First Post from Texas!

Howdy, ya'll!

We are here! We are REALLY here!  It was last March that we first learned we would be moving to Texas, and that seems like an eternity ago.  I have been thinking and planning for so long.  And now we are here! (Now what?)

We started our long journey from Irvine, CA on Saturday.  We drove 7 hours or so and stayed the night somewhere in New Mexico.  We drove for probably 13 or so hours the next day and then stopped again somewhere in Texas.  We arrived early in the afternoon yesterday.  By 5 PM three elders from our LDS ward arrived to help unload the storage container.  They were great!  One even volunteered his wife to be my new running partner.  So everything is in the house. Now it is time to get settled.

Here are my thoughts on the long drive:

• Duct tape held us all together... everything from the luggage on top of the car to the binki that Joe kept tearing off and throwing somewhere difficult to find in the car.  Duct tape saved the day.
• The Sonic in Deming, New Mexico needs to change its fry oil. Bad. 
• Finding hotels on priceline.com is awesome.
• The speed limit in Texas was 80 MPH in most places, which is awesome.  This means that it was technically impossible for me to "speed" because my minivan couldn't physically move any faster. 
• I am grateful for my GPS. 
• I am grateful we didn't get any tickets.
• I am grateful we arrived at our new home safe and sound.
• Waverly was my co-pilot and read to me a lot of the way.  I found it to be utterly delightful.  Anyone read Sarah's Key?  Shhh. Don't tell me how it ends! It is really good!
• Taylor drove his car.  Oscar rode most of the time with him leaving the minivan very ... calm.  He and Taylor had some terrific bonding time.
• Free pancake breakfasts for the kids!
• There is an "Oatmeal Festival" next week in a little town in Texas.
• I introduced my kids to They Might Be Giants and their album Flood.
• I heart cruise control.
• Remember when my car got detailed and it was so shiny and clean inside?  That was awesome.
• There is a whole lot of nothing between here and California.  
• We were attacked by mosquitoes at a gas station late at night in some small town I can't even remember which state we were in.

My thoughts on our new house:

• The space! Oh my, we are in heaven!  
• We have no furniture.  We bought a couch tonight from craigslist.
• The kitchen is unpacked.
• Waverly has her own room.  It has a weird smell.  
• Henry and Alice are sharing a room. One of the walls is blue and it is a very nice color.
• Oscar is sharing a room with Joe, and he is very excited about that.
• Joe is having issues.  He has never had a problem being put to bed, but with the many, many changes and different locations where we have put him to bed recently, he is screaming when we leave him in bed.  Bless his heart. Change is hard. And confusing.
• One of the walls in the master bedroom is the exact color of burgundy/purple that was in the cottage.
• The purple wall in the kitchen really isn't so bad!
• I LOOOOVE the big, big pantry.
• I LOOOOVE the huge walk in closet in the master!
• I LOOOOVE the water pressure.  Hey, that it important to me.  The water pressure was awful in Irvine. 
• The house is in perfect condition and so clean. I am so grateful, but so nervous about what we're going to do to it.
• I have registered Henry and Oscar for school.  The registrar hasn't been in the office at Waverly's school. But we'll try again tomorrow.
• Waverly is excited to make new friends.  She keeps hassling me to find out when the YW activities are. I'm glad.
• School starts on Monday. We went to buy school supplies today. 
• I have purchased over 200 hangers. Thank heavens for Walmart.
• I love air conditioning.  It was 103 today. My kids are melting.  They want to go outside and play, so they go out and come right back in 2 minutes later.  About an hour passes and they think, "Hey, I want to play outside!" So they do it all over again.  All day long. Tomorrow I'm going to try and figure out how to use the neighborhood pool. 

There are pictures of all of this somewhere.  I'll post them when I have a second.