garage going into the 28' ABF trailer. Jay & I measured the belongings in the garage and panic set in . . . I don't think it will fit in the trailer, because, in the house, we still have 7 dressers, 3 tall bookcases, 3 short bookcases, a 7 ft. dining farm table w/benches, 5 twin mattresses, 1 queen mattress/box spring set, 4 beds/bed frames, a piano, 2 nightstands, 2 computer desks, 1 office desk, 2 armoires, washer and dryer, and too many boxes to count. OH NO!! Now what?

Well, we did some research yesterday, to have ABF provide additional trailer space (which would require another trailer) it would cost an additional $1,300 – don't have since we have depleted all our savings over the last couple of years. So the most likely scenario is to rent a u-haul 6'x12' trailer, which is only (like I have this laying around) $542.00. Plus, we have to have a hitch installed onto my Caravan, which we want to have done anyway, so that cost of $289 (OUCH!!) we will absorb, but here's hoping we get a little more assistance with the moving expenses.

It's amazing how much this has cost so far and we haven't even left the state. The numbers are astonishing considering we are doing this on our own and trying to keep the costs down. Instead of buying our supplies from U-haul or another storage/moving supply place, we've been buying boxes & packing paper from Home Depot (way cheaper) and packing tape from Sam's Club, but we still have spent $263.56 on supplies – here's hoping we don't have to buy any more. The ABF trailer is $2,188 (which Jay & I did separate quotes online and mine was $2564, so we went with his – not sure why the discrepancy). Then the U-haul trailer is $542.00. The gas is estimated (according to http://www.fuelcostcalculator.com/) Jay's will be $145 and my van will be $215 (before towing a trailer) to go from Cols to Omaha to Bismarck. Then we still have hotel expense ($89 + tax) - have you ever tried to find a pet friendly hotel, let alone one that will allow a 130# St. Bernard - which we are only doing one night because we will be staying with family for a couple of nights and food on the road. It adds up when you are moving 1,210 miles from home; we will travel 1,422 miles as we will be routing through Iowa so we can see my family for a couple of days.

Anyway, we are busy purging and packing. I have several items from my home school library (over 2 large boxes full) that I am donating, well actually giving to be taken to Learning Tree co-op so families can make good use of the stuff. I can't wait to get settled. I'm so sick of packing and I definitely don't look forward to unpacking. Here's hoping our roots will be planted for a long time.

Happy Birthday . . .

Well, Tuesday, August 25th in the year of 1969, Jay came into this world at 7:13 a.m. Yes, that’s right, this year he celebrated his 40th birthday. We (Cassie & I) wanted to throw a huge surprise party, but as we neared this landmark year and then month we realized a big surprise shindig was out. People, us included, are just busy so trying to even get family together, especially since one sister lives in California and then one is in Dayton, OH getting together just doesn’t happen.

Last week, Thursday to be exact, Jay realized he didn’t even ask for the day off of work. Of course, my first reaction was, “Where will you make up the hours?” considering that is one of his 15 hour shift days at work. Then I was like, what the heck, you might as well take it off at this point. So, he phoned work and find out the schedule was already done, but they worked it out that he could have the morning off and wouldn’t have to come in till 4:00 p.m. and work till closing and they’d try to find someone to work the evening. Well, in the mean time his brother phoned me and said lets take cake into work (Cosi @ Easton) and surprise him.

So, on my way to take Cassie jeans shopping at Kohl’s (they had a great deal on juniors jeans), I go through this huge ordeal to try and call his place of employment. Let me tell you, according to Sprint’s 411 service there’s only one Cosi in the Columbus area, they need to update their records. Well, after being resourceful, I obtained the phone number and called one of the managers.

I explained who I was and then followed it by “Don’t let him off of the evening shift!”

She was shocked and asked, “You don’t want him off on his birthday?”

So, I explained our plan to surprise him at work with cake and balloons.

She agreed she’d run “reconnaissance” and make sure no one would cover his shift. (Thanks Rachel)

After working his Friday shift, he came home and said he couldn’t find anyone to cover his evening shift. I reminded him he still had Monday to try and see if he could find someone to work for him. Well, after a long day at work Monday, he came home a little flustered because, “There’s no one to cover my shift.” I tried to play it off and I asked him if anyone owed him a favor and he said no one’s around because they’re back in school. I told him, “Oh well. I had to deliver papers on my birthday, which was the Saturday before (Aug. 22nd), and no I am not 40, not yet I still have a few, three to be exact, years to go.

Well, when he left for work on Tuesday, I was taking a nap (I’m not sleeping well at night with everything that’s going on) and when I woke up Cassie informed me that he told them he would try to get off early so he could put them to bed. Of course, Mackenzie I guess about panicked in front of him and Cassie had to get her to hush and once he left she said she’d let me know and I’d take care of it. And take care of it I did. I called work and talked with Amanda and told her his plans and our surprise to come. She said she wasn’t surprised and she’d keep him there.

So, at 7:45 p.m. we met up in front of the new Lego Store at Easton and then we walked down to Cosi, and the pictures tell the rest of the story . . .











Well, I think we surprised him. Thank you, Rachel, Amanda, and all of Jay's co-workers for not covering his shift!! It was a nice way to say Happy Birthday!! I hope he had a good day even though he had to work. Happy 40th Birthday honey!! We love you very much.

Ordination Invitation

By the grace of God

The Reverend Callon W. Holloway, Jr.

