A Whole Lotta Movin' Going On

We spent most of February counting down to, and preparing for, the completion of our new house in The Woodlands and "the move." We have lived on Darby House Street in Cypress for over 17 years, so it was not without a lot of time, energy, and emotion that we touched EVERYTHING in the house and had to make the decision -- keeping, donating, or throwing away. We downsized to a one-story house, so we definitely had more furniture than we needed to fill the new house. I was happy to get rid of some things, but grieved a bit about giving away others. It did take the sting out of the parting when some items found a new home with someone who needed/wanted them. We hired a local moving company to move the larger, heavier pieces of furniture, but with the help of our family we moved most everything ourselves. We signed the final papers on February 16th, and Lee spent the rest of the day cleaning and priming the garage floor so that he could paint the garage floor before we moved anything in.

It took several days and multiple trips of loading up the car and truck, driving the 30-minute drive to the new house, then unloading, but finally Darby House was empty and Braided Branch was full. So, now we have to find a place for everything in the new place. Oh geez -- why do we have to have so much stuff??!!!

One of the hardest parts about moving for me was saying "good-bye" to my running group, "The Thundering Herd." For over ten years this amazing group of running friends has met five days a week for an early morning jog together. It was not only great aerobic exercise but also the best psychological therapy! The Herd hosted a lovely evening of food and friends at a Farewell Open House for us at the home of Tammy & Mark Bitter, where they presented me with a really incredible parting gift -- a custom-made cow mailbox! (A note of explanation: when Lee dubbed the group the "Thundering Herd" we adopted a cow as our mascot, and every morning when the girls met in our driveway to run they all put their car keys in the mailbox while we ran.) I will definitely miss my daily runs with my running friends, but love the unique and very fitting reminder of our years together.
So...after 17 years, we are starting over in a new location again. We are excited to be closer to the Cosbys and the Vernons, and looking forward to making The Woodlands our new "home."