day 2 (written in the wee hours of day 3)

ah, the lengths we will go to in order to stay connected with the rest of the world...i am sure definitely sitting in my little kia in the parking lot of a hotel that i am NOT staying in so that i can filch their wifi long enough to update my blog. the internet at my house is not set up yet (hard to do since my network computer is sitting on a truck that only God knows where it is...more in a minute) and the hotel we are staying in does not have wireless, free or otherwise. i was going to go to michelle's and pirate off of theirs, but then she called me and said that this drunk lady hit her car and then drove off! (she's fine, car's perfectly driveable) and so she has to stay near the hospital, where the accident happened (she had just gotten done seeing the twins she delivered four weeks ago-surrogate pregnancy). thus my current situation. yes, go ahead, laugh...only me!

so...the hot topic of the moment...where's my stuff? answer...i dunno. I called the moving company friday around noon, and they said they didn't have the stuff yet...probably later on that day. (The company i originally contacted, Nationwide, only coordinates the move...they get all the pertinent info, etc., and then call a company that they contract with and pass that info on...Express Relocation, in this case...and Express is the company who gets the truck and the actual movers). So Nationwide is sort of a go-between for me and Express. So I call Nationwide back around 3 on Friday, and they say we're really sorry, still don't have any info, but we'll have customer service give you a holler this evening and update you. Bout 7 Friday night, I'm at dinner, having some fabulous cheese rolls and sushi, and I realize that I haven't gotten a call back yet. Bah. So I try both companies...both are closed for the day. Bah again. So we (me, mom, bubba) got a hotel (Bubba got here around 5) and decided to just chill for the night.

This morning (Saturday morning), I got up and called Nationwide, thinking that surely they would have some info by now. They tried to call Express, and didn't get an answer. They left a message and then got back on the phone with me, apologized, said they are usually really good about quickly returning phone calls, but would I like their number so that I could call them? absolutely. i'd love it. so i call the number (which I already had from the drama when I still hadn't heard from anyone about when my movers were gonna show up the day before they were supposed to be there), and i get the answering machine. wanna know why? because Express is CLOSED ON SATURDAY!!! what the heck?!?! they're open friday and SUNDAY, but closed saturday. great. so i leave them a not-so-patient message (no, Kristie, I didn't cuss at them...but i wanted to! guess i'll put my quarters in the mail...). then i get online to see if i can find any other numbers for this company. i find one, it ends up being a call center, they give me a different number than the one i have, but it just rings off the hook. bah. so then i decide, "well, i've still got the moving truck driver's phone number; i'll call him. y'all, I just counted...i called him NINE TIMES on my phone and left messages. he has yet to return my call. at around 2:15 this afternoon, Nationwide called me and said we're really sorry, we've tried calling them, and we think they're closed today...we recommend that you be on the phone with them first thing Monday morning. No worries...I'll be on the phone with them here in about eight hours when they open at 9:00 AM Sunday morning. i wouldn't be so antsy, but remember how the people whose stuff was supposed to be UNloaded before mine was LOADED stood the driver up? well, that means that not quite all my stuff fit INSIDE the truck, so it rode strapped to the ramp on the back of the truck...on the OUTSIDE... for nine hours to houston and has possibly (although i dearly HOPE they have more sense than this) been sitting out in the elements for the last 48 hours? yeah. we're talking my bedroom suite, my office desk, my kitchen table, my queen size mattress and box springs...it is only by the grace of God that I am not crawling out of my skin with anger and fear. thank you to my sweet friends who i know have been praying for my sanity and my stuff's safety...you bless me!

anyway, back to today. bubba and i left mom at the hotel (she was real tired and just wanted to read her book) and finally went to my apartment and unloaded what has been in my truck. again, by the grace of God, I have clean sheets, my comforter, my t-shirt quilt mom made me, shower curtain, cleaning stuff...basic necessities if, God forbid, my stuff doesn't get here for another several days. so we unloaded and put all of that away and then went to wal-mart for a bathroom *PAUSE*

i've had my ipod on listening to it as i type, and I've just kind of been halfway. it was almost as if God just tuned me in to the beginning of the song that just began to play...

"what a friend we have in Jesus
all our sins and griefs to bear
what a privilege to carry
EVERYTHING to God in prayer

oh what peace we often forfeit
oh what needless pain we bear
all because we do not carry
EVERYTHING to God in prayer

HAVE WE TRIALS and temptations?
IS THERE TROUBLE ANYWHERE?
WE SHOULD NEVER BE DISCOURAGED...
take it to the Lord in prayer!

can we find a friend so faithful
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness
take it to the Lord in prayer

Jesus knows my every weakness...
take it to the Lord in prayer!"

thank you, Jesus...i needed that. in the midst of my craziness and confusion, continually remind me to stop and be still...

anyway, bubba and i went to walmart for a small cabinet to put in my bathroom (a little extra storage space) and some other randomness that i needed. we spent several hours at my new place between unloading the truck, walmart, and then back to the house to set up our purchases (along with the bathroom cabinet, we got two camp chairs for the living room and a queen-size air mattress in case my stuff really DOES take several more days and a corner storage rack for my shower that i'm gonna have to return...it doesn't fit...i hate rturning stuff to walmart; can i get an amen?). then we went and picked mom up for dinner...Pappasito's, mmm. Got the seafood enchiladas. it was ok, but the sauce was a little sweet and the scallops were a little overpowering. Took mom to the apartment for the first time after dinner, and then we stopped by the cheesecake factory on the way back to the hotel...YES, LORD! I got a slice of blueberry white chocolate cheesecake...mmm. just mmmm. then me, mom, and mark sat on one of the hotel beds and played phase 10 and i SO WON by the skin of my teeth! it was such fun...we laughed and laughed.

ok, friends, this is way too long...i gotta get to bed so that i'll be halfway willing to emerge from my covers in the morning to call Express back. pray that Satan doesn't temporarily inhabit my body and take control of my attitude. and pray that maybe i'll finally get SOME kind of information about the whereabouts of my stuff and when i'll get it...

love you all...i'm holding on to 1 thessalonians 5:24--"the One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it." whatever the IT is in your life right now...remember, you're never out of His hand. He's hanging on to you and He's got a plan. the t-shirt is true...LIFE IS GOOD!

~amy :)