Bishop of the Southern Ohio Synod

of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

will ordain

Jay Douglas Jackson, Jr.

into the ministry of Word and Sacrament

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

7:00 in the evening at

New Hope Lutheran Church

7025 Adamsville-Otsego Rd.

Adamsville, OH 43802

Clergy are invited to process

The color of the day is red

 

Jay has been called to serve as Pastor of

Peace Lutheran Church, Lincoln, ND

in the Western North Dakota Synod

 

9-9-09

Jay's ordination is September 9, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. at New Hope Lutheran Church in Adamsville, Ohio.

Let the Craziness begin

School is officially on hiatus until we are moved and settled, so I'm guessing till the end of September!! Can you hear the kids yelling in pure excitement? Little do they know that the next few weeks are going to be busy, hectic, chaotic, crazy – what other synonym can I use? And they are going to be involved with a lot of organizing, packing and unpacking.

So far Jay has reserved our moving truck (using ABF – we pack it, load it, they drive/transport it, and we unload it), signed and faxed the rental agreement, got his ordination on the bishop's schedule (will be Bishop Holloway of Southern Ohio Synod), cancelled our Sprint service, worked a 15 hour shift, and gave his notice at his job (YEAH!!). I too have notified my coordinator that it is official, we are moving and I will be done delivering all those papers on Sept. 6^th. YEAH me, too!!

Both tomorrow and Wednesday mornings, Jay & I will go over to our storage units and bring the possessions of one back to the house so we only have to pay rent for one till we move. Then the final packing phase will begin. In a matter of days we will be leaving the great state of Ohio and heading to North Dakota. As of right now, here's a brief glimpse of what is to be:

Clean, clean, clean, - Organize, organize, organize -Pack, pack, pack

Sept. 8^th – ABF drops the 28' trailer for us to load

LOAD the moving truck

Sept. 9^th – Jay's ordination

LOAD the moving truck

Sept. 11^th – ABF picks up trailer and heads north; we too head north

Sept. 12^th – 14^th – in Iowa visiting my family (bro & sil, sis & beau, mom & dad)

Sept. 15^th – drive and arrive in Lincoln, ND

Sept. 16^th – clean house and prepare for the arrival of moving truck

Sept. 17^th – moving truck arrives in Lincoln, ND – UNLOAD & unpack, unpack, and unpack

We'll have several days to unload . . . UNPACK and unpack and unpack . . .

Sept. 20^th – Jay does his first service at Peace Lutheran (so somewhere in between everything, Jay has to write a sermon)

Continue to get settled in . . .

Oct. 5^th – school resumes!! And we try to get back some normalcy in our daily lives!!

Obviously this is a tentative schedule, and as we all know, nothing is definite, so I'm sure there'll be various twists and turns that will alter some part of my perfectly scheduled transition.

Signed

Now Jay makes arrangements for his ordination and we finalize moving plans. We'll keep you posted. Keep an eye here and on your email!!

Hangin’ with Odie

Isn't he just adorable? We got to spend some time with our favorite little guy. He is a ball of energy. He crawls all over the place and just has the biggest smile!!! For Christmas we got him a few things, just a few - LOL, and we are very pleased that the Baby Einstein tunnel and this Playskool activity toy he actually plays with. He is so cute to watch crawl through the tunnel.

The Letter of Call has arrived . . .

It came today. Jay has officially received his Letter of Call to Peace Lutheran Church in Lincoln, North Dakota. So, what does that mean now? Well, with that letter came the Definition of Compensation, Benefits, and Responsibilities of the Pastor which outlines the compensation, pension & other benefits, expenses, agreement, other provisions, and other matters. He has been asked to make a decision within 30 days of receiving the letter, whether he will accept or decline the call. So, now, he has to decide if this is the right call.

CMA's Surprise Supplies Saturdays

Well, yesterday was a busy day for us. We all got up early and went down to Canal Winchester to deliver the weekend shopper to 460 homes. We've been delivering this walking, yes we have to walk and hang the bags on front doors or the mailbox on the front of the house, route for at least six weeks now. The first week was rough and it took a lot longer than we had thought or hoped it would. Well, we have gotten really good at it and it only took us 1 1/2 hours yesterday.

Well, after we delivered that route we came home and ate lunch. After lunch, Cassie and I left to go deliver three of our other four routes while Jay took Mackenzie and Zack to the Columbus Museum of Art. We joined the museum when another homeschool family had shared their excitement about programs the kids could go and make art projects. The kids enjoyed going to First Saturdays and various other programs, but those ended when summer began so we haven't visited the museum for a while. Well, in August they have another artsy-crafty program for the kids.

Every Saturday in August they have a program called "Surprise Supplies Saturdays" from noon-3:00 p.m. Well, evidently they are cleaning out their program supply closet and each week they will have different supplies available to make an art project based on a specific theme. The assortment of supplies will vary each week and you will never know what you get to work with until you show up. Well, we've been wanting to go since the first weekend in August, but we have just been too busy with this or that and just had forgotten to fit it in.

Earlier in the week, our crafty kid, Mackenzie, noticed the CMA August calendar on the fridge and began to question when she was going to get to go. So, we made sure to fit it in to this Saturday's busy schedule. So, while Cassie and I went out and delivered for 3 1/2 hours, Jay took Mackenzie and Zack to the art museum. Of course, Zack didn't want to go to the art museum, but he didn't want to sit in the delivery van for 3 1/2 hours either. So, he sucked it up and went with Dad. Which I think he's glad he did, aside from not having to sit in the hot hot - very hot delivery van, he had a good time. The theme this Saturday was collages and evidently the supply selection was awesome.

So, they are both excited and can't wait till next Saturday to go and see what kind of supplies they will have available to make something spectacular from.