It has been so long since I have posted to this site that I believe a few of you may need an explanation. I have spent the last month and a half preparing for a major move. That's right, a MAJOR move. From California to Arizona. I moved from Indiana to Arkansas, then Arkansas to Oklahoma, then Oklahoma to Michigan and from Michigan to Arizona. Then in the most major move of my life I travelled from Arizona to California. Now, I am prepping for the move from California back to Arizona.
Here though, you must understand. Moving doesn't bother me. I don't care. I've done it enough and have it down to an art form. My life can be fully enclosed in the smallest of U-Haul trailers. The fullest my car will ever be is when I stuff two large, hairy Golden Retrievers in the back seat and a howling cat in the front. No big deal. Really.
You see, the major move is not mine, but my boyfriends. He is a native Californian who has moved minimal times in his life and never outside the state of California.
Let the story begin...
I am going to cut to the chase. Moving is stressful. Moving a man is even more stressful. Imagine testing a relationship by saying that the first major thing in your combined lives is going to be moving the man from one state to another. Mmhmm, yep, that's what I mean. You get it.
To give credit where credit is due is only fair. He is amazing at the planning, the accomplishing, the packing. I could have done what he did, but I didn't have to. I am relieved at that.
I only had to drive a 26' U-Haul fully loaded, with a 24' (or so) race car trailer loaded down with an older model car (weighing in at a tad over 5,000 pounds) on it. Now, I have driven a large truck with a three-horse trailer behind it, so this was not much different.
At the first gas stop I pulled in behind my boyfriend and stopped. I was unaware of exactly what he wanted me to do. Should I get gas, or just hang here? My walkie talkie was out so I had no idea what the "plan" was. He and the guy driving the third vehicle knew, but I didn't.
At the first gas stop I pulled in behind my boyfriend and stopped. I was unaware of exactly what he wanted me to do. Should I get gas, or just hang here? My walkie talkie was out so I had no idea what the "plan" was. He and the guy driving the third vehicle knew, but I didn't.
"Pull in closer behind me so I don't have to walk a f**ing mile to get to you", yells the bf. Okay, okay I think. Geez. The U-Haul had to be parked and gassed up. I was unsure and, well, you know "the rest". This happened to me twice.
(Of course, "the rest" depends on if you are a guy or a gal....)
Later in the day I saw headlights flashing behind me and knew there was an emergency with one of the other vehicles in the caravan. I pulled over as quickly as possible. The motor-home and third vehicle pulled over but well over a quarter mile behind me. I had no idea what was wrong and sat there for a good 15 minutes. Waiting...getting madder and madder because no one is telling me what is going on. And, no one pulled up close to me. Ahem...
This led to quite the fight later on. We pulled in to get gas and I was trying to calmly (not) tell my boyfriend what happened and how I was feeling. BIG MISTAKE. He got upset, and to make a very ugly story short, left me at the truckstop. Yep, left me.
Now before you go and judge, let me clarify. He left and then pulled around to the back of the parking lot and sat there where I couldn't see him. He couldn't really leave and I thought he had really left. It was a lesson in patience and understanding for both of us. We made up later. Both apologizing for flying off the handle. The stress got to us both and made us very, very ugly.
(Just to let you know, he learned and I learned from this situation. Because, when later that weekend I almost let the motor-home go backwards in to the Colorado River, he didn't lose his patience. And that situation was worse, WAY worse.)
We learned something about each other this last weekend:
1. I can be a yeller when I get really angry.
2. Someone else can yell louder than me.
But the biggest lesson we learned?
When you see your life, enclosed in a U-Haul, parked and locked up tight, try not to panic. Nothing inside the U-Haul is as important as the man in the motor-home who took the keys.
(Of course, "the rest" depends on if you are a guy or a gal....)
Later in the day I saw headlights flashing behind me and knew there was an emergency with one of the other vehicles in the caravan. I pulled over as quickly as possible. The motor-home and third vehicle pulled over but well over a quarter mile behind me. I had no idea what was wrong and sat there for a good 15 minutes. Waiting...getting madder and madder because no one is telling me what is going on. And, no one pulled up close to me. Ahem...
This led to quite the fight later on. We pulled in to get gas and I was trying to calmly (not) tell my boyfriend what happened and how I was feeling. BIG MISTAKE. He got upset, and to make a very ugly story short, left me at the truckstop. Yep, left me.
Now before you go and judge, let me clarify. He left and then pulled around to the back of the parking lot and sat there where I couldn't see him. He couldn't really leave and I thought he had really left. It was a lesson in patience and understanding for both of us. We made up later. Both apologizing for flying off the handle. The stress got to us both and made us very, very ugly.
(Just to let you know, he learned and I learned from this situation. Because, when later that weekend I almost let the motor-home go backwards in to the Colorado River, he didn't lose his patience. And that situation was worse, WAY worse.)
We learned something about each other this last weekend:
1. I can be a yeller when I get really angry.
2. Someone else can yell louder than me.
But the biggest lesson we learned?
When you see your life, enclosed in a U-Haul, parked and locked up tight, try not to panic. Nothing inside the U-Haul is as important as the man in the motor-home who took the keys.
You have moved a lot. Be honest, Laura. Are you in trouble with the law? I won't tell, I promise... unless there's a bounty on you. j/k
: )
Posted by: Miranda | June 23, 2009 at 07:06 AM