It was loud, fun and rushing here and there, trying to see everyone in a few days. During all this visiting chaos, I was readying to move to the ranch in Guthrie.
The plan had been to wait until Saturday, so I could have several men help me move. When the temps threatened (and DID) drop into the single digits on Saturday, I hurried to move it up on Friday. My Friday help was AMAZING (Johnelle, Trent and Alli Evans saved my butt), while Steven's friend, Nathan Wilson, brought his mom, Melissa, who was a cleaning, packing machine.
Every time Kip came over to my house during the week, she asked me, "Aren't you moving, don't you need to pack?"
Well, yes, but you and Hallie wanted me to live here while you were home, so NO, I'm not packed on the things we need.
So Friday I basically threw everything that wasn't tied down in a trash bag and moved it. It's been SUPER fun unpacking.
Jon Evans joined us for the unpacking portion of the trip, and all of Hallie's former Peak volleyball players came over and helped unload, so it was much easier to take it off the truck than load it on.
We couldn't get the fridge on the Uhaul, so one quick call to my friend, David Woodward, and he supplied the guys and vehicle and bailed my butt out on that deal, and had it set up in Guthrie 3 hours after I called him. Now that's some support.
Hallie's sister, Sammi, got married on New Years Eve, so Hallie was having fun with her through most of the unpacking process. Also, Tyler had helped me move some beds up the weekend before, and in one smooth move from me, I managed to give him a concussion and break my left thumb, so his eye would start to twitch if I even mentioned the word "move" to him.
Lacey, DD and Serenity (their foster 17 year old) came up on Saturday and bless Lacey's heart, she tried as hard as she could to get me organized. She hung a few pictures and took over my pantry.
But the excitement started shortly after we lay DD down for his 1st nap at Lolly's house.
I was cooking us some food and all the smoke detectors went off. I thought, Glory be to God, welcome to the ranch. We opened all the doors, immediately making the house a tundra (4 degrees outside), because this is what worked in the house in Norman when I cooked bacon and set off the alarms. Didn't work. Meanwhile, all 7 alarms are singing their songs. Top volume, no stopping them. You have to understand the two in the front room are about 14 feet in the air on the vaulted ceiling. I run to my neighbors house, and she tells me hers went off at 4 am in the morning, handed me a long pole and told me to "Hit on the alarm".
"Hit on the alarm".
Somehow Gina aims true and stops the errant alarm and all is silent. DD has ventured into the front room with wide eyes and wonders "What is happening with the Kalarms?" and "Is the firetruck coming"?
I call the executive director and question her and she tells me one probably needs a battery, that they are all hard wired, meaning if one goes off, the all do (Sheep on a cliff, people) and to use compressed air to clean the eye of the alarm.
Compressed air. I can't even find forks at this point, and I need compressed air. And 9 volt batteries. IN large supply, which EVEN in the best of organized times, I had none.
So 5 minutes later, when we heard the dreaded "CHiRp" and knew we had about 60 seconds before chaos rang it's lovely chimes again, I grabbed my keys and headed for the car to go buy batteries.
Where as I used to sit in 7-11's back door in Norman, OK(not kidding), I now live at least 25 minutes from a store with 9 volt batteries, that is 50 glorious minutes of "Kalarms" ringing in my house. I head to the closest gas/snack station. I buy all 7 of their 9 volts for the bargain basement price of $40 and head back to the ranch, about 20 minutes have elapsed. I walk in to quiet. Lacey said they are like a dance troupe now, the minute they hear the chirp, they all run to their "Posts" with their "Poles" and start the beating dance on the reset button.
I gather my courage and get my ladder and climb up the ladder to the top rung, where I periously hang for my life while figuring out how to open the perpetrator and take out it's internal power. It miraculously falls in my hand, and I am able to change the batteries in the front room quickly. Followed shortly by all 5 of the rest of the loud, obnoxious beasts. One dares beep at me when I change it, as if to say, "Welcome to the neighborhood, sucker".
Peace reigns in the home over the evening, as we play Giant Uno and eat our weight in chips. Tyler has joined us now, after getting his Saturday duties done at church. Hallie is due in from the wedding after midnight, so we have said Happy new Year and headed to bed.
A bit after 3 am, after I hear Hallie crawl in bed, I hear...."Chirp.....Chirp"....I am HORRIFIED and race to the front room, just in time to see Lacey and Tyler come racing in, with DD on their heels, "LOLS?" he says..."LOLS?" As if I have some magical power surging out of my grandma body to make these beasts from hell stop their beeping.
Tyler is the man, and grabs the ladder and unplugs the blaring psychopaths from their holders. They are still going off! I feel like Pheobe from friends, and I find myself yelling, "Let's throw them outside", but once the batteries are removed from their warm place of hiding inside of the traitors, they start to wind down, and then, blessed silence.
They remain on the counter, disabled, as Tyler says, "Anyone smells smoke, Grab a buddy and head outside" and we all crawl to bed, exhausted, but victorious over machine.
Next day, DD is still having PTSD over the fun of the day before, and we have the traitorous bastards lined up on the counter with their batteries in trying to locate the perpetrator, when we hear CHIRP coming not from one of them, but two. EVEN WITH new batteries. and clean lenses. It's a conspiracy.
Come to find out, this happens to most everyone. Several of the houses, have experienced this same dilemma. And everyone has figured out how to conquer the beast.
All great fun.
I forgot to mention that we were welcomed with a Christmas basket full of towels, movies, popcorn, games, candy....and then Saturday morning our Executive Director popped over (falling getting out her truck, slipping on the icy sidewalks)....bringing us two baskets FULL of food, fun and fabulousness from the neighbors at the ranch. Then later that afternoon my neighbors on the right brought us pasta and pizza and ANOTHER laundry basket full of goodies, welcoming us! It was overwhelming and wonderful.
First day of school went great. Steven said everyone stared at him all day (I'm the only Asian kid in the school), but no one was mean and everyone wanted him to sit with them, and Zachary made "4, no 5" friends. but Gina had the topper. She told me, "A boy came up and asked me if I liked to smoke weed. I stared at him a minute, and said, "No! Do you like to go to church? You should". Then she dug out her "I am A Christian" tshirt and said "I'm wearing this next week". Gina suffers No fools, that is for sure. She calls it like she sees it, and has a pretty amazing discerning eye for a kid of 17.
I woke up to take Hallie to the airport at 2:30 am on the 4th (the same as the kid's first day of school) and drove her two hours to Tulsa, and then drove back two hours, in time to wake up the Vietnamese and get them ready for school. Took them and got them settled and then worked all day. By the time I got home and fed them dinner (the minute they walked in from school at 4pm) I was TOAST. I was in my pjs in bed, watching netflix on my ipad, when the door knocked and in walked a girl for Gina, and a boy for Steven. FRIENDS, IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD. IT's a Christmas miracle.
Their mom text me shortly and said, "I have bigs at your house, hope it's ok" to which I replied, "Do you have an 8 year old boy?" and she said, 'Coming your way". Two minutes later, knock knock knock. It's kid heaven in this neighborhood.
It's the community my kids have never had, since living with me. I am SO thrilled to be able to give that to them.
We are settling into a routine. I have to sell my house in Norman (anyone know anyone that needs a good deal on a house in Norman?) and we will be set.
God is oh so Good, people. Even in blaring Kalarm situations....All the time.
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