Packing and Swimming News II

I've already made the comparison between packing up for this move and packing up a prairie schooner (though honestly I'm sure that packing up my home has involved a lot more luxuries than the pioneers ever had). Today, however, I couldn't help but feel a little bit like Noah, trying to pack up before the big rain!

Naturally, our shipment day was scheduled for the one week of the summer when we'd farmed out all our able-bodied children (Alexander and Phoebe have done a great job of entertaining each other and keeping out from underfoot...but as far as helping with things like packing and carrying heavy stuff...they are...simply less helpful than our bigger kids are). Equally naturally, it was scheduled for the day a tropical storm rolled in off the coast of...Texas...and then grew in strength over land instead of diminishing...and has landed on us with quite a frenzy, really.

We're under a tornado watch until midnight or so and it is raining like the dickens!

But because we did so much work leading up to this date (emphasis on so much work), our professional packers (see: ways in which our move has involved some luxury, above) were in and out before the storm hit! They arrived at 8:30 in the morning (just as we were leaving for swim practice...making us a teensy bit late to our 8:45 start time) and they left right at 2:00 (just as Andrew was leaving to pick Benjamin up from FSY so he could attend this evening's swim meet and, coincidentally, just as it started to rain here).

Here are Phoebe and Alexander in front of our house with the moving truck (which I guess came today after all—we have hardly understood any of the emails from our contact with the moving company):

Please observe and admire Phoebe's swim bag. She was so happy when I found a little bag like this for her to put her things in this morning. All the kids have a swim bag like this and since she's on the team now she felt like she needed one. I had already sent several off to goodwill and was worried I wouldn't be able to find one but...I found this one. She put her things inside and Andrew helped her write her name on it and now she's ready to participate as a Swim Team Member (instead of a Future Barracuda Baby). She can carry her own things, thank you very much (no need for Mom to cart around her towel and goggles anymore). 

She felt the need to whip it out from behind her back so it could be involved in the photo ("People will love it!" she assured me when I asked her why she'd put her bag out in front of her). You can see the strings are alive with momentum as I snapped this picture. 

And here's what the inside looked like when we were walking by to get to the house:

I sent Andrew to take a nap right away—as soon as he got out of his lecture, that is. We've been up working until around 2:00 every night this week, which is...okay...on the days Andrew hasn't had to be up to start teaching at 6:00 am, but certainly less good on the days that he has had to start working then. 

He's been teaching a seminar on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 6:00 to 7:00 and from 10:00 to 11:00 the entire swim season. It's been a little crazy. 

And then the kids usually have swim practice from 8:00 to 11:00, but with Zoë and Benjamin gone this week, we've only had swim practice from 8:45 to 10:00 (which has felt like a vacation).

Anyway, I knew Andrew didn't get very much sleep last night, so I sent him to take a nap. The kids happily retreated to the basement to play Stardew Valley (they have had a ridiculous amount of screen time this week; see also: luxuries) and I read a book while the packers worked (see once again: luxuries). 

I had talked with the team manager this morning (my friend Julie) about the meet and when they might make a call about the weather. Benjamin has missed practice all week because he's been at FSY, but I explained that we were planning on picking him up around 2:30 to bring him home for the meet before returning him to FSY (since he already missed one swim meet—of five—for scout camp he didn't want to meet a second meet for FSY because that severely curtails his chances of making it to the county event). 

She told me they would make a call around 2:00 in the afternoon about their decision. 

I hadn't heard from her about that, so after signing all the paperwork for the shipment (right at 2:00), Andrew went to pick Benjamin up from FSY (which is just at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, so pretty close). 

At 2:29 Julie texted me: We are postponing until Monday

So I quickly texted Andrew, who found a place to turn around and start coming home, and then I called up FSY (for the third time today) to tell them that the swim meet had been cancelled after all so Benjamin could go back to his regularly scheduled activities and personally rejoiced that I didn't have to work the swim meet in the pouring rain. 

About fifteen minutes later everyone got a message from Julie explaining the whole situation (they weren't sure it was going to be raining at 6:00, but given the forecast they didn't feel they'd be able to get through a whole swim meet anyway—it's supposed to get really nasty in the early evening—so we'd have to meet on Monday to make up the rest of the events anyway...so both teams decided that they'd rather just not have a wet and miserable meet on Thursday and still have to make up events on Monday when they could simply do the entire meet on Monday and not get wet and miserable on Thursday). 

It was so nice of Julie to give me a quick head's up so I could cancel Benjamin's pick up!

And Andrew and I are both quite happy to not have to work a swim meet tonight, given how tired we both are (and I have a little cold that I picked up somewhere, unfortunately). 

Anyway, we are just happy we had our "ark" loaded up and get to rest a bit before the next phase of this move!

Here's Phoebe and Alexander enjoying our big empty "Boat Room" (which used to be the "Music Room"):

Phoebe immediately yelled, "Let's ice skate!!" and started slipping around in her sock feet. Alexander has been yelling "Echo!" every time he walks by the doorway.