I think I need to have my head checked

These past couple weeks have really proven how strong of a person I am. I seriously can't believe I haven't been carted off in a straight jacket or for me to be seen running crazy in the streets on the 6 o'clock news. I can say I don't remember when I was this emotionally and physically exhausted. This will be one long blog so sit back, relax and enjoy my misery.

The roller coaster started on the 16th with our going away party and my uncle having a stroke. Of course none of us would have ever predicted something so tragic happening to my family, which has made my move even harder. I hate the thought of leaving my parents and the possibility of something bad happening to them as I'm a thousand miles away. Like I said, this has been an emotional couple of weeks for me. As many of you already know, Uncle Vance passed away on the 23rd. That's the same day that Shawn came home from his soccer game with a super swollen ankle. We went to the doctor Friday morning when we were told he had broken his right ankle. This threw me into a major head spin as I had to then figure out how I was going to finish packing and getting ready for the move all on my own. I don't know if others fully understand what I was going through, especially given some comments I've heard the past week. But this has seriously been one of the most challenging experiences of my life for so many reasons and made me question (and yes, regret) the move in the first place. I really need to have my head checked for getting into this whole mess to begin with. And while I know there are probably a million people out there who would trade life problems with me in a sec, I still think I deserve the right to express my feelings about this past week. The good news is I have survived phase one, which has made me realize how strong of a woman I am. Also, I think this has proven how much I love Shawn. But he has definitely used all of his get out of jail free cards in my opinion. He owes me BIG TIME!!! Of course, I also did it with the help of my parents. I had already planned ahead and had asked my mom to watch Inara the week we were moving so that I would be able to help with loading the moving vans. With Shawn laid up, this made for a perfect reason for my mom to watch Inara for the full week instead, but now she also had to tend to my other child, Shawn. My parents are truly the two greatest people in my life!!!

Onto the moving days. The first trailer arrived Tuesday morning at Barb & Ed's. This is when the real headache began. (Some details have been edited to protect the guilty. Ha ha.) I did as much as I could do that day and then headed back to my place to get through as much of the packing I still had left. Wednesday morning I had to take Shawn back to the doctor for his follow-up and we thought to get his cast on. When the nurse took the splint off, we were shocked to see Shawn's ankle still so swollen. No way were they putting a cast on yet. He had to get another splint and was told to keep his foot elevated no exceptions so the swelling could go down and perhaps he would get a cast on Friday. This whole uncertainty kept my nerves on edge. By this time, Pop had already decided he'd drive our CRV to Colorado since Shawn was obviously not going to be able to drive. True, our friend Jason was already driving out with the Tomlinson caravan but he was the extra person to help relieve everyone else when they needed a break, so my dad graciously said it wouldn't be a problem for him to drive. Shawn and I just felt horrible though because this meant him having to get a hotel room and a one-way ticket back to CA. We would rather he spent this money on a plane ticket to come visit us, but he really wanted to help us all out, so he took off for Colorado yesterday.

So back to the loading of the trucks. Thane and Kristi's house was loaded on Wed. I've got to say Thane is one hell of a guy! He has been running on minimal sleep for the past few weeks already and then had to do a good majority of the loading of the trailers all three days. I don't know how he's still surviving at this point but he is. What a trooper! I don't know if Thane gets enough respect, so I'm giving him a huge shout out here because I can tell you none of this would have ever been finished if it weren't for him and his work-horse mentality. He definitely deserves some special award in my opinion. Our other two saviours in all this mess are Jason Turnbaugh and Chris Weilert, who both worked their butts off packing up our trailers and got minimal sleep for several days. I cannot thank them enough. Also, to my dearest friend Elizabeth, who might not be Might Mouse but definitely showed her strength by working up a sweat two days. Thank you so much!!!

Thursday was finally the loading of our stuff in HB. But what we had to do was load everything in a U-Haul and then unload it back at Thane's house and put it into the moving trailer. It was FINALLY agreed upon that we would need a third trailer because there was no way humanly possible we were going to get all three families' stuff into two 28 foot trailers. Hello!!! That's what I had been saying all along, but nobody listens to the woman. Trust me. I knew how much stuff I had and was 100% positive after seeing the other two families' trailers on Tue and Wed that we were absolutely going to need a 3rd. Again, who listens to the woman though? I'm just glad I made a bet with Thane and now I get a free dinner on him. Yay me!!! I'm soooo very happy that the 3 trailers are now loaded and on their way to Colorado. The sad part is we then have to unload all three of the damn monsters and with fewer helping hands. I'm so depressed thinking about that already. Onto some good news.

I took Shawn to the doctor at 9am yesterday to get another X-Ray and then off to an MRI at 10:30. The problem is that the doctors were confused by the broken bone they saw in the xray and the swelling and pain that Shawn was experiencing on the opposite side of his ankle. The final decision is that the broken bone must be from a previous injury and this last injury he suffered from torn ligaments. He was fitted with a soft cast at about 3pm. I took Inara to her last pediatrician appointment at 4. (More about this in another blog.) Anyhow, Shawn decided he was going to join the caravan as they headed out last night. I just hope he's following doctor's orders and keeping his foot elevated. Like I said, it's been one crazy week. I'm so looking forward to the next couple of days hanging out with my parents and Inara, who I wasn't able to spend much time with this past week. My new rule is I'm not going to think about Colorado until next Thursday. I seriously need a break from this whole moving fiasco